Who is the greatest BB player you ever SAW?

[barrysloate]

Jay- how was Nolan Ryan overrated?

[martyogelvie]

Lots of players come to mind but only one player sticks out;
Don Mattingly

[slidekellyslide]

Best Pitchers
Roger Clemens - pre-juice era.
Nolan Ryan - threw a two hitter in the game I saw him

Best players
George Brett
Bo Jackson
Wade Boggs
Don Mattingly
Sammy Sosa

[Touch'EmAll]

Nolan Ryan - I grew up about 30 minutes from Anaheim Stadium in the 1970's. My dad took me to the game CalTech timed Ryan at 100.9 mph for the Guiness book records fastest!

I remember literally EVERY game the question arose - "Is he going to pitch another no hitter today?"

Ryan has the lowest opponent batting average allowed in the entire history of Major League Baseball.

Also - Bo Jackson. Remember the 1989 All Star game - he had a leadoff homerun and an absolutely wicked throw from the warning track to gun out on the fly Harold Reynolds at the plate.

I honestly believe it to be the best outfield throw ever - prove me wrong on this one. My dad said Carl Furillo was pretty bad ass with the throwing arm as well. Sorry Clemente fans, Bo had a better arm - and accurate as all get out!

[Orioles1954]

That I personally saw at a ball park? Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray.

[oldjudge]

Barry--Ryan was an excellent pitcher, but nowhere near an all time great. For his career he is 32 games over .500. 1/3 of his seasons were losing seasons. He never won a Cy Young award. He was only an all star in 8 of his 27 seasons.

and as for Mickey Mantle, hitting third for what was probably the best lineup in baseball, he only had over 100 RBIs four times in 18 years. Berra and Skowron were great clutch hitters; Mantle was not.

[HercDriver]

As a Cubs fan, I would say watching Ryne Sandberg was fun, although probably not "the greatest." Mark Grace was the best from a "guy I want on my team" perspective. However, if I had to pick the greatest I saw consistently, it would be Mike Schmidt for the way he tore us up every time he walked on the field. He was awesome to watch...

Take Care,
Geno

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Barry--Ryan was an excellent pitcher, but nowhere near an all time great. For his career he is 32 games over .500. 1/3 of his seasons were losing seasons. He never won a Cy Young award. He was only an all star in 8 of his 27 seasons.

Wasn't most of what you said a product of the teams he was on? I don't think that should take away from his ability.

I also disagree with Mantle being overrated, but I am too young and really have little value in my argument.

[nodgrass]

Pedro Martinez- for a span of about 5 years he was by far the best player I have seen. ERA's in the high 1's, low 2's during a time when jacked up monsters were hitting 70 home runs.

[Oldtix]

I saw Gibson and Marichal in '68, Gooden in '85 and Ryan in '90, but I think the best true pitcher was Greg Maddux. He won more games with his head than with his arm.

I'd go with George Brett as an everyday hitter/fielder; I rarely saw Willie Mays play but don't doubt his credentials. But without question, the most thrilling thing I ever saw was seeing Mickey Mantle hit a towering 450+ ft. home run over the 40-foot fence in right field at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City in 1966. Forty-four years ago, yet I can still recall every detail of that moment...

[HRBAKER]

Pitcher: Greg Maddux
Non-Pitcher: Albert Pujols

[53Browns]

Pete Rose - Not much in the way of talent but 110% heart. IMO played harder than anyone - ever.

[oldjudge]

Rob-Somewhat. The teams that Ryan played on were middle of the pack quality, although some of the Astro teams were pretty good. I'm not saying he wasn't good; he was very good. Great pitchers win even on bad teams. Look at Steve Carlton (a better pitcher than Ryan) who was 27-10 in 1972 when the Phillies were 57-90. Even Tim Lincecun in 2008 was 18-5 when the Giants were 72-90.

[smtjoy]

Nolan Ryan by a wide margin for me. I got to see two of his 1 hitters in person, amazing! He was the lone star on some terrible Astros teams. I remember the year he lead the NL in ERA 2.76 and went 8-16 as he got zero run support.

[kcohen]

In person - Willie Mays

On TV - Roy Hobbs

[Tony Gordon]

Watching Bruce Sutter pitch for the Cubs in the late 1970's was pretty amazing. When he had the split finger going, it was unhittable. He made great hitters look like clowns. He saved 133 of the Cubs 379 wins from 1976 through 1980.

I also enjoyed watching George Brett, Reggie Jackson, and Pete Rose.

I hated some great players because they always beat up on my Cubs like Willie Stargell, Al Oliver, Mike Schmidt, Steve Garvey and Phil Niekro.

[M's_Fan]

I'm going to go with Randy Johnson. I've never seen a more dominating player.

[barrysloate]

Jay- I don't agree that Ryan was overrated. That would only be the case if baseball historians rated him one of the greatest pitchers ever, and he isn't in that category.

His 5714 strikeouts and 7 no-hitters are of course otherworldly, but his average winning percentage and so-so control hurt his overall career record.

What Ryan did have is the livest arm in baseball history. He lasted 27 years, which for a fastball pitcher seems impossible. There were many games in his career where he threw over 200 pitches (can you imagine that today?), and the only serious arm injury he ever had occurred on the last pitch he ever threw.

Ryan set strikeout records that will never be approached but I have never heard anyone say he was in the class of Johnson or Matty or even Koufax. So it's hard to say he was overrated.

[Wesley]

1. Barry Bonds
2. Ken Griffey Jr.
3. Albert Pujols

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Ryan set strikeout records that will never be approached but I have never heard anyone say he was in the class of Johnson or Matty or even Koufax. So it's hard to say he was overrated.

Ryan's career mark of 2795 walks may actually be his most remarkable career baseball stat. Heck, statistically (at 52% above the runner-up) it may be the most remarkable of all baseball career stats. He was a truly amazing pitcher, but he wouldn't be in my top 50 - maybe not even in my top 100 - of pitchers I might select to pitch a WS game 7 for my team.

I'd say Mays was the best player I ever saw, however I only got to see him towards the end of his career. Rickey Henderson was pretty special, but I never thought he reached his potential. I loved my local favorites Killebrew, Carew and Oliva. Killebrew was the best pure power hitter I ever saw, and Carew the best singles hitter. I thought Oliva was destined to be one of the all-time greats until his unfortunate injury (not to be too macabre, but had he been struck dead by a bus in 1972 instead of playing on a mangled knee for several years thereafter, I think he would have made the Hall long, long ago).

[Beatles Guy]

Still playing but I have to go with Albert Pujols.

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jay- how was Nolan Ryan overrated?

Agreed Barry.

I've never seen so many Major Leaguers afraid to face a pitcher. The look of defeat written all over their face BEFORE they stepped into the box!

Also, I saw "the Great One" play a few times at Chavez Ravine, and I can tell you that they gave him that nickname for a reason.