Daddy, You've made my day.
I nearly mentioned both Clyde and Yount in my response. Was going to allude to them as very young guys when I was just a little younger (couple of years) than they were. I vividly remember all the David Clyde hype. I read years later that Clyde really was a one-trick pony: He could throw it really hard. Beyond that, he didn't have too much. Somewehre I read a scout describing him (after the fact) as being an atrocious athlete. I always thought that was an interesting remark.
Yount was my favorite player for quite a while. His youth surely had someting to do with that. After a short season in A- ball as a 17 year old, he was an everyday MLB SS at age 18. In '82-'83 it was easy to argue that he was the best player in the game. 10.5 WAR in '82, btw. Sheeeeesh....He led the league in Slugging that year (and in total bases, 2B's and OPS+) AND AND AND he won the Gold Glove at SS. Holy smokes....
As a SS, Ernie Banks led the league in '58 in Slugging and HR's....but he didn't get a GG.
Mays led the league in Slug. AND won the CF GG 3 times. In '65, when he did it, he had a WAR of 11.2.
Schmidt did it 4 times at 3B. Now that's pretty impressive...but his WAR topped out at 8,8 in those years.....
Ripken slugged .566 in '91 (his career year), but it didn't lead the league. He did get the MVP AND GG that year, however. His WAR was 11.5 that year.
In '70 and '72, Bench led the league in HR's, won the MVP and the GG...but didn't lead in Slg. Catcher WAR is too weird to trust (as is all WAR, really). The greatest catcher in history, in his best batting year ('72) also threw out 56% of would-be base stealers (also leading the league) but only got 8.8 WAR. Come again?
In '62 Mantle led the leage in SLg., OPS, OPS+ OBP (.486!) and won the MVP & GG. He led the league in Slg and HR's 4 times, but that was his only GG. In '56 and '57, when he didn't win a GG, Mantle was worth 11.2 and 11.3 WAR
Joe Morgan, in '76 won both the MVP and GG as well as leading the league in Slg. and OPS+. He had a 10.9 WAR that year.
So in terms of up-the-middle defense AND slugging....Yount's '82 was one of the greatest in hihstory.
Clyde did not lead the league in WAR, to the best of my recollection! :)
Good stuff...thanks for the memories...