Top Three Greatest Baseball Players Ever?

[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.

[stkmtimo]

Originally posted by Cubsfan22
I agree with all 3

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

Tim

[pwaldo]

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.

[BillyBoy]

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

[minew_m]

Ruth
Aaron
Bonds (hate to say it)

[ruffryder1525]

Babe Ruth
Ty Cobb
Mickey Mantle

[Warrior]

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

[SilenceDoGood]

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

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

[bbgiants]

Ruth
Mays
Williams

[minorlgr]

Gehrig, Pujols and Aaron