L.S. Dennis
Well-known member
Absolutely correct, to put Tony Gwynn above DiMaggio as a hitter is a joke. Both 'Joltin' Joe, and Ted Williams seem to be in categories of their own. Just like DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak (Pete Rose came the closest to it with 44 in the 70's) and Wilt's 100 point game are two records that may never be equaled.I completely agree with your point about the luck factor in straight pool runs, but to put Tony Gwynn above Joe Dimaggio as a hitter is a joke, unless you're simply referring to batting average and nothing else. The generally agreed upon overall gauge for batters is the OPS+ metric, which adds On Base Percentage + Slugging Average, and adjusts the resulting number for era. By that measure, Dimaggio's OPS+ was 155, while Gwynn's was 132.
Of course Williams' 191 OPS+ is off the charts, topped only by Babe Ruth's 208.