Greatest Baseball Player (1 Viewer)

[gk5717]

Since the other thread is about baseball, I thought I would throw this in.
In your lifetime, mine being from 46 till now, who do you think was the best baseball player and who was your personal favorite.
My best was Willie Mays, my favorite Stan Musial.
Also your one memorable moment. Mine being when the Cardinals won the pennant in 1964 with Harry Carey screaming on the radio, "The Cardinals win the pennant, the Cardinals win the pennant".
Gary

 

[VanguardFC007]

In my life Id say the best was Greg Maddux and he was also my favorite. I dont think there has ever been a pitcher who understood the game the way Maddux did. The way he studied every aspect and applied himself to be great. My best Maddux moment came when he wasnt even on the field, it was just him proving how much better he was than everyone else. Greg Maddux was asked to pitch to a blindfolded catcher. The catcher dropped the 1st pitch and caught the 2nd.

 

[Warrior]

Best baseball player in my lifetime is hands down Arod, the guy is a mega talent, he'll break Ruths home run record (sorry, Bonds does not count) and will be remembered as one of the top 5 of all time (Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, Williams the other four).

Personal favorite was Jim Rice, a great player in his prime, he lost it overnight when his eyesight went.

One memorable moment; beating the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS and going on to win the World Series for the first time since 1918, breaking the curse of the Bambino in the process.

Nothing will ever top that.

E-V-E-R.

 

[Louis Badolato]

Best ballplayer talent wise in my lifetime is A-Rod, but the player I would most want on my team was Pete Rose. The guy had north of 4,000 hits, and performed in the playoffs, winning titles.

My favorite baseball momment was the Bucky Dent homerun sending the Red Sox spiraling down into another quarter century of futility.

 

[lancer]

My favorite and IMO best player was Mickey Mantle. Healthy and in his prime, no one is his equal. Favorite and IMO best pitcher was Juan Marichal. Was the top winner in the 60's, when pitchers were real men and completed what they started. Gibson and Koufax close seconds. As an example, it is hard to think of a better pitched game than Marichal's 1-0 win in 16 innings over Spahn in the early 60's. Both men went the distance and if memory serves Mays won the game with a HR. -- lancer

 

[theBaron]

...(sorry, Bonds does not count) ...

Speaking of Bonds, one of my favorite moments at the ball park was seeing him hit No. 718, I think it was, in a Giants-Phils match at Citizens Bank Park.

It was the night that fans hung a long bedsheet banner over the left field fence, at ground level, that read, "Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer, Aaron did it on class-what are you on, Barry?" (ESPN showed the first two parts that night on the highlights. Somehow the last bit didn't make it.)

I was sitting in Section 107, right at the right-field corner, on the first level. You could see as the ball left the bat and came our way, that it had legs, and it was going up, up, up. It sailed over our heads, into the second deck section above, and immediately a chant went up from the seats: "Throw it back! Throw it back!" (That didn't make the highlights, either).

It was taken up by the whole crowd, and a ball came sailing back out of the section where Bond's shot had landed.

Whether it was the actual ball or not, only the guy who tossed it can tell. The real one was probably on eBay that night. But it was still great to see.

Bonds was walked every other time up that night.

 

[4th Hussar]

Problems with A Rod
-he only cares about A Rod
- when things get tough he clutches
-he is a wuss and won't play through pain

There are less talented players that work harder and thus will do much better long haul

 

[Warrior]

"Problems with A Rod
-he only cares about A Rod
- when things get tough he clutches
-he is a wuss and won't play through pain

There are less talented players that work harder and thus will do much better long haul"

LOL, true to some extent, but from a sheer talent perspective, the guy is off the charts. He is a natural shortstop, that is his position and I give the guy mucho credit for going to New York knowing full well they would never move "Captain Intangibles" over to third, thus playing out of position and basically keeping his mouth shut and taking all the verbal abuse from those classy Yankee fans.

The guy is a class act as far as I'm concerned and he'd be frighteningly good in Fenway, plus we'd actually play him at the right position too.

 

[4th Hussar]

"Problems with A Rod
-he only cares about A Rod
- when things get tough he clutches
-he is a wuss and won't play through pain

There are less talented players that work harder and thus will do much better long haul"

LOL, true to some extent, but from a sheer talent perspective, the guy is off the charts. He is a natural shortstop, that is his position and I give the guy mucho credit for going to New York knowing full well they would never move "Captain Intangibles" over to third, thus playing out of position and basically keeping his mouth shut and taking all the verbal abuse from those classy Yankee fans.

The guy is a class act as far as I'm concerned and he'd be frighteningly good in Fenway, plus we'd actually play him at the right position too.

He was a whiner in Seattle, but since we had Ken Griffey Jr we did not notice. Now he is whining in NYC. He has loads of talent but little heart. I dearly wish he would prove me wrong

 

[marco55]

I think back to my days as a kid and there were many great players around.My personal favorite because I've always been a huge Phillies fan was Mike Schmidt but I think Willie Mays was the greatest and for bulldog tenacity Pete Rose.Phillies just couldn't win it all until he came to town.
Mark

 

[Spitfrnd]

Greatest Player, Ted Williams. He was maybe the best natural hitter to ever play the game. He was also a Marine instructor pilot in WWII and a combat pilot in Korea. He was a quiet and unassuming gentleman; a quality that rarely exists in the so called mega stars of today's game. I would have Koufax and Mantle as close seconds; both of those guys were amazing talents and great clutch players.

My favorite player would have to be Brooks Robinson. There is no doubt to me that he was the greatest fielding third baseman and he gave me so many amazing plays to watch while I was growing up.

I have to add that I don't much care for major league baseball today. There are few, if any players now that put the team first; most are too busy worrying about their next endorsement or contract renegotiation. I may be jilted but I am content to get most of my baseball fix from AA and AAA games where the players still play to enjoy the game.

 

[VanguardFC007]

I dont think its very likely to happen, but what do yall think of the possibility of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz retiring together this year and then in 5 years being inducted into Cooperstown together?

 

[jazzeum]

Greatest and favorite (that I've seen) is Willie Mays.

Not too much talk about pitchers except for Marichal. What about Gibson? One of the best. One of the guys I really liked to watch a lot was Guidry. He was fantastic. So was Gooden in his prime before he hit the drugs. What a shame, a waste of a talent. Should have been in the hall of fame, with the potential he had.

 

[Combat]

It's tough to name the greatest player in a team sport like baseball. Hard to argue though with the sporting news top 10 except maybe for DiMaggio who belongs in there:

1 Babe Ruth
2 Willie Mays
3 Ty Cobb
4 Walter Johnson
5 Hank Aaron
6 Lou Gehrig
7 Christy Mathewson
8 Ted Williams
9 Rogers Hornsby
10 Stan Musial

 

[Combat]

For comparison, here are the SNs top NFL players - now I would take issue with some on this list:

1. Jim Brown
2. Jerry Rice
3. Joe Montana
4. Lawrence Taylor
5. Johnny Unitas
6. Don Hutson
7. Otto Graham
8. Walter Payton
9. Dick Butkus
10. Bob Lilly

 

[Louis Badolato]

Do you notice that for some reason I will never understand, despite the fact that defense wins championships in football, the MVP candidates, best players lists, etc. almost always focus on offensive players (usually quarterbacks first, then running backs). How do you make a list of the greatest players of all time, and ignore offensive and defensive linemen, and defensive backs?

And one more thing, why are the greatest players at every other position decided primarily by what the individual player is capable of, but quarterbacks are judged by championships? I love Joe Montana as a player, but you can only put him among the ten greatest players of all time based solely on the fact that he won 4 superbowls. This, however, is in great part because he played on an amazing team, with one of the greatest coaches of all time, a perrineal top 5 defense led by Ronnie Lott (who despite the fact that he was one of the dirtiest players of all time, was certainly one of the 2-3 greatest safeties of all time), and the greatest wide receiver who ever played the game, Jerry Rice. You plug Dan Marino, Peyton Manning, Y.A. Tittle, Tom Brady, or Dan Foutz into that team, and they are also going to win those 4 titles, maybe more. I think that Dan Marino, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are all better players than Joe Montana.

 

[lancer]

Despite the fact that Juan Marichal is my favorite pitcher all time (tied with Walter Johnson), if my life depended on winning one game, I would give the ball to Bob Gibson. Most competitive player I have ever seen on the mound. No one else was close IMHO. I loved watching Gator, Seaver, Koufax, etc. but Gibson takes it. -- lancer

 

[4th Hussar]

Despite the fact that Juan Marichal is my favorite pitcher all time (tied with Walter Johnson), if my life depended on winning one game, I would give the ball to Bob Gibson. Most competitive player I have ever seen on the mound. No one else was close IMHO. I loved watching Gator, Seaver, Koufax, etc. but Gibson takes it. -- lancer

Gibson had 3 things
- Agood team tosupport him
-Talent
-Heart

 

[chiefs70]

The greatest ball player of my time as a fan would be Ken Griffey, Jr for me. Before the injuries and then age started taking its toll he was an incredible joy to watch. Five tools, exuberant love for the game and a fantastic ball player in an era with a number of great players. I would have loved to see where he ended up had he not had the injury issues the last third of his career.

As to my favorite player of the era is a tie - George Brett and Frank White of the Kansas City Royals. As a Kansas City area kid growing up watching the Royals of the late 70's and early 80's go toe to toe with the Yankees for the pennant every year was a complete joy and makes my longing for their return to relevance all the more pointed.

Favorite moment - George Brett's "Pine Tar" home run off of Goose Gossage and the Yankees, of course. Great moment, great film, great teams.

Eric

 

[desk11desk12]

Despite the fact that Juan Marichal is my favorite pitcher all time (tied with Walter Johnson), if my life depended on winning one game, I would give the ball to Bob Gibson. Most competitive player I have ever seen on the mound. No one else was close IMHO. I loved watching Gator, Seaver, Koufax, etc. but Gibson takes it. -- lancer

Amen! Gibson is the MAN! I've grown up in So. Cal as a big Angel fan (still am) but live in LA and have had season tickets to the Dodgers for some years but Gibson has always been my favorite.

Babe Ruth is still the best of all time due to his BAT and he was a heck of a starting pitcher too!

Carlos