Thom Cat - My apologies we were not on the same page. You will never know how Mickey Held up under the scrutiny that rice had, but you have a lot less scrutiny when you win championships.
There is a reason that Mickey Mantle is a 1st ballot hall of famer and a reason he is always listed on top 100 athletes of all time by fans and sportswriters. in 1956 mantle was a stud, his numbers during that year are unmatched by anyone as far as dominating the league. He won the ML triple crown not just the Al triple crown. I can't remember anyone even contending for the ML triplecrown since him (could be incorrect - but i don't remember).
With that said Rice definetly deserves to be in the hall
I just can't wait to see what happens when some of today's players are eligable.
First of all, I was speaking strickly about numbers. There is no doubt that MM was a terrific athlete and a great hitter. But I wonder how well he would have held up to the scrutiny under which Rice and later players were placed. Although his baseball credentials are undeniable, he wasn't exactly the ideal role model ( out of respect, there is no need to expound on that). In his era there was an unwritten bond between players and the media as to what was "off the record" and very few crossed that line. He was cannonized by the NY writers of his time but in the last decades of the 1900's, the later band of NY scribes would have ate him alive, surly deminished his legend and loved doing it.
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