On Xitter, one discussion involved how Sandy Koufax would pitch in 2025, based on his Cy Young and NL MVP season of 1963. One man opined that Koufax had dominated all right, but not against the kind of hitters who dominate today. "Janitors," he called the old-timers.
Another poster weighed in with a list of so-called janitors, shown below.
To which list I thought, um... the names are those of players who had been, or were rising stars, along with those whose prime was in 1963. But I held my tongue.
Probably the best action in that venue was no action. But here, where Asian skimmers and scrapers are the most frequent visitors, I can speak more freely. The poster knew the players, but plainly did not check their statistics. No complaint with Mays, Aaron, Clemente and McCovey, but Ernie Banks batted .227, Frank Robinson had a down year (.259/.379/.442), and Brock, Schofield, Mazeroski, and 19-year-old rookie Staub all finished below the league average of .245/.306/.364, while 42-year-old Musial, in his final season, posted a .255 average. Orlando Cepeda, Bill White, and Johnny Callison would have fit better on the list. And Pete Rose? Rookie of the Year, but a couple of years away from perennial .300-hitter status.
