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Forum nameOkay Sports
Topic subjectDifferent leagues.
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=8&topic_id=2734695&mesg_id=2736729
2736729, Different leagues.
Posted by allStah, Fri May-07-21 07:09 PM
The same thing happened to Griffey. Funny how they both left the first team
they played for around the same age, and had a similar decline due to the switch.

For baseball players, familiarity matters. It’s everything. When a player switches
to a new league, he has to learn how to hit against pitchers he has never faced
before, and learn how to play in ball parks that he has never hit in regularly.
That’s a huge change for veteran players, and some never successfully adapt.
That’s what happened to Pujols and Griffey.

I think it’s important for in-prime or veteran hitters to stay in the same league for
the rest of their careers, or it will be difficult to have continuous success. Once
players get around 29 or 30, they are pretty much set in their way of playing.

I know a few players were able to have a good transition like Mark McGuire,
but PEDs were involved. Miguel Cabrera was another one, but he was really
young when he left the Marlins. He was 24.