Tag Archives: best Red Sox players ever

H2H 105: Wade Boggs vs. George Brett – Who was Better?

While Mike Schmidt was the dominant third baseman in the NL during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s (and arguably the best at the position in all of baseball), the AL also had its share of elite players at the hot corner during this time, chief among them Wade Boggs and George Brett.  Even though their careers overlapped for more than a decade and both are members of the rarified 3,000-career hit club, the two were very different types of players – Boggs the ultimate hit machine and Brett more of an all-around hitter.  Nevertheless, as two of the greatest third basemen in MLB history, the question that thus arises is:

Who was better – Wade Boggs or George Brett?

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H2H 98: Dave Parker vs. Jim Rice – Who was Better?

In 1978, the winners of baseball’s annual MVP awards were Dave Parker and Jim Rice in the NL and AL, respectively, as each slugger hit above .300 with 30+ home runs, 100+ runs batted in, and 100+ runs scored.  Overall, these two power-hitting outfielders were among the elite ballplayers of their era and each one retired with a .290+ career batting average, 2,400+ hits, 300+ home runs, 1,400+ runs batted in, and 1,200+ runs scored.  However, while Rice was finally inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on his 15th and final try, Parker never came close to reaching the 75% threshold during his time on the ballot; for supporters of Parker’s candidacy, they often point to the career of Rice as a benchmark given the close parallels between their careers – as such, let us compare these two feared sluggers of the 1970s and 1980s and ask:

Who was better – Dave Parker or Jim Rice?

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H2H 88: Edgar Martinez vs. David Ortiz – Who was Better?

The designated hitter (DH) was first introduced to the AL in 1973, with Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees becoming the first official DH in MLB history.  In the nearly half-century since then, the DH has been a source of much debate for baseball fans and has often served as a position for sluggers to transition to once they become fielding liabilities.  Nevertheless, some of the most feared offensive players in recent baseball history have been primarily DHs, namely Edgar Martinez of the Seattle Mariners in the 1990s and David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox in the 2000s.  With Martinez being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 and Ortiz soon becoming eligible, the comparisons between these two star DHs naturally leads to the question:

Who was better – Edgar Martinez or David Ortiz?

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