Best baseball player in history

[bluestateguy]

Poll question: Best baseball player in history

Of course, feel free to add others...

[Guaranteed]

1. Willie then Barry. nt

[Guaranteed]

56. People seem to be forgetting that fielding matters.

And baserunning. That's why it's Willie then Barry.

[veggiemama]

2. Excuse me, but where's Satchel Paige?

http://www.cmgww.com/baseball/paige/spcare2.html

And then there's Joe Jackson . . .

[Faygo Kid]

28. Don't forget Josh Gibson

You can have Bench, Berra, etc. Not to take anything away from them, but my first team catcher all time is Josh Gibson.

[northzax]

37. Joe Jackson

can't be in the pantheon, I'm afraid, he didn't play nearly long enough...

[JackSwift]

3. Barry's got the numbers to prove it

That's best. Not Greatest. Greatest would have to be Ruth. Huge numbers (Barry's are better), but a giant of a character too. I'd throw in Honus Wagner just for his early enlightened stand on tobacco! (And his numbers.)

[Faygo Kid]

17. Yeah, Barry Sanders was great

Barry Bonds is pumped up - and it ain't on vegetables, my friend.

[The_Gopher]

52. Barry's jacked up on that newfangled steroid.

[JackDragna]

4. Ruth is the only player that deserves to be on the list.

Ruth would own every important batting title had he not pitched. He was superior over his contemporaries in a way no other baseball player ever has been or probably ever will be. Babe Ruth is the absolute gold standard for baseball proficiency.

[JackDragna]

5. This list also misses many important players.

"Double X" Jimmy Foxx. Stan Musial, probably the most overlooked player in baseball history. Lou Gehrig.

[Faygo Kid]

27. You're right about Musial

There was a poll recently about the five greatest living baseball players - and Musial wasn't one of 'em. Absurd. Also underrated: Warren Spahn, winningest left hander in history; 350+ complete games; 363 wins. And, not listed. There oughta be a law. . .

[Tom Kitten]

6. Without a doubt the Babe

Lore and legend means a lot in baseball...and no one compares to the Babe in that regard...Willie Mays comes in second, in my playbook...

[joeybee12]

22. Agree, but Ted Williams is second in my book

You gotta realize that the Babe did it all.

You could argue someone else was a better hitter, etc., but no one else did it all like the Babe did.

[northzax]

38. Ted never saw the show

you can't be the best ever with no post season record to speak of. sorry.

[SiobhanClancy]

42. Ted was busy...

with WWII and Korea during six of what would have been his prime playing years,which does deserve some consideration,IMHO.

[northzax]

50. sure, if we're ranking good guys

but the only thing that matters in this category it personal and team performance. For that the Splendid Splinter has to be removed from consideration for the top spot.

[SiobhanClancy]

51. As they say....

that is one man's opinion:)

[5thGenDemocrat]

46. Ted was in the 1946 World Series with the Sox

And bombed, IIRC.
John
Don't forget that Babe was also a great pitcher (he held the record for consecutive shutout innings in the World Series until Don Drysdale beat it). He also had a -- what? -- .341 lifetime batting average?
In the island battles of WWII, when the Marines would try to insult the Japanese by shouting "To Hell with Hirohito!," the Japanese would shout back "To Hell with Babe Ruth!!" THAT'S fame.

[playahata1]

59. Corrections, 5-G.

It was WHITEY FORD who broke Ruth's WORLD SERIES record for consecutive scoreless innings.

In 1968, Don Drysdale broke WALTER JOHNSON'S REGULAR-SEASON mark for consecutive scoreless innings. That mark, in turn, was broken by OREL HERSHISER in 1988.

(The following big-up is not directed at you, John. I just didn't want to make a separate post.)

And yes, LOU GEHRIG must be on this list of the greatest baseball players. Had he not become terminally ill in 1938-39, he, not Carl Yastrzemski, would have been the first American League player with 400 home runs and 3000 hits (279 short of 3000). It has been estimated that Gehrig would have finished his career with 600-plus home runs and well over 2,000 RBI as well as 3000 hits.

Furthermore, the man was an RBI MACHINE. He holds the AL record for RBI in one season, with 184 (1931). Seven times he drove in more than 150 runs, and in three of those seasons he drove in 170-plus runs. Both of these are major league records, as is his thirteen consecutive seasons of 100 RBI (tied with Jimmy Foxx). He, Hank Greenberg and Hack Wilson are the only players ever to drive in 180-plus runs in a season. He did much more than just show up for 2130 consecutive games.

[5thGenDemocrat]

61. Thank you

At 47, I'm afraid I'm beginning to get brain-freeze.
I'm not kidding -- I'm beginning to miss things (like calling Wolfowitz "Mikey the Rat" yesterday, when I know damned well his first name is Paul) and not remembering things that used to come to me like (snap) THAT! It's scary, especially as I profess to be some kind of sportswriter and we ARE discussing baseball.
It's depressing -- it truly is.
John
Too soon old. Too late smart.

[corarose]

7. Where is Mike Riley's name?

You forgot other.

[peekaloo]

8. Roberto Clemente

maybe not the best but he's my favorite of all time.

:shrug:

[ArkDem]

25. You are da man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I worshiped him when I was a kid and was CRUSHED when he died. What a man.

[Richardo]

31. Number 21

3000 hits, had a cannon for an arm; could throw from the right field corner on the fly to home plate. Always hustled.

LOVED Roberto!

Richardo <--- Unapologetic Pirates fan.

[HuckleB]

49. Actually, when I saw the question before clicking to see the list...

Clemente was my first thought. He may have been the most complete baseball player in history.

[ArkDem]

54. Very true.

He did it all but unfortunately playing in Pittsburgh and his early death kept him from being seen by many.

[GOPisEvil]

55. I've got a Clemente baseball card from 1958, I think.

It lists him as "Bob Clemente". :o

[ArkDem]

58. Roberto didn't work in the US then.

It was the late sixties before the cards say Roberto. I don't think anyone ever called him that.

[soleft]

9. How does this list not have Lou Gehrig on it??????????

:spank:

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. Jackie Robinson? Lou Gehrig?

So many more...

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. Robin Yount.

eom

[Uzybone]

12. Babe

then Bonds and Mays in that order.

[bif]

13. Cobb

It's easy to hate the guy, but he was the greatest overall baseball in history. Ruth was a legend, but not the greatest player.

[Loonman]

18. Didn't he

Didn't he beat a black elevator boy almost fatally for being "insolent"?

[Faygo Kid]

20. Yeah, he was a jerk

Universally hated. Wealthy as sin (Coca-Cola stock). And, one hell of a ballplayer. Lifelong Tigers fan here, who has to give Cobb his due. No steroids then, either.

[bif]

21. He was a pretty complex person

On the one hand, he was a racist, but being from Georgia explains some of that. On the other hand, he paid for a young black kid who worked in the clubhouse to go to college. I believe as a kid, he witnessed his mom kill his father. I have a couple biographies on him but have only skimmed parts of them.

[Faygo Kid]

24. You're right, about his parents

Awful stuff. Probably what turned him into such a hard ass. And, a product of his times on race. He lived, and died, alone; rich, but reviled. Much more complex than the movie "Cobb" led us to believe.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. jeez, no Mackey Sasser?

What poll is complete without him?

10 points for anyone who remembers who he was!

[regularguy]

53. Couldn't throw the ball out to the pitcher.

Some sort of psychological thing. Ex-Met.

[underpants]

15. Hank Aaron

No question

[ArkDem]

16. ...........

1) Bonds
2) Mays
3) The Great One, Roberto Clemente

[Faygo Kid]

19. Where's the pitchers?!?

Surely Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, et. al. deserve some consideration. Lifelong Tigers fan, but had to give it up for the Babe as the best. How do you define "the best" anyway? Impact on the game? Stats? Championships? Love this stuff. Let's see more of it.

[GOPisEvil]

23. How about Josh Gibson?

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/gibson_josh.htm

If not for the segregation of baseball, Josh Gibson might be considered the best ever, certainly the best catcher ever (from an offensive standpoint, I don't know much about his defense.)

[VermontDem2004]

26. Ken Griffey Jr

Ok flame me.

[denverbill]

29. Babe. A great pitcher before he was a hitter.

Mays, Bonds, Mantle, and Aaron were great ones too, but none of them started out as pitcher. He was 94-46 with a 2.28 career ERA. Then he converted to a hitter. Mays, Bonds, Mantle and Aaron never did that.

That being said, I think the sport is much harder nowadays than in 1920. Back then, the country had a MUCH smaller population, blacks weren't even allowed to compete, and baseball was hardly considered a respectable career. Nowadays, any kid with the slightest prospect of talent will be encouraged to go for it because one year in the major leagues could pay for retirement.

[PAMod]

41. That's right - Ruth was Randy Johnson AND Barry Bonds and then some

And a champion.

The best ever.

[Bucky]

30. Where's Hank Aaron?

you know, the guy who beat the Bambino's record...

[Shrek]

32. Bob Uecker

He's MR. BASEBALL!

[underpants]

35. He tells the story of a scout signing offering to sign him for $3,000

Uecker's father said "This family doesn't HAVE that kind of money" but he worked hard and came up with it.

:bounce:

[blm]

33. Napoleon LaJoie.

.

[Whitacre D_WI]

34. George Herman Ruth.

Ain't no business even talking about it.

There can be great arguments over the SECOND greatest player in baseball history (short list to include in roughly chronological order Wagner, Cobb, Johnson, Williams, Mays, Schmidt, Bonds), but there is no doubt to the thinking sports fan that the Babe is king.

Why?
1) Greatest. Hitter. Ever.
It's true that Bonds plays in an era of tougher competition (after all, blacks and dark-skinned latinos were barred from baseball during Ruth's time -- of course, there is also the theory that Babe Ruth was himself African-American, but there's no real evidence to back that up). One can make a compelling argument for either Bonds or Williams as Ruth's equal as a batsman, though I will contend it's Babe.

2) Hall of Fame-quality pitcher.
Have you ever looked at Ruth's pitching numbers? Check out http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ruthba01.shtml and tell me that ain't something special.

Put those together and you get one of the best (if not the very best best) hitters ever AND an ace pitcher. If that ain't the paragon of greatness, than I don't know what is.

BTW, I would rank the others as follows:
2) Honus Wagner. Compared to his peers (other shortstops of the same era), he outpaces the competition by a huge margin. As great as A-Rod is, he would have to elevate his game even further AND keep up the pace for 10 years to match the Flying Dutchman. As it stands, A-Rod is playing for second place among shorstops.

3) Barry Bonds. Great glove (although tempered by a rag-arm) when he was young, great speed in his youth as well. Not the defensive equal of his godfather, but surpasses Willie by any offensive measure.

4) Willie Mays. At his prime, Mantle was better. But Mickey got hurt (and drunk) a LOT. Mays' peak was not as high, but it was longer. And after all, what is greatness other than exceptional value over a long period of time?

5) Mike Schmidt. I'll probably take some flak for this one, but I stand by it. Brilliant defensive third baseman (if not quite Brooks Robinson's equal, but who is?) who was the dominant offensive threat of his era. And no, I'm not a Phillies fan. I just believe Mike Schmidt was the fifth-greatest baseball player ever.

6) Ty Cobb. It's all been said before, but what's rarely mentioned in that Cobb was NOT a singles hitter. He was a power hitter who simply had the (mis?)fortune to spend most of his career in the Dead Ball Era. Change a few of those doubles and triples to homers (which they would have been in smaller parks and with livelier balls), and you'll see what I mean.

7) Ted Williams. The only real competition to Ruth and Bonds as best hitter ever. He didn't do anything else (like field or run), but he didn't care to. When you hit like he did, it really didn't matter.

8) Walter Johnson. Every bit as good as Lefty Grove, Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens... but pitched MANY more innings. As durable as Cy Young, but a better pitcher. The highest-ranking hurler on my list.

I'd like to fill out my top 10 with players that don't usually make such lists, but I've no way to accurately place them. Sadahuru Oh? Perhaps, but I'm still not sure how to translate Japanese stats into American Major League equivalencies. Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleson probably BELONG on this list, but 1) I wasn't alive to see them play, and 2) we don't have Negro League statistics around which to formulate a rational judgment of their careers.

[kmla]

36. Ernie Banks.

Mr. Cub. Probably not thought of one of the best because he never was in a World Series.

But that wasn't his fault.

[Faygo Kid]

39. Al Kaline: 3,007 hits; 399 home runs

Carl Yaztremski is lauded as the first American leaguer with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Good for him. One more homer for Al, and he would have been the man. No knock at Yaz; I grew up without a father, and Al was my hero, and father figure. And, he never let me down. The greatest ever? No. The greatest for me? Absolutely. From when I was 9 years old. (The 1961 season). Thank you, Al.

[Faygo Kid]

40. Al Kaline: 3,007 hits; 399 home runs

Carl Yaztremski is lauded as the first American leaguer with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Good for him. One more homer for Al, and he would have been the man. No knock at Yaz; I grew up without a father, and Al was my hero, and father figure. And, he never let me down. The greatest ever? No. The greatest for me? Absolutely. Thank you, Al. Always class.

[bif]

43. What a knucklehead.

Ya think he could have played the beginning of the next season until he got that 400th? Nope. He would have been one of what, 5 people to accomplish that feat.

[5thGenDemocrat]

47. I asked him about that once during an interview

He said it never occurred to him at the time, but if it had he probably would've come back in 1975 as a part-time player. I think he regrets it just a tiny bit.
He also said he'd never consider being a manager because he didn't have the patience to deal "with 25 spoiled brats."
John
Al was the best overall Tiger I ever saw. The best pitcher at Detroit in my lifetime was Mickey Lolich.

[noonwitch]

57. My favorite on that team was Willie Horton

I'll never forgive Bush the elder for besmirching his name the way he did, by giving the murderous man of the same name all that attention.

Did you hear Denny McClain got out of prison yesterday? "I'm sorry I stole those peoples' pensions". He was Nixon's favorite, it figures.

[bif]

63. I loved Willie too.

And the Gator! I remember he hit 9th inning home runs off the bench to win both games of a double header.

[Whitacre D_WI]

44. And you know what? That's what's most important.

The same reason (other than the father figure part) that my Dad's favorite ballplayer will always be Roberto Clemente. He was important to him at an important time of his life, and thus will always be remembered as bigger than life.

Then again, Clemente has always been bigger than his on-field accomplishments to MANY baseball fans.

And just like him -- I don't ever recall hearing any disparaging remark tossed at Al Kaline.

[XNASA]

45. No pitchers???? (Except for Ruth)

No defensive or speed players????????

All sluggers, huh. Pitchers make more difference in the game than hitters so.....

The Greatest Baseball Player of all time IMHO:


Sandy Koufax

[kodi]

48. i didn't want to mention pitchers either, but walter johnson was the best.

only a pitcher and catcher are involved in 100% of the plays in a game, and to leave out a pitcher because he is only in 35 games seems short-sighted.

love koufax, and he had some great, great years, but what johnson did, in a very long career, with the dreadful teams he pitched on, i have to take johnson.

[mitchum]

60. Ty Cobb...even though he was a psychotic racist...

(talent doesn't care who it blesses)

[Scairp]

62. Hello? Reggie Jackson?

Geez! If Mr. October can't make your list then what's the point?