Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?

[Lorewalker]

The game has been played over so many decades with different levels of athleticism, conditioning, rules, methods of management to name a few factors that make comparing certain players to one another almost seem unfair.

A large element to sheer offense production is determined not just by the player's talent but the line up he is part of and overall talent (or lack of) of the opposing teams he faced during his career. And when you think of greatest, you have to consider what they did for the game not just how great they were at the plate and at their position.

Ruth is the obvious answer but not sure it is the one that I am able to justify given the era in which he played and the line up he was in. Need to give this more thought.