Greatest Living Players - Top 5

[Fuddjcal]

Originally Posted by Mark

No doubt in my mind that Mays and Aaron are the top 2. After that I'd say Seaver, Schmidt, and Maddux--but a case can be made for Koufax, and a couple of others. Trout? not quite yet. I leave out the players whose names have been associated with PED's.

a case could be made for Koufax

Dominated with a sore arm and was the best pitcher of his generation. He is top 3, though we were supposed to exclude pitchers.

[71buc]

1. Mays
2. Aaron
3. Henderson
4. Griffey Jr.
5. Trout

[clydepepper]

IMO, some (ooops! make that a few) of you guys are WAY, WAY OFF!

I think Mays and Aaron are a cut above the rest.

...and I don't rank cheaters...but, that's just me and my bothersome standards.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

IMO, some (ooops! make that a few) of you guys are WAY, WAY OFF!

I think Mays and Aaron are a cut above the rest.

...and I don't rank cheaters...but, that's just me and my bothersome standards.

I would agree that Mays and Aaron the top 2, but Griffey Jr. would have to be #3 in my opinion (among non-pitchers). Hadn't looked at the stats for Pujols for a while because his career hasn't been as prominent while with the Angels, but they make a strong case for number 4. After that, some great candidates for #5: Schmidt, Murray, Brett, Bench, etc. Trout on a trajectory to get there, and I think he will, but we'll have to wait, enjoy watching him, and see if the continues his greatness.

[71buc]

When I included Trout on my list I thought it was crazy as well. Nonetheless the question was who is the greatest living player. I think the 8 seasons he has produced are impossible to deny. I'm not even an Angels fan but I believe we are already witnessing one of the top 5 players in the history of the game and at age 28 he is entering his prime. He is so damn good people forget he is only one year older than Machado and Harper.

Trout vs. All-Time Leaders Through Age-27 Seasons

HR TROUT 240 Barry Bonds 142
HITS TROUT 1,187 Pete Rose 899
BASES TROUT 2,219 Hank Aaron 2,305
RUNS TROUT 793 Rickey Henderson 732
WALKS TROUT 693 Barry Bonds 484

His first Eight seasons have produced a Rookie of the year, two MVP Awards, Finished second in MVP voting 4 times and ranked 4th once. He has earned
Six Silver Slugger Awards, Seven All Star Games, twice named as All Star Game MVP

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 71buc

When I included Trout on my list I thought it was crazy as well. Nonetheless the question was who is the greatest living player. I think the 8 seasons he has produced are impossible to deny. I'm not even an Angels fan but I believe we are already witnessing one of the top 5 players in the history of the game and at age 28 he is entering his prime. He is so damn good people forget he is only one year older than Machado and Harper.

Trout vs. All-Time Leaders Through Age-27 Seasons

HR TROUT 240 Barry Bonds 142
HITS TROUT 1,187 Pete Rose 899
BASES TROUT 2,219 Hank Aaron 2,305
RUNS TROUT 793 Rickey Henderson 732
WALKS TROUT 693 Barry Bonds 484

His first Eight seasons have produced a Rookie of the year, two MVP Awards, Finished second in MVP voting 4 times and ranked 4th once. He has earned
Six Silver Slugger Awards, Seven All Star Games, twice named as All Star Game MVP

He should have better #s at age 27 because he played more years/games at age 27 than any of the other players you compared him to.

Here is some more #s using the same criteria you used.
HR Trout 240 HR A Rod 345 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Hits Trout 1,187 Ty Cobb 1,727 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Bases Trout 2,219 A Rod 2,899 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Runs Trout 793 Mel Ott 1.032 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Walks Trout 693 Mickey Mantle 892 Finally a list Trout is really on. He is #10

I did find Trout in one more top ten through age 27 list. He it tied at #6 with Jose Canseco for most strikeouts at 998.

[Jim65]

I understand Nolan Ryans popularity but Top 5 living player? Ahead of Seaver? No way.

[71buc]

Originally Posted by bnorth

He should have better #s at age 27 because he played more years/games at age 27 than any of the other players you compared him to.

Here is some more #s using the same criteria you used.
HR Trout 240 HR A Rod 345 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Hits Trout 1,187 Ty Cobb 1,727 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Bases Trout 2,219 A Rod 2,899 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Runs Trout 793 Mel Ott 1.032 Trout isn't even in the top 10 at age 27
Walks Trout 693 Mickey Mantle 892 Finally a list Trout is really on. He is #10

I did find Trout in one more top ten through age 27 list. He it tied at #6 with Jose Canseco for most strikeouts at 998.

You almost lost me at A-Rod. No arguements here when comparing him to the overall best numbers at age 27. However, I was comparing him to the all time leaders in those individual categories at age 27.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

IMO, some (ooops! make that a few) of you guys are WAY, WAY OFF!

I think Mays and Aaron are a cut above the rest.

...and I don't rank cheaters...but, that's just me and my bothersome standards.

Almost every player has “cheated” in one form or another.

[71buc]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

Almost every player has “cheated” in one form or another.

Words of wisdom from a Giants fan Rob? I have heard similar sentiments from other Giant fans when discussing the merits of a certain ex Pirate.

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by 71buc

Words of wisdom from a Giants fan Rob? I have heard similar sentiments from other Giant fans when discussing the merits of a certain ex Pirate.

“If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.”

[Mark17]

The most difficult and important position is catcher, and Bench was the best, ever. He has to be in the top 3.

[bigfanNY]

Whoa Bench is one of my favorite Baseball players but Yogi was better.

[doug.goodman]

With the various references to Mariano Rivera in this thread, I'm sorry to say that I have a really hard time with the fact that a season consists of 1,458 innings, and on average the Yankees sat him on the bench for 1,380 of those innings.

I suppose if you are arguably one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, spending less than 6% of your career actually playing means...

I don't know what it means, I just have a hard time dealing with it.

[doug.goodman]

In his defense he spent better than 9% of the post season playing.

[Scott Garner]

Hi Doug,
I can relate to both of your posts.
Although not an everyday player as you mentioned, IMHO Mariano Rivera was the most efficient example of modern specialized pitching.
The two things that stand out in my mind as far as what made him special are:

1) How much he appeared in the postseason (your point) and how effective he really was at slamming the door on opposing hitters & ending the chance for a late inning rally.

2) The fact that he had essentially one pitch, that every hitter knew was coming, & yet they couldn't hit it, much to their frustration...

One interesting factoid that perhaps some of you don't know about is that Mariano Rivera was actually drafted by the Yankees as a shortstop, not a pitcher.
At one of his early stops in the minors a coach noticed the natural cut in his throws across the diamond and suggested the switch to pitching.

[doug.goodman]

In regards to Mariano slamming the door on the opposition...

https://www.retrosheet.org/Research/...fTheCloser.pdf


He was really good at what he was asked to do, I get it, but so was Eddie Gaedel.

Roy Gleason's average at bat produced a WAR of .1. If Mike Trout had a similar average WAR per at bat his career number would be 387 instead of 64.2

Just saying...