Who was the best center fielder of all time?

[oldjudge]

Steve--I'm confused by your last statement. You clearly rank DiMaggio as the best hitting centerfielder ever. He was not just a good fielder, he was a great fielder. If he beat Mays by a decent margin on offense there is no way that Mays catches him based on defense. Mays MAY have been slightly better on defense, but DiMaggio was one of the greatest fielding centerfielders of his era.

BTW, I don't think championships mean much when ranking players. Baseball is a team game, one guy can't carry the team. Mantle on Mays' Giants don't win any more pennants than the Giants did; they may win less. Similarly, Mays replacing Mantle on the Yankees (which would have made him the first Black Yankee--they didn't rush out to sign Black ball players) would have not cost them any pennants. Might have won them an extra World Series too.