ESPN Top 100

[JustinD]

Not a horrible list. Off hand the Yankee association really moved Jeter unreasonably far up that list, but I am sure someone will disagree. No list will keep everyone happy, but I have seen far worse. I am happy that the list writer added some history in there versus the usual of having a list of 90% players after 85'.

[Wanaselja]

Jeter at #28 is laughable (yes, I am a Met fan).

[Peter_Spaeth]

IMO Pedro, Jeter, Clemente, Rivera, Ortiz too high.

[CobbSpikedMe]

How did Pedro get #11?



.

[D. Bergin]

Finally! A list everybody can agree on!

[BobbyStrawberry]

Where is Hyun-Jin Ryu?!

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Where is Hyun-Jin Ryu?!

#101 Just missed the cut.

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

#101 Just missed the cut.

Lol.

[Golfcollector]

I am biased but find it disappointing that Sam Crawford didn't make this list....

[BobC]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Where is Hyun-Jin Ryu?!

Fabulous question, he's sooooooo much better than Warren Spahn, right? LOL

[BobC]

Here's another one I think is a real head scratcher. They have Ichiro at only #46!!!

I don't know how ESPN made their decisions and selections, but to me this is a real travesty. Especially if they are only going by his MLB record and stats. Because if so, Ichiro is being placed in a similar situation as to what was done to the Negro League players before it was recently decided to count those leagues as equivalent to the rest of MLB. And not unlike the Negro players, Japanese players apparently faced their own discrimination and bias from being allowed to play in the major leagues. Why else would it take all the way till 2001 for Ichiro to become the very first ever Japanese born person to be signed to a MLB contract and actually play as an everyday position player for a major league team? Or are you going to tell me in the long history of the Japanese leagues there wasn't at least one other person before Ichiro that had the talent and ability to be an everyday position player on a major league team?

When Ichiro finally signed with the Mariners in 2001, it was after he had already played nine years in the Nipon Professional Baseball league, Japan's top professional baseball league. And yes, you read that correctly, NINE YEARS more he could have possibly been adding to his major league stats, records, and legacy. As it was, his very first year in MLB he won the AL-ROY and the AL-MVP awards, and led the majors in steals to boot. He also was elected to the All-Star team his first 10 years in the majors, during which time he also won 10 consecutive Gold Glove awards, received MVP votes in 9 of those years, and even grabbed three Silver Slugger awards. He also set the record during this time as the only player in MLB history to have 200 or more hits in a season for 10 consecutive seasons, and even set the MLB record for most hits in a single season during this run. And again, this was ALL AFTER HE SPENT THE FIRST 9 YEARS OF HIS CAREER PLAYING BASEBALL IN JAPAN!!!! Really let that sink in for a couple minutes!

Had he been signed to a MLB contract early on, they probably wouldn't still be talking about Pete Rose as the all-time major league hits king. If you were to add in his Japanese league stats, like was done with the Negro League players, his numbers are even more mind boggling. The only possible knock against him was he didn't swing for the fences, but came up near the end of the steroid/PED era when the fans were so enamored of the big guys belting all the homers. Seeing Ichiro get hits like no one ever had before just didn't seem to create the same excitement and fervor as the big boppers. Also, playing the bulk of his MLB career in Seattle, especially during his best years, didn't help boost his fame and popularity with the fan base as much as it would have had he originally signed with a team like the Yankees, and spent his most productive years with them.

Still, only #46, really?!?!?!

[ClementeFanOh]

Opinion time, I'm sure this will end well

1) Aroid is wrong and Bryce Harper is laughable

2) Roberto belongs

3) Actually a decent list for the most part

Fire the cannons! Trent King

[Tyruscobb]

Shoeless Joe Jackson is 89th out of 100? This was the biggest headscratcher for me.

[chadeast]

Jeter > Foxx and Speaker? Ummm, no.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Tyruscobb

Shoeless Joe Jackson is 89th out of 100? This was the biggest headscratcher for me.

Yeah, head scratcher for me too... why was he even on the list?

Ha - could you imagine trying to get just a few people to agree on this list?

At least they probably have the #1 player selected correctly (well, at least for a third of the people that read the list...)

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Tyruscobb

Shoeless Joe Jackson is 89th out of 100? This was the biggest headscratcher for me.

+1 agree about Joe jackson

Do not understand Jeter being so high up and ahead of some greats

[oldjudge]

I can’t understand why DiMaggio ranks so low. He had a shorter career than Mantle but his batting stats per season are better and there was no comparison in the field-DiMaggio was much better.

Per 162 game season

Runs-DiMaggio -130, Mantle-113
Doubles-DiMaggio-36, Mantle-23
Triples-DiMaggio-12, Mantle-5
Homers-DiMaggio-34, Mantle-36
RBIs-DiMaggio-143, Mantle-102
BA-DiMaggio-.325, Mantle-.298
OPS-DiMaggio-.977, Mantle-.977

I think Joe D was the greatest center fielder ever although I can see an argument for Mays.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I can’t understand why DiMaggio ranks so low. He had a shorter career than Mantle but his batting stats per season are better and there was no comparison in the field-DiMaggio was much better.

Per 162 game season

Runs-DiMaggio -130, Mantle-113
Doubles-DiMaggio-36, Mantle-23
Triples-DiMaggio-12, Mantle-5
Homers-DiMaggio-34, Mantle-36
RBIs-DiMaggio-143, Mantle-102
BA-DiMaggio-.325, Mantle-.298
OPS-DiMaggio-.977, Mantle-.977

I think Joe D was the greatest center fielder ever although I can see an argument for Mays.

And yet, Mantle is comfortably ahead on WAR type stats. 4th among CF, DiMaggio is 7th. And not just longevity, Mantle is ahead in WAR7, 64 to 52. And his dWAR for whatever reason is MUCH better 9.6 to 3.2.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/l.../jaws_CF.shtml

And FWIW, Bill James rates Mantle 6th all time, DiMaggio 13th.

[Tao_Moko]

Pete Rose #34. Uhhhhh

[perezfan]

Jeter, Pedro and Bryce Harper are ranked way too high. And Bench, Speaker, Ott and Foxx are too low.

Maybe it's my eyes.... but I do not see George Sisler or Carl Hubbell anywhere on the list (I scanned it twice). If that's the case, those are two terrible omissions that compromise the credibility of the list.

[oldjudge]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

And yet, Mantle is comfortably ahead on WAR type stats. 4th among CF, DiMaggio is 7th. And not just longevity, Mantle is ahead in WAR7, 64 to 52. And his dWAR for whatever reason is MUCH better 9.6 to 3.2.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/l.../jaws_CF.shtml

And FWIW, Bill James rates Mantle 6th all time, DiMaggio 13th.

That is surely an indictment of WAR. Every person I have known who saw both play said DiMaggio was the better player. Mantle walked more but DiMaggio beat him by almost 60 total bases per 162 game season.

[Ricky]

No George Sisler.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

That is surely an indictment of WAR. Every person I have known who saw both play said DiMaggio was the better player. Mantle walked more but DiMaggio beat him by almost 60 total bases per 162 game season.

The plural of anecdote is not data, my friend. Not that he's infallible, but I have a lot of respect for Bill James. Obviously both are very very upper echelon all time greats we can agree on that.