The All-80's Team - NL SS

[ironman]

Shortstop was even tougher than 2B to find suitable candidates. Anyway here are 7 guys to mull over.

Hubie Brooks - Brooks spent half the decade with the Mets and half with Montreal. It was with the Expos that Hubie made 2 All-Star teams and also won two Silver Sluggers.

Dave Concepcion - Concepcion had his best years in the decade prior, but in the early 80's was still a pretty good defensive SS with a little pop left in the bat.

Shawon Dunston - Dunston was a favorite at Wrigley in the late 80's and made the All-Star team in 1988.

Barry Larkin - Larkin debuted in 1986 and within 2 years had already established himself as one of the elite SS in the majors.

Rafael Ramirez - Ramirez led the league in singles in 1983 and made an All-Star appearance in 1984 with the Braves.

Ozzie Smith - From his acrobatic entrance to his outstanding defense (he won every Gold Glove in the 80's), Ozzie was the benchmark of excellence at his position.

Garry Templeton - Sometimes better known as the guy the Cardinals traded for Ozzie Smith, Templeton had some solid seasons for the San Diego Padres.

[Tavish]

Two of Larkin's average seasons are better than ten of Ozzie's good seasons.

[j24jags]

Two of Larkin's average seasons are better than ten of Ozzie's good seasons.

yea but ozzie was a better fielder, an incredible fielder, not to say barry wasnt....

[Tavish]

Two of Larkin's average seasons are better than ten of Ozzie's good seasons.

yea but ozzie was a better fielder, an incredible fielder, not to say barry wasnt....

Right, thats what I was saying. Two years of Barry being a very good hitter and a good defensive SS (an average season for him) is better than 10 years of Ozzie being a great defensive SS and a crappy hitter.

[WharfRat]

Two of Larkin's average seasons are better than ten of Ozzie's good seasons.

yea but ozzie was a better fielder, an incredible fielder, not to say barry wasnt....

Ozzie's terrific fielding doesn't make up for Larkin's offensive advantage. And Larkin was no slouch in the field either - he did have three gold gloves, and he might have had more if not for Ozzie. Larkin was a very good defensive shortstop who was also excellent with the bat - one of the top 10 all-time, maybe, offensively speaking. Ozzie Smith was one of the greatest defensive shortstops of all time (if not the greatest) who was barely better than the average SS offensively over his career.

[Pogotheostrich]

You guys are killing me.

Code: Select all

Larkin in the 80's
G     385
AB    1511
OBP   0.337
SLG   0.413
FLD%  0.966
RF    4.68

Ozzie in the 80's
G     1468
AB    5330
OBP   0.343
SLG   0.331
FLD%  0.978
RF    5.21

If you want to talk about career fine but it is pretty obvious to me who was the better SS in the 80's

[WharfRat]

You guys are killing me.

Code: Select all

Larkin in the 80's
G     385
AB    1511
OBP   0.337
SLG   0.413
FLD%  0.966
RF    4.68

Ozzie in the 80's
G     1468
AB    5330
OBP   0.343
SLG   0.331
FLD%  0.978
RF    5.21

If you want to talk about career fine but it is pretty obvious to me who was the better SS in the 80's

Yeah....good point.

[Broncmet724]

Amen

[davidortiz36]

ozzy was better

[prodpaul]

Larkin gets my vote.