Top Ten (Tier 1 HOFER's)

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Posted By: Darren

My list of the cream of the crop

1. Babe Ruth
2. Ty Cobb
3. Walter Johnson
4. Christopher Mathewson
5. Ted Williams
6. Lou Gehrig
7. Cy Young
8. Honus Wagner
9. Hank Aaron
10. Rogers Hornsby

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Posted By: Joe D.

Personally (for players I would like to collect)......

1. Matty
2. Walter Johnson
3. Ty Cobb
4. Honus Wagner
5. Cy Young

my list would then go into some non-hofers -
but I think that is it for HOFs that I would actively look to collect.

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Posted By: Dave Snyder

........Rogers Hornsby.

I would replace him with Nap Lajoie, but you could make a case that Tris Speaker, Cap Anson, Stan Musial, Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle deserve it more than Hornsby does.

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Posted By: Mark Burke

took a slightly different approach, by position....
TY COBB CF
ROGERS HORNSBY2B
TED WILLIAMSLF
BABE RUTHRF
LOU GEHRIG1B
Honus WagnerSS
Johnny BenchC
Walter JohnsonRHP
Sandy KoufaxLHP

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Posted By: Jay

My list is: Ruth, Cobb, Johnson, Gehrig, Williams, Hornsby, Mathewson, Wagner, Mays, Dimaggio.

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Posted By: Bobby Binder

Walter Johnson
Ty Cobb
George Sisler
Babe Ruth
Jimmie Foxx
Cy Young
Christy Mathewson
Honus Wagner
Eddie Plank
Lou Gehrig

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Posted By: Richard

Ruth
Cobb
Wagner
Matty
Johnson
Young
Gehrig
Dimaggio
Lajoie
Hornsby

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted By: Chad

It's Bullet Joe Rogan and Martin Dihigo!

My Negro League top ten:

Charleston
Gibson
Rogan
Dihigo
Paige
Lloyd
Wells
Torriente
Jud Wilson
Turkey Stearnes

Vintage MLB top 10

Ruth
Wagner
Gehrig
Johnson
Mathewson
Cobb
Speaker
Young
Delahanty
Collins


--Chad

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Posted By: Ted Zanidakis

PLAYER (years)

Johnson (21)
Mathewson (17)
Plank (17)
CYoung (22)

Anson (22)
Foxx (20)
Gehrig (17)
Hornsby (23)
Ruth (22)
Ted Williams (19)

And, #11 is Joe DiMaggio....how anyone can omit DiMag, I don't understand. He played for only 13 years....
served 3 years in WWII....But, was on 11 Championship teams in his short career. No other player has that
kind of success....was he lucky because he was Yankee, perhaps; but without Joe, I don't think the Yankees
would have been as successful.

TED Z

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Posted By: Steve Parmentier

In 1936, first year HOF ballot was:
1. Cobb
2. Ruth
3. W.Johnson
The baseball writers thought these the 2 best position players and the best pitcher.
4. Lou Gehrig - voted in special early
The next 3 slots go players whose were simply most dominant during their prime.
5. Mickey Mantle - never saw him, but on those old HR derby shows, he hit them harder, further, and more often than all of 'em. MVP awards and Championships, he's got 'em.
6. Koufax - considered God by many
7. Nolan Ryan - how many no-hitters if he pitched on a raised mound like Koufax did? I have complete game video of his 5th no-no in 1981 vs. Dodgers - A curve ball CANNOT get any better! And I hear he had a decent fastball as well.
The next 2 slots go to players I want if I must win a 7 game series.
8. Pete Rose - actually very similar to Cobb in many respects.
9. Stan Musial - Stat guy Bill James has him ranked #1 in MVP award shares.
Last but not least, maybe even first - Satchel Paige.

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Posted By: dennis

1900-1920---cobb & wagner
1920-1940---ruth gehrig
1940-1960---musial ted williams joe dimaggio
1960-2000---mays mantle aaron
we need a separate catagory for pitchers or a top 30 at least! i picked these as i feel they were not only the best of their times but also the most famous of their times

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I would include Willie Mays. I'm not even against including Mike Schmidt, a slick
fielding power hitter at a key position.

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Posted By: T206Collector

Just to correct that Matty finished higher than Johnson....

History of BBWAA Hall of Fame Voting
1936 Election

Total ballots cast: 226 Necessary for election: 170

Name Votes PCT
Ty Cobb 222 98.23
Babe Ruth 215 95.13
Honus Wagner 215 95.13
Christy Mathewson 205 90.71
Walter Johnson 189 83.63

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Posted By: Dylan

How bout an all-time pitching staff?
Starters
S. Koufax
P. Alexander
C. Mathewson
W. Johnson
R. Clemens

Out of the bullpen
D. Dean
L. Grove
M. Rivera
B. Gibson
N. Ryan

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Posted By: Wesley

Hard to compare pitchers with other position players, but here is my list.

Ruth
Cobb
Wagner
Matty
Johnson
Young
Mantle
Mays
Aaron
Gehrig

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Posted By: Steve Parmentier

Thx for correction in Matty scoring higher than Johnson. Then gimme Mathewson instead.

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Posted By: Sean Coe

My List:

1. Ruth
2. Mays
3. Walter Johnson
4. Satchel Paige
5. Cobb
6. Wagner
7. Gehrig
8. Ted Williams
9. Aaron
10.Mathewson

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Posted By: Jeff Prizner

keepin' it pre-war

Ruth
Cobb
Johnson
Matty
Wagner
Young
Speaker
Lajoie
Plank
Collins

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Posted By: JimB

1900-1945 Top Tier
Cobb
Wagner
Matty
Johnson
Young
Ruth
Gerhig
DiMaggio
Williams
Jackson (I know he is not in the Hall, but he is collected as if he were)

2nd Tier
Lajoie
Speaker
Plank
Foxx
Hubbel

3rd Tier
M. Brown
Joss
Tinker
Evers
Chance

4th Tier
All other HOFs

This is off the top of my head so I may be forgetting some that belong in their.
JimB

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Posted By: James Gallo

I find it very interesting that no one here has even suggested any player that is post a 1950s era. Even then there are only a couple mentioned the big 4-5.

So does this mean that all the pre-war players were far greatly then everyone after?

Will any "modern" day player even be spoken of in the way or compared to these pre-war greats?


James Gallo

Looking for 1915 Cracker Jacks and 1909-11 American Caramel E90-1.

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Posted By: peter chao

James,

People on this thread are probably biased to start with. Also, we are on the cautious side and probably to some extent following Bill James (stats guru) approach. It's really difficult to evaluate a modern day player with any objectivity.

One example is Barry Bonds, one day we may think of a batter taking steroids as being no more different than a pitcher throwing a spitter, if that ever happens then Barry may very well be in the top 10.

However, right now it's better to be on the safe side and say he isn't and may never be.

Peter

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Posted By: JimB

James,
I preumed it was Pre-War since that is the focus of the forum. I'm sure others did the same. If we were to include the '50's and '60's that would of course include:

Mantle
Mays
Aaron
Clemente
Koufax
Robinson
Paige

JimB

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Posted By: E, Daniel

If I can throw in post 50's players, these men would all have been around the money in my top 10, fully interchangable with most of the lists created thus far of pre-war. I think we have and do romaticize players from the earliest times in baseball, and that a pure evaluation of their talents against post war players would in the end prove somewhat of a wash.

Musial
Mays
Mantle
Williams
Koufax
Gibson
Rose
Ryan
Clemens
Bonds
Jeter

Honorable mention Ozzie Smith for making one skill set look completely different and extraordinary compared to any time before and after.


Daniel

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Posted By: Jay

I just want to point out that Babe Ruth might have made this list solely as a pitcher:
1. Babe Ruth
2. Ty Cobb
3. Honus Wagner (just because I'm biased from T206)
4. Walter Johnson
4a. Christy Mathewson
6. Lou Gehrig
7. Nap Lajoie
8. Mickey Mantle
9. Ted Williams
10. Joe DiMaggio (also biased because I'm a Yankees fan)

Regards to all
Jay Kaplan
T206kid

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Posted By: Noel

1) Ruth
2) Mays
3) Cobb
4) Williams
5) Gehrig
6) Mathewson
7) Dimaggio
8) Wagner
9) Speaker
10) Musial

My top seven are pretty firm but I think you could plug in Walter Johnson, Bonds, Hornsby, Sisler, Aaron, Foxx, Koufax, Alexander and Grove anywhere after #8 and it would fit. Good question and very tough picking just 10.

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Posted By: Dylan

i cant believe everyone left grover alexander off their lists, look at his career!