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Dr.Koos...and just maybe TOO many "Old-Timers" are on the list as a homage to the "Good Old Days". Ruth on top??
Let's stop and think about this. Babe Ruth has long been touted as "The best", the name on the tip of everyone's tongue when asked, "who's the gratest ballplayer of all time", Well...at least 75% of the time anyway. Ask most long-time, hardcore baseball fans who the best of the best at every position was and more than likely, you'll get the answer:
1b: Gehrig
2b: Hornsby
3b: Traynor or Schmidt
ss: Wagner
of: Ruth
of: Mays or Clemente
of: Willaims or Cobb
P: W.Johnson
C: Bench
Now, this is a helluva' list of talent, but the majority of players on it are 1920's Vintage with a few 50s to 70s thrown in.
Let's look at the relative levels of athleticism. The strides and advances that have been made in the techniques of hitting, pitching, fielding, and EXERCISE regimens, the past 20 years, to improve the level of play and ELIMINATE weak links on players and teams.
Sosa, Griffey, McGwire, Bonds, Clemens, etc., and other modern day superstars that are not only the product of raw talent and determination but the finest coaching of physical and nutritional regimens, as well as medical attention that money can buy. In my estimation, the same way you couldn't take the greatest weighlifters, runners, swimmers, etc. of the 1920s and expect them to even compete at COLLEGE level today, with ANY modicum of success against today's athlete, you couldn't take even the best ballplayers of that time period and put them on today's ballfields against today's "scientifically engineered" ballplayers.