[Mase]

"The real clue to this is that his best season was only about 4-5 years into something like a 20-year career, and he was pretty much in a long, slow decline from that point forward."
_______________

I guess it depends on how you define "slow decline". I don't see it here. How do you define it?

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/ripken/bal-ripkencareerstats.htmlstory

[Alberta's Child]

That's a good reference there. I always thought 1985 was his best year, but statistically 1991 was better. What I never understood was how an all-star caliber ballplayer could sandwich a .320 year between two .250 seasons.

His career was actually quite ordinary (at best) in the years before and after 1991, especially when you consider that after '91 he was playing in a "live ball" era in which offensive numbers were historically high throughout both leagues. It's kind of surprising that 1991 was really the only year after 1986 in which he was among the league leaders in any number of offensive categories.