OT: Cal Ripken—Revolutionary SS or Overrated Hack? Discuss

[Ovechkins Wodka]

Judge players how you want. But just showing up every day for 20 years and not being able to hit Does not impress me, I'll even have Nomar and Tejada as better SS.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I judge Cal like the most of the rest of modern society does. You...and Maaco.....who knows....

 

[Chimaera]

He might have been statistically overrated. But he did pave the way for a change in shortstops. If not for him, A-Rod, Jeter, and others wouldn't have played there. They would have been outfielders or 3rd basemen.

I also wonder sometimes if he hadn't worried about the streak, if he would have had a bit better numbers, allowing his back to heal or get surgery when he probably needed it at times.

I'm always in the tank for Cal, because of childhood, but he's getting underrated at this point now.

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

His 20 year steak is legendary but his hitting was just average. I get the Baltimore love being the man of the people showing up everyday.
500 players had better hitting stats and Cal was in the steroid era. Let's not pretend that streak didn't have steroids.

 

[Calicaps]

His 20 year steak is legendary but his hitting was just average. I get the Baltimore love being the man of the people showing up everyday.
500 players had better hitting stats and Cal was in the steroid era. Let's not pretend that streak didn't have steroids.

I am a marginal baseball fan at best (though I do have Cal's autograph) so don't really care about this argument one way or the other, but I can't quite figure out why is this a hill you're looking to die on, TBH.