Barely OT: ESPN Ranking Greatest Players

[Peter_Spaeth]

Pedro at his peak was as good as or better than anyone. His career stats of course fall short of some of the pitchers with more longevity.

[CMIZ5290]

I dont get the hype either over Joe Morgan, come on, are you kidding me?

[Gecklund311]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

I dont get the hype either over Joe Morgan, come on, are you kidding me?

Outside of Hornsby's 1920-1925, Joe Morgan's 1972-1977 is probably the best stretch by a second baseman in the history of baseball. He could hit for average and power, stole 50+ bases, walked 100+ times a year, and was a gold glove fielder.

His announcing career hasn't helped his image, as people tend to be annoyed by him, and that opinion seems to bleed over to the image of him as a player. I wouldn't have ranked him as highly as ESPN, but a spot around number 30 seems about right.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Pedro at his peak was as good as or better than anyone. His career stats of course fall short of some of the pitchers with more longevity.

He was one of the best for a certain number of seasons, (12 great seasons) 11 in a row (also 3 of them his ERA was mid to Hi 3's)- BUT some of the grates pitched great for longer.

[isaac2004]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Pedro at his peak was as good as or better than anyone. His career stats of course fall short of some of the pitchers with more longevity.

I think thats the point of this ranking, not who had the best career, but who was the best player taking into account "prime" years. I agree Pedro was insane those few years, but I stil can't see him ranked that high... I think Koufax would be way higher, but he is taxed because he didnt play long enough

[WWGjohn]

When I saw they included all the "roid & HGH" players, I dismissed the whole project.

John

[packs]

To me if this list is based on pure ability and talent Ken Griffey Jr. is the second best baseball player of all time behind Ruth.

I'm very surprised that Rube Waddell and Dazzy Vance were both excluded from the Top 50. When Waddell played he was the most dominating pitcher to ever play Major League baseball. And Vance was just as dominating. How many guys lead the league in strikeouts 7 years in a row?

[EvilKing00]

Griffey at 34 is a joke, he should be way closer to the top 20

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

Griffey at 34 is a joke, he should be way closer to the top 20

i don't agree, I love Griffey but his batting average was never that good, his walks were so-so, and as great as he was in the 90s he only won one MVP. Not a top 20 of all time by any means in my view. Maybe the 6th best CF of all time behind Cobb Mays Speaker Dimaggio and Mantle.

[oldjudge]

Steroids or no steroids I think Cobb should be ranked number three (if not higher). Remember, the people who saw both Cobb and Ruth gave Cobb more HOF votes (and it wasn't like Cobb was loved). I think Bonds is rated way too high, Clemens too high(and I have always been a huge Roger Clemens fan), Mantle too high, Hornsby way too low. My order would be:

Ruth, Cobb, Mays, Aaron, Hornsby, Johnson, Gehrig, Wagner, Williams, Henderson, .........

[bender07]

Originally Posted by WWGjohn

When I saw they included all the "roid & HGH" players, I dismissed the whole project.

John

+1

[z28jd]

The problem with that thinking on the "roid" players is who can you positively confirm never did anything that is now against MLB rules? The answer is 100% absolutely no one that has played since the 70's and then before that, we all have heard the stories about how easy it was to get pills. Basically, if you could walk into the clubhouse, you could get amphetamines in the 60's. So unless you want to do a list of only pre-1950 players, then you're going to have to include everyone who has played. Just because someone like Jeter or Larkin didn't get caught, doesn't mean they didn't do it, so don't pretend like 10-15 people are guilty and everyone else was clean during an era with no rules in place against it.

Thinking that way, I have no problem seeing a list of the top 100 players pre-1950, definitely would be more interesting than this list.

[michael3322]

Totally agree. What's the point of such a list with the juicers? Some of their descriptions don't even mention the steroids (eg. Mark Steroid McGwire, Manny Suspended for Steroids Ramirez)Really?

Chipper Jones is better than Jackie Robinson? Really?

Bagwell was better than Frank Thomas? Really?

Biggio is the 90th best ballplayer in history? Really?

How can anyone take this list seriously?

[packs]

Frank Thomas is a guy I think is criminally overlooked. He was incredible in his peak years.

[brob28]

Originally Posted by packs

Frank Thomas is a guy I think is criminally overlooked. He was incredible in his peak years.

I would agree, I think the years/partial seasons he lost to injuries hurt his legacy quite a bit. The only offensive player who was anywhere near him in the 90's was Griffey.

[Gecklund311]

Originally Posted by michael3322

Chipper Jones is better than Jackie Robinson? Really?

Yes

Chipper Jones was a heck of a hitter for a very long time - after his rookie season, he drove in 100 runs or more the next 8 years in a row. As the capsule on the list says, he is one of only 14 players to ever have a career .300 Avg/.400 Obp/.500 Slg - he's right there with Eddie Murray as the best switch hitter not named Mickey Mantle.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by Gecklund311

Yes

Chipper Jones was a heck of a hitter for a very long time - after his rookie season, he drove in 100 runs or more the next 8 years in a row. As the capsule on the list says, he is one of only 14 players to ever have a career .300 Avg/.400 Obp/.500 Slg - he's right there with Eddie Murray as the best switch hitter not named Mickey Mantle.

As a met fan - and someone who hated chipper his whole career, he was an awesome ball player and a 1st ballot HOF, and IMO better than jackie

[michael3322]

Originally Posted by Gecklund311

Yes

Chipper Jones was a heck of a hitter for a very long time - after his rookie season, he drove in 100 runs or more the next 8 years in a row. As the capsule on the list says, he is one of only 14 players to ever have a career .300 Avg/.400 Obp/.500 Slg - he's right there with Eddie Murray as the best switch hitter not named Mickey Mantle.

You make a good case. I guess I was looking more broadly at what Jackie did for baseball and the country.

From his Wikipedia page...

"In 1999, he was named by Time on its list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Also in 1999, he ranked number 44 on the Sporting News list of Baseball's 100 Greatest Players and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team as the top vote-getter among second basemen. Baseball writer Bill James, in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, ranked Robinson as the 32nd greatest player of all time strictly on the basis of his performance on the field, noting that he was one of the top players in the league throughout his career"