[jchcollins]

As my collecting in the 1980's and the 90's gave way to the new century, the only player it seemed rose in stature more towards Mantle (though not eclipsing him) was Clemente. In the 90's Clemente did not seem to me to be more popular than Aaron or Banks or other contemporaries, but in the 21st century he is. Williams in my mind was one of those all time greats who is up there along with anyone but Mantle from the postwar era in terms of his popularity. The reasons why Mantle will likely never be surpassed in this area have already been discussed here ad nauseam, and I don't expect Ted to ever seriously challenge that. As a player Williams in my mind was easily better than Mantle, but again - we've already discussed why that does not translate to an even shake in card values.