Best Player You've Seen, Best Player You've Met.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

I saw Hank play several times so he's the best I've seen (I assume you meant 'in person') - My cousin Whitlow Wyatt was the best I ever met.

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I did mean in person! Thanks for clarification. I assume you've seen a lot of other greats as well! I did not know of your cousin, so I gave him a search, was pleasently surprised to see he played all throughout the 30s. I'm sure he had some fantastic stories about the Legends of our game. Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx etc. Also pretty incredible to remember that these ballplayers are just people, with their own lives and families.

I also found this old article, with some quotes and stories from your cousin. I'm sure you've seen it as well, but I linked it below.

https://greensboro.com/article_d0f68...88353f6b0.html

[earlywynnfan]

Saw Lebron once, hard to beat that.

For baseball, just to tie in on a main page discussion/argument, Albert Belle in 1995 was the absolute sh*t. Either going to the games or watching on TV, he was an unstoppable beast. Until he met the Braves and their expanded strike zone in the WS, that is.

[mikemb]

I've seen about 10 players that were greats of the game but if I had to choose one I would pick Roberto Clemente.

Greatest plyer I met was Brooks Robinson.

Mike

[Peter_Spaeth]

A few good players were in this game I saw.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/a...tar-game.shtml

[bnorth]

I have seen Roger Clemens pitch several times.
For contact hitter I have seen Wade Boggs play easily a 100 times.
For home run hitter I would go with Sammy Sosa the only guy to hit over 60 three times.

Only player I have ever talked with is Tony Oliva.

[Writehooks]

I was lucky to be a sportswriter for 45 years, and was privileged to see and meet many of the best. By far the greatest -- both literally and figuratively -- was Muhammad Ali, who I interviewed a dozen tmes between 1977-98. George Foreman was a close second in boxing. In hockey, Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur are at the top of my list, while in baseball it would be Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter. From 2004-20 I was based in Beijing as a columnist for the largest English-language publication in China and usually got the first interview with visiting stars. Dennis Rodman, LeBron James, Tom Brady and Roger Federer were terrific; Jordan not so much.

[Jim65]

Greatest player I ever saw play: Wayne Gretzky
Greatest player I ever met: Not the greatest but definitely my favorite: Mookie Wilson

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

A few good players were in this game I saw.


https://www.baseball-reference.com/a...tar-game.shtml

I was at this one:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/a...tar-game.shtml

and Hank was still the best I ever saw play in person - as a matter of fact, his homer in the above-mentioned game landed fairly close to our seats.


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[Eric72]

I saw Dwight Gooden pitch in the mid-80's. My seat was along the 3rd base line. I was a teenager with young, sharp eyes. It was still challenging to track the ball all the way to the catcher's mitt. Watching him throw a curve was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen person...it was a thing of absolute beauty.

I met Brooks Robinson at a card show around the same time in my life. He was the autograph guest. Nicest person you'd ever want to meet. The crowd wasn't too large, so I actually got to speak with him for a moment or two. He thanked me for coming to the show and stopping by to see him. Very gracious and classy guy.

Odd fact: Brooks threw right-handed; however, he signed autographs left-handed.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by Seven

I did mean in person! Thanks for clarification. I assume you've seen a lot of other greats as well! I did not know of your cousin, so I gave him a search, was pleasently surprised to see he played all throughout the 30s. I'm sure he had some fantastic stories about the Legends of our game. Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx etc. Also pretty incredible to remember that these ballplayers are just people, with their own lives and families.

I also found this old article, with some quotes and stories from your cousin. I'm sure you've seen it as well, but I linked it below.

https://greensboro.com/article_d0f68...88353f6b0.html

I didn't meet him until he became the first pitching coach of the Braves when they moved down to Georgia.

Here's a Type 1 press photo of him jawing with DiMaggio in the '41 series:

1941 WS Photo - Whitlow v. JoeD a.jpg

1941 WS Photo - Whitlow v. JoeD Back.jpg

[MarcosCards]

Best ever that I saw play would be Al Kaline - my boyhood sports hero.
Nicest player I’ve met - Brooks Robinson.

[commishbob]

Just keeping to baseball, the best I've ever seen play in person was Willie Mays. The best player I've ever met, as in 'had a conversation with' would be either Frank Robinson or Roger Clemens.