The other day I was thinking about all the players that had so much going for them only to have there career interrupted or cut short due to injuries, guys like................ Lou Gehrig Ralph Kiner Bo Jackson Nomar Garciaparra Don Mattingly J.R. Richard Lyman Bostock Mo Vaughn Thurmon Munson Albert Belle Mark Prior But the #1 "WHAT IF" guy has to be Sandy Koufax who saw his career come to an AMAZING end at the age of 30. His last & final season saw him go 27-9 an ERA of 1.73 27 complete games, 323 IP & 317 strike outs. Oh & did I mention he won the CYA that season. That was his FINAL season. Over his last 4 years = 97-27, 1.84 ERA, 89 CGs, 31 shutouts, A 0.910 WHIP & an average of near 300 IP, & over 300 strikeouts. And 3 CYAs. Unbelievable would be an understatement.
Projecting Gehrig's career.... Bill James' extrapolation: Home Runs: 689 BA: Lifetime .330 Hits: 3928 RBIs: 2,879 (which is about 600 more than the current holder Aaron) Walks: 2,475 "But these are not unreasonable numbers. They only look unreasonable because they are so extraordinary." -James
He was 35 at the time of his last full season (157 games) so your #s might be a little high. Not taking anything away because he still would have ended up with some amazing #s Lets say he would have only played 4 more years (age 39) with the averages he had in HRs (35) & RBI (approx 140) & hits (Lets say 180-190) we're still talking about over 630 HRs, over 2,500 RBI & around 3,500 hits. Not to shabby.
That would have been '42.....he would have kept playing to '44 out of patriotic duty. Then like many other pros, miss '45 serving in the military.
Great stats on Gehrig, and all hail the true 1st-Sand Man. Now that I get the Bums TWB-C Evil Empire TV Station, and have been watching old Koufax games, including his World Series Gems. I venture to claim:- Clayton Kershaw as good as his records, awards et al. Will never be a Koufaxian Epic Legend like Sandy. No doubt Kershaw if healthy will go down in History as perhaps one of if not the best player of this era, tho' that's debatable.....IMO. But, he will never reach the heights of Koufax's legendary heights; regardless of how many Trifetca's, and Awards he brings home. Just saying, my 2 cents of an opinion. I was glued to the TV when Koufax pitched. With Kershaw I still can predict what pitch he's going to toss in a pitch by pitch situation, like that hanging curve he threw Matt Adams in St. Louis. Kershaw unlike Sandy, stuck to much with the same repertoire of his pitch counts, determining what pitch to throw. A 2 strike count, always ALWAYS, a hanging curveball, even when he blows fastballs by guys who have not a prayer of catching up to it, so why hang one?
1967 I remember that like it was yesterday. Jack Hamilton right to the face. Was the youngest player in the AL to lead the league in HRs (1965) & the youngest to reach 100 HRs. Missed the entire 68 season but then won comeback player of the year in 69. Only to be forced to retire a few years later due to blurred vision. Sadly he lived most of his remaining years in a coma like state before dying at the young age of 45. Yeah this was one of the most tragic stories in baseball. DEFINITELY a "What might have been" story. BTW: I believe it because of his injury that the helmets were changed to have the ear flap. (I think).
WOW!....................................................................................you're really old.
^^^lol...well, I admit it was still black and white TV back then but the PeeWee/Dizzy thing ran from 1960 to 1965.
Prior to that it was Blatner and Dean sponsored by Ballantine Ale. The Saturday Game of the Week was something worth looking forward to. Despite butchering the Kings English Dean was a damn good color man.
