A meme about Ted Williams popped up awhile ago.
Williams is often described as the best pure hitter there ever was and he’s in the Hall of Fame and all that, but it bears repeating that Williams lost FIVE YEARS in his prime to serving in wars. His career numbers would absolutely be completely different, on another level, had it not been for that.
When Williams shipped off to the Marines in World War II he was coming off two years of being not just the best hitter in baseball but RIDICULOUSLY better than anyone else by a huge margin. In MLB history there have been 44 seasons where a player put up a 200 OPS+ or better; four of those are Ted Williams’s two seasons before and after World War II.
Were it not for war, Williams would not have 521 home runs; he’d have about 650-675, around the number Willie Mays has. He’d be way over 3000 hits, would very likely be the all time leader in RBI (currently Hank Aaron) walks (Barry Bonds) and would be giving Rickey Henderson a run for his money in runs scored. His career percentages would actually be BETTER, not worse.
I think it’s fair to judge him as if he had not missed that time.
I think he has been judged that way. It’s not at all a secret, it’s mentioned whenever his records are brought up and compared to others. We don’t actually know what would have happened if he hadn’t lost that time playing, but most likely his performance would be consistent with his output before and after. If he didn’t hit all of the marks you point out he likely would have hit some of them. His service to his country is also noted as significant in his reputation.
Actually, I think it would have been significantly better during the war years, had he not gone into the service. Over 500 MLB players were in the armed forces during those years, and naturally the talent level dipped dramatically. The same could also be said of Musial and Dimaggio, both of whom missed playing time during their prime because of their service.
I just referred to it in terms of performance, more about his abilities than his stats. I don’t doubt his stats would have improved under the circumstances.
True, but you might as well ask what would Stephen Strasburg’s record have been if he hadn’t lost so much time to injury.
Remaining healthy is a fundamental part of what makes an athlete great or not great.