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

[Seven]

We have many fans on the forum of all ages, as noted in our recent poll, conducted by Leon. We can also always appreciate our fond memories of watching America's Pastime, at some point in our lives, which is the inspiration for this thread.

The greatest player I've seen in person, is probably Barry Bonds. While this will undoubtedly be a bit controversial, due to his usage of PED's the man was Hall of Fame worthy before the stuff, and Ruthian while he was on it. Watching him take batting practice, and then play in a game was a treat. The Sound of the Ball off his bat was incredible. Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols also fit the bill for me, as both were incredible during their primes.

The greatest player I've personally met is a bit more tricky. Had a few conversations with Jim Kaat who was a very good player in his day. Pete Rose would also qualify, as Charlie Hustle would probably be the most legendary player I met.

Who was the best you've seen in person? Whose the best you've met? Please, I'd love to hear!

[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.

.

[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.

.

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

[TUM301]

Greatest player I`ve ever seen, Jordan/Bobby Orr. Greatest ever met in person would be Harmon Killibrew.

[frankbmd]

Seen play

Roy Campanella
Jim Brown
Michael Jordan
Wayne Gretzky
Tiger Woods
Aaron Rodgers
Nolan Ryan

Met in person (autographs)

Casey Stengel
Benny Bengough
Don Larsen
Johnnie Gray
Jim Kaat
Minnie Minoso

[nolemmings]

Best I ever saw:

Baseball: Barry Bonds. I saw Mantle and Aaron and others also, but most were at the tail end of their careers.

Football: Johnny Unitas.

Basketball: Michael Jordan.

Hockey: Wayne Gretzky. Also saw Gordie Howe late in his career.

Best I ever met: Other than a few quick auto requests, which I don't count, the best or at least my favorite athlete I ever conversed with was Thurman Munson (for all of about two minutes or less).

[egri]

Best I ever saw:

Baseball: David Ortiz.

Football: Tom Brady.

Best I ever met: I'm going to stretch this to include TTM autograph requests. Minnie Minoso, Whitey Ford, Jim Bunning, Jim Rice, Alex Morgan.

[YazFenway08]

(1) Have seen lots of greats...but the greatest single performance I ever saw in person was a 3-tater day by Pujols at Busch in 2006. I was sitting behind home plate and even in a packed ballpark the contact sounded unlike anything I ever heard....and he missed #4 on the warning track.

(2) greatest player ever "met"...Yaz at his last spring training game in '83...back when you could lean over the dugout and solicit autographs. He signed and actually talked to me for what seemed like an hour (it was probably 30 seconds...). My favorite all time player

(3) slight twist....best i ever FACED...Billy Wagner. even at 20, his shit was unreal. That ball also made a sound I had never heard before...cuz I sure didnt SEE it

[BCauley]

Best I've ever seen play is probably Pedro Martinez during his peak. I've been able to see a fair amount of players that went on to the HoF but Pedro at his peak was a treat to watch.

Not sure if I'd say I actually "met" him, but I did get Yaz's autograph at a card show about 25 years ago or so. Didn't talk or anything. Earl Weaver and Carlton Fisk were great at the shows I went to and were very personable.

[steve B]

Yes, seen play is a tough one. So many great players between 74 and now (Or for me a few years ago, the Sox have been an expensive ticket.

I'd have to give sort of an honorable mention to Hank Aaron. I went to a game in 76 on a church trip and he was there, but didn't play in that game.

The usual suspects for the Red Sox, Yaz, Rice, Lynn, Clemens, Boggs, Ortiz, Pedro...

I haven't been to many hockey or Basketball games, but did get to see Havliceks last game, which got rescheduled from the collapsed Hartford Civic Center to the last game of the year at the old Garden.

I haven't made it to any pro football games, but did go to Army-Navy four times.

The best player I ever met? I'll call it a tie, although by stats it's not really close. Bob Feller who I got to sit with for a while at a minor league doubleheader in I think 75? And Brooks Robinson who I met at a SI hospitality suite in 76. (which I was WAY underage for, but sometimes the rules have to be set aside. Thanks Dad! )

[mcgwirecom]

Saw Aaron play. Saw Nolan pitch. Saw Trout play. Saw Jordan's last game.

Met Feller. Met Joe D. Met Aaron

[Kevin]

Baseball play: Schmidt
Baseball met: Ted Williams

Hockey play: Lemiuex (I always thought he could do everything Gretzky but he played in the more difficult conference)
Hockey met: Bossy (conversation); Messier (fist pump)

[quinnsryche]

Best I ever saw (in person):
George Brett & Frank Thomas - BB
Michael Jordan - BSKB

Best I ever met:
Duke Snider (mega nice)
Hank Aaron (excellent)
Bob Gibson (nice to me, jerk to everyone else)
Eddie Mathews (great guy)
Don Drysdale (super nice)
Carlton Fisk (not very nice)
Stan Musial (nicest man I've ever met)
Billy Pierce (super nice)
Chico Carrasquel (personal friend of my dad's, about as nice as they came)
Pete Rose (biggest jack-ass I ever met)
Lou Piniella (gave me his game used bat)
Robin Roberts (very nice)
Warren Spahn (very nice)
Bob Feller (excellent)

[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.

[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.


.

[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.

[KCRfan1]

Best player I have seen play is George Brett.

Such a talent at the plate and the field.

IMO the best ever at 3rd base.

Best player I met and worked with was Steve Garvey.

Very kind and genuinely likeable.

On the flip side, the wife worked an event with Kareem and she has nothing good to say about him.

Self absorbed and a total jerk.

[SteveWhite]

Seen is tough, saw the Reds play in 1978 take your pick Rose or Bench.
Meet is Albert Belle.

[G1911]

Saw play: Barry Bonds.

Met: Barry Bonds or Willie Mays.

He cheated and he’s unpopular but Bonds truly was an amazing player.

[jiw98]

Best I ever saw live in baseball: Al Kaline, Miguel Cabrera, Alan Trammell
basketball: Kareem, Pete Marivich, Dr. J
football : Barry Sanders
Golf: Phil Mikkelson

Best players I've ever met: Al Kaline, and Gordie Howe.
But Bobby Richardson was the best player I ever talked with. He is a great guy and has some really good stories. He sure played with some characters during his days with the Yankees.

[riggs336]

Best I saw live: Koufax, Gibson

Best I met in person:
Ty Cobb at a sports banquet when I was a kid.
Dizzy Dean in an elevator at the Chase-Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.
Satchel Paige at halftime of a Globetrotters game.

[JollyElm]

Greatest I met in person was the combo of Bob Cousy and 'Pistol' Pete Maravich. Cousy was more of a soft spoken, scholarly type (he reminded me of a rich guy on the putting green of a country club) with a commanding presence, and Maravich had personality and joy oozing from every pore. What a showman!!

[Exhibitman]

Best players I ever saw in person:

Baseball: Barry Bonds, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter
Basketball: Kobe Bryant
Hockey: Bobby Orr
Football: Any of the superstars on the 1979 Steelers (I went to the Super Bowl in Pasadena)
Boxing: Lennox Lewis or Vitali Klitschko (I went to their fight at Staples Center)

Best I ever met: by that I mean had a conversation with not just got a signature from:

Baseball: Eddie Murray. He was sitting next to me on the flight home after the 2019 National. Here's the story on my flight next to Eddie Murray:

My Flight With Eddie Murray

I treat myself to first class whenever I go to the show. Besides being a fat bastard I am 6'4" mostly legs and coach is torture, even in extra legroom, so I will book the upgrade unless it is grotesquely expensive. In my case, it ends up being less than $300 round trip when the fees for extra legroom and boarding priority (aka put my cards overhead and not get gate-checked) is factored in, so yeah, I do it.

I always book an aisle seat because I am prone to leg cramps and circulatory issues and I like to get up a lot. Since I am a righty and sometimes write stuff on the plane, I prefer the right side of the cabin so my writing hand is not the one on the aisle. I also don't like the first or last rows since the first row has the bulkhead and the last row doesn't recline. So I usually shoot for seat 2D on the A321. Yeah. I have this down to the gnat's ass.

Anyway, I get on the plane, find my seat, and start loading my bags of cards into the overhead. I pull out the stuff I need (laptop and such) and start arranging my seat. To do so I have to duck down. I hear a voice behind me:

"Don't sit down yet, I have to get in there and I have a bad knee."

I turned to tell him not to worry about it and I am staring at Eddie Murray. Recognized him instantly and he sees that I recognized him instantly.

He sits down and I do too. I then ask him if he was at the convention. He says yes but doesn't say more, so I ask what he was doing there. He says:

"Well, I signed a few autographs, you know."

I said I thought you looked familiar, Eddie Murray, right? He says: "I am sometimes" and smiles. He then starts fumbling with his ear buds to shut me out so I say "Don't worry about it, I won't harass you."

The boarding finishes and he's trying to get the movie started but they won't work. I tell him it is because they don't run the entertainment until we leave. The boarding announcements start and I ask Murray if he ever flew PSA. He says sure, all the time, they were the best on time. I ask if he remembers their boarding announcements and he doesn't. PSA used to do a humorous, sarcastic version of the safety announcements: "for those of you who haven't been in a car since 1970, this is how a seatbelt works...put on your oxygen mask first then help your child--if they've been good" and so on. I run through the material for him, he laughs, and it breaks the ice. We chat about flying issues, specifically the sucky-ass service and lack of direct flights to venues where the show is located. I tell him I won't even go to AC next year because of it. Plus, I started bagging on AC's hotels and restaurants and he loves it (I reserved at Caesar's and when I got there I found out it they don't even call it a "Palace" because it is really Caesar's Dump, and so on). So now we're talking.

Later he is having trouble with his phone charger so he asks to borrow mine, and I tell him about a quick fix for it if the charge port is dirty with lint, which is often the case. We then start talking about various topics. I'll recap each:

The NSCC: He filled me in on how it is to attend as a signer. The promoters bring them in the day before signing, put them up for one night, then fly them home the next day. They report for duty early in the day to sign mail order and the promoters stuff. It is part reunion with former teammates and fellow HOFers but mostly it is wading through several large stacks of mail order items and stock photos. Then they go onstage at the pavilion and sign their live signings, then they can leave. He opts to go home immediately.

The Dodgers: Murray hates the organization because he feels they mistreated him. He said that when they hired him as batting coach they had the weakest hitting team in the league, and he turned them around that year to the point where they won the division. Next season the team was struggling and they canned him, for no reason. He said he will never set foot in Dodgers Stadium again.

Baltimore: understandably this is the organization he likes the most. His biggest complaint is that it is very hard to get there from his home in Canyon Country (an LA exurb).

Perks: He can walk into any ballpark any time and anywhere in the country for free and sit in the owners' box or corporate level seating.

Pranks: He told me that every player who comes over in a trade has to go through some sort of team initiation. The worst one was where two big guys would grab you, the team would strip you down, and then they'd douse you with the worst spoiled foods in the clubhouse fridge: days old tuna salad, gatorade, etc. And they do it right before the game. He recalled once having to take four showers to get the stink off him before he went on the field because there was no way he was going to play stinking of old tuna.

Now as we are landing I tell him about the NSCC from the collector's side: show, dinner party, bar, bed, repeat. I then mentioned the N54 banquet and that I'd done a set, and I start running material for him. He is cracking up and tells me that I should be a comedian. When I tell him I do stand-up on the side, he says that when he first saw me he thought I was Brian Posehn but when I said I was a lawyer he thought I might take it the wrong way, so he didn't mention it (I get that all the time here in LA; one of these days I am going to have to go to a show where Posehn is performing, sit in the front row and see what happens). He then was asking me about where I'm from, what I do, etc. I even invited him to the Burbank Comedy Festival that week where I was performing. At the end he offered me a handshake.

[NiceDocter]

Great Murray tale. He was a class act. At first I thought you were going to say you unloaded a stack of Murray cards from your overhead and tried to get them signed! Thank God you were a class act also! The memory and the story are worth more than any autograph anyhow.....

[Exhibitman]

I actually had a couple of Murray cards in my stack but didn't even think of it. I don't like people freeloading legal advice from me.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by riggs336

best i saw live: Koufax, gibson

best i met in person:
Ty cobb at a sports banquet when i was a kid.
Dizzy dean in an elevator at the chase-park plaza hotel in st. Louis.
Satchel paige at halftime of a globetrotters game.

that's it! You win!!


.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

[B]

Now as we are landing I tell him about the NSCC from the collector's side: show, dinner party, bar, bed, repeat. I then mentioned the N54 banquet and that I'd done a set, and I start running material for him. He is cracking up and tells me that I should be a comedian. When I tell him I do stand-up on the side, he says that when he first saw me he thought I was Brian Posehn but when I said I was a lawyer he thought I might take it the wrong way, so he didn't mention it (I get that all the time here in LA; one of these days I am going to have to go to a show where Posehn is performing, sit in the front row and see what happens). He then was asking me about where I'm from, what I do, etc. I even invited him to the Burbank Comedy Festival that week where I was performing. At the end he offered me a handshake.

Awesome. I think the best part of the story for me, was that Eddie Murray even knows who Brian Posehn is.

One of my favorite comedy personalities.

[Steve D]

Best I've seen play in person:

Baseball - Hank Aaron
Basketball - Meadowlark Lemon
Football - John Elway
Hockey - Wayne Gretzky, Patrick Roy

Best I've met:

Baseball - Ted Williams
Basketball - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Football - Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus
Hockey - Patrick Roy


Steve

[SyrNy1960]

Harmon Killebrew. Great Player and a true honor to have met him.

[powderfinger]

The best I've seen in every sport:

Baseball: Best- Sandy Koufax Spent time with- Warren Spahn
Football: Best - Dick Butkus. Spent time with - Dick Butkus
Basketball: Best- Michael Jordan Spent time with - Lloyd Batts (went to the same high school, had one shop class together. Kind of "I knew him when...")
Hockey: Glenn Hall Spent time with - Eddie Giacomin
Soccer: George Best. Spent time with: Gordon Hill

When I was a kid, my dad or my uncle would take me to Wrigley Field and I saw the really great players of the late 50s and early 60s. Sitting behind home plate, watching Sandy Koufax throw breaking balls was mesmerizing. I saw Clemente, Mays, Banks, Musial, Drysdale and so many more. Butkus was the only reason to go to Bears games for a decade, Glenn Hall was an ironman who played in over 500 consecutive games, and Michael Jordan was, well, Michael Jordan. I saw many of the world's great soccer players in their twilight years, Pele, Beckenbauer, Chinaglia, Marinho, Cruyff, etc., but Best was something special. Too bad he wasted it.

[ChiefBeef]

Best Baseball Seen: Aaron, Mantle, Killebrew

Best Met: Jim Palmer

Best Basketball Seen: Julius Erving