BigTen's ramblings and thoughts

The other day on ESPN they had the argument of who was/is the better player Manny Ramirez or Ken Griffey Jr. Manny recently hit a milestone HR with number 500 and Ken Griffey Jr. is on the cusp of 600 HR.

So the question is who was the better player?

Case for Manny:

The guy has been so solid for a long time. He has not missed long stretches of games like Ken Griffey Jr. has. Ramirez is an RBI machine and is a lock for 100-120 RBI in a season. Manny has a higher batting average and at this point in his career is a better hitter than Griffey. Manny is very dangerous because of his ability to continue to hit the ball to the opposite field for power.

Case for Griffey:

Griffey has better career stats in just about every category than Manny. Griffey is a far superior defender winning 10 gold gloves in a row, while Manny has yet to win one (although if he keeps high-fiving the fans after catches he may get one). Griffey was one of the top players in the game during the 1990's and many forget that Griffey was a very good hitter to all fields. Only recently has Griffey become mainly a pull hitter, who hits for less average.

Career stats look like this:

Manny Ramirez- 2006 games, 7274 ABs, 1378 R, 2273 H, 485 2B, 18 3B, 502 HR, 1643 RBI, 35 SB, 31 CS, 1149 BB, 1593 SO, .312 BA, .408 OBP, .591 SLG %, 154 OPS+, 4300 TB, .978 Fielding Percentage, 0 MVP awards, 2 WS titles, 1 WS MVP

Ken Griffey Jr- 2431 games, 9030 ABs, 1572 R, 2610 H, 484 2B, 37 3B, 599 HR, 1728 RBI, 184 SB, 69 CS, 1190 BB, 1626 SO, .290 BA, .373 OBP, .550 SLG %, 139 OPS+, 4965 TB, .985 Fielding Percentage, 1 MVP award, 0 WS titles, 0 WS MVP

bigtenboy07 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 3, 2006	Posted on: June 3, 2008 1:48 pm Score: 90 Ramirez of Griffey? The 162 game averages look like this: Ken Griffey Jr.- 602 ABs, 105 R, 174 H, 32 2B, 2 3B, 40 HR, 115 RBI, 12 SB, 79 BB, 109 SO, .289 AVG, .373 OBP, .550 SLG, 139 OPS+ Manny Ramirez- 587 ABs, 111 R, 184 H, 39 2B, 1 3B, 41 HR, 133 RBI, 3 SB, 93 BB, 129 SO, .312 AVG, .408 OBP, .591 SLG, 154 OPS+ Thoughts and discussion... [ Reply to Comment ]
deano25 Reputation: 94 Level: All-Star Since: Apr 7, 2008	Posted on: June 3, 2008 2:46 pm Score: 77 Ramirez of Griffey? Manny will never be a better player cuz jr mite be the most gifted all-around player who will ever play the game, but manny is a very pure hitter and has more power. There are not many hitters with his power who can spread all over the field cuz he can put the bat on any pitch and get his hits. Theres nuttin like watchin KGJ in his prime doin the super-natural and today watchin Manny hittin in the clutch, in his own world! lol [ Reply to Comment ]
msanch79 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Aug 21, 2007	Posted on: June 3, 2008 3:42 pm Score: 93 Ramirez of Griffey? Great post/blog debate. I will start off by saying that I am biased towards Griffey as he was my favorite player growing up. With that said, I believe Griffey is the better player. Offensively, they are about even with Manny getting the edge b/c of the higher BA and power. However, defensively Griffey is far superior to Manny; as a reuslt, I would have to lean towards Griffey being the better of the two. Of course, at this point in their respective careers if I had to choose one of the two to play on my team, I would go with Manny. He should be around a few years longer, and the defensive advantage Griffey has would go out the window as he would more than likely change back to the AL and be moved to DH in the next few years. [ Reply to Comment ]
buckeye22 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 11, 2006	Posted on: June 3, 2008 4:36 pm Score: 93 Ramirez of Griffey? IMO, if it wasn't for Griffey's injuries this wouldn't even be a question. With that said, I give the edge to Griffey because of his defense. Manny was never been a great defensive player, while young Griffey was possibly the best center fielder in baseball. The offense is about even, and when they're both done I'd expect most of the stats to be about the same. [ Reply to Comment ]
bigtenboy07 Reputation: 99 Level: Superstar Since: Oct 3, 2006	Posted on: June 3, 2008 4:50 pm Score: 95 Ramirez of Griffey? I am also partial to Griffey. As a left handed player growing up in the 1990's he was my idol. I wanted to do everything just like him, and thought he was the greatest thing since sliced bread....and for a while he was. The offensive numbers are pretty similar the major difference being in total numbers because of Griffey's extra ABs. I think Manny is a better average hitter than Griffey (obvious

bigtenboy07

Ramirez of Griffey?

Ramirez of Griffey?

Ramirez of Griffey?

Ramirez of Griffey?

Ramirez of Griffey?

Ramirez of Griffey?