Babe Ruth is probably the most recognizable name in baseball. He ranks first all-time in Wins Above Replacement (182.6), with nearly 20 more WAR than the second-best player (Walter Johnson, 165.1). Its no surprise the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians all have status honoring him. Topping the list of the best MLB players of all time is none other than Babe Ruth. Those two records may never be broken. A 14-time All-Star selection with a Triple Crown (1966), and all three MVP awards (1961 AL MVP, 1966 NL MVP and 1966 World Series MVP), he is an all-time great. He hit 242 home runs with 842 RBIs before a career ending auto accident in the winter of 1958. Top MLB free agents 2024: Shohei Ohtani headlines 2023-24 MLB free agency rankings, Fastest players in MLB 2023: Corbin Carroll, Elly De La Cruz among fastest players in baseball, MLB steals leaders, MLB awards 2023: Predicting Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove winners and more, Best MLB players 2023: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani headline best players in baseball, MLB All-Star Game 2023: Projecting 2023 All-Star lineups and reserves, All-Star Game info, MLB games today MLB schedule, TV info, scores, and key dates, Barry Bonds snubbed from Hall of Fame: Baseball world reacts, Longest home run ever: Longest home run in MLB history, 2023 and Home Run Derby. The active career leader in that category is Adam Wainwright -- with 27. The Yankees Wallow In Mediocrity As AL East is the best division. - Forbes He combined breathtaking raw power from both sides of the plate -- did he really hit a 565-foot home run? Lou Gehrig. Table; Rank Player (yrs, age) Batting Average PA Bats; 1. He already has won three MVP trophies and finished in the top five of MVP balloting for nine straight years, a streak that ended last season because of injury. The seven-inning game will air exclusively on Peacock . Rickey Henderson might be one of the most underrated players in MLB history when it comes to discussion of the all-time greats. Rodrguez broke the all-time Derby record with 41 home runs in a record-setting round, besting Vlad Guerrero Jr.'s 2019 semifinal total of 40. The all-time leader in OBP (.482), Williams slugged a .328/.458/.584 line as a 38-year-old. Gibson died of a stroke in early 1947 at the age of 35. The greatest to ever play the game, Ruth's career seems like a work of fiction. Nothing says summer quite like baseball, the American national pastime. Eight-time MLB All-Star (1996-2000, 2002, 2005, 2006). Nicknamed The Judge, Frank Robinson delivered absolute pain to baseballs and put fear into pitchers eyes for two decades. -- with blazing speed, at least until his knees went bad. Questions like these are never straightforward. He holds the MLB record for batting average, ranks second on the all-time hit list (4,189) and he posted a .400 batting average in consecutive seasons (1911-12). -- Alden Gonzalez, Team(s): Cincinnati Reds (1956-1965), Baltimore Orioles (1966-1971), Los Angeles Dodgers (1972), California Angels (1973-74), Cleveland Indians (1974-76), Stats: .294/.389/.537, 586 HR, 1,812 RBI, 2,943 H, 107.2 bWAR, What he's best known for: A pioneer as the first African American manager in MLB, Robinson was also a two-time MVP, a Triple Crown winner and one of the toughest and fiercest competitors the game has known. Roger Clemens Wikimedia Nicknamed "Rocket," Clemens, a former pitcher for the New York Yankees, enjoyed a successful 24 seasons in the MLB. He played in 10 World Series in his 13 seasons -- and the Yankees won nine of them. He was a major celebrity, known as much for his wild lifestyle as his ability to blast home runs. Agree or disagree? Some will argue he's too high on this list; don't tell that to kids of the '90s. Become a Stathead. Henderson hit 81 leadoff home runs, and nobody else has hit more than 54. Few players have ever burst onto the big league scene with more splendor. Considered by some to be the best player in the history of baseball. Though some have come close (Pete Rose is second with 44 games), most baseball stat geeks feel DiMaggios record is unbreakable. And then something went past me that made me flinch. According to Larry Doby, who broke the color barrier with Cleveland in 1947, Jackie Robinson was not the best player, Gibson was.. Greatest Baseball Players of All Time: Top 10 List Shohei Ohtani (born July 5, 1994) is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and designated hitter for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Brooks was a two time World Series Champion and was named World Series MVP in 1970. (An outstanding pilot, Williams flew combat missions in Korea as John Glenns wingman.) Theres no doubt that Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player ever. Campanella was an all-star eight straight seasons from 1949 until 1956. As an undergraduate at UCLA, Robinsons best sport was football, and he played running back for minor professional teams before joining the military during World War II. Cincinnati, Baltimore and Cleveland all erected Robinson statues outside their stadiums. A number of modern fans probably know Honus Wagner best as the subject of the most-valuable baseball card in history, the rare 190911 T206 Wagner card that was produced by the American Tobacco Company. Hes also part of an even more exclusive club, joining Pedro Martinez, Walter Johnson and Tom Seaver as the only pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts and a sub-3 ERA. Cool Papa was one of the fastest players to ever wear spikes. During the latter stretch, he won four straight Cy Young Awards, giving him five overall. Big Train was the original power pitcher. Anyone can make their own list of the best ballplayers ever to play the game, making this crowdranking a true consensus on who's the best baseball player of all time. He quickly made his Major League debut July 1936 in a relief appearance and struck out 15 in his first start that August. Gehrig died from ALS in 1941 at age 37. So who is the greatest baseball player of all time? However, it would be impossible to have that discussion without the "Big Train" at the center of it. His 1,995 ribbies rank seventh all-time despite the abrupt end to his career. The scarcity of the card is a big reason why it can fetch upwards of $2 million in a sale, but it wouldnt be nearly as valuable if the person depicted on it was just a run-of-the-mill player and not one of the best to have ever stepped on a diamond. -- Alden Gonzalez, Team(s): New York Mets (1967-77, 1983), Cincinnati Reds (1977-1982), Chicago White Sox (1984-86), Boston Red Sox (1986), Stats: 311-205, 2.86 ERA, 3,640 SO, 4,783 IP, 109.9 bWAR, What he's best known for: The Cy Young-winning ace of the '69 Miracle Mets, Seaver was one of the most beloved athletes in New York sports history. Top 100 MLB players for 2020 - MLB.com The right fielder was elected to 15 all-star games, won two World Series and had a career batting average of .317. 100 Greatest Players of All-Time - The Baseball Scholar Johnie Cooks (19582023), Super Bowl champ with the Evelyn M. Witkin (19212023), discovered how DNA repairs itself, Mike Halac (19682023), pro wrestler known as Mantaur, Johnie Cooks (19582023), Super Bowl champ with the Giants, Vicki Anderson (19392023), singer with the James Brown Revue. The best part is the result of your qualifying wager is irrelevant because the bonus hits no matter what. The first baseman for the New York Yankees was an incredible hitter with a career batting average of .340 and 493 home runs. MLB Career Batting Leaders. This greatest baseball players list represents the combined lists of baseball fans everywhere. -- Bradford Doolittle, Team(s): St. Louis Cardinals (1915-26, 1933), New York Giants (1927), Boston Braves (1928), Chicago Cubs (1929-32), St. Louis Browns (1933-37), Stats: .358/.434/.577, 301 HR, 2,930 H, 1,584 RBI, 127.3 bWAR, What he's best known for: Any conversation around the greatest hitter in baseball history needs to include Hornsby, whose combination of hitting for average and power is legendary. Greenberg served four years in the Army during World War II, the longest of any Major League player. Jim Thome: 97. Everything clicked for him after that. So who's too high? Let's see somebody break that record. Some say he was heartbroken that he was not first black player in the majors. He was a lethal base runner, so fast he could easily score from first on a base hit. He was nicknamed The Gentleman Hurler for his clean-cut lifestyle (he would not pitch on Sundays for religious reasons). After being traded to the Yankees, he was asked about wearing the same uniform Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle once donned. He took a second MVP in 1924 as he led the Senators to their first World Series championship. 2023 Home Run Derby results - MLB.com Hornsby was difficult to get along with and not popular among his teammates. While Gibsons numbers in the Negro Leagues arent often held in the same regards as the MLB career leaders, those who chronicled Gibsons career all agree he is one of the best baseball players to ever live. On and off the field, Cobb was known for his rough and tumble attitude, even going into the stands to fight hecklers (something other players of that era such as Babe Ruth also did). Our ranking of the 100 greatest MLB players of all time comes down to the top 25. "They say his father was a fisherman."). 100. Hall of Famers all around. Then Bonds became superhuman after allegedly starting to use PEDs. We put together a way-too-early All-Century team, highlighting the best (steroid-free) players from 2000-2020. Another big personality in baseball, the Yankees catcher was one of the best ever behind the plate. Clemente had a brilliant baseball career which tragically ended when he died at 38 in a plane crash on the way to Nicaragua to deliver aid to victims of an earthquake. June 12, 2019 100 Greatest Starting Pitchers of All-Time 5 Greatest Designated Hitters of All-Time 100 Greatest Left Fielders of All-Time 100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time 100 Greatest Right Fielders of All-Time 100 Greatest Shortstops of All-Time 100 Greatest Third Baseman of All-Time 100 Greatest Second Baseman of All-Time Updating and ranking the 50 greatest MLB players of all time - ClutchPoints When is the MLB All-Star Game 2023? The debate between eras. 1 of 25 25. Best Baseball Players of All Time The New York Yankees retired Babe Ruth's No. To the velocity, you can add a side-whipping, almost underhand arm slot, and hitters of his time had no chance. -- Bradford Doolittle, Team(s): Oakland Athletics (1979-84, 1989-93, 1994-95, 1998), New York Yankees (1985-89), Toronto Blue Jays (1993), San Diego Padres (1996-97, 2001), Anaheim Angels (1997), New York Mets (1999-2000), Seattle Mariners (2000), Boston Red Sox (2002), Los Angeles Dodgers (2003), Stats: .279/.401/.419, 297 HR, 3,055 H, 1,406 SB, 111.2 bWAR, What he's best known for: He was loud, brash, defiant, cocky and electric. And his career totals could have been even higher had he not missed three prime seasons to serve in World War II. The flame-throwing Walter Johnson was a generational talent who defined dominant pitching for decades. He slugged .690 for his career. -- Alden Gonzalez, Team(s): Detroit Tigers (1905-26), Philadelphia Athletics (1927-28), Stats: .366/.433/.512, 117 HR, 1,944 RBI, 4,189 H, 151.5 bWAR, What he's best known for: In an era when batting average reigned supreme, Cobb was the greatest of 'em all: He won a record 12 batting titles, hit .400 three times and finished with the highest lifetime average in MLB history. Foxx finished his career with 534 homers and an impressive career .325 batting average. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Top 20 Defensive Baseball Players of All Time - TheSportster He's second all-time in total bases, third in runs created (behind Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth) and in the top 10 in numerous other categories. In 1911, Cobb batted .420, collecting 248 hits and winning the . Barry Bonds on MLB Hall of Fame exclusion: 'It doesn't make sense' His unmatched collection of skills made him the greatest center fielder who ever lived. Not only did Mays rack up astounding totals at the plateincluding 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, and 1,903 runs batted inbut his outstanding play in the outfield produced 12 consecutive Gold Glove Awards (195768) and led many observers to call him the greatest all-around player the game has ever seen. Ted Williams. Yes, he played among an artificially limited talent pool before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947 and decades before advanced training regimens produced athletes who looked like, well, athletes, but Ruth was such a historic talent that he transcends these qualifiers. After being diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease, Gehrig was forced to retire early in the 1939 season. We Rank the Top 100 Players at Every Position; We Select the 100 Greatest Players of All-Time; Now Includes Players from the Negro Leagues; Updated through the 2022 Season; Top 100 Players in Baseball History He was Shohei Ohtani a century ahead of schedule. Playing mostly with the Cardinals and Cubs, he hit .400 three times, had a career batting average of .358 (second only to Ty Cobb), had over 2,900 hits, and is the only player ever to hit .400 with 40 home runs in a season. Theres no question he belongs in the lineup of best MLB players ever. Baseballs place in the American zeitgeist comes, at least in part, from its long history and the general consistency of the game over decadesits quite likely that your great-great-grandfather would be able to easily follow a modern game if he were magically plopped into the stands. The Best Player in MLB History, Position by Position God Almighty, that man can hit.. Related: What is the highest batting average ever? The beloved left-fielder was such a great hitter that he still holds the record for on-base percentage of .482 and is the last player to hit over .400 in a season (he did it in 1941). -- Bradford Doolittle, Team(s): Boston Red Sox (1939-42, 1946-60), Stats: .344/.482/.634, 521 HR, 1,839 RBI, 2,654 H, 122.1 bWAR, What he's best known for: Williams was probably the greatest hitter who ever lived, largely because of the astronomical numbers he put up but also because of how he revolutionized the approach to hitting. While Alex Rodriguez might be one of the most hated baseball players ever, he must still also be recognized as one of the all-time greats. He is unquestionably the best center fielder ever and if defense is valued highly, the greatest outfielder in MLB history. Known for his power pitching -- his drop-and-drive delivery that stained his right knee with dirt was the iconic motion for a generation of pitchers -- Seaver topped 230 innings pitched in 15 seasons. All told, he led the AL in home runs 12 times. The Flying Dutchman was known for his speed and his great bat. It's that time of year when pitchers and catchers start to report to Spring Training, which means it's also time for the annual countdown of the Top 100 players in Major League Baseball. -- Alden Gonzalez, Stats: .298/.421/.557, 536 HR, 1,509 RBI, 2415 H, 110.2 bWAR, What he's best known for: He was the center of the baseball universe, back when New York ruled the baseball world and the Yankees ruled baseball. Our ranking of the 100 greatest MLB players of all time comes down to the top 25. . Many players make an impact, a few become folk heroes, but nobody changed a sport like Ruth did when he joined the Yankees and transformed baseball into a game of power. His play with the storied New York Yankees teams of the 1920s catapulted baseball to the prominence in the national consciousness that it still enjoys today. Olney: Which current stars are destined to join the list? Ranking Nos. The only comprehensive rankings of players from baseball history that are updated annually. David Bednar, RHP, Pirates. He was such a prodigious power hitter that his astounding .690 career slugging percentage remains the best of all time, and the gap between his mark and second place is larger than the one between second place and ninth. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. At ages 39 and 40, in 1957 and '58, he won the AL batting title. Trout delivered the best rookie season in MLB history (168 OPS+, 49 steals, 30 home runs) and finished second in MVP voting. McCovey was one of the best power hitters in baseball history, beloved for his long run with the San Francisco Giants. Are you a New York Yankees fan? After spending his freshman year at shortstop, Posey became a superstar behind the plate over his final two seasons, winning national player of the year honors in 2008, when he put together one of. The smell of fresh-cut grass. "He plays the game the way the great ones played it -- out of pure hate," famed writer Jim Murray wrote. He moved to the outfield and became a feared switch hitter, batting .337 during his time in the Negro leagues. Which Historical Figure Would Win In An All-Night Drinking Competition? -- David Schoenfield, Stats: .340/.447/.632, 493 HR, 1,995 RBI, 2,721 H, 113.7 bWAR, What he's best known for: Society remembers Gehrig for the disease that took his life and bears his name, and for the courage he displayed when facing it. Johnson won his league strikeout crown nine times, including two different stretches of four straight. 2023 MLB All-Star Game odds, prediction, picks, time: Expert reveals best bets for AL vs. NL . Roger Maris, 1961 1 of 50 I bounced back and forth between including this or not, and in the end, I chose to both for its excellence and renown, even though it pales in comparison to others on the. A six-time World Series champion and a member of the Major League Baseball All-Time Team, Gehrigs most consecutive games MLB played streak (2,130) is likely never broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. if not for ALS. -- Bradford Doolittle, Team(s): Chicago Cubs (1986-92, 2004-06), Atlanta Braves (1993-2003), Los Angeles Dodgers (2006, 2008), San Diego Padres (2007-08), Stats: 355-227, 3.16 ERA, 3,371 SO, 5,008 1/3 IP, What he's best known for: Few things in baseball are more hypnotizing than a GIF of Maddux's two-seamer. He won 30 games four times, led the NL five times in ERA and strikeouts, and was one of the five original inductees into the Hall of Fame in 1936. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. He posted Hall of Fame-caliber numbers in his first five seasons with the Boston Red Sox (981 OPS, 190 OPS+. And hitting .300 is what Musial did year after year. -- David Schoenfield. (As of this writing, the current active leader, Clayton Kershaw, has 15 over eight and a half seasons.) What made Griffey Jr. one of the most beloved MLB players ever is his enthusiasm for the game and the unmatched effort he played with. Most baseball fans know that MLB's Cy Young Award is named after Cy Young, the pitcher with the most lifetime victories (511) in MLB history. He accumulated an NL-best 37 complete games during that stretch. Cub, is beloved by Chicago baseball fans. If Wagner were a young player today, he would be an odd sight. The Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time - Ranker Ty Cobb acknowledged Wagner was one of the best players he had seen. Too low? 2023 MLB All-Star Game odds, prediction, picks, time: Expert reveals Schmidt wasn't quite a three-true-outcomes player, as he did have seasons with solid batting averages, but he did put up prodigious numbers in homers (seven times leading the NL), walks (four times in the lead) and strikeouts (also four times in the lead). Bell himself added papa to the nickname because he thought it sounded better. Bob Gibson was simply electric on the mound for the St. Louis Cardinals. Greg Maddux, aka Mad Dog, delivered a four-year stretch as weve really never seen. It was all in good fun, but also an indication of how fearsome Johnson looked to anyone who stepped into the batter's box against him. The Big Unit struck fear into a batter the moment he hit the mound. Unlike voters deciding who is enshrined into Cooperstown, were focused on a baseball players pure accomplishments. After work hours guitarist, DJ, record label owner and New York style pizza aficionado. The Midsummer Classic 2023 is on Tuesday, July 11 at 8 p.m. -- Alden Gonzalez, Team(s): Boston Red Sox (1914-19), New York Yankees (1920-34), Boston Braves (1935), As a hitter: .342/.474/.690, 714 HR, 2,214 RBI, 2873 H, 162.7 bWAR, As a pitcher: 94-46, 2.28 ERA, 488 SO, 1,221 IP, 20.4 bWAR, What he's best known for: Home runs. The greatest St. Louis Cardinals player ever hit almost everything for nearly two decades, posting a .300-plus batting average every season from 1941-1958. He slugged .744 in 41 World Series games. So lets just appreciate the incredible statistics Bonds piled up: an unsurpassed 762 home runs (including a single-season record 73 in 2001), a record seven career MVP awards, and 688 intentional walks, which is more than double the amount given to the player with the second most of all time and a striking testament to the unparalleled fear Bonds instilled in opposing pitchers. He broke the single-season home run record, passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's new home run king and put up these numbers from 2001 through 2004, his ages 36 to 39 seasons: 1.368 OPS (292 points higher than the runner-up), 209 home runs (17 more than the runner-up), 755 walks (307 more than the runner-up). When compiling our list of the best MLB players ever, though, Martinez earned his placement right near the top. Campanella was of Italian and African-American ancestry and played in the Negro League starting at age 16 for the Washington Elite Giants.
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