Look it up, since it's clear you are too young to know much. MLB lowered the mound AFTER 1968. You don't know that? Yet another bit of ignorance so confidently paraded her. Like your claim that Warren Spahn was not as good as some other lefty because Spahn won the CY Young only once...apparently not knowing that the CY Young was first given in 1956 and that it was an award for BOTH the AL and NL. The CY Young for each league was introduced in 1967.
Power forward? A big, dumb, house-plant? Then who was Dave Debuschere, other than a pitcher for the White Sox? Or Tommy Heinsohn? Or a pitcher for the Braves named Gene Conley, who played for the Celtics in the off-seasons? Yes, kids grew up playing all three sports. Ever heard of Tom Brown, from Richard Montgomery HS?
Go through the numbers, remembering that Hondo did not have a real hitting coach until Ted Williams took over the Nats in 1969. Howard's walks jumped from 54 to 102, and his strikeouts dropped from 141 to 96. For that matter, try to find the hitting coach for the Dodgers, or any team, before Charlie Lau about 1970. Teams had coaches, and one might handle the pitchers, but it is hard to find a dedicated hitting coach of the sort that Harper and the rest have had since they were kids.
To repeat, just to be clear: Harper deserved the MVP over Soto, but do not sneer at Frank Howard. Or Harmon Killebrew. That betrays ignorance.
Tommy Brown graduated Mongomery Blair not Richard Mongomery
