Thank you to Brett Favre.

321 consecutive games.  The man didn't miss a day of work for 19 years.

19 years.  99% of the men who play professional sports, don't have careers that last 19 years, and none of them played in every damn game.

Every day, every game, he answered the bell.

Lou Gehrig's streak lasted from 1925 to 1939.

Cal Ripken's streak lasted from 1982 to 1998.

Brett Favre streak started in 1992 and lasted until 2010, the record for a quarterback, before Favre nearly tripled it, was 116 consecutive starts by Ron Jarworski 30 years ago.

 And as a story on Yahoo points out, both legendary # 4's streaks ended in Detroit.

Above is probably my most favorite photograph of all-times.

April 30, 1939, Detroit.  After the legendary Lou (bleeping) Gehrig asked the legendary skipper Joe McCarthy to take him out of the line-up, sitting in the dugout, watching his teammates warm-up, just gazing, taking it all in, knowing his streak, of 2,130 straight games, covering 15 years, is over. 

December 13, 2010, Detroit.  hmmmm...

So why the hate?

Just because Favre went back and forth the last few years, debating on weather or not to come back or retire?  What if, simply, the man wanted to play football?  Hasn't what he has accomplished allowed him some extra time to make a decision?

My good best baseball buddy, is a 9x Gold Glove winning catcher playing wood bat, ametuer hardball.  And after 20 years of catching, his knees and throwing shoulder is fucked up, and guess what?  It has happened a few times, where, he wasn't sure if he was going to play next year.  And come spring time, it is always time to play.

It is worse to not play.

The other day, we were arguing who was the Greatest Baseball Player of All-Times.

I said Ruth, or Barry on steroids.  The other argument was Cobb.  And of course Boston guy always argues Teddy Ballgame.

So, took at look at the great and wonderful baseball-reference.com to see what some of the advanced metric SABR formula arithmatic numbers had to say.

And since they don't come up with same number, and who is to say which number is best, I decided to add them together for an average, MVP style voting (10 points for 1st, 1 point for 10th).

And also used some traditional baseball numbers that are actual numbers, like home runs.

I know that this isn't the most scientific or accurate method, just wondering how the numbers would turn out.

so...

Batting Average[/b]
1. Ty Cobb
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Joe Jackson
4. Lefty O'Doul
5. Ed Delahanty
6. Tris Speaker
7. Ted Williams
7. Billy Hamilton
9. Babe Ruth
9. Dan Brouthers

Home Runs[/b]
1. Barry Bonds
2. Hank Aaron
3. Babe Ruth
4. Willie Mays
5. Ken Griffey Jr.
6. Alex Rodriguez
7. Sammy Sosa
8. Jim Thome
9. Frank Robinson
10. Mark McGwire

Runs Batted In[/b]
1. Hank Aaron
2. Babe Ruth
3. Cap Anson
4. Barry Bonds
5. Lou Gehrig
6. Stan Musial
7. Ty Cobb
8. Jimmie Foxx
9. Eddie Murray
10. Willie Mays

Runs Scored[/b]
1. Rickey Henderson
2. Ty Cobb
3. Barry Bonds
4. Babe Ruth
4. Hank Aaron
6. Pete Rose
7. Willie Mays
8. Cap Anson
9. Stan Musial
10. Lou Gehrig

Bases on Balls[/b]
1. Barry Bonds
2. Rickey Henderson
3. Babe Ruth
4. Ted Williams
5. Joe Morgan
6. Carl Yastrzemski
7. Mickey Mantle
8. Mel Ott
9. Jim Thome
10. Frank Thomas

~~~~~

Adjusted OPS+[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Ted Williams
3. Barry Bonds
4. Lou Gehrig
5. Rogers Hornsby
6. Mickey Mantle
6. Albert Pujols
8. Joe Jackson
8. Dan Brouthers
10. Ty Cobb

Wins Above Replacement[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ty Cobb
4. Willie Mays
5. Hank Aaron
6. Honus Wagner
7. Tris Speaker
8. Rogers Hornsby
8. Stan Musial
10. Eddie Collins

Runs Created[/b]
1. Barry Bonds
2. Babe Ruth
3. Stan Musial
4. Hank Aaron
5. Ty Cobb
6. Ted Williams
7. Willie Mays
8. Lou Gehrig
9. Pete Rose
10. Rickey Henderson

Adjusted Batting Runs[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ted Williams
4. Ty Cobb
5. Lou Gehrig
6. Stan Musial
7. Hank Aaron
8. Rogers Hornsby
9. Mickey Mantle
10. Tris Speaker

Adjusted Batting Wins[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ty Cobb
4. Ted Williams
5. Stan Musial
6. Hank Aaron
7. Lou Gehrig
8. Tris Speaker
9. Rogers Hornsby
10. Mickey Mantle

Offensive Win Percentage[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Ted Williams
3. Barry Bonds
4. Rogers Hornsby
5. Joe Jackson
6. Ty Cobb
7. Lou Gehrig
7. Mickey Mantle
9. Dan Brouthers
10. Stan Musial

~~~~

Average Forumla Stats[/b]
1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ted Williams
4. Ty Cobb
5. Lou Gehrig
6. Stan Musial
7. Hank Aaron
8. Rogers Hornsby
9. Mickey Mantle
10. Willie Mays

Total Points[/b]
1. Babe Ruth, 93
2. Barry Bonds, 88
3. Ty Cobb, 58
4. Ted Williams, 49
5. Hank Aaron, 48
6. Lou Gehrig, 31
7. Rogers Hornsby, 30
7. Stan Musial, 30
9. Willie Mays, 23
10. Rickey Henderson, 20