ESPN's Top 100 MLB Players of All Time

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I was kinda surprised Carl Hubbell and Ed Walsh were complety left off the list. I always ranked Hubbell better than Carlton for leftys.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Thinking about it now but where is Mickey Cochrane I always had him ranked as a top 3 catcher.

[toomanyhatz]

If Alexander at 50 is ridiculous- and I believe it is- Grove at 47 is equally so. Their relative placing is about right, but Grove is much more comparable to Walter Johnson than he is the other pitchers that are down in his vicinity. They should both be at least top 20.

[Ben Grimm]

If Alexander at 50 is ridiculous- and I believe it is- Grove at 47 is equally so. Their relative placing is about right, but Grove is much more comparable to Walter Johnson than he is the other pitchers that are down in his vicinity. They should both be at least top 20.

Possibly due to his [Grove] player comps on BB-Ref. His top three comps are:

Palmer (89th)
Clarkson (not ranked)
Plank (103rd)

If that's the case, he did rather well. But I pretty much agree that both pitchers could have been higher. I still think alot of the factors here came into players the voters actually saw play when it came to a coinflip.

[BigRon]

Possibly due to his [Grove] player comps on BB-Ref. His top three comps are:

Palmer (89th)
Clarkson (not ranked)
Plank (103rd)

If that's the case, he did rather well. But I pretty much agree that both pitchers could have been higher. I still think alot of the factors here came into players the voters actually saw play when it came to a coinflip.

Yeah, but anybody who knows anything realizes that player comps are next to worthless. They totally ignore era context and home ballpark context. Era context is extremely important. Obviously a hitter in 1910, even a geat one, is going to look puny on a slugging scale. To use Grove as an example, he played most of his career in one of the two highest offense eras in history- and, he played much of his career in hitters' parks- a double whammy that player comps totally disregard.

[fenrir]

Top 25 voted by the fans on ESPN.com:

1.Babe Ruth
2.Willie Mays
3.Ted Williams
4.Hank Aaron
5.Lou Gehrig
6.Ty Cobb
7.Mickey Mantle
8.Joe DiMaggio
9.Cy Young
10.Barry Bonds
11.Stan Musial
12.Walter Johnson
13.Honus Wagner
14.Rogers Hornsby
15.Albert Pujols
16.Frank Robinson
17.Greg Maddux
18.Rickey Henderson
19.Mike Schmidt
20.Randy Johnson
21.Tris Speaker
22.Roger Clemens
23.Tom Seaver
24.Joe Morgan
25.Alex Rodriguez

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Dimaggio is deff high on the fans list.

[JR Hart]

Top 25 voted by the fans on ESPN.com:

1.Babe Ruth
2.Willie Mays
3.Ted Williams
4.Hank Aaron
5.Lou Gehrig
6.Ty Cobb
7.Mickey Mantle
8.Joe DiMaggio
9.Cy Young
10.Barry Bonds
11.Stan Musial
12.Walter Johnson
13.Honus Wagner
14.Rogers Hornsby
15.Albert Pujols
16.Frank Robinson
17.Greg Maddux
18.Rickey Henderson
19.Mike Schmidt
20.Randy Johnson
21.Tris Speaker
22.Roger Clemens
23.Tom Seaver
24.Joe Morgan
25.Alex Rodriguez

I've seen worse, many of them on here. It's great to see DiMaggio get the respect that he deserves. Does anyone really think that when DiMaggio retired that anyone thought that he was worse than Tris Speaker? no chance It's good to see some common sense on that.

Overall, it's a pretty solid top 25. I would quabble with some of the rankings (Morgan out, Mantle lower, Bonds, Wagner higher), but overall it's pretty darned good. I give the fans some credit.

[Bothrops Atrox]

Top 25 voted by the fans on ESPN.com:

1.Babe Ruth
2.Willie Mays
3.Ted Williams
4.Hank Aaron
5.Lou Gehrig
6.Ty Cobb
7.Mickey Mantle
8.Joe DiMaggio
9.Cy Young
10.Barry Bonds
11.Stan Musial
12.Walter Johnson
13.Honus Wagner
14.Rogers Hornsby
15.Albert Pujols
16.Frank Robinson
17.Greg Maddux
18.Rickey Henderson
19.Mike Schmidt
20.Randy Johnson
21.Tris Speaker
22.Roger Clemens
23.Tom Seaver
24.Joe Morgan
25.Alex Rodriguez

Were they given the pool of this 25 players to chose from?

[fenrir]

Were they given the pool of this 25 players to chose from?

Actually, yes. I suspect if they weren't, Pete Rose and Nolan Ryan would have made the top 25.
.

[JR Hart]

Actually, yes. I suspect if they weren't, Pete Rose and Nolan Ryan would have made the top 25.
.

You know that, or did they just vote for the top 100?

[chicagowhitesox1173]

Actually, yes. I suspect if they weren't, Pete Rose and Nolan Ryan would have made the top 25.
.

Without a doubt.

[TomBodet]

I heard a podcast w/ David Schoenfield, and basically he heavily favored the moderns ala Bonds, Rocket, etc. I don't fault the thinking, though it seems odd to me, he and the host diss Black Jack Morris as a Hof, but then in the next breath are pushing Kenny Lofton(?!)....uhh okay guys. I heard Willie Wilson was up too--

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I heard a podcast w/ David Schoenfield, and basically he heavily favored the moderns ala Bonds, Rocket, etc. I don't fault the thinking, though it seems odd to me, he and the host diss Black Jack Morris as a Hof, but then in the next breath are pushing Kenny Lofton(?!)....uhh okay guys. I heard Willie Wilson was up too--

Yeah these voters are not good usually. I wish they would have credited historians vote these guys in.

[Sockeye]

I wouldn't even rate Jordan as the best basketball player. I would have had both Chamberlain and Robertson ahead of him.

As far as best athlete, it depends on whether they meant the best individual athlete or most dominant athlete in their sport? They never made that clear, which may account for some of the wacky voting. Either way, it still wouldn't be Jordan. If they were going for best individual athlete it should have been Jim Thorpe. If they were going for most dominant than it should have easily been Gretzky.

I've always said that the best basketball player in my lifetime was Magic Johnson. Granted Wilt the stilt and the Big O were before my time. Most underated basketball player of all time...Tom Chambers.