Answer to the Mantle/Rose question…
Mantle. Period.
Remember the question is who is the player you are starting your team with, that assumes you are selecting the guy at the beginning of his career. Forget the stats, had Mickey not seriously injured his knee in the 1951 World Series, an injury that plagued him throughout his career, he would have posted numbers that would have rivaled those produced by anyone who ever played the game. As it was, he was one of the greatest CF’s ever to play the game and a catalyst on the Yankee teams that dominated baseball during his tenure with the team.
Mantle. Period.
Remember the question is who is the player you are starting your team with, that assumes you are selecting the guy at the beginning of his career. Forget the stats, had Mickey not seriously injured his knee in the 1951 World Series, an injury that plagued him throughout his career, he would have posted numbers that would have rivaled those produced by anyone who ever played the game. As it was, he was one of the greatest CF’s ever to play the game and a catalyst on the Yankee teams that dominated baseball during his tenure with the team.