Who would you say are the three best baseball players of all time?

facts to consider! wrote:

The people that are mentioning Nolan Ryan are way off base. He is vastly overrated. if you are picking a guy to throw a no-hitter then yes he is the best ever. Just in the last 20 years there have been vastly superior pitchers like Pedro Martinez.

Ryan never won a Cy young award. Pitched many years in the cavernous Astrodome that kept many homers and runs off his ERA. His best winning percentages in any year is like 68%. You can say, "he played on crap teams" but those Astros teams weren't bad and the late 70's Angels were quite good.

He isn't nearly as good as Steve Carlton who was a contemporary of Ryan.

Sir, you understand Baseball! When I read people mentioning Ryan, I thought Ryan couldn't carry Lefty's bags.

My top 3 non pitchers

(1) Ruth

(2) Mays

(3) Trout

I will say top five ...

Christy Mathewson

Lou Gehrig

Walter Johnson

Ty Cobb

Willie Mays

Babe Ruth

Top six rather

theJeff wrote:

Surprised no one has mentioned Pete Rose yet... amazing hitter and fierce competitor. You can bet he'd be up there.

Rose was a below-average defensive player who did not possess a strong arm. Offensively, he did not hit for power.

I preface this with:

No pitchers eligible for top three

No steroid users eligible

1) Hank Aaron - hit for power, average, had speed early on in career, decent outfielder. He holds the MLB records for the most career RBI (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). In my opinion he is still the career home run king and not that cheater Bonds. Third most career hits behind just Rose and Cobb. Best player ever.

2) Willie Mays - Excellent fielding puts him ahead of other hitters in his same category.

3) Babe Ruth - If he had played after black athletes were allowed in the Major Leagues and had those stats, he would be the best based on his stellar time as a pitcher also. But, Aaron and Mays faced tougher pitching and had better fielders behind those pitchers, so third he is.

Ted Williams is just outside looking in.

Flagpole wrote:

I preface this with:

No pitchers eligible for top three

No steroid users eligible

1) Hank Aaron - hit for power, average, had speed early on in career, decent outfielder. He holds the MLB records for the most career RBI (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). In my opinion he is still the career home run king and not that cheater Bonds. Third most career hits behind just Rose and Cobb. Best player ever.

2) Willie Mays - Excellent fielding puts him ahead of other hitters in his same category.

3) Babe Ruth - If he had played after black athletes were allowed in the Major Leagues and had those stats, he would be the best based on his stellar time as a pitcher also. But, Aaron and Mays faced tougher pitching and had better fielders behind those pitchers, so third he is.

Ted Williams is just outside looking in.

I looked at one list and Aaron is 5, May is 2, Ruth is 1 and Williams is 8.

Les wrote:

theJeff wrote:

Surprised no one has mentioned Pete Rose yet... amazing hitter and fierce competitor. You can bet he'd be up there.

Rose was a below-average defensive player who did not possess a strong arm. Offensively, he did not hit for power.

2x gold glove?

Career .303?

17 all-star appearances at an unparalleled 5 positions.

4256 is still 4256

One of the best all-time. Easily best not in the Hall because of ignorant politics.

Alan

Cool, if no one wants Ryan, I'll take him along with Ichiro and Mays. Pitching, defense speed and power.

cmon dude wrote:

Obvi wrote:

1) Cleon Jones

2) Tommie Agee

3) Don Clendenon

Billy Williams

Ernie Banks

Fergie Jenkins

Yes. But they broke my heart in '69.

theJeff wrote:

WTF^n wrote:

Nolan Ryan?!?

OK, you're joking. I get it.

For one game? Maybe not Ryan. Maybe Pedro, Clemens, Rivera, or someone that played before I was born or games were televised. But “all-time” implies longevity. I would like to know who you like better.

I wish this was more interesting but it's really not. Not going to go back and forth with you here. But just for kicks, here are a few:

Warren Spahn

Sandy Koufax

Bob Gibson

Greg Maddux

Joe Shlabotnik

Tom Seaver

Steve Carlton

Roger Clemens

Carl Hubbell

Lefty Grove

Pedro Martinez

Clayton Kershaw

Walter Johnson

Juan Marichal

...

Babe Ruth - popularized the home run and made the game what it is today. Also a great pitcher!!

Willie Mays - best all-around player ever. Would have hit 730+ home runs if he didn't lose 1 3/4 years to military service during his prime.

Cy Young - he won 511 games!! 94 more than the 2nd pitcher on the list, Walter Johnson. There is a reason the award is named after him.

WTF^n wrote:

theJeff wrote:

For one game? Maybe not Ryan. Maybe Pedro, Clemens, Rivera, or someone that played before I was born or games were televised. But “all-time” implies longevity. I would like to know who you like better.

I wish this was more interesting but it's really not. Not going to go back and forth with you here. But just for kicks, here are a few:

Warren Spahn

Sandy Koufax

Bob Gibson

Greg Maddux

Joe Shlabotnik

Tom Seaver

Steve Carlton

Roger Clemens

Carl Hubbell

Lefty Grove

Pedro Martinez

Clayton Kershaw

Walter Johnson

Juan Marichal

...

Yeh, those are some good pitchers with the exception of Joe Shlabotnik and Clayton Kershaw...

Uh, you forgot one of the most dominating pitchers of the modern era. That would be The Big Unit - Randy Johnson. When he was on, he was "lights out". From 1999-2002, he won 4 consecutive Cy Youngs. His 2002 year was incredible.

Henry Aaron

Willie Mays

Mariano Rivera

Ryan leads in all-time Ks by well over 800. I’m going with Ryan.

Alan

Ryan leads in most walks allowed by over 90. His winning percentage is .526. Get serious.

The left hand of God, and the big unit were much better.

Mickey Mantle

Willy Mays

Mike Trout

Gehrig, Ruth, DiMaggio. I like my '30s Yankees.

Fatty R. Belt Buckle wrote:

I know a lot of baseball but not even sure how to go on this.

I would definitely include Babe Ruth among the top three - both for his pitching prowess as well his obvious hitting resume. The other two ... I would include Barry Bonds if steroids was not an issue. What do you think?

I would not include Babe Ruth in the top three. Through no fault of his own he never played against black or Latino players. Only honkies.