TSN 100 Greatest...

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Posted By: Steve f

Thought someone here would want this list to help in assembling a HOF set. It's a .JPG and may be a bit fuzzy. I've got a cleaner .DOC file (MS Word), email me if interested. fdnyladder7@comcast.net

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Posted By: peter chao

Maybe Joe Jackson ranked a little low. Also, some modern players ranked a little low, but rankings were reasonable at the time they were made.

Peter

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Posted By: Dylan

Looks like the totally ignored the ninetenth century.

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Posted By: Mark L

Waner and Plank were slighted, but what the heck.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Given that sportswriters did the ranking and the time frame, I'm really surprised how low Mantle is. It's about the right place for him, but he still has lots of people living that saw him play and overrate him because he was a Yankee. On the other hand, Lefty Grove is way too low and Matty is prolly too high.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Peter Spaeth

Grove and Oscar Charleston are too low. Nolan Ryan is way too high.

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Posted By: brian

i would move Honus up to number 11 and drop Willie Mays down to number 12

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

I don't care if this is from 1998 or 2098 -- Ty Cobb can never be behind Wille Mays.

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Posted By: John Kalafarski

I'll wager that few of the voters have seen few of the players. I'm 61 and if you ask anyone of my age group they would agree that Ted Williams was WAY better than Hank Aaron. They would also say that Mickey Mantle was way better than Bench (Bench had some bad years). Putting Bench ahead of Mantle is a joke. If you saw Clemente you would want him on your team ahead of Aaron. Any list with Bonds on it has problems to begin with. Joe D is top 5 or 6 (the Bill Russell of baseball). Yogi is better than Bench. For me, longevity is WAY overrated: it's who do you want when you choose up sides downs at the sandlot. Where's Pedro? Best pitcher I've seen when he was healthy: Koufax very close second. I've seen all these guys I'm talking about. Remember, Ted lost 5 prime years serving his country. Otherwise, not a bad list. How can anyone know how good Matty or Josh or Joe Jackson was. Before Joe Wood got hurt he was a peer of Walter Johnson; Walter said so himself. In closing, Willie could do it all and was so much fun to watch. You should have been there. I saw a list of the top ten baseball play by play guys that didn't list Red Barber at all. This was on ESPN Classic. People who know, all say Red was #1: but you had to have actually heard him.

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Posted By: jonfreund

Can someone please tell me why Willie McCovey is #56? I don't understand.

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Posted By: Brett

Cobb and Ruth should be #1-2 and Walter Johnson should be #3

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Posted By: howard

Pete Rose played with both Joe Morgan and Mike Scmidt during their primes and TSN couldn't see that they were far better than him? Lou Brock is number fifty-eight (way too high)? Many other foolish choices as well. This list should not be considered anything but a silly diversion to amuse TSN's staff.

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Posted By: Ed

Where's Bucky Dent?

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Posted By: Scot

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Posted By: Larry

He is rated too high on the list, but Bench is way better than Berra.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Why is there a problem with Bonds on the list, aside from what I would presume is your personal dislike for him? Regardless of whether you think the guy is a miscreant and PED user, there is no denying that he is one of the greatest players of all time. Also note that this survey was done in 1998, long before was any suspicion that Bonds was doing anything wrong.

If you are going to say that you have problems with one player because you don't like him because he is a bad human being and cheated, then you better be prepared to also removed miscreants and cheaters like Cobb, Speaker, Hornsby, and bunches of other players.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

He has a huge dislike for him Jay,read any thread anytime Bonds name comes up.

Lists like these are usually a joke because the people voting dont know enough about baseball history to properly pick them. Because people can name more than 5 players from pre-1950,it doesnt make them an expert. Id like to see a real poll done by people who have to answer questions first without looking for the answer before they can vote. Then i would trust their opinion.Someday ill come up with a quiz of 20 questions that people with baseball history should know off the top of their head

question 1. what year did the NL start playing? you dont know the answer,dont do a poll about the greatest players all time!

question 2. Who was Buck Ewing? If you answered he was the JR's uncle from the show Dallas,well then you might be a redneck....and so on

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Posted By: John Kalafarski

Has NOTHING to do with his character or personality. The personal property he his about to gain, i. e., the all-time home run record (baseball's most honored record) is ill-gotten. Everyone knows there is no honor in what is about to happen. Barry slaps Hank in the face. We're supposed to stand up and cheer? Please!

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Posted By: john/z28jd

The poll is from 1998 so if you have a problem with Bonds being on it then you had a personal problem with him before that. Dont make it sound like your stepping up to defend Hank Aaron,everytime Bonds name is mentioned on this board,you have to say something and in this case its beyond ridiculous to say he doesnt belong on a list from 1998 no matter what you think of him.

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Posted By: John Kalafarski

John, you make an excellent point in that Bonds belongs on a 1998 list. In my first post I was unaware the list was from 1998. Let me ask, where do you think he belongs now?

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Posted By: jay behrens

As a hitter, it's a toss up between Ruth and Bonds at #1. You could proabably put Williams in the mix too. Ruth gets the nod as the #1 player all-time because he was also an outstanding pitcher a possibly headed to the HOF if he never moved to the OF.

The record is not ill-gotten, as you claim. Cheating has occurred since the game was fist played. I'd bet you Aaron was taking greenies and doing anything else to make himself better adn give himself an edge over other players. This would true for just about all players. So acting as if Bonds is the first player to try and take advantage of the rules and do whatever is needed to make himself the best player possible is just silly.

You can hate the guy for how he acts and how you think he went about it, but there is no denying that Bonds is one of the greatest hitters ever to step up to the plate.

And yes, he belonged on that list in 1998. Even should be ranked even higher since he became a much better and more disciplined hitter since that time.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Ive never put enough thought into properly ranking players so i cant answer that.At some point im going to,which i keep saying,and ill let it be known next time the subject comes up. As of right now my top 100 list stands at three,1-Ruth,2-Williams and 3-Mays.After that its still up in the air.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Bonds is a great hitter no doubt but there is no way anyone could think he is top 1-2 of all time. History will bear this out. While players took greenies in the 60s and 70s in order to stay high energy, they didn't take steroids to improve their strength and bat speed (and increase the size of their heads and uniforms). Bonds will forever be known as the cheater that even he has admitted he is and his records will be forever tainted, whether anyone likes it or not.

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Posted By: John Kalafarski

John, I see you're a man of wisdom since I saw you place Ted as #2 all time.
Jay, I can see there's no way I can talk you out of your position. You try to put words in my mouth and read my mind. In your baseball world, there is no misdemeanor, no felony (coaches stealing signs is as bad as taking steroids for you). Greenies are performance enabling and not comparable to the chemical cocktail consumed by Barry. To quote Steve Somers of WFAN, "I mean, look already."

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Posted By: jay behrens

Bonds did not take PEDs in a vacuum. Most of MLB was/is doing it, batters and hitters, thus making a level playing field for this era. Let's see how well Cobb, Williams, Ruth et al, would have done against juiced up pitchers like Clemens, Schilling and others.

PEDs didn't help Mac's average. He was still an all or nothing hitter. Bonds is great hitter whether or not he took PEDs. And how much better a hitter than everyone else is bore out in the numbers. PEDs is a strawman for comparing him to his peers since his peers were juiced up too.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Not everyone was taking steroids. Even less admitted it (of course, Bonds was one of the few that actually admitted he took steroids). For that reason alone, Bonds's accomplishments will be tainted. With all the talent he had he could have been thought of as one of the greatest. Instead, he'll go down in history as a cheater.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Bonds has NOT admitted to anything other than taking a clear cream that his trainer gave him. He never claimed it was steroids, HGH or any other PED.

It doesn't matter that everyone in MLB did not take PEDs. The fact is, most have, so Bonds performance was not done in a vacuum, and he certainly isn't the first player to cheat or try to take advantage of the rules to be the best.

I wish I had kept response on SABR-l about who used PEDs. Some listed all the "symptoms" that Maris suffered during his run to 61. He had all the signs that would today get labled as a steroid user.

People need to quit acting like Bonds is the first person to cheat. He certainly won't be the last. I hope all you people that hate Bonds so much have as much disdain for Cobb, as he was just as horrible, if not a worst person than Bonds and would do anything, including cheat, to be the best in the game.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Having read a lot about Cobb, I'd have to say I'd take him over Bonds every day of the week (which speaks volumes about what a lowlife Barry Bonds is). Edited to add: Unlike Bonds who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had Willie Mays as a godfather, Cobb's mother shot his father to death just as Cobb was to begin his professional career as a teenager. Unlike Bonds, who was coddled for his athletic abilities probably since he began to crawl as a baby, Cobb was badly abused by teammates during his first couple years in the bigs and had little or no support from others. So, while Cobb had some bad personality traits at least a large part of his behavior can be traced back to some defining events in his life. Bonds is just a lowlife who is hated by nearly every person he comes in contact with and most of those who don't.

Bonds admitted to using the "clear and the cream" that he received from Greg Anderson and has claimed he was unaware that the clear and the cream were banned substances. So, he admitted using banned substances even if he claims he did so without knowing what they were at the time. Of course, this is a lie as there are dozens of witnesses who have already stated that Bonds knowingly took steroids. There are also calenders with notations on them that corroborate the claim that Bonds took steroids. Indeed, Greg Anderson is in prison as we speak solely to protect Barry Bonds; there really is no other reason for him to refuse to answer questions under oath about Bonds. Again, if the crime were taking steroids Bonds would have already been indicted and convicted. Instead, Bonds is the focus of a grand jury probe for perjury which is a tough crime to prove as the feds need to prove materiality and intent to lie.

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Posted By: Brett

Bonds and the rest of the steroid users should be banned from the list and banned from baseball.

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Posted By: joe brennan

I don't care if this is from 1998 or 2098 -- Ty Cobb can never be behind Wille Mays


I agree 100%. Babe Ruth was the greatest homerun hitter of all time and Ty Cobb was the greatest baseball player of all time. Put them in any order you want as long as they are 1 and 2.

In Rememberance of James W. Brennan Sr. 1924-1982. Dad, thanks for everything you did for me.

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Posted By: CN

Joe, when you say that Ty Cobb can never be behind Willie Mays that is a very strong opinion. I would agree that both should be in the top 10 and probably top 5 non-pitchers listed but I think when you get to the top of the list except for Ruth you can make a case for about a half dozen players. Gehrig,Dimaggio, Williams,Aaron and Musial for the #2 spot. CN

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Hey Brett,get that list of steroid users over to us as soon as you know,its at least 4 digits worth of players. Anyone who singles one player out in the last 20+ years is doing it out of personal prejudice against that player.I have no proof of any player being clean so im not going to assume any of them are,and that goes for any sport,and im not going to care which are because of that. People need to learn their baseball history and put things into historical perspective,thats the most important thing.If you cant separate generations then theres no reason to care about all-time rankings so why bother even discussing it.

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Posted By: Brett

I'm tired of hearing how "great" barry bonds is. Hes king of the 'roids as far as i'm concerned. I hate him and every other steroid user. Cheating like that should NOT be in the game, or any other game for that matter.

Alot of you seem to rank Cobb very low. I think some people hate Cobb because hes "racist" and tend to rank alot lower than he should. How can you not rank Cobb # 1 or 2 ?? The guy had 23 straight seasons over .300 ! career batting AVG of .367, over 4000 hits... led the league in hitting a dozen times, over 2200 runs scored, 892 stolen bases, over 700 doubles, almost 300 triples, hit over .400 3 times, had over 1900 RBI.... i mean the list is endless. Is there any other major leaguer that can say they accomplished all of that ?? For someone to AVG over .360 for 24 seasons is just crazy...

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Posted By: peter chao

Brett,

Mays had the edge in two facets of the game over Cobb. He was a better fielder and had more power. He also might might have been just as good on the basepaths too but he tried to conserve himself because he knew that his team needed his bat.

Mays often showed off his baserunning skills in the All-Star games and sometimes batted lead-off.

You cannot say that they were wrong in picking Mays over Cobb.

Peter

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Posted By: jay behrens

Bonds may be the "king of roids" according to you, but it still doesn't diminish the fact that he is the greatest hitter most of us have ever seen.

Just imagine if Cobb played today; bitter racist, physical assault on numerous occasions, allegations of murder and attempted murder. Plus, he cheated in every way possible. This is a far worse person on all levels than Bonds, but almost everyone here reveres Cobb as some sort of god while despising Bonds for crimes far less worse than Cobb's. I have no doubt that if Cobb had the chance to use PEDs, he would have been all over it. So save us the sanctimonious crap. There are people in the HOF that are much worse than Bonds.

Here's another question that everyone loves to duck, would you despise Roger Clemens as much if the same circumstantial evidence existed against him that exists against Bonds? He shows all the same physical characteristics that everyone claims proves that Bonds uses. And just imagine if Bonds made that contract demands that Clemens does. Just imagine the outrage.

Just to clarify for the new people, I'm not a Bonds apologist. I have no doubt he uses PEDs, along with most other MLBers and professional athletes. It just irks me that people say Bonds doesn't belong in HOF, on an all-time great list, etc because he cheated. Put simply, everyone cheats, every since the game began. As John pointed out, it's never been proven that there is one player that has not taken PEDs, so it's best to just assume that everyone uses because you have a better chance of being correct with that assumption than if you assume no one uses.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Brett

I think Ty Cobb had the most votes in getting into the Hall of Fame for a reason. To get more votes than Babe Ruth.. now THATS SAYING SOMETHING !

You also can't blame Cobb for not having the power. He played most of his career in the dead ball era. You make it sound like its Cobbs fault for hitting 40 HRs a year. I think this has something to do with it:

"Before 1920, it was very common for a baseball to be in play for over 100 pitches, as in cricket. A ball would be used until it started to unravel. The early baseball leagues were very cost-conscious, so fans would have to throw back balls that had been hit in the stands. The longer the ball was in use the softer it would become, and hitting a heavily-used, softer ball for distance is much more difficult than hitting a new, harder one. There is also the argument that the ball itself was softer to begin with making home runs less likely."

I don't hold having "no power" against Cobb. From 1907 - 1918 Cobb finished in the top 10 in HRs every year except for 2 years and 5 times in the top 5. In his younger days, I guess you could call him a homerun hitter back then. Sure some of those were inside the park homeruns, but those old time ball parks had huge outfields...

Also, you can't say that Willie Mays was a better fielder, unless you were alive during 1905-1928... so I don't think you can make that assumption. I wasn't alive when they both played, but I think Cobbs hitting stats speak for themself. I've read that Cobb was also a great fielder in his day, so I don't know what else to say...

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Cobb was partly a product of his times regarding his racism. Bonds has less of an excuse than Cobb ever did for his boorish behavior. In addition, it is clear that Cobb suffered from mental illness; Bonds just causes other people to suffer from mental illness. Again, Bonds is worse than Cobb if you can compare people from different eras. As for Clemens, Jay, how can you say "if there was the same circumstantial evidence against Clemens that there is against Bonds would you hate him as much?" First off, there is not. And eyewitness testimony is not circumstantial by the way. I can't stand Clemens and I'd hate him more if I was sure he was a jucier which, unlike as to Bonds, I can't say that with certainty. And some people seem to actually like Clemens (why I don't know) and very, very few people like Bonds including his teammates (one of which he threw under the bus last winter).

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Posted By: calleocho

The 2005 Sporting News Top 100

1 Babe Ruth
2 Willie Mays
3 Ty Cobb
4 Walter Johnson
5 Hank Aaron
6 Barry Bonds
7 Lou Gehrig
8 Christy Mathewson
9 Ted Williams
10 Rogers Hornsby
11 Stan Musial
12 Joe DiMaggio
13 Pete Alexander
14 Honus Wagner
15 Roger Clemens
16 Cy Young
17 Jimmie Foxx
18 Johnny Bench
19 Mickey Mantle
20 Josh Gibson
21 Satchel Paige
22 Roberto Clemente
23 Warren Spahn
24 Frank Robinson
25 Lefty Grove
26 Eddie Collins
27 Pete Rose
28 Sandy Koufax
29 Tris Speaker
30 Mike Schmidt
31 Napoleon LaJoie
32 Steve Carlton
33 Bob Gibson
34 Tom Seaver
35 George Sisler
36 Joe Jackson
37 Bob Feller
38 Hank Greenberg
39 Ernie Banks
40 Yogi Berra
41 Nolan Ryan
42 Mel Ott
43 Al Simmons
44 Jackie Robinson
45 Carl Hubbell
46 Charley Gehringer
47 Buck Leonard
48 Reggie Jackson
49 Roy Campanella
50 Rickey Henderson
51 Greg Maddux
52 Whitey Ford
53 Harry Heilmann
54 George Brett
55 Willie McCovey
56 Bill Dickey
57 Tony Gwynn
58 Lou Brock
59 Bill Terry
60 Randy Johnson
61 Joe Morgan
62 Rod Carew
63 Paul Waner
64 Eddie Mathews
65 Jim Palmer
66 Mickey Cochrane
67 Cool Papa Bell
68 Oscar Charleston
69 Eddie Plank
70 Alex Rodriguez
71 Harmon Killebrew
72 Pie Traynor
73 Juan Marichal
74 Carl Yastrzemski
75 Lefty Gomez
76 Robin Roberts
77 Willie Keeler
78 Al Kaline
79 Cal Ripken, Jr.
80 Eddie Murray
81 Joe Medwick
82 Brooks Robinson
83 Willie Stargell
84 Mark McGwire
85 Ed Walsh
86 Duke Snider
87 Sam Crawford
88 Dizzy Dean
89 Ozzie Smith
90 Frank Frisch
91 Ralph Kiner
92 Chuck Klein
93 Ken Griffey, Jr.
94 Wade Boggs
95 Sammy Sosa
96 Dave Winfield
97 Derek Jeter
98 Gaylord Perry
99 Dennis Eckersley
100 Paul Molitor

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Posted By: Lee

IMO, I think Satchel Paige is a bit low at #19....

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Posted By: jay behrens

It might be true that Cobb was a product of his time, but during his time, the press didn't pry into player's personal lives the way they do today, yet we know of all these horrific things about Cobb. How much more would be known about Cobb if he had been under the same scrutiny that Bonds is? Also, how do you know if Bonds doesn't from some mental illness? If it is later proven that Bonds does have a mental illness, do you suddenly forgive him for all his actions? I get the feeling that most people would be think that's it just a story to try and cover up Bonds poor behaviour.

Cobb was a horrible and despicable person, even for his time. More so than Bonds is today.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

The difference between Cobb's and Bonds's behavior is that there are a number of things in Cobb's history that you can point to as triggers; as for Bonds, he's had nothing but an easy life since birth and has generally treated people around him like crap. For that reason alone, I would take Cobb over Bonds. More importantly, history has been kind to Cobb (and although despised at the time, Cobb was thought of as the greatest player in baseball history during his prime). Not so to Barry who is already dismissed and hated by most of baseball and will forever be viewed as a cheat.

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Posted By: Peter Spaeth

Honus Wagner only 14th? No way.

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Posted By: jay behrens

I love it, more excuses for Cobb I'm sorry, but I don't care what your upbringing and background are, you can overcome them or let them swallow you up. Making excuses for Cobb's despicable behaviour is sad, at best. Like Bonds, he was a cheat, a miserable human being and a great baseball player. Cobb just didn't have to sufferer the microscope of the modern day press. It would be interesting to see if he could have handled it.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Mark L

Peter,
It's possible to rank Wagner 14th only if you ignore how much defense and pitching dominated baseball during the first decade or two of the last century. He put up competitive career numbers in hits, ops., total bases, runs created, etc. during an era when the league batting average was in the .240's. The pitchers weren't on steroids but they threw spitballs, emery balls, etc. and kept using them until they turned black.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Jay, you're trying desperately to get someone to admit that the reason Bonds is viewed differently than Cobb and Clemens is due to racism. Sorry, that dog won't hunt. The reason Bonds is hated more than the two of them combined is because he has worse character traits than the two of them combined. Ever think that maybe Cobb would be more careful about his behavior if the modern day press was on his ass 24/7?

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Posted By: Mark

"Again, Bonds is worse than Cobb if you can compare people from different eras."

So Jeff, you're saying that being a jerk to the media in 2007 is akin to nearly beating minorities and cripples to death 90 years ago?

I guess it will surprise you to learn that ESPN rated Ty Cobb the "all-time least likable ballplayer":
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/unlikeable/010813.html>

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Marcus, not to compare apples to oranges but Bonds has been accused of beating his girlfriend, no? No doubt Cobb was a nut - a true psychopath in all senses of the word. But as I've said, Cobb suffered from severe mental illness, suffered through ridiculous family stress (mother killing his father) and was from an era where racism was acceptable behavior. Bonds on the other had a much more privileged upbringing.

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Posted By: Brett

Cobbs behaviour has nothing to do with it at all. Hes being ranked on his baseball skills, not how great of a human being he is. Just because he might have been an arsehole back then doesn't mean you should rank him lower. I hate Bonds because he cheated or is still cheating, not because hes an arsehole. Now the cheater is going to break the homerun record. I'm assuming after A-Rod will pass Bonds on the all time list, then Pujols will pass A-Rod. Gotta love the "steroid era" of Major League baseball

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Posted By: jay behrens

Just because Bonds grew up in a family that had a father for a MLBer and more money than most people does not mean that his was any easier than anyone else's. Rich families still beat and abuse their kids and can suffer the same horrible childhood as a poor kid. The msot messed up people I know come from rich families. It's the ones from lower income families that seem the best adjusted.

You don't think Bonds' upbringing didn't make him the social ingrate that he is? If you can use Cobb's upbringing as excuse to let his horrific behaviour slide, then why doesn't Bonds' upbringing excuse him from his social ills? And don't say he had a better childhood becuase of money again again. Even you should know that's a silly argument.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Brett, you are forgetting that Cobb was one of the biggest cheaters of the day. Why is that excusable? He and Tris Speaker are lucky they didn't get lifetime bans for fixing games.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.