Most Legendary Players

[sycks22]

I know he's not pre-war, but how about Jim Thome? Over 600 hrs and nobody has mentioned his name with the PEDs era. He is the left handed Killebrew of our time with a bunch of power and .250 - .260 avg

[Theoldprofessor]

There's no point in ranking them, so here's my list of ten:

HANK AARON
TY COBB
JOE DIMAGGIO
LOU GEHRIG
JOE JACKSON
MICKEY MANTLE
CHRISTY MATHEWSON
WILLIE MAYS
SATCHEL PAIGE
JACKIE ROBINSON
BABE RUTH
TED WILLIAMS

Yeah, I know that's twelve. Maybe we could put pitchers in their own category. After all, I had to leave MUSIAL and CLEMENTE off my list so MATHEWSON and PAIGE could go on. And since I saw them both play, that was really hard. And who goes off to make room for CY YOUNG, SANDY KOUFAX, GREG MADDUX and BOB GIBSON?

But it might keep the discussion going. I'd really like to see other lists.

[David W]

I based my list on what retired players names a typical 10-12 year old today recognizes (my 10 year old son, and 12 year old daughter).

Hank Aaron
Babe Ruth
Jackie Robinson
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
Cy Young - due to the Cy Young Award
Roberto Clemente - due to his untimely death

I think that's a pretty good list

[dstraate]

I might be a bit crossed up, but if you're going with the most legendary players IN THE HOBBY, Wagner's absolutely got to be on that list. Along with David's suggestion of Ruth, Jackson, and Mantle.

If you're going for an all time Top 10 thing, then I want to play. No particular order

Ruth
Aaron
Cobb
Mays
Gehrig
Maddux
Jeter
Johnson
Mathewson
Ripken

[Leon]

There was only one...

http://youtu.be/HBOQfr2Lrno


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[bcbgcbrcb]

Jimmy Foxx
Rogers Hornsby

[ls7plus]

Thanks for the video, Leon. Great stuff! Both the Babe and Jimmy Foxx really launched their whole bodies into the pitch (hence the expression "swinging from the heels")--I wonder how that approach would work today, with so many pitchers able to make the ball break both ways, with slider, cutter, curve and circle-type change, that moves like a screwball, but without the wear and tear on the elbow? Or would these types of sluggers have to adopt more of a Miguel Cabrera/Joe DiMaggio approach, with a wider stance, and little more than a lift of the heel of the front foot for a stride?

Thanks for a great site,

Larry

[Hankphenom]

Talk about an overused term, often confused with great. Great isn't good enough to be legendary--there have to be actual "legends" told about them, stories that seem to defy the limits of human ability: the Babe's power; Johnson's speed; Cobb's fire; Robinson's determination; DiMaggio's grace (married Monroe!); William's eyesight (and military service); Gehrig's class; Jackson's perfidy; Mays's hustle; Mantle's--dare I say it--beauty. Every one of these will still be known by most baseball fans 100 years from now, while many other really great players will have been largely forgotten.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Leon

There was only one...

http://youtu.be/HBOQfr2Lrno


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The last clip of that collection is fantastic. The pose, the crowd rising and then the trot.

[alanu]

ruth
cobb
gehrig
ott
ted williams
aaron
mantle
mays
rose
nolan ryan

11-roy hobbs