Quote Originally Posted by smootness View Post
The fact that you think Mays' UZR could be lower because other OFs were too close to him pretty much says it all.

I gave you four links of mainstream sources who think Andruw is at the very least one of the top handful of CFs ever defensively.

And Andruw wasn't lazy. That is a reputation that he got because he acted nonchalant on routine plays and smiled a lot. You don't play the way he played if you're lazy. And if you do - if Andruw Jones really was lazy - he was still the greatest defensive OFer of all time. So you sure do think an awful lot of his natural ability.

500 feet...good gosh, man. How big do you think the Polo Grounds was?
Oh, OK excuse me I looked it up and the Polo Grounds were only 483 feet where Mays caught that ball instead of the 500. THAT is why that was such a great play. Learn your baseball history.

My point about Mays having the OF closer to them was because HE positioned them there where he made it easier on the team. That's actual baseball genius on his part. He could have made himself look better by spreading them out but he didn't do that. And another reason why defensive stats are somewhat unreliable.

He didn't have that reputation because he "smiled a lot". It's because he was out of shape most of his career and if Bobby Cox is pulling you out of a game for loafing, I'm going to side with Cox. And yes, I do think an awful lot of his natural ability. But because you have a lot of great natural ability it doesn't make you the greatest of all time.