Barely OT: ESPN Ranking Greatest Players

[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"

[Gecklund311]

That is where people usually differ when it comes to Robinson's place on these kind of lists - some want to give him extra points for historical impact while others like myself will ignore it. To me, his legacy is best seen by looking at the list itself, and seeing Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Bob Gibson, Frank Robinson, etc - players who may not have been on there if not for Jackie Robinson's courage.

I don't know enough about the exact methods James uses to rebut him in an informed way, but if I'm making the list Robinson probably comes in fifth at his position and likely between 60 and 70 overall. Hornsby, Collins, Joe Morgan, and Lajoie would be ahead of him in that order, with Robinson next just ahead of Gehringer and Biggio. Longevity was really Robinson's huge issue, through no fault of his own as he got started late, but he only had a five year stretch where you could call him great.

[glynparson]

10 Mike Schmidt
9 Hank Aaron
8 Lou Gehrig
7 Stan Musial
6 Ted Williams
5 Honus Wagner
4 Willie Mays
3 Ty Cobb
2 Barry Bonds
1 Babe Ruth


I made list based on how they were against contemporaries in my opinion. I dont know what the espn criteria was. If it was who would be thebest in todays game list would be different and i filed to include a single pitcher.PS I actually hated Schmidt growing up but he was a true force for a decade+. And an amazing defensive player as well.

[prewarsports]

Before Griffey got traded to Cincinnati, Sports Illustrated did a similar type thing and Griffey was ranked number 3 best player EVER (around 2000 so not a rookie year thing) and I dont think anyone at that time disagreed. He was as much of a Baseball phenomenon as anyone since Willie Mays and his impact on the game is the reason half the guys my age started to collect Baseball Cards etc. I think he should still be in the top 10 for sure. He gets hammered because his numbers were constantly overshadowed by the roid guys because he was putting up 56-58 home runs when guys like Bonds, McGwire and Sosa were jacking 70. His name has never been linked to roids ever and he gets the shaft (in my opinion).

Rhys