Stan vs. Albert

[fullswing]

I know that you can't compare stats from different eras but this is just for fun. Yes, I did cherry pick these stats.

Stan AB
10,972
Albert AB
11,421

Stan WAR
129
Albert WAR
101

Stan Hits
3630
Albert Hits
3384

Stan BA
.331
Albert BA
.296

Stan Runs
1949
Albert Runs
1914

Stan OBP
.417
Albert OBP
.374

Stan SLG
.559
Albert SLG
.546

Stan OPS
.976
Albert OPS
.918

Stan ASG
24
Albert ASG
11

Stan Batting Title
7
Albert Batting Title
1

Stan SO
696
Albert SO
1404

Also, Albert made more money than Stan did in their careers in 32 ABs or 8 games.

[ramfandan]

The most fun was reading that Albert made more money than Stan.
I was 10 year old Cardinal fan when it was announced Stan would be the first NL player to be paid $100,000 for his 1958 season.
Stan was coming off his 7th consecutive year batting title.
In addition he had not received a pay raise since 1951.
Then GM Bing Devine asked Stan what he thought his salary should be . Stan said ‘I like to be the highest paid player in NL.
The two agreed on $91,000 but owner Gussie Busch stepped in and told Stan he would pay him $9,000 more ..thus $100,000
Remember how my Dad and uncles oooh and ahhh at a six-figure deal. Back in 1958, most workers made less and than $2 per hour.
I know we bought White Castle sliders for 12 cents each.
Imagine a player tiday winning 7 consecutive batting titles before getting a substantial raise.
Would be hilarious

[zuck698]

The most fun was reading that Albert made more money than Stan.
I was 10 year old Cardinal fan when it was announced Stan would be the first NL player to be paid $100,000 for his 1958 season.
Stan was coming off his 7th consecutive year batting title.
In addition he had not received a pay raise since 1951.
Then GM Bing Devine asked Stan what he thought his salary should be . Stan said ‘I like to be the highest paid player in NL.
The two agreed on $91,000 but owner Gussie Busch stepped in and told Stan he would pay him $9,000 more ..thus $100,000
Remember how my Dad and uncles oooh and ahhh at a six-figure deal. Back in 1958, most workers made less and than $2 per hour.
I know we bought White Castle sliders for 12 cents each.
Imagine a player tiday winning 7 consecutive batting titles before getting a substantial raise.
Would be hilarious

I consider you very lucky ramfandan getting the opportunity to see Stan play. I am sure someone someday will say the same about someone like ourselves who got see Albert play. 1A and 1B. Sometimes they are so good, it would be a shame to have to just pick one.

[jbrach]

albert stayed too long,his first 11 yrs were historic..the rest not so good...his BA went from 330 to 296...shame

[JohnTudor1985]

Stan also missed the 1945 season during his prime due to WW II. His OPS in 1944/46 was over 1.000 combined.

Of course, Albert's Cardinals stats were significantly better than the time he spent with the Angels.

Cards' only OPS plus:

Albert 169
Stan 159

Would love to have another Stan or Albert in my lifetime.

[fullswing]

Stan also missed the 1945 season during his prime due to WW II. His OPS in 1944/46 was over 1.000 combined.

Of course, Albert's Cardinals stats were significantly better than the time he spent with the Angels.

Cards' only OPS plus:

Albert 169
Stan 159

Would love to have another Stan or Albert in my lifetime.

He probably would have got to 500 home runs, too.

[sp25]

The most fun was reading that Albert made more money than Stan.
I was 10 year old Cardinal fan when it was announced Stan would be the first NL player to be paid $100,000 for his 1958 season.
Stan was coming off his 7th consecutive year batting title.
In addition he had not received a pay raise since 1951.
Then GM Bing Devine asked Stan what he thought his salary should be . Stan said ‘I like to be the highest paid player in NL.
The two agreed on $91,000 but owner Gussie Busch stepped in and told Stan he would pay him $9,000 more ..thus $100,000
Remember how my Dad and uncles oooh and ahhh at a six-figure deal. Back in 1958, most workers made less and than $2 per hour.
I know we bought White Castle sliders for 12 cents each.
Imagine a player tiday winning 7 consecutive batting titles before getting a substantial raise.
Would be hilarious

Good memories for you, wish I had seen Stan play.

For clarification, Stan won 7 batting titles but only 3 were in succession.

[Ozziesfan41]

Crazy especially when you consider Stan missed a season due to war service he had a 9 war season before and after he missed that season

[ramfandan]

Stan also missed the 1945 season during his prime due to WW II. His OPS in 1944/46 was over 1.000 combined.

Of course, Albert's Cardinals stats were significantly better than the time he spent with the Angels.

Cards' only OPS plus:

Albert 169
Stan 159

Would love to have another Stan or Albert in my lifetime.

He probably would have got to 500 home runs, too.

Regarding lost HR's for Stan, I wonder how many more he would have had if the right field pavillion at Busch Stadium 1 (formerly Sportsman Park ) didn't have a 33 ft. high fence to clear. There was an 11 ft. concrete wall with an additional 22 ft. fence extending above that .
The RF was short 310 ft. ? down the line . However, I can remember being at games when I was kid there where Stan would hit a scorching rising line drive that would hit high off the upper part of the fence (surely a HR if no fence would extend that high ). In fact, I remember a couple times Stan hitting a scorcher like that and the RF player played it off the fence and held Stan to a single. It was not always an automatic double.
No way to know how many HR's that high fence cost him . A few of those balls rocketed off his bat probably were 375+ ft. HR's.

Very few on this forum are around that saw Stan play at Busch Stadium 1 on Grand Ave. Very seldom does that 33ft. RF fence get discussed but I witnessed it at games in person. I am trying to recall how far that high fence extended from the foul line in the field of play. . Somewhere toward right center is my memory but that has been 67 years ago.

[ramfandan]

The most fun was reading that Albert made more money than Stan.
I was 10 year old Cardinal fan when it was announced Stan would be the first NL player to be paid $100,000 for his 1958 season.
Stan was coming off his 7th consecutive year batting title.
In addition he had not received a pay raise since 1951.
Then GM Bing Devine asked Stan what he thought his salary should be . Stan said ‘I like to be the highest paid player in NL.
The two agreed on $91,000 but owner Gussie Busch stepped in and told Stan he would pay him $9,000 more ..thus $100,000
Remember how my Dad and uncles oooh and ahhh at a six-figure deal. Back in 1958, most workers made less and than $2 per hour.
I know we bought White Castle sliders for 12 cents each.
Imagine a player tiday winning 7 consecutive batting titles before getting a substantial raise.
Would be hilarious

Good memories for you, wish I had seen Stan play.

For clarification, Stan won 7 batting titles but only 3 were in succession.

Thanks for the correction. Yes, 7 total batting titles . I was in error saying 'consecutive' . Guess it seemed like he won it that many times in a row. lol
7 titles total is pretty amazing . The guy had bat to ball skills that were something.

[sikeston bulldog2]

Also the 24 all star games is high. Didn’t they play two AS games per year during that time.

[OldRed]

The most fun was reading that Albert made more money than Stan.
I was 10 year old Cardinal fan when it was announced Stan would be the first NL player to be paid $100,000 for his 1958 season.
Stan was coming off his 7th consecutive year batting title.
In addition he had not received a pay raise since 1951.
Then GM Bing Devine asked Stan what he thought his salary should be . Stan said ‘I like to be the highest paid player in NL.
The two agreed on $91,000 but owner Gussie Busch stepped in and told Stan he would pay him $9,000 more ..thus $100,000
Remember how my Dad and uncles oooh and ahhh at a six-figure deal. Back in 1958, most workers made less and than $2 per hour.
I know we bought White Castle sliders for 12 cents each.
Imagine a player tiday winning 7 consecutive batting titles before getting a substantial raise.
Would be hilarious

I consider you very lucky ramfandan getting the opportunity to see Stan play. I am sure someone someday will say the same about someone like ourselves who got see Albert play. 1A and 1B. Sometimes they are so good, it would be a shame to have to just pick one.

It was 7, but not consecutive in order.

[walkingeagle]

Also the 24 all star games is high. Didn’t they play two AS games per year during that time.

There were 2 all star games from 1959 to 1961. All other years only 1. I remember the year he got paid 100,000.00. Ted Williams got 125,000.00. Many people thought it was crazy to get that much money to play baseball. I also saw Stan play at the old Crosly Field in Cincinnati. I saw Red too and many others. I remember I was wishing Stan would hit a foul ball my way. He hit toward me and I stood up and froze. The ball landed in my seat, and the guy behind me got it.

[JohnTudor1985]

Ted Williams missed 4 prime years for WWII and Korea. Making him the all time leader in WAR.

[BobbyOrr]

No Juice vs Juice. ?

[rockondlouie]

Ted Williams missed 4 prime years for WWII and Korea. Making him the all time leader in WAR.

BABE RUTH by a mile JT:

182.6 -vs- 121.8

Even if we gave Teddy Ball game four years at his highest WAR (10.6 X 4 = 42.4 resulting in a 164.2 career) he falls 18.4 WAR points short of The Babe.