[JollyElm]

I started collecting cards as a little kid in 1972 and quickly became an enthusiastic lover of the great game of baseball. This was in Queens, NY in the shadow of Shea Stadium. We then moved out to Long Island.

Like virtually everyone else from their generation, my parents were fervent fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers and refused to go to another baseball game (save when my dad took my brother and I to see the Mets in '76) once the Bums and Giants hightailed it to the left coast.

Okay, that's the basic background, but the point of this post is perception. My friends and I were ravenous card collectors who put the Mets and Yankees first, just like kids in other cities put their home teams first. Here's the question. I am wondering which players (who eventually made it to Cooperstown) you thought were the absolute cream of the crop when you saw 'old' cards from the 50's and 60's? You know, like when your friend's older brother had a stack of cards laying around, who were you in awe of? And which star players really didn't do much for you and your friends? I'm interested in knowing how perceptions differed based on geographical regions, because in my mind it will always be Willie, Hank and Ernie at the top. You??

In my neck of the woods there was the unquestionable big three:
Willie Mays
Hank Aaron
Ernie Banks

Slightly below them were these guys (mainly because we never saw most of them play):
Roberto Clemente
Ted Williams
Stan Musial
Sandy Koufax
Whitey Ford
Duke Snider

Guys we knew were great, but didn't spend much time thinking about:
Frank Robinson
Juan Marichal
Brooks Robinson
Yogi Berra
Warren Spahn
Mickey Mantle
Don Drysdale
Harmon Killebrew
Lou Brock
Willie McCovey
Al Kaline
Bob Gibson
Billy Williams

Complete also-rans who we knew nothing about:
Hoyt Wilhelm
Luis Aparicio
Early Wynn
Robin Roberts
Eddie Mathews