Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?

[commishbob]

I don't know the answer. All I can say for sure is that the best player I've ever watched play was Willie Mays.

[mark evans]

Originally Posted by commishbob

I don't know the answer. All I can say for sure is that the best player I've ever watched play was Willie Mays.

My sentiments exactly.

[robw1959]

Don't forget how far away the fences were in Ruth's era, and he still managed to get to 714 even with all of the 450+ foot fences and essentially losing five years of hitting due to being a Hall-of-Fame worthy pitcher! There were years when he out-homered most or all other teams! Ruth was also a crack fielder and decent runner, at least according to the Babe Ruth candy cards that were produced.

It isn't close enough for me to go with anyone else, but I like the case for Willie Mays being second place.

[Rad_Hazard]

I would tend to agree with what most people are saying here. Ruth is #1, Mays is definitely #2, and in my opinion, Williams is #3.

Third on the list is where the debate comes in, since we are mostly in agreement with Ruth and Mays at 1 and 2.

I like Williams at 3, but Gehrig, Musial, Bonds, Aaron, and Cobb all have an argument here.

Pitchers would be a fun 1,2,3 debate as well.

Mine would likely be:

1. Cy Young
2. Walter Johnson
3. (I'm going to get opposition here, but...) Nolan Ryan. Wild and unpredictable, but dominant on a level that is almost alien to us mere humans.

[RCMcKenzie]

Official answer- Babe Ruth

Honest answer- Jose Altuve

[Rad_Hazard]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Official answer- Babe Ruth

Honest answer- Jose Altuve

I had to…

[RCMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by Rad_Hazard

I had to…

Very funny, he looks like him, and was almost as tall. When I was a kid, I would have said Terry Puhl.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Rad_Hazard

I would tend to agree with what most people are saying here. Ruth is #1, Mays is definitely #2, and in my opinion, Williams is #3.

Third on the list is where the debate comes in, since we are mostly in agreement with Ruth and Mays at 1 and 2.

I like Williams at 3, but Gehrig, Musial, Bonds, Aaron, and Cobb all have an argument here.

Pitchers would be a fun 1,2,3 debate as well.

Mine would likely be:

1. Cy Young
2. Walter Johnson
3. (I'm going to get opposition here, but...) Nolan Ryan. Wild and unpredictable, but dominant on a level that is almost alien to us mere humans.

I would tend to agree with #1 and #2. 3 is harder I agree. And you have a good discussion list at #3. Of those I would lean towards Aaron.

On the Pitchers I would have to think more on it but I would not put Nolan Ryan in the top 5. And you said the Reason why Wild and Unpredictable.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by robw1959

Don't forget how far away the fences were in Ruth's era, and he still managed to get to 714 even with all of the 450+ foot fences and essentially losing five years of hitting due to being a Hall-of-Fame worthy pitcher! There were years when he out-homered most or all other teams! Ruth was also a crack fielder and decent runner, at least according to the Babe Ruth candy cards that were produced.

It isn't close enough for me to go with anyone else, but I like the case for Willie Mays being second place.

You may want to double check the outfield dimensions of Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923 and where Ruth ended up playing the bulk of his career as a full-time position player. He wasn't primarily playing on fields with 450'+ fences. And before that, when the Yankees were playing at the Polo Grounds, the center field fence may have been about 450' away, but down the foul lines the fences were only about 280' or so away. So for someone that could pull the ball, or hit to the opposite field, and still keep it just fair, it was actually pretty short fences for them to hit homers.

[RCFire82]

Josh Gibson

162 game average:

BA .374 Hits 218 OBP 458
HR 45 Runs 165 SLG 720
RBI 198 BB 90 OPS 1.178