Robinson slipping through the cracks

Updated: July 2, 2003, 9:14 AM ET
By Jim Baker
Yesterday's link to the Jack Etkin piece on Stan Musial brought a lot of positive mail. Maybe it's time to make Musial the centerpiece of an All-Star Game celebration the way Ted Williams was at Fenway Park. While nobody would use the word "forgotten" to describe Musial, his star power could use a boost of that sort and I believe he should be featured.

    Jim: While discussing underrated hitters, what about Frank Robinson? I've always thought he was one of the more underrated hitters in all of major league history, and the fact that he gets not a single mention in the "poll" of Hall-of-Famers just goes to support that position (Pete Rose? Please!)

    I'm not suggesting he was better than Musial or Mays. But by almost any measure Frank is one of the best ballplayers ever, and he never seems to get the respect that should come with that. Maybe it's because he played for smaller media markets, maybe he lacks a "number" like Musial, maybe it's because his career as manager/league official has overshadowed his playing days. But he certainly deserves to at least have his name tossed out there when discussing "the greatest living hitter."

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

Jim Baker | email

Page 2
Jim Baker is an author at Baseball Prospectus and a frequent contributor to Page 2. You can e-mail Jim at bottlebat@gmail.com.

SPONSORED HEADLINES

MORE MLB HEADLINES

MOST SENT STORIES ON ESPN.COM

ALSO SEE