I caught some heat for choosing Jackie Jensen over Al Kaline on our most recent 1950's AL All-Decade team and I don't typically defend a selection but in this case, I had to convince myself because I know that Kaline is the better player. The question is not who is the better player, it's who was the better AL representative in the outfield in the 1950's and I think that Jensen deserves the nod. Again, I'm not saying that he was better than Kaline because he wasn't but Jensen's line in the 50's looked like this:
1301 G, 746 R, 1332 H, 238 2B, 186 HR, 863 RBI, 134 SB, .281/.371/.467
He won an MVP in 1958, was a three-time all star during the decade, showed up on 6 MVP ballots, and won a gold glove in 1959. In comparison to Kaline's numbers in the 1950's, Jensen played in 400 more games, had nearly 300 more hits, 60 more HR, 80 more doubles, 80 more stolen bases and 300 more RBI. Their 162 game averages are close - Kaline's batting average was 30 points higher and his OPS/OPS+ were better but in terms of actual numbers, Jensen bested Kaline in every major catagory, with the exception of hits. Kaline did have three gold gloves to Jensen's one but Jensen's MVP weighed heavily and like Mc stated, I think that we'll find a place for Kaline on the 1960's team.
Oddly enough, this whole exercise got me really interested in Jackie Jensen and it turns out, Jensen has quite a story. Jensen, a San Francisco native who was raised by his mother, was the first athlete in history to play in the Rose Bowl, the College World Series and the Major League World Series. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Jensen went on to become a standout two-sport athlete at Cal, playing running back and outfielder/pitcher.
Al Simmons remains one of the most underrated, or perhaps under-recognized, names in baseball history. He was born Aloysius Harry Simmons, and was given the nickname "Bucketfoot Al" by teammates and coaches. The nickname is derived from the term bucketfoot, or striding toward third base on a swing. Also known as bailing out, it's usually coached out of players as being a bad swing flaw, but Simmons didn't appear to struggle with it.
Simmons came up in 1924 with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, and soon after became a centerpiece (literally playing center field) on a team featuring the likes of future Hall of Famers Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, and Jimmie Foxx. He would move to left after a few years, but continued to rake offensively among the league's best for the next dozen years.
Curt Flood was a polarizing figure in baseball to say the very least. On the field, Flood was a great defensive center fielder with some pop in his bat as well. He came up with the Reds in 1956 at the age of 18, and was quickly traded to the Cardinals in 1958. With the Cards, he was a strong contributor to their 3 World Series appearances and 2 wins during the 60s. A consistent hitter (.293 with the Cardinals), he was known for his glove work in center field. From a fielding perspective, he was considered in the same breath with Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente (his co-gold glove winners from 1963-1969).
The history of the game is very important to me and my co-bloggers at FBJ. Before meeting Hersh, my baseball knowledge was non-existent past 1985 when I first started following the game. So, we're going to focus a segment of our blog to great historical players that don't get the recognition of a Ruth, Cobb, or Gehrig.
