I know every one will say Babe Ruth, but the fact is Ted Williams missed 5 years of baseball due to WW2 and Korea, at a time when he was speculated to average 35 to 40 hr's a year. So with that, who is the greatest of all time? (It's ok, you can include Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, I'm not part of the Hall committee.)
2007-05-24 03:47:32 · 19 answers · asked by devil6string 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Barry Bonds Rules!!!! He's the best player ever!!!
2007-05-24 03:54:00 · answer #1 · answered by Satan Lives! God must Die 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Babe Ruth Hands down! He hit 714 home runs in less at bats and games. He also didn't start hitting full time for a few years. Remember everyone he was a pitcher before anything else. he didn't have steroids, they used heavier bats with thinner barrells, in some parks the fences were further out Ted Williams would probably be second on my list for simple fact that he was the best percentage hitter to EVER play the game, but numbers all around George Herman Ruth greatest EVER. he did it on beer and hot dogs, not steroids
Barry Bonds is a disgrace to baseball. He never hit 50 home runs in a season, but all of a sudden he hits 73 come on what a joke. He only hit over 40 home runs once before 1996 when he was in the league for 10 years. the after that he has 7 times he hit over 40 home runs in the last 10 years. If anyone ever says he is the greatest, I will agree he is the greatest cheater of all time.
2007-05-24 11:51:47 · answer #2 · answered by brad2041 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Great Question with no "right" answer...
Ruth is the answer if you say "all around" baseball player because he could Pitch and Hit (Power and Average). Not a good fielder though...
Pure Hitter would be Williams (Avg and Power) and as you say he missed key years. Not a good fielder though...
Best Pitcher ever would probably be... Walter Johnson-417 wins, 2.17 ERA, 110 complete game shut outs, 3508 K's, and ONLY gave up 97 HR's in over 5900 IP's... WOW!!! But he hit .235...
I'd like to say Walter Johnson but for Best ALL Time I think you have to look at all around skills and for that i'd go with Babe Ruth because he is the only player that can claim to be one of the 5 best Hitters of ALL Time AND have the talent to be a VERY good (not HOF) Pitcher at the major league level...
2007-05-24 12:21:34 · answer #3 · answered by Vince C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can most definitely make a strong case for Ted Williams being the greatest pure hitter of all time, but the one thing about Ruth was that he started out as a pitcher- as a matter of fact, I believe that he could have gone into the Hall of Fame as just a pitcher if he would have stayed in that position(check out his numbers-unreal) so I'm still saying that he's the greatest all-around baseball player of all time.
2007-05-24 10:55:38 · answer #4 · answered by hackwilson76 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are so many deserving candidates for this prestigious honor. Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, etc.
However, if I had to pick the best all around player, it would be Willie Mays. The reason is simple: he excelled at every aspect of the game. Offense, defense, and base-running were all strengths for him. He hit for power and average, he had great range in center, and he was a blur on the base pad.
Willie Mays deserves this honor.
2007-05-24 10:55:43 · answer #5 · answered by Jeff H 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As great as he was, even if you project out what Williams stats would have been had he not missed that time in the military, the stats show that Babe Ruth is still the best there has ever been.
2007-05-24 14:53:17 · answer #6 · answered by dwmatty19 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No matter who is considered bigger than the game, no one can ever top Babe Ruth. Roger Maris broke the home run record in 1961 but Ruth set a lot more records. Hank Aaron passed him on the all time home run list but the stadiums' field dimensions were getting to be a lot smaller than in Ruth's time. Barry Bonds is obviously on steroids. So, no matter what they say, the greatest player in MLB history will always be Babe Ruth!!!!
2007-05-24 11:13:26 · answer #7 · answered by Yahoo Man 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Bonds.
7 MVP's
700+ HR
500+SB
Just under a .300 lifetime avg., and will end up with 3,000 hits
8 Gold Gloves
Career walks leader
73 HR season
200 BB season
More 1.000 OPS seasons than anyone
I'll give you Williams as one of the more underrated greats. Top 5 all-time, no doubt. Supposedly couldn't field though, so he can't be best ever.
Babe Ruth doesn't count, he didn't play against real competition!!!
2007-05-24 10:57:33 · answer #8 · answered by GOB BLUTH 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
For all time, all around ability I'd go with Willie Mays.
20 All star appearances, 12 gold gloves, 660 Hrs, .302 avg.
First of only four players with 500 HR, 3,000 hits.
2007-05-24 11:02:21 · answer #9 · answered by Gerro 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Babe Ruth, no question. Players have broken his records, but no one was as dominant. He hit more homers in some years than entire teams did. No one else has done that. Don't forget that he also pitched, and was pretty good at that.
2007-05-24 10:51:44 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Ted Williams. He was so great because he could hit for power, and was the last player to have over a .400 batting average. He was a good fielder too.
2007-05-24 10:55:36 · answer #11 · answered by Kevin T 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋