re: Is Brooks Robinson the most historically underrated player in any sport?

quote:

---

Elgin Baylor is the most underrated player in any sport of all-time.

---

I agree here.... Baylor was "money".

For people who don't know:

"In 1958, Elgin took tiny Seattle University to the NCAA title game and then skipped his senior season to join the Minneapolis Lakers.

As a rookie in 1958-59, Baylor finished fourth in the league in scoring (24.9 points per game), third in rebounding (15.0 rebounds per game), and eighth in assists (4.1 assists per game).

He registered 55 points in a single game, then the third-highest mark in league history behind Joe Fulks' 63 and Mikan's 61.

Baylor won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award and led the Lakers from last place the previous year to the NBA finals, where they lost to the Boston Celtics in the first four game sweep in finals history. Thus began the greatest rivalry in the history of the NBA. During his career, Baylor helped lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals seven more times.

Middle years

From the 1960-61 to the 1962-63 seasons, Baylor averaged 34.8, 38.3 and 34.0 points per game, respectively.

On November 15 of the 1960-61 season, Baylor set a new NBA scoring record when he scored 71 points in a victory against the New York Knicks while grabbing 25 rebounds. In doing so, Baylor had broken his own NBA record of 64 points that he had set in the previous season.

Baylor, a United States Army Reservist, was called to active duty during the 1961-62 season, and being stationed in Washington state, he could play for the Lakers only when on a weekend pass. Despite playing only 48 games during the 1961–62 season, he still managed to score over 1,800 points. Later that season, in a game five NBA Finals victory against the Boston Celtics, Baylor grabbed 22 rebounds and set the still-standing NBA record for points in an NBA Finals game with 61.

Baylor began to be hampered with knee problems during the 1963-64 season. The problems culminated in a severe knee injury, suffered during the 1965 Western Division playoffs. Baylor, while still a very powerful force, was never quite the same, never again averaging above 30 points per game.

Baylor was all-NBA first team in 10 of his first 11 seasons, including his first seven. He averaged more than 30 points three times and more than 20 eight other times. He averaged 27.4 points per game for his career, best ever for a forward and third highest all-time behind Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Baylor scored 71 points in a game, the only forward to get more than 65. He scored 61 in a playoff game, still a Finals record. (The only player who scored more in a playoff game was Jordan, but he needed two overtimes to reach his 63.)

It's impossible to fully capture Elgin's greatness five decades after the fact, but let's try. He averaged 25 points and 15 rebounds and carried the Lakers to the Finals as a rookie. He scored 71 points against Wilt's Warriors in his second season. He averaged 34.8 points and 19.8 rebounds in his third season -- as a 6-foot-5 forward, no less -- and topped himself the following year with the most amazing accomplishment in NBA history. During the 1961-62 season, Elgin played only 48 games -- all on weekends, all without practicing -- and somehow averaged 38 points, 19 rebounds and five assists a game.

Why was this better than Wilt's 50 per game or Oscar's season-long triple-double? Because the guy didn't practice! He was moonlighting as an NBA player on weekends! Wilt's 50 makes sense considering the feeble competition and his gratuitous ball-hogging. Oscar's triple-double makes sense considering the style of play at the time -- tons of points, tons of missed shots, tons of available rebounds. But Elgin's 38-19-5 makes no sense whatsoever. I don't see how this happened. It's inconceivable. A U.S. Army Reservist at the time, Elgin lived in a barracks in the state of Washington, leaving only whenever they gave him a weekend pass.

My theory is everything that happened after Elgin's playing career ended up obscuring the career itself. The Clippers hired Elgin to run them in 1986, and really, he has been something of a punchline ever since."

quote:

---

he's rarely brought up in discussions about the all time greats

---

He shouldn't be.

Great defender but he has a career .723 OPS and he's still considered one of the best 3B of all time. How the frick is that underrated?

He was absolutely amazing... no doubt.

But I never got the impression that he was underrated or anything. I think everyone acknowledges the fact that he's the best defensive 3rd baseman of all time and an all-time great.

Rod Carew

He was until this thread. Now its Andruw Jones.

quote:

---

Elgin Baylor is the most underrated player in any sport of all-time.

---

Maybe his coaching make people forget how great a player he was.
He made Monty look like Phil Jackson.

quote:

---

My wife knew before we ever got married that there was going to be no debate, my first son was going to be named Brooks.

---

Same here. I have an awesome picture of "Big" Brooks holding "Little" Brooks when he was about 4.

He's 23 now and still known as Brooksie.

Kareem Abdul Jabbar