GREATEST PLAYER OF ALL TIME...who and why?

Question

I believe Willie Mays is

SO who do you think is the greatest of all time?

why?

Answer 1

Willie Howard Mays. If not for three years of military service, Bonds would have been chasing Willie instead of Hank.

Answer 2

Willie Mays is probably second on my list of greatest players of all time. Babe Ruth is undoubtedly the greatest player ever. he is the basis of all comparisons when it comes to hitting prowess.

Lets put it this way, I watched a documentary on Babe Ruth, and a research team went back and charted as many of Babe Ruth's hits as they could. If he played in today's game, on today's fields, he would have easily hit over 1200 home runs. Now that would be something to see. He played in an era where players got beaned a lot more than they do now, and the fields were at least 100-150 feet further to the wall than they are now.

Only one player in the history of the game has a greater home run per at bat average than babe ruth... and that's mark mcgwire. and we all know how mcgwire managed that feat.

and like i said... i would, without a doubt, put willie mays second on that list, I think the greatest player of all time still has to be the Babe. Even if A-Rod ends up with 800 home runs... the Babe will still outrank him in most people's minds.

Answer 3

When evaluating best players ever, a really foolish mistake is to credit somebody with awards which didn't exist when another player played and hold that against the earlier player. This includes MVP award, Gold Gloves, and so on. For example, Cy Young never won the Cy Young award--that bum! The laundry-list in support of A-Rod is cute, but not really meaningful.

Ruth was far and away the dominant hitter of his time--home runs, on-base, doubles, triples, runs scored, runs batted in...and he did it in huge ballparks against legal spitters.
He was regarded as a very fine outfielder.
He was the best left-handed pitcher in the league and second only to Walter Johnson overall. Oh, and he led the league in hitting categories while still primarily a pitcher.

If "all time" is meaningful, as in if we don't cut off baseball history at some earlier point, he is still number one.

Mays may have been the best all-around IF you don't count pitching.

But every statistical analysis ever developed shows it is still Ruth.

Oh, and Buck O'Neill, who saw a lot of baseball and wasn't just an "in my day" kind of guy, thought so, too. For what that's worth, I think it still says something.

Answer 4

Willie Mays by far. He could hit for power, hit for average, steal bases, play great defense, also had a great throwing arm. He is one of the all time home run leaders (660), made the all star team countless times, MVP awards, etc. Had the privilege of seeing him play & he was awesome.

Answer 5

It's between Ruth and Mays.
I go for Mays because he was a complet 5 tool player. If Ruth was a better runner it would be him easily.

Answer 6

I always heard that Babe Ruth was, for having the most home
runs. Tho DiMaggio was thought of as the best, when he was
a player. I think he was a pitcher tho. I'm not into baseball, so
I can only rely on the media reports over the years of my growing up.

Answer 7

Babe Ruth - a pitcher with almost 100 wins a 2.28 career ERA and that hit 714 home Runs, any questions?

Answer 8

Babe Ruth, He DIED 60 years ago and he is STILL the most famous baseball player even though very few people still alive ever saw him play

Answer 9

Say Hey Willi Mays, or Alex Gordon (personal favorite)

Answer 10

Babe Ruth he was a dominant picther before he became a position player