if willie mays?

Question

didnt play in candlestick, where it was so windy a ton of homeruns went to die, do you think he would be the greatest homerun hitter of all-time?

telling me about other giant players doesnt answer the question, i am from sf too born and raised and i asked about willie mays not matt williams although 94 was pretty cool until the lockout.

Answer 1

Obviously this is tough to figure exactly. Let's say he was in his prime for 10 years at Candlestick. That's 77 or 81 games a year there, depending on the season. He had to wait a couple of years, I think, until Candlestick opened around 1960.

I don't know the ballpark bias figures for Candlestick then, but let's say the park depressed home run figures by 10 percent compared to the average. (That's about as extreme as it gets as these things go.) That would mean Willie would have hit 10 percent more homers in a neutral park. If he averaged 17 homers a season at home and 23 on the road for a total of 40, that means he would jump 10 percent at home to something like 19 and 42 overall. That would give him about 20 additional homers over the course of a decade.

Now, put him in Colorado when that park first opened, and you have to add another 10-20 percent.

He probably got a small boost playing in the Polo Grounds in New York and its short porch in 1951-1957, although he missed some of those seasons with military service. And he probably lost a few homers in the later stages of his career too, although his home run rate figured to drop a little by 1970.

So I guess I believe he'd be closer to Aaron than he is now, but 95 home runs is a lot of ground to make up.

Answer 2

Willie probably lost at least 150 homers over the course of his career to playing conditions at Candlestick and missed time due to military service. But "What if...?" is kind of a silly game to play on this subject. What if Hank Aaron hadn't played his whole career in home run friendly ball parks? What if Ted Williams hadn't missed all of four years in the military and had been able to play somewhere with the right field dimensions of Yankee Stadium rather than Fenway?
It's just a no-win game. What is, is. Willie would likely have had over 800 jacks, Hank probably a few less than he actually had, and Williams would probably have had well over 700. But, pfft, that's not the way it is.

Answer 3

Yes, and not only did Candlestick hurt him, but he didn't play in 1952 and 1953 when he served in the Korean War; that alone cost him 70 HRs.

He might have had 780-800 homeruns.

Answer 4

He lost 100 HR at least

just by the wind...also u change ur mental approach...dont forget he was 2 yrs in the service as a young buck....probably could have hit 800...4 sure however he was the best 5 tool player

Answer 5

i'm born and raised in SF and went to a few games at the 'stick and had a blast watching Clark,Mitchell, Williams, Uribe, Thompson