So here it is...my list of the three greatest baseball players ever (excluding pitchers as they are on another list). Here is my list:
1. Babe Ruth - 714 career home runs, .342 career batting average, 2,873 career hits and .474 on base %. Hall of Famer, and owner of 7 World Series champion rings.
2. Ty Cobb - 4,189 hits, .366 career batting average, 295 triples, 8 years leading the league in hits, 3,053 singles, and 23 consecutive .300 seasons (among many other great stats). Hall of Famer.
3. Lou Gehrig - 493 career home runs, .340 career batting average, .447 career on base %, 23 career grand slams, 1,995 RBIs, 2,721 hits. Hall of Famer and owner of 6 World Series champion rings.

That's my list and the reasons. What's yours?

Tim

Cobb
Speaker
Ruth

If you are going on hitting alone I would say:

Babe Ruth
Ted Williams
Willie Mays

im going with john
Ruth
Williams
mays

williams should definatly be on since if he would have played during world war 2 and yet he retired early i think he would have had more hits than pete rose in my opinion....

I am going...

Ruth
Bonds
Mays

Do not forget about Rogers Hornsby. Great hitter.

Tim

How can you guys say Cobb is not even in the top 3

He dominated the game for 20 some years

Originally posted by Arastis
How can you guys say Cobb is not even in the top 3

He dominated the game for 20 some years

Yeah, that's what I'm trying to figure out. He's definitely in the top three. Plus, he stole home base 50 times!

Tim

This is very hard to do even if you don't count pitchers.

I've gone back and forth on #2 and #3 all the time so I think its VERY tough to pick from #2-#5. All those guys are great.

1. Babe Ruth- No doubt he's #1. I could list all the stats (which I've done in tons of other posts) but it isn't needed. Everyone already knows he is great.

The next couple of guys in NO ORDER for me would be Williams, Cobb, Aaron, Mays, Stan the Man, and Gehrig. All 6 guys (and I hope I'm not leaving anybody out) were all great and could be ranked #2-#7.

Ty Cobb
Barry Bonds- only 500-500 member
Ted Williams-best hitter in baseball

I know I already gave my 3 but I will add one that would be close. Joe Dimaggio

Originally posted by sportscollector03
Ty Cobb
Barry Bonds- only 500-500 member
Ted Williams-best hitter in baseball

*cough* Babe Ruth *cough*

Originally posted by pwaldo
*cough* Babe Ruth *cough*


whos Babe Ruth????

Satchel Paige
Ty Cobb
Willy Mays

Originally posted by sportscollector03
whos Babe Ruth????

Pffffttt.

I wouldn't be making fun of Babe Ruth if you want to win a World Series.

Just ask the Red Sox and Cubs. They haven't won anything the last 80 years because of this guy.

So bookmark this thread and in 80 years I can guarentee you that you won't have a World Series ring because of him.

Ty Cobb was the biggest difference maker the game has ever seen . He could but the ball where he wanted and he was one of the smartest who ever lived also.

Babe Ruth

Ted Williams

Jackie Robinson -- not easy to play when the whole world is rooting against you and making death threats to you and your family; but through it all, Jackie performed at Hall-of-Fame level

Originally posted by podstock
Babe Ruth

Ted Williams

Jackie Robinson -- not easy to play when the whole world is rooting against you and making death threats to you and your family; but through it all, Jackie performed at Hall-of-Fame level

Jackie Robinson is really really really overlooked and underrated.

Just check out the stats that he put up and he did it in a VERY DIFFICULT situation.

when football starts, I'll do a thread for top 3 greatest football players ever

and I'll see how many include Jerry Rice amongst top 3

HANK AARON, how can he not be top 3, cause he played long? talk about longevity and consistency.

see the only problem with ranking the greatest ever is their are so many great players that were good in certain catagories...

exactly, but there's one thing we agree on: all these players that we listed as our choice for the greatest ever belong in the Hall of Fame

No controversies
No debates

Nothing

Their contributions speak for themselves and their Hall of Fame status

i gotta say aaron, ruth, and mays, with barry bonds a close 4th right with ted williams, stan musial and lou gehrig

ted williams
hank aaron
nolan ryan

Ruth-#1 without a doubt
Cobb-all around player who dominated league
Mays, Speaker, Williams?-take your pick

1.Cobb

2.Cobb

3.Cobb

1.Bonds-once he passes Aaron
2.Ruth
3.Mays

Ruth
Cobb
Williams

barry bonds is not one of the games greatest players, definitely sluggers, but not players

Why do you say that bdrr? Outside of all his hr's he has stolen bases and several gold gloves. What facet of the game is he missing?

Bonds_25 -- I too am wondering how anyone can say Bonds wasn't one of the greatest players ever????

lolol.

I don't care much for Bonds (being a Dodgers fan), but he certainly ranks up as one of the greatest ever.

And should he play out his contract and more, he's got the chance to hit 755+ homers, get 2000 RBIs, get 3000 hits,

the other records he could set are outrageous!! (runs scored, total bases, doubles, walks, etc)

I think a lot of people take away from what he has done because of how he is portrayed in the media. He really isn't an arrogant guy he just tells you straight up what he thinks and what he feels the truth is which very few players do.

BONDS
MAYS
RICKEY HENDERSON!!!! YES THIS IS NOT A TYPO!!!!

1. Babe Ruth
2. Ty Cobb
3. Honus Wagner

Babe Ruth
Willie Mays
Ted Williams (imagine what his number would have been if not for his military service)

I have changed my list.

1.Cobb
2.Roberto Clemente
3.Bonds

Originally posted by bradk_32
BONDS
MAYS
RICKEY HENDERSON!!!! YES THIS IS NOT A TYPO!!!!

Yeah that is a typo. Rickey is great but he is NOT better than Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Joe Dimaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron, and Lou Gehrig.

Originally posted by pwaldo
Yeah that is a typo. Rickey is great but he is NOT better than Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Joe Dimaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Aaron, and Lou Gehrig.

Not better than: Paul Waner, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Lloyd Waner and the countless others I can name in this post. Rickey Henderson is NOT one of the greatest players ever. Thanks for making that point to him pwaldo :D

Tim

Originally posted by stkmtimo
So here it is...my list of the three greatest baseball players ever (excluding pitchers as they are on another list). Here is my list:
1. Babe Ruth - 714 career home runs, .342 career batting average, 2,873 career hits and .474 on base %. Hall of Famer, and owner of 7 World Series champion rings.
2. Ty Cobb - 4,189 hits, .366 career batting average, 295 triples, 8 years leading the league in hits, 3,053 singles, and 23 consecutive .300 seasons (among many other great stats). Hall of Famer.
3. Lou Gehrig - 493 career home runs, .340 career batting average, .447 career on base %, 23 career grand slams, 1,995 RBIs, 2,721 hits. Hall of Famer and owner of 6 World Series champion rings.

Tim

I agree with all 3

1.Satchel Paige
2.Ruth
3.Williams

hey rickey has 3000 hits 2000 runs 1000 RBI 300 homers 1000 steals 2000 walks 5316 times on base! an MVP 2 WS rings a gold glove stole 130 bases in a season that record will never be beat.

Originally posted by Cubsfan22
I agree with all 3

Thanks, I think they are definitely the greatest to ever play the game.

Tim

Originally posted by bradk_32
hey rickey has 3000 hits 2000 runs 1000 RBI 300 homers 1000 steals 2000 walks 5316 times on base! an MVP 2 WS rings a gold glove stole 130 bases in a season that record will never be beat.

Well no offense. You can think what you want but most of those guys I mentioned had similar if not better stats in all those catogories except for steals. Plus they played in a lot less games than Rickey did.

1. Ty Cobb
2. Honus Wagner
3. Buck Ewing
4. Willie Mays
5. Oscar Charleston

There, I've given 5.

I agree that Babe Ruth was the most productive force ever seen per at-bat. I don't think that Williams, Gehrig or Bonds can keep up with the Babe at the plate, per plate appearances. Too many HRs and walks more than offset his SOs, and he got twice as many singles as HRs. But being such a plate menace is only half of offense. And the Babe was thrown out running the bases as often as he was safe. Regardless, the Babe could usually be disposed of with a remedy - walking him. Not all his rivals for the title of Greatest Offensive Force Ever, could be safely disposed of. Which greatly diminished Babe as a threat.

I must remind you, that .342 is NOT indexed, Babe's TRUE Relative BA. place is 29th all-time, 19th for this century. And I must qualify my praise of Babe by calling attention to the fact of his era being so productive. It's rather obvious that Babe was not a hitter for all eras. Move him back in time or forward in time and he diminishes sharply. Move in back and the dead ball gets him out; move him forward, and the league catches up with him. But leave in where he is, Live Ball for him, rivals not playing power game for most of the decade, allowing him to roll up the score on the league, and we've got a a record that will probably not be even mildly approached until some future superman comes along, after we're all long gone.

But Mr. Cobb also did well. And career-wise is how all must ultimately be judged, not merely per AB. But Mr. Cobb did well on a yearly basis also. To summarize:

When Cobb retired following the '28 season, he held the ML records for:
G, AB, BA, Hits, Runs, RBIs, TB, SB, steals of Home, EBHs, singles, runs produced. He was second in: doubles, triples, extra bases on hits. A collection truly Ruthian.

Today 75 yrs later, he is STILL:

1st: BA, Relative BA, Runs Produced
2nd: hits, runs, triples, OF assists, OF DPs,
3rd: Relative OBA for this century
4th: SB, G, AB, doubles, triples, OF putouts
8th: OBA unadjusted, extra bases,

But there's more. Mr. Cobb hung up these impressive achievemets.

HRs - top 3 in the league - 5 times, won 1
RBIs - top 3 in the league - 7 times, won 4
TBs - top 3 in the league - 10 times, won 6
SLG - top 3 in the league - 14 times, won 8
Hits - top 3 in the league - 14 times, won 8
BA - top 6 in the league - 21 times, won 12
SB - top 4 in the league -12 times, won 6

Apart from stats, Mr. Cobb left behind a legacy far more that his numbers. A vivid portrait of how a game can be contested. What was possible if the will was strong enough. He didn't start at the top with natural gifts, but soon exceeded those more amply blessed.

Mr. Cobb's greatest accomplishment was his base running. Never before or since has anyone won as many games single-handedly. They came to see Tyrus run, and they had to build grander stadiums to accomadate his fans. He was never known to refuse an accomadation when rivals sought his helpful advice.

But the greatest reason of all to favor the Man from Royston, was that he did all this with a deadened, blackened ball that fluttered up to the plate like a crazed stoned butterfly. If anyone doubts that Tyrus truly deserves to rate No. 1, just throw the book at them.

My vote must go to the only person who ever gave every particle of his being to the game.

Bill Burgess

Ruth
Aaron
Bonds (hate to say it)

Babe Ruth
Ty Cobb
Mickey Mantle

1. Babe Ruth
2. Ty Cobb
3. Mickey Mantle/Joe DiMaggio/Willie Mays/Walter Johnson

1. Ty Cobb
2. Babe Ruth
3. Willie Mays

Although, Bonds is inching closer to that list...

Ruth
Mays
Williams

Gehrig, Pujols and Aaron

Originally posted by minorlgr
Gehrig, Pujols and Aaron

Pujols in the top 3 of all time? The guy has only been playing 4 years, can you really say he is one of the best of all time? Sure he is a great talent but to be a great you have to sustain it throughout a whole career.

ty cobb
babe ruth
ichiro

cobb
ruth
williams

Ruth
Cobb
Mays

There are hundreds of GREAT players who have ever played the Game, its impossible to take the Top 3! But if i had to pick id go..
1.) Babe Ruth
2.) Ty Cobb
3.) Ted Williams

~*MTC

Ruth
Bonds
Cobb

Babe Ruth
Willie Mays
Walter Johnson

1. Barry Bonds
2. Barry Bonds
3. Barry Bonds

Keep in mind I am a Twins fan. I only glanced through the posts but I didn't see many with Bonds in them?!??? Are ya kiddin' me!??!?! I don't like the whole steroid scandal either but stats are stats and his are InSaNe!!!

In his 20th professional season, Bonds led the Senior Circuit with a .362 average and an .812 slugging percentage, blasted 45 homers, collected 102 RBIs, became the first player to record a plus-.600 on-base percentage (.609) and hit .394 with runners in scoring position.

Bonds' numbers almost defy physics, especially when one considers he was walked 232 times, almost half of them intentional. He had only 373 official plate appearances -- the second lowest total of his career -- over 147 games.

Putting the walks into perspective, Pujols was passed 84 times and had 219 more official at-bats than Bonds, about 50 games' worth.

· 7 MVPs
· 13-time All Star
· 8 Gold Gloves
· 12 Silver Slugger Awards
· Third member of 700 Home Run Club
· Only member in 500/500 Club
· Single Season Home Run King (73)
· Two-time N.L. Batting Champion (2002, 2004)
· Player of the Decade for the 1990's by The Sporting News
· All-time Major League walks leader
· Set single-season walks (232) and intentional walks (120) record
· Set single-season OBP record (.609)
· Holds Major League record for consecutive seasons with 30-or-more HR, accomplishing this 13 times

1) Steve Buchelle
2) Scott Fletcher
3) Pete Incavilla

My top 3 by far!!!!
j\k

1. Barry Bonds
2. Barry Bonds
3. Barry Bonds

Keep in mind I am a Twins fan. I only glanced through the posts but I didn't see many with Bonds in them?!??? Are ya kiddin' me!??!?! I don't like the whole steroid scandal either but stats are stats and his are InSaNe!!!

In his 20th professional season, Bonds led the Senior Circuit with a .362 average and an .812 slugging percentage, blasted 45 homers, collected 102 RBIs, became the first player to record a plus-.600 on-base percentage (.609) and hit .394 with runners in scoring position.

Bonds' numbers almost defy physics, especially when one considers he was walked 232 times, almost half of them intentional. He had only 373 official plate appearances -- the second lowest total of his career -- over 147 games.

Putting the walks into perspective, Pujols was passed 84 times and had 219 more official at-bats than Bonds, about 50 games' worth.

· 7 MVPs
· 13-time All Star
· 8 Gold Gloves
· 12 Silver Slugger Awards
· Third member of 700 Home Run Club
· Only member in 500/500 Club
· Single Season Home Run King (73)
· Two-time N.L. Batting Champion (2002, 2004)
· Player of the Decade for the 1990's by The Sporting News
· All-time Major League walks leader
· Set single-season walks (232) and intentional walks (120) record
· Set single-season OBP record (.609)
· Holds Major League record for consecutive seasons with 30-or-more HR, accomplishing this 13 times

Well maybe its because there are better players than Barry Bonds.

You did a lot of hyping of Bonds in your post but you really didn't compare him to other players....so I'll do it.

I've put together arguably the 7 best players of all time and here's how their stats rank compared to one another.

(1- would be first in this stat category 7- would be last)


Barry Bonds

2730 hits (5)
703 HRs (3)
1843 RBI (6)
506 stolen bases (2)
.300 Batting Average (7)
.443 On Base (4)
.611 Slugging (4)

Babe Ruth

2873 hits (4)
714 HRs (2)
2213 RBI (2)
123 stolen bases (5)
.342 Batting Average (3)
.474 On Base (2)
.690 Slugging (1)

Hank Aaron

3771 hits (2)
755 HRs (1)
2297 RBI (1)
240 stolen bases (4)
.305 Batting Average (5)
.374 On Base (7)
.555 Slugging (6)

Willie Mays

3283 hits (3)
660 HRs (4)
1903 RBI (5)
338 stolen bases (3)
.302 Batting Average (6)
.384 On Base (6)
.557 Slugging (5)

Lou Gehrig

2721 hits (6)
493 HRs (6)
1995 RBI (3)
102 stolen bases (6)
.340 Batting Average (4)
.447 On Base (3)
.632 Slugging (3)

Ted Williams

2654 hits (7)
521 HRs (5)
1839 RBI (7)
24 stolen bases (7)
.344 Batting Average (2)
.482 On Base (1)
.634 Slugging (2)

Ty Cobb

4189 hits (1)
117 HRs (7)
1937 RBI (4)
892 stolen bases (1)
.366 Batting Average (1)
.433 On Base (5)
.512 Slugging (7)

When you add up all the totals you get:

Bonds - 31
Ruth - 19
Aaron - 26
Mays - 32
Gehrig - 31
Williams - 31
Cobb - 26

Its not a perfect evaluation since it ranks everyone of those stats equal and doesn't take defense and games played into the equation...but I'm sure if you did that with those two as well it would basically come out the same way. Ruth would be ahead of the others with Aaron and Cobb a step back with Bonds, Mays, Gehrig, and Williams all lumped together.

So with that being said I can see how people could leave them out of their top 3 of all time.....I mean just because they think he's #5 all time or something doesn't mean that he sucks or something. :new_silly

Bonds
Ruth
Mays

Ruth
Mantle
Mays

ty cobb
babe ruth
ichiro

ichiro? i dont think he makes top 5 active players... just my opinion though... what kind of facts or stats do you have to back it up? He had the record for hits but tony gwynn and wade boggs had a lot of hits as well and i dont think either is close to top 3


Its not a perfect evaluation since it ranks everyone of those stats equal and doesn't take defense and games played into the equation...but I'm sure if you did that with those two as well it would basically come out the same way. Ruth would be ahead of the others with Aaron and Cobb a step back with Bonds, Mays, Gehrig, and Williams all lumped together.

So with that being said I can see how people could leave them out of their top 3 of all time.....I mean just because they think he's #5 all time or something doesn't mean that he sucks or something.

you also must remember bonds has one thing all the rest dont have,... more years to play... here are my adjusted stats assuming he plays 2 more years and breaks the Home Run record

-1 140 more hits passes babe ruth, -2 more for home run record, 152 more RBI's puts him in third there -3 more points, if he can raise his batting ave .002 in the next 2 years there he gains another point... i dont have the time to make all the adjustments in the scores but that puts him ahead of the pack and close to ruth with a 24.... give ruth at least one more and aaron one more and it is not aaron 27, ruth 21, and bonds 24.... then would you say he is top 3? plus this math, although i like the reasoning and stats as proof dont take into account the walks and runs scored he has produced, MVP awards, Gold Glove awards etc..... plus his pure dominance of pitching

you also must remember bonds has one thing all the rest dont have,... more years to play... here are my adjusted stats assuming he plays 2 more years and breaks the Home Run record

Sorry but my crystal ball doesn't work for baseball players. :tongue:

I know he can do more that's one of the reasons why I don't like including current players because they can always add to statistics or lower their averages. The only way you can rank Bonds fairly is after the guy is done and then you know what he finishes at.


plus this math, although i like the reasoning and stats as proof dont take into account the walks and runs scored he has produced, MVP awards, Gold Glove awards etc..... plus his pure dominance of pitching

Well I didn't really have the time to break it down by everyone's stats so I just whipped this together. Actually its not even that accurate because like I said it ranks everything equal when in reality they're not.

I just wanted to show with the "major" stats that you'd have a case for not including Bonds. I mean if he was #1 in every catagory or something then I'd say you couldn't leave him off your list but really all I saw was a lot of "equal" players.

And using awards to compare people only works to a point since not all awards were handed out when all of these players were playing plus the "rules" for the awards has changed over the years.

For example the MVP was absent from 1915-1922 and up until 1956 there was no Cy Young award meaning pitchers were seriously considered for the MVP award. (Yes I know they still can and do win the MVP award now but if you compare the amount that won the award before the Cy Young its a lot lower than now). When Ruth was playing you were also limited to only one MVP and then you weren't able to win another. (That's why he didn't win one when he hit 60 HRs....btw they later changed that stupid rule near the end of Ruth's career). They also only starting handing out Gold Gloves in 1957. etc. etc. etc.

Also I don't get what "pure dominance of pitching" is since all of these guys seem to have it. But I guess that's just subjective so you can believe what you want when it comes to that meaning it has no place in comparing stats to one another.

I mean if you want I can probably get together and compare guys that won the most awards and stuff that played in eras when the awards were awarded but I don't think it would be that different. I mean Mays has more Gold Gloves then Barry does. Williams has 2 Triple Crowns and 5 TSN Player of the year awards to Barry's zero Triple Crowns and 3 TSN Player of the year awards.

Even All Star appearances favor the other "modern" players over Barry:

Barry Bonds - 13
Hank Aaron - 21
Ted Williams - 17
Willie Mays - 20

But the whole point of this was to show that you could pick any 3 of these guys for your top 3 and you really couldn't argue against a person doing so. All of these guys are great and I'm sure if you included a top 10 list or whatever then EVERYONE would include these guys but when you are limited to just 3 guys then its very tough to break down a sport that is over 100 years old and only pick 3 guys.

1. Barry Bonds
2. Ted Williams
3. Mickey Mantle

No Pitchers Is The Top 3?

No Pitchers Is The Top 3?

Can't think of any pitchers that could be in the top 3..Seaver and Clemens probably in top 10 though.

John Rocker
Oil Can Boyd
Ozzie Canseco

John Rocker?

Willie Mays is the greatest baseball player ever, IMO.

He could do everything.

Mays
Aaron
Henderson

Man ya'll got it all messed up. Here is my list.

1. Babe Ruth - Everybody should make this so obvious. Can pitch and hit. And was dominate on both. How rare was that? He was just as good of a pitcher as hitter.

2. Barry Bonds - Greatest hitter of his era. McGwire and Griffey won't come close. No one in the game has feared a hitter as they did Bonds. At least they pitched to Mays, Aaron, Mantle, and Teddy Ballgame.

3. Rickey Henderson - Everybody must think I'm crazy? Well look at his stats. Then we'll talk. How can you walk that much and still get 3000 hits? How can you hit homeruns like that and steal bases...in a rate...never seen before? Made pitchers go deep into counts. Wore down pitchers for the 3-4 hitters of the lineup. Then messed up pitchers head when he was on base because he was a threat to steal everytime he was on base. Ask Carney Lansford, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco...about who was the TRUE MVP of those Championship teams.

1. Babe Ruth
2. Barry Bonds
3. Ty Cobb/alex Rodriguez/ted Williams

Babe Ruth
Hank Aaron
Nolan Ryan

1. bonds
2. mays
3. griffey

In no particular order:

Josh Gibson
Satchel Paige
Cy Young

I'm going to leave Babe Ruth off the list since he is too obvious. So, count mine as a top 4.

Ty Cobb
Willie Mays
Honus Wagner

If anybody is interested, here are the top 20 in Win Shares through the 2001 season(meaning Bonds would have moved up the list):

1. Babe Ruth 756
2. Ty Cobb 722
3. Honus Wagner 655
4. Hank Aaron 643
5. Willie Mays 642
6. Cy Young 634
7. Tris Speaker 630
8. Stan Musial 604
9. Eddie Collins 573
10. Mickey Mantle 565
11. Walter Johnson 560
12. Ted Williams 555
13. Pete Rose 547
14. Rickey Henderson 530
15. Mel Ott 528
16. Barry Bonds 523
17. Frank Robinson 519
18. Joe Morgan 512
19. Rogers Hornsby 502
20. Nap Lojoie

Mine are very debateable

Pete Rose
"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
Ty Cobb

(first two were great baseball players but made stupid choices)

Joel Hoffman
Nick Martin
Lou Hengesbach III

Three best ever.

Ruth
Bonds
Ted Williams

Ruth
Bonds
Williams

There is a lot more to baseball than hitting. If you want to go by hitting, Pujols is one of the top three. If you want to go by players that were great all around, here is my top 3:
Ty Cobb
Ken Griffey, Jr.
Nolan Ryan

Williams
Speaker
Mays and Aaron tied for third

Ruth was probably the first really great player, but not the greatest ever.

Here's my list:

1. Babe Ruth - Greatest ALL AROUND PLAYER.
2. Barry Bonds - One of the best swings ever.
3. Nolan Ryan - 7 No Hitters / 5000K's...NO ONE COMES CLOSE
4. Cy Young - Wins Total WILL NEVER BE MATCHED
5. Ted Williams - Enough Said

Ty Cobb
Babe Ruth
Hank Greenberg

Babe Ruth
Ted Williams
Ty Cobb

I agree with Kings. Bonds should not be in top 50. Hes a steroid user. Griffey is mr injury and mr inconsistent. I would have to add mr Alex Rodriguez in there somewhere. Hes on pace for 600 or more hrs, is great at defense, and is a nice guy.

I prefer putting guys who have hit 600 or more HRs to guys who are projected too on an all time list. Griffey was once on a similar pace and look what happened.

Mr. Inconsistant? Did you know that Griffey probably be tailing only Aaron, if he'd never would of got hurt? But still...LOOK @ how many guys hit that many homeruns. Griffey is still in the 500 homerun club and he's probably the SMALLEST player out of the bunch as in body size.

Now with Bonds...IT HAS NEVER BEEN PROVEN...so you have to look at the facts and not suspicion.

Well...AROD...AROD...that's like putting Pujols in the Top 100. Or wait...putting Canseco after his 40/40 season.

I agree with Kings. Bonds should not be in top 50. Hes a steroid user. Griffey is mr injury and mr inconsistent. I would have to add mr Alex Rodriguez in there somewhere. Hes on pace for 600 or more hrs, is great at defense, and is a nice guy.

Oh and I forgot...RICKEY HENDERSON. The GREATEST LEADOFF HITTER OF ALL TIME. For a guy to have that much walks and still get 3,000 hits. And then for a leadoff hitter to have that kind of power plus the steals. And he was actually a pretty good outfielder.

Arods proven time in and time out to be a great player. Its obvious Bonds is a steroid user. He now vows to lose 20 pds before spring training? Funny thing, you know the steroid enforcements are more in force now, wonder if thats why? Its obvious. Him and Big Mac did it. Injuries are a part of the game, Griffey just cant stay healthy, hence why he isnt that great. Sure, if he wouldnt have got injured hed be higher, but obviously hes not in too great of shape if hes hurt every year for an extended period of time.

Arods proven time in and time out to be a great player. Its obvious Bonds is a steroid user. He now vows to lose 20 pds before spring training? Funny thing, you know the steroid enforcements are more in force now, wonder if thats why? Its obvious. Him and Big Mac did it. Injuries are a part of the game, Griffey just cant stay healthy, hence why he isnt that great. Sure, if he wouldnt have got injured hed be higher, but obviously hes not in too great of shape if hes hurt every year for an extended period of time.

You know why he's losing 20 pounds? His knees can't handle the weight anymore if he's expected to go out there and play 120-140 games. He'll be 42 come July, his knees won't last much longer with all the wear and tear of a baseball season. He's doing what he can to hang on for one more ride towards the postseason. He was tested multiple times last year on the DL and nothing came back positive so I highly doubt he is worried about failing drug tests right now. We'll never know if he used them but unfortunately he will always be cast as a steroid user regardless of if he actually ever was.

A-Rod does not belong anywhere near the top 25, let alone top 3 until he prolongs his numbers into an entire career. At the pace he is on he can certainly reach those plateaus but to prematurely put him on that level is a mistake. Injuries among other things can happen, Griffey didn't get injured until he was 31 years old, A-Rod is only 30 years old. He's approaching the stage of his career where his body is becoming more and more susceptible to breaking down. As a credit to him he has typically been a healthy guy but you never know when that can change. He needs to put up at least 6-8 more years or so similar to what he has already done. That is a tall task considering how rare it is now days to see a player go through his entire careeer without losing significant time to injury and declines in production.

Has A-Rod been in the top tier since his arrival in MLB? Absolutely, but he is not one of the greatest of all-time untill he can sustain it for an entire career. You can never take that for granted.

Yeah I think that's silly that you think Bonds is losing 20lbs because of steroids. Griffey is a great player. How many NON GREAT Players hit 500hrs. That itself is an accomplishment.

Arods proven time in and time out to be a great player. Its obvious Bonds is a steroid user. He now vows to lose 20 pds before spring training? Funny thing, you know the steroid enforcements are more in force now, wonder if thats why? Its obvious. Him and Big Mac did it. Injuries are a part of the game, Griffey just cant stay healthy, hence why he isnt that great. Sure, if he wouldnt have got injured hed be higher, but obviously hes not in too great of shape if hes hurt every year for an extended period of time.