If you were starting a team today......
 

All players being the exact same age......Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Griffey Jr., or Mike Trout?

Mays

Clemente

Hi Kevin

Absolutely.....Mickey Mantle....."Mister Clutch" in the Big games.

These other guys cannot compare with Mickey's 18 - HR's in World Series play (1952 - 1964).

Mickey being a major force for his team being in that many W.S. during those years.


TED Z

T206 Reference
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Mantle, especially with the advancement in repairing knee injuries over the past 60 years the guy would be unstoppable.

Mays

Mays

Mays- Best pure baseball player ever

Trout

Aaron

Interesting question with several slam dunk answers

If the age was 58, I would take Satchel Paige.

If the age was 54. I would take Minnie Minoso.

And if the age was 15, it would have to be Joe Nuxhall.

For many of the ages in between I would take Willie Mays.

In film I would take Willie Mays Hayes of course.:D

Babe Ruth!

From that list, I would go Griffey or Mantle but would be happy with any on that list...also one not on that list...Bonds.

It is an interesting question, and I would assume that it includes the caveat that what a player accomplished in his career is not necessarily included for the team we are starting today. Mantle certainly proved he could hit 18 HR in the World Series, although I would hazard a guess that every one player on the list has the talent to possibly hit 18 home runs if given 273 PA in WS play.
My gut reaction is to say Trout, because he's the only player who has proven he can do it at the elite level under the current conditions.
Ruth is a good alternative to the answers given, and I think there could be others who would be fun to drop into 2019 and see what they could do if starting their young careers now... Bonds, Bo, Josh Gibson, Cobb... I guess I'd really love to see what Bo would have done if he committed to baseball and had the modern training methods, etc!

Aaron.

Say Hey!

Hank Aaron, mainly because I never got to see him play (in person) even though he came through Wrigley every year

Willie Mays first 5 tool player and the best that ever did it .

I vote for Mike Trout

from this list, Mays

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Mantle would be on TMZ every night lol

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Agree with this out of the players stated.

Also assuming players would restart their careers now I’m assuming everyone’s at full health so I’d choose Mantle. I’d also be more hopeful that he maybe wouldn’t be able to get away with quite as much night life and hopefully fewer hangovers at the ballpark.

I’m surprised Ted Williams hasn’t been mentioned yet. At any rate, he’s who I’d pick, though if I had to stick to the list, Trout.

Yea , hopefully he wouldn’t go the “Johnny football” route.

Yea Williams , Cobb and Ruth May make my top 3 (not in that order) and none are mentioned.

Kent Hrbek

Going to be a homer and go with Stan Musial! Mays would be my second choice.

Mantle hands down, its not even a contest
I'm surprised others were mentioned :)

Of those mentioned, Mays. Otherwise, Williams. Imagine Ted playing in the days of the 162 game schedule, with all the expansion (watering down the league's pitching talent), and not missing 5 years to military service.

Mantle didn't take care of himself; that self-destructive behavior puts him below a Mays or Williams in my book.

My position player would be Mays
My pitcher would be Gibson or Feller

In the post season only one of the big three performed better than he did during the regular season—Aaron. Mays stunk during the post season and Mantle had a lower batting average, SLG, and OBP than he had during the regular season. He did hit 18 HRs, but he was in the WS virtually every year from his rookie season until 1964. My choice would be Aaron.

There's more than one way to help win a World Series...

Mays

From the list - Mays

Team
 

Joe D
His stats compare or are better than all listed.

None of the above
 

Going with Ted Williams

Yes, Mays' ONE way....
As opposed to Mantle's World Series-record 18 home runs, 40 RBIs, 26 extra-base hits and 42 runs.

The problem with this is that Aaron was only able to deliver ONE postseason championship...
And for people mentioning Williams, he never brought home a single World Series win.
What's more important in the end... stats? Or championships?
Considering this, Mantle is king.

The Yankee teams, back in the day, were loaded with talent. Aaron and Williams didn't have the luxury that Mantle had in that respect if we're looking only at championships. Put Aaron or Williams on those same Yankee teams that Mantle played on, and both players bring home the hardware too.

Extremely doubtful.
The Yankees were a powerhouse first and foremost BECAUSE of Mantle.
And are you honestly going to say Aaron or Williams were as clutch??

The Yankees had pitching depth that far exceeded the Red Sox, and Yankee management integrated the team before Tom Yawkey did. He had the first shot at Willie Mays and Ernie Banks, and passed on both.

Making the assumption the careers are what they are - cannot change, just that they are all rookies at same time.

In post-season play, Hank Aaron easily tops them all: Mays BA .247, SLG .337, OPS .660 (really poor) - Mantle BA .257, SLG .535, OPS .908 - Hank Aaron BA .362, SLG .710, OPS 1.116 (now you're talkin'!)

From year #1 to year #last = Hank Aaron, bingo!

Who are you kidding ! ?

How about making a fair comparison ? ?

Aaron was only in two World Series (1957 & 1958)
Totals.... BA= .362, HR= 3, RBI = 9, SLG = .786 (1957) and .407 (1958)

Compare that with the 1952 and 1960 World Series totals...…
Mantle BA = .355, HR = 5, RBI = 13, SLG = .655 (1952) and .800 (1960)

Hey guy
I am fortunate (and old enough) to having seen all these stars play since 1947.
Unless you have, too, there is no way you can actually appreciate any of them.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

Not kidding anyone, simply looked at the stats. Aaron had 3 post season appearances - in 1969 NLCS played 3 games, had 14 At Bats and posted really good numbers. Sorry the overall sample size is small compared to Mantle, but what can you do about that? Mantle probably had better overall teams to help get to more post season appearances.

If Mantle was THE reason the Yankees won so many pennants, then why did he only win 1/3 of the Yankee MVP awards during the 1951-1964 period?

Yankee MVPs:

1951 AL Yogi Berra
1954 AL Yogi Berra
1955 AL Yogi Berra
1956 AL Mickey Mantle
1957 AL Mickey Mantle
1960 AL Roger Maris
1961 AL Roger Maris
1962 AL Mickey Mantle
1963 AL Elston Howard

If this had any realistic bearing.... why aren't Maris, Berra or Howard considered better players than Mantle??? NO ONE being honest would even consider that, so this is meaningless. There have been discussions on here whether Maris is even HOF material, with the majority feeling he isn't (I think he is), so what relevance are MVP awards in the big picture?
When the things that are most important are considered, his World Series records and total Fall Classic victories... Mantle is tops.

I was an avid Yankee fan growing up in the Bronx. The guys I thought of as clutch players were Berra and Skowron, not Mantle. Williams or Aaron could have absolutely won as many championships or more if they were on the Yankees instead of Mantle.

Ted-Take the rose colored glasses off. If you want to cherry pick years I'll focus on 1961-63.

Its funny that Aaron and Williams are based on "what ifs" as opposed to actual facts. If they could take teams to World Series championships like Mantle did... they would have. There would be no need for conjecture and postulation.
Could've, should've, would've....

If Ted's opinions are through rose coloured glasses, with all due respect, yours are based on pure assumption.

I am not saying Mantle wasn't the overall best player on his team. Just like Mays was the best on the Giants, Aaron on the Braves, Clemente on the Pirates, and Williams on the Red Sox.

What I AM saying is that 6 times out of 9, when the sportswriters voted on who was the single Yankee most responsible for them winning the pennant during that given year, they named one of Mickey's teammates instead of him.

Point is, he was on a great team surrounded by all sorts of talent, so you can't give him all the credit for his many post-season opportunities. In 1962, Mantle played only 123 games, and in 1963 he played in only 65 games, but both years the Yankees won the pennant. In other words, they could win even with Mantle not in the lineup on a regular basis.