Frank Robinson is the only man to win the MVP in both the NL and the AL, is one of only 4 to win a Triple since WWII, and was the game's first black manager. In other words, his reputation as a historically great player transcends his placement on the all-time HR list.

Robinson's reputation, however, seemed to have diminished before the so-called "steroid era" began. Loved in Baltimore, but Aaron and Mays overshadowed him around baseball.

i understand comments about offensive levels being inflated by steroids, but the 500-HR club has struck me as a different situation.

Bonds, Sosa, McGwire and Palmeiro are associated with steroids, but among recent inductees, Griffey, A-Rod, Thomas and Thome are all generally regarded as 'clean', as is Manny. Chipper Jones, a decent bet to make it in a few years' time, is also considered clean. Even if you take out all the 'roiders (though Bonds likely would've been in without them), that's a big group for this time period. Is it so hard to admit that there were just an unusually high number of naturally great hitters to come up in the 90s?

Aaron and Mays were more highly regarded in the late '60s (as far back as I go) and early '70s. So it's not like Robinson's reputation has faded as time has passed like, say, Eddie Mathews'. Plus Aaron held that very prestigious record for many years and Mays always comes up in conversation about The Best Baseball Player Ever. Robinson almost became the fourth player to hit 600 home runs and regularly comes up in conversations about The Third Best Right Fielder Ever.

You know what gets me? These new songwriters aren't in Stephen Foster's league, but they get all the Grammies. It ain't right.

Schmuck is a Baltimore writer, so his impression of how great people thought/think Robinson was is probably somewhat skewed.

Do song writers actually get Grammies?

Do song writers actually get Grammies?

I don't know. But that's never stopped me from complaining about anything.

At the very least, Song of the Year is awarded for writing.

i understand comments about offensive levels being inflated by steroids, but the 500-HR club has struck me as a different situation.

I'd say it should strike you as a "different situation" because Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Palmeiro Griffey, AROD, Thomas, Thome and Manny is a list of 9 names (in a 26-30 team environment) while Aaron, Mays, Robinson, Killebrew, Mantle, Banks and Mathews is a list of 7 names (in a 16-24 team environment). A bunch of guys setting HR milestones at one time is not exactly unprecedented.

And with Sheffield and Delgado looking increasingly unlikely to make 500 and Andruw Jones falling apart, over the next 8-10 years, you've got Chipper, Vlad and Pujols as the only ones with a good shot. The active career HR leaders by age (30 and under):

30 Aramis Ramirez (231)
29 Adrian Beltre (229)
28 Albert Pujols (296) -- Dunn is 2nd with 252
27 Justin Morneau (120)
26 ????
25 David Wright (108)
24 Prince Fielder (87)

Other than Pujols, I don't see anybody on that list who has a really good shot (I've got Dunn pegged as a cliff-diver). I never would have guessed Ramirez and Beltre if you'd asked me. Let's give the youngsters a few more years before we punch their tickets for 500.

It's interesting to me that you've got Jones, Ramirez, Beltre, Wright, Chavez (227) as 3B on the HR list. Only 9 players with 1500+ games at 3B and 300+ HR in history (Chipper will be #10 soon).

Hmmm ... only 33 players with 1500+ games at 3B in history. Wonder how that compares to other positions (since 1900):

C 27
1B 48
2B 30
3B 33
SS 51
OF 142 (average 47)

It's good to be a SS.

I'm not sure how consistent the OF breakdowns are but:

LF 18
CF 30
RF 24

Of course all those numbers skip the guys who shifted positions mid-career. The total number of 1500+ game careers since 1900 is 549. Nobody has played 1500+ games at more than one posiition.