Who are the 10-15 classiest baseball players of all time?

Question

You can also include todays players. Some that come to mind for me are John Smoltz, Stan Musial, Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, and Rod Carew. If possible give me some reasons for your picks too please.

Answer 1

Class seems to be a relative term. If you wanted to go position by position here's where you might start.

First base- Probably Stan Musial. Starred for many years without making a large production and stayed in St. Louis his whole career, no small feat.

Second base- A little harder. Forget who bad he may be as a broadcaster, but Joe Morgan definitely has to be up there. The Big Red Machine was full of rough and tumble players- Rose, Bench, Ken Griffey, etc. Jackie Robinson also deserves mention, but despite what has been said about him, was known to have a temper on the field later in his career.

Shortstop- Cal Ripken, Jr. Without question.

Third base- Mike Schmidt for now although Scott Rolen and David Wright will catch up at some point.

Catcher- Let's take Yogi Berra out of a bad lot. I may not like the Yankees, but no doubt his sense of humor made him one of the most well-liked.

Outfielders- Hank Aaron. Joe DiMaggio, Roberto Clemente.

Starting pitchers- Christy Matthewson- yes, it goes back but he showed good manners in an era where there were few.

Tom Seaver. Tom Glavine.

Relief pitchers- Mariano Rivera- another guy I do not like but just goes out and does his job

Answer 2

Not in any specific order.

1. Lou Gehrig
2. Rogers Hornsby
3. Ozzie Smith
4. Rod Carew
5. Paul Molitor
6. Christy Mathewson
7. Tony Gwynn
8. Sandy Koufax
9. Ernie Banks
10. Hank Aaron

These 10 men never cried once about anything. And we all know there's "No crying in baseball".

Cal Ripken Jr. was not the angel most people think he was.

Answer 3

Cal Ripken, Jr.
Jackie Robinson
Carl Yaztremski
Hank Aaron
Ted Williams
Curt Schilling
Lou Gerhig
Paul O'Neill
Willie Stargell
Roger Maris
Greg Maddux

Answer 4

Tony Gwynn
Rod Carew
Frank Robinson
Rod Carew
Jim Kaat
Cal Ripken jr.
Roger Maris
Don Mattingly
Ron Guidry
Brook Robinson
Sandy Koufax
Don Drysdale

Answer 5

Don Mattingly
Cal Ripken Jr.
Tony Gwynn
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Greg Maddux
Whitey Ford
Yogi Berra
Phil Rizzuto (Get well Scooter!)
Joe Torre
Hideki Matsui
Andy Pettite

Answer 6

I agree about the guys you picked. Also, Nomar is very classy. He seems like the quintessential baseball player. Even his oddball ritual at the plate is cool, IMO.

Plus, though he is barely out of his rookie season, Russell Martin is a very classy player. Maybe he has to keep proving it for a few more years before he can be added to your list.

Probably the all-time classiest player is Lou Gehrig.

Answer 7

Galarraga is definitley a classification act. If that became somebody like CC Sabathia, or particularly Carlos Zambrano, he could have thrown a greater healthful to Joyce. different stylish adult males around baseball are Jeter, Pujols, and Chase Utley. a chic guy on the Pirates is Andrew McCutchen. The classiest Pirate or arguably the classiest guy in baseball background is Roberto Clemente. He died attempting to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He became one among those sophistication act, that they named an award after him, that's provided to the participant that suitable exemplifies the sport of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and individual's contribution to his team.

Answer 8

In no particular order, my choices are:

Andres Galarraga: Always in a good mood. Never denied an autograph to anyone. He loved to play the game and came back after that linfoma forced him out of the game for a complete season to hit 40 homers again.

Cal Ripken Jr.: His contribution to the game with his 2.600+ streak was invaluable. Always an example both in and out the field.

Eddie Murray: He was a quiet man who just said hello on spring training, goodbye in October, and hit .300, 30+HR and 100+ RBI in between. Never complained about anything and gave his heart out to the game.

Roberto Clemente: A hard worker who died when the plane he was taking food to Nicaragua after the earthquake fell down. Luckily, he had put behind him Hall of Fame numbers before that.

Kirby Puckett: Another classy ballplayer and person who retired (and died) befor his time. He was a great teammate and always gave his best. He was kind with the press and his fans.

George Brett: Besides a great ballplayer, Brett was a great guy to hang around with. Smart and funny and great with his fans.

Han Aaron: A humble everyday players who went on on to have one of the longest and most productive careers of all time.

Other players I can mention are: Lou Gehrig, Brooks Robinson, Tony Gwynn, and many others.

By the way, I disagree with Rod Carew. I'm latin, and I was offended when he said to the press once that he wouldn't give anymore interviews in spanish. I think that was arrogant. Anyway, I saw him playing in person, and I can honestly say he's the best hitter I've seen in terms of sheer hitting ability.

Answer 9

Stan Musial
Hank Aaron
Lou Gehrig
Al Kaline

Answer 10

Obviously the top of the list should be Jackie Robinson as he had to endure so much abuse and torment even with his teammates to cross the color barrier.

Jeff Bagwell was a class act. He endured a lot with Houston, his ex wife, and the injuries and never looked for the limelight even though he was one of the best for some time.

I think a sign of class with players this day and age is when the player sticks it out with a team even though the team is going through a bad stretch like Mike Sweeney and Edgar Martinez.