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Is .240-.340-.430 a breakout year? Those would be career best numbers for Smoak? Lyle Overbay, 2010 is a breakout year? Overbay was basically the 16th best 1B in the game that year. Completely average, considering that 31 1B guys had 75 games and 425 PA's. Mind you, I'll be tickled if Smoak gets there and I can buy that as being a 50/50 shot. .250-.340-.480 is a bit different. Only 4 fulltime 1B in the game, last year, had slashes that were each better than .240-.320-.475 AND had 25+ homers: Goldschmidt/Davis/Encarcion/Moss. Drop the homer minimum to 23 and you add Votto, Napoli, Lind and Freeman.
Only 17 fulltime guys in the game had the slash numbers you posited. Drop the slugging to .450 and you're all the way up to 20. .250-.340-.480 makes Smoak darn elite. Only 21 guys hit 25 homers and slugged .475. But if you're right Doc, then our offense get's really healthy, real quick.
BTW, Amarillo Slim knew his betting games, didn't he. I imagine he even got 2-1 on more than a few coin flips.
BTW redux: I highly recommend the book "Titanic Thompson: The Man who Bet on Everything." Two thumbs WAY up.
What a wild character. It is almost not even worth trying to describe his life, you just have to read about it. but briefly: He is rumored to be the real-life model for Damon Runyon's character, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (which I watched on AMC the other day).
He claimed to have killed 5 guys, and he married 5 women (all teenagers...and all of who he treated well, sort of). He traveled the country in a Pierce-Arrow with a suitcase full of cash, swindling rubes with games of "chance" that he had incredibly mastered. As well, he was a golf hustler who would beat the local bests both left AND right handed, long before the PGA Tour ever had legs.
Thompson was also a driving force behind what has been called the greatest big money stakes match in golf history. He helped set up a match between a 21-year old Ray Floyd and a young El Paso pro named Lee Trevino. Backers of both thought they had a ringer. Over three days of hard core heavy betting Floyd and Trevino lit up the course, with Thompson finally getting his losses back on the final hole, which Floyd eagled.
Trevino talks about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sojAI7s160
Thompson knew Capone, played stroke for stroke with Hogan, hung out with Arnold Rothstein (of the Black Sox scandal) and buddied with Minnesota Fats.
The book is really a terrific read. Go get it. Thank me later.
moe