Who is the Best Player in Baseball you have ever seen?

[Tabascocat]

Everyone has their opinions and we all know who the greats were.

For me, the greatest I have seen play in person is Ken Griffey Jr. In his prime, he was amazing to watch on both offense and defense.

I have seen him run to spots in the deep alleys without looking at the ball after hit, stand there smiling at fans and turn around at the last second and catch it with ease.

He had one of the prettiest swings aside from Will Clark and John Olerud.

I am omitting Sosa, Bonds, MM, etc due to the steroid allegations

 

[Old School]

To play Henderson you sit the two greatest Left Fielders to ever play the game in Musial and Williams?

In disbelief Mike Schmidt wasn't mentioned by anyone.

and when I start Willie in center "The Mick" goes to the bench also..

thems the breaks..

my lineup will have the greatest leadoff batter and profound base stealer in the history of the game.

Stan The Man and The Splendid Splinter can come off the bench..

or maybe I start Stan at first and move Ted to right.

Oh wait..got "The Cobra" in right...

Wow..Richie Allen is not going to take this very well..He will probably be a "Dick" about it.

That's ok..will just tell Mike Piazza to set his ass straight.

:0003

 

[zoomer]

and when I start Willie in center "The Mick" goes to the bench also..

thems the breaks..

my lineup will have the greatest leadoff batter and profound base stealer in the history of the game.

Stan The Man and The Splendid Splinter can come off the bench..

or maybe I start Stan at first and move Ted to right.

Oh wait..got "The Cobra" in right...

Wow..Richie Allen is not going to take this very well..He will probably be a "Dick" about it.

That's ok..will just tell Mike Piazza to set his ass straight.

:0003

You got Dimaggio on the bench too I guess. Give me Rose as leadoff anyway. I'll take the Hit King batting in front of the best bats in history.
You need to create an offensive team and a defensive team or this will never work.

 

[zoomer]

One more thing and I'm done. You have Piazza playing over Bench and Berra?

 

[kneifl]

Well, I have seen and met a lot of them. I'll go ahead and make a list:

Well, I have seen and met a lot of them. I'll go ahead and make a list:

Dave Winfield (he was a total dick)
Rafael Palmeiro (one of the nicest players I met)
Don Mattingly (great guy, another nice player)
Dave Righetti (cocky!)
Rick Cerone (he was all right)
Mark McGwire (he was ok, met him when he was a rookie)
Willie Mays (total dick, wouldn't look at me when I paid for his autograph at a show)
Harmon Killebrew (nice guy)
Fergie Jenkins (Hell of a guy)
Bo Jackson (nice guy, but seemed preoccupied)
George Brett (total dick)
Bret Saberhagen (really cool guy)
David Cone (pretty cool)
Kevin Seitzer (nice guy)
Mike MacFarlane (he was nice, more interested in the girls I knew)
Gregg Jefferies (sort of a dick)
Shawon Dunston (total dick)
Eddie Matthews (super nice guy)
Otis Nixon (total dick, think he was high)
Bob Gibson (real nice guy)
Cory Snyder (really cool)

Those are a few, I'm sure there are more I can't think of right now. Met most of them at the stadium (KC Royals, Omaha Royals, and local baseball card shows) I use to be into baseball a lot when I was a kid.

kneifl

 

[kneifl]

BTW, if I had to name a few greats I saw play (in my time) I would say they were as follows:

1. McGwire
2. Bo Jackson
3. Don Mattingly

kneifl

 

[fatdaddycool]

Jr,

Agree with your point overall but Speed just helps you stay awake. No comparison to roids. That said, Bonds could play in any era and was great before to took the shit. Biggest thing roids did for Bonds and Clemons was prolong their careers. Both will have a rotten stink hanging over them for that reason.

I have had this discussion with buddies a hundred times it seems. It is well documented that Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, especially Hank, took fistfuls of amphetamines every third inning or so as they were not banned at the time. If we were able to fully document drug use throughout baseball history and apply today's rules and regulations, very few would be spared an asterisk in front of at bat. The fact of the matter is that while Hank was speeding, so was everyone else. When Barry was roiding, so was everyone else. He may have gone a few years longer than others but his numbers are straight sick. Steroids doesn't account for his ability to make contact or to see the ball. Maybe if baseball spent less time investigating the players and more time on lowering ticket prices they wouldn't be losing attendance at a record pace.


Hope this helps,
FDC

 

[Penguinfan]

Steroids doesn't account for his ability to make contact or to see the ball.

I've heard this argument, or some form of it, several times. I can certainly see why people say that, but if the roids didn't help then why did they take them?

They are called performance ENHANCING drugs for a reason. As far as everyone back in the day doing it as well......Yea, probably, but that doesn't mean Bonds didn't cheat.

 

[zoomer]

What I find interesting is how Babe Ruth and his peers played under performance DEPRECIATING conditions.

1. Fences were further back
2. Played all day games in heat of summer
3. Wore all wool uniforms
4. Slept in un airconditioned rooms
5. Traveled by train

and in Babes case...played half drunk and he STILL hit 714 HR's.

 

[fatdaddycool]

I've heard this argument, or some form of it, several times. I can certainly see why people say that, but if the roids didn't help then why did they take them?

They are called performance ENHANCING drugs for a reason. As far as everyone back in the day doing it as well......Yea, probably, but that doesn't mean Bonds didn't cheat.

It is all about competition level. Everyone in baseball cheats at some point. It isn't illegal until there are rules specifically against it. Mike Scott cheated every game he pitched, he just didn't get caught. The fact is that some guys may take steroids their entire career but never get questioned about it because they don't set records. Lenny Dykstra for example.

 

[AR182]

Since I am not sure if I saw Williams or not....May have seen him when I was very young & he was at the end of his career....& didn't see much of Musial & again I might have seen him at the end of his career....Here is my team based on who I saw....

1B Mc Covey
2B Morgan
SS Jeter
3B Scmidt
C Bench
LF Aaron
CF Mays
RF Clemente
LHP Koufax
RHP Gibson
Relief Rivera

Lineup

Mays
Morgan
Clemente
Mc Covey
Aaron
Bench
Schmidt
Jeter

I will take my chances with this team against any other team....

Great discussion !!

 

[Old School]

One more thing and I'm done. You have Piazza playing over Bench and Berra?

that's because he outhit both of them..

 

[Hashish]

What I find interesting is how Babe Ruth and his peers played under performance DEPRECIATING conditions.

1. Fences were further back
2. Played all day games in heat of summer
3. Wore all wool uniforms
4. Slept in un airconditioned rooms
5. Traveled by train

and in Babes case...played half drunk and he STILL hit 714 HR's.

Excellent points.

 

[ImFeklhr]

my lineup will have the greatest leadoff batter and profound base stealer in the history of the game.

:0003

Man with that lineup nobody better be trying to steal no bases.

 

[Jinxbreaker]

AR u saw all them in person?

 

[AR182]

AR u saw all them in person?

No I saw a few in person....But most of them I saw on TV over the years....