Best Baseball Player of all Time

[Gordogg]

I'm a 3 sports nut, NFL, MLB and NBA. I used to follow these sports closely back in the early to late 90's when I collected ball cards. I've learned and retained tons of info such as stats, records and all time greats of these respective games. I was even remotely interested in the NHL, and still am for the fact that video game hockey is one of the funnest sports games to play.

So who's the best ever in your opinion and why? I'm looking for arguments based on stats and ability here rather than persona and image.

[thrash1294]

mlb Ty cobb
nba Jordan
nfl Wow thats hard but for now Walter payton.

[Reel Deal]

Every time discussions like these come up it just makes me ill that we didn't get to see Bo Jackson have a complete career. The guys was beyond sick... first person to be named an All-Star in two major professional sports (NFL and MLB), Heisman winner, once ran the 40 in 4.12

The guy was off the charts... really wish we could have seen him for longer than we did.

[Wes]

lol ty cobb.

pretty sure the consensus is going to be

Jordan
Ruth
Gretzky
Jim Brown

although judging the best football player is so silly since everyone does such a different job. Like you could easily put 15 other people in there and have an easy argument as to why they are #1. And I suppose you'll also get some people to say Bobby Orr in NHL or something retarded like Bill Russel in NBA too.

[thrash1294]

TY COBB FOR REAL... LOOK AT HIS STATS

Ty Cobb may have been baseball's greatest player, if not the game's fiercest competitor. His batting accomplishments are legendary - a lifetime average of .367, 297 triples, 4,191 hits, 12 batting titles (including nine in a row), 23 straight seasons in which he hit over .300, three .400 seasons (topped by a .420 mark in 1911), and 2,245 runs. Intimidating the opposition, The Georgia Peach stole 892 bases during a 24-year career, primarily with the Detroit Tigers.

AS FAR AS bO jACKSON THE SAME COULD BE SAID FOR BARRY SANDERS.
What he did playing for the toothless Lions.

[Wes]

you can't say from any statistical standpoint that Ty Cobb is better than Babe Ruth. give me 100 point higher on baseball percentage and 200 point higher slugging percentage and 500 more home runs over 700 more stolen bases any day of the week.

shit i would imagine a more reasonable argument from the Mays and/or Williams camp being #1 because pitching/defense was better and they had WWII that basically robbed them of their primes.

[Talking Poker]

Don't forget Ruth could pitch too.

You gotta go with the Babe.

[drewjax]

FYP



And I truly believe that Bo could have gone down as the greatest (or at least in the discussion) in both sports had he chosen to focus on either one.


Oh and Doug Flutie is sfobv the best football player of all time.

/thread

[GTDawg]

MLB - Babe Ruth (The guy was a fantastic pitcher too...)
NBA - Michael Jordan
NFL - Jim Brown (Jerry Rice was pretty darn good...but he also had some decent quarterbacks throwing to him)
NHL - Wayne Gretzky

[Gordogg]

Hit it on the head for me here. Ted Williams is the best HITTER to ever play. You can't compare pitchers to batters is the only reason I emphasize hitter. Walter Johnson is the best pitcher ever. My point is Williams lost 4 years to war, he'd have phenomenal (as if what he has done isn't) batting stats if not for that. He was also the last one to bat over .400.

[Kurn]

ROFLMAO. Wins the Heisman because of a blown coverage when 5 QBs in D1 had better stats. Mediocre NFL player and an absolute cancer in the clubhouse. Why do you think he changed teams every other year. Wore out his welcome everywhere he played.

Besides, BC SUCKS!!!

[Mogul4]

Throwing more obvious names here.

The only NFL ive heard of is Gretsky.
MLB wise gotta be Babe Ruth.
NBA is MJ for obv reasons.
NFL i watch alot of, and know some history. I cant decide on this though for the reasons stated. QBs are the obvious choice... but isnt it easier to pick the best players for a position??



And can i throw a soccer one in there, being european??

Cristiano Ronaldo right now... but all time? He has a shot at it, needs 10 more solid seasons though. Pele is obvious.. ANyone even heard of Eusabio???

[sil3ntq]

i think ronaldo is overrated.. more of a celebrity than a soccer player imo. same goes for beckham.

n i agree with pele; definitely the greatest soccer player of all time. but you cant count out maradona n beckenbauer. marco van basten may be included in that list as well, but those three for sure at the top.

[drewjax]

Here's one right in my wheelhouse.

LMFAO at idiots who think he won for one pass. MORON!

He left college.......AS THE ALL TIME LEADING PASSER IN HISTORY.

But meatheads like Kurn and others think he just scrambled around for 4 years and threw a couple of screen passes and one long one in Miami. Unreal.

He completed the pass in Miami for the same reason every shortsighted person who doesnt know the game fell victim to. They underestimated my boy Dougie. The db's from Miami were quoted as saying 'I didnt think the ball would reach the end zone when I saw it in the air'. The pass was of a low trajectory for a bomb of that length. Watch the play again. They were in perfect position when the ball was in the air. They moved up to knock it down, not thinking it would reach the end zone. Two of them bumped into one another and the miracle was complete.

What else can I shoot down very easily.............from heisman.com.......
Many felt Doug Flutie's fabled "Hail Mary" pass, which took Boston College to a last-second win over Miami, won the little quarterback the Heisman. Actually, the vote was in before that classic game.


And who EVER said he was a cancer in the locker room??? Who?
Rob 'the definition of a pretty boy primadona pussy but is tall with a good arm' Johnson. PLEASE
Ask the hardest nosed no nosense guy maybe in history, Hall of Famer Mike Ditka if he would take Flutie into battle with him. He would, he has said as much.

He got more out of the least of maybe anyone in history.
To quote Hall of Famer John Madden "Inch for inch, Flutie in his prime was the best QB of his generation."

-He is one of only 34 quarterbacks in NFL history have a perfect QB rating for a game.
-Only 5 quarterbacks in pro history have thrown for more yards.
-Only 4 quarterbacks in pro history have thrown more touchdowns.

Please, please, pretty fucking please tell me who are the 5 quarterbacks who had better stats in 1984.
All I can find that I can think of that you will try to pull out of your ass:

Robbie Bosco: 283/458, 61.8%, 3875 yds, 33 TD (playing in basically a west coast offense)
Bernie Kosar: (cant find full stats atm) 3642 yds, 25 TD
Flutie: 233/386, 60.4%, 3454 yds, 27 TD

WOW ya those are way better! The other 3 must be off the charts.


YOU FUCKING HATERS SUCK

PWNED

Come stronger please


The name calling is all in jest obv, you got a rise out of me tho!

[melioris]

//threadjack

I don't know baseball, but can comment on the soccer comments thus far. C. Ronaldo isn't overrated, he is one of the better players in the world at this moment. But he is a situational and positional player who requires a talented team around him to shine. He can't hold a candle to players like Zidane who anchored teams and made all their teammates play better. Oh, and C. Ronadlo is a Portuguese douchebag that likes to be sodomized by goats.

Pele is one of the greatest for sure, but part of the reason he was so good was that the skill and tactical awareness of the average player at that time was incredibly poor. He would still dominated if he played now, but nowhere near the level that he did back then. If it wasn't for the coke, Maradona would have been the greatest ever.

Beckenbauer was a titan, he revolutionized the game more than just about any other player and certainly deserves to be in the conversation.

But for my money, if i was picking an all-time team, my first two picks would be Zidane and then Makelele. Soccer is all about creating and managing space, and those two players control the field from box to box better than any other midfield combination in the history of the game. And this was during, arguably, the most talent rich era the sport has ever seen.


end threadjack//

[Kurn]

YOU FUCKING HATERS SUCK

But not as much as anything connected to BC.

After the Music City Miracle, Flutie said "If I had plaYED, WE'D HAVE WON."

Really, shrimp? I wasn't aware you played on the KO team? Johnson drove them for the go ahead score at the end of the game.

Flutie's been a "Me first" guy his entire career.

Besides, he went to BC so he sucks by definition.

[Kurn]

Hard to argue with anyone on basketball and Hockey. Clearly MJ and #99 were the greatest ever at their sports.

And Wes hit the nail on the head with Football. Too many different jobs to pick one, but being an ex-LB myself, I'll cast my vote for Lawrence Taylor. I can't imagine how good he would've been had he been drug-free.

Now to baseball.

I must disagree on Ruth. Yes he could pitch and hit, but I can't pick him as the best ever for two reasons.

1) Offensively, he was a paradigm shift. Pitchers of his era had no clue how to handle a guy who could knock it out of the park on every swing. I can no more call Babe the greatest offensive baseball player based on his stats than I can call Wilt the greatest NBA player based on his.

2) More important, nobody pre-1947 can be considered the greatest since they competed against watered down talent. No hitter who never had to face Satchell Paige in his prime can be considered the best, no pitcher who never had to pitch to the fearsome Josh Gibson can be the best.

Thus my vote for the greatest MLB player is Willie Mays.

[drewjax]

FY (lame ass) P


And I'm pretty sure if you were in his shoes, you'd have a bit of a chip on your shoulder too. The guy leaves college as the most prolific QB in history, and then has everybody not even letting him play up to his capabilities. Early on they would basically let him throw like 15 times a game on 3rd and long.?.? uh ha, THAT makes sense. They even tried to completely change the way he threw, again as if he just scrambled around for 4 years.

So thats all you got? One quote after a loss like that? After leading the team to a 10-5 record but gets replaced by the senile owner....

I'll take that shrimp over an arrogant know it all any day.

sigh

have a nice day

[Wes]

lol flutie isn't even close to being the 2nd best buffalo bills qb in their history.

[jillaj]

Drew are you related to him or do you just have a crush on him?