Greatest Living Baseball Player

[metirish]

Mays was thought of by many as not only the greatest living baseball player, but one of the All-Time Greats



So, who now is the greatest living baseball player ?

[kcmets]

I took 'other' because Jeter wasn't listed for some reason.

[metirish]

I took 'other' because Jeter wasn't listed for some reason.

Haha, I was wondering who the "other " might be

[Edgy MD]

I could make a case for most of those guys.



Not Rose, though.



I went for Trout, after applying steroidish penalties to others, but it's TELLING that you did not include Shohei Ohtani or Ichiro Suzuki on an otherwise comprehensive list.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

=kcmets post_id=159704 time=1718797271 user_id=53]
I took 'other' because Jeter wasn't listed for some reason.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Oh Rickey you're so fine

Of living ballplayers you're the all time

Hey Rickey

Hey Rickey

[smg58]

I just realized that none of the legendary players from before my time that I grew up reading about are still with us, except for Mr. Koufax. I think the baton is his for the time being.

[MFS62]

Greg Maddux.

He didn't have the Nolan Ryan fastball.

He didn't have the Koufax curve.

He looked easy to hit.

He wasn't.



Later

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm torn between Griffey and Rickey. Different kinds of ballplayers but both great in their own way.



Roberto Alomar, lol.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

This is a good exercise.



As I scanned this list, I'd think "This guys were great, but.." and they would all have some flaw. And I wonder if that's because we've seen all these players and we know so much more about them that we did from the guys from the earlier times. The heroes from the 1950s and 1960s had flaws, too, but I didn't see them.



I picked Griffey, but he certainly had those years with the Reds with the nagging injuries. Albert Pujols' final stats are incredible, but I think about those years with the Angels where he was mortal.



It's tough for me to pick an active player because those books are still open.

Edited June 19, 2024 by Guest

[Chad ochoseis]

I think we all started thinking about that once the word got out.

.

Not sure yet who I'd vote for, but if we're including active players, Ohtani belongs on the list.



One thing is for sure - none of these guys were anywhere near as good as Willie Mays.

[kcmets]

=Marshmallowmilkshake post_id=159711 time=1718799116 user_id=119]
=kcmets post_id=159704 time=1718797271 user_id=53]
I took 'other' because Jeter wasn't listed for some reason.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I voted for Rickey, but there was no obvious choice.

[DocTee]

Rickey (by a lot). Then Cal, who would likely be a far better ambassador for the game in that role.

[Gwreck]

I had no problem picking Barry Bonds here and didn't see it as a tough choice.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Nobody will take up this mantle. (No pun intended). It's not just Willie's stats. It's his persona, his aura. Nobody will replace the totality of what Willie Mays was and represented.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I voted for Rickey, but there was no obvious choice.

Agreed. Note that Rickey, like Mays, also played for the Mets and wore #24.





[FIMG=333]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ee/7e/5b/ee7e5b131d3a0de4a05c9d673e65c8c4.jpg[/FIMG]

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I would argue Rickey had the most unique skill set of anyone above and was better at the things he was good at than any of others are at what they did best. His downsides was that his demeanor wasn't press- or fan-friendly, he occasionally looked indifferent, played on too many teams, and he wasn't a star defensively

[Edgy MD]

Not shown is Johnny Bench.



Bench was as good as any catcher ever at just about all parts of his game. But only if he had done it as long as, say, Carlton Fisk, would his career have surpassed Henderson's.

[batmagadanleadoff]

=smg58 post_id=159715 time=1718801022 user_id=62]
I just realized that none of the legendary players from before my time that I grew up reading about are still with us, except for Mr. Koufax.

[G-Fafif]

I'm the Pujols vote based on Albert being the guy who came to mind first last night when I wondered about this myself, though I proceeded to think, “oh yeah, Bonds..and Schmidt.” Bench is a really good candidate, too. And Henderson does feel more like a “ballplayer” than just about anybody. Pujols appeals to me because he's pretty much the last player (along with Miguel Cabrera) I viewed through a lingering childlike lens as larger than life, even in his Angel denouement. His brief revival on his way out moved me for how it connected him to his initial decade of dominance. Like any reasonable Mets fan, I hate the Cardinals, but I rooted for him in 2022 to do a little Citi Field hitting. I don't believe I will raise that kind of sentiment for any of the active stars of today…though I believe Ohtani deserves consideration in this exercise.



All of this said, I agree the designation of Greatest Living Player doesn't quite fit anybody who isn't a Willie Mays — and there aren't any of those around anymore.

Edited June 19, 2024 by Guest

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Not shown is Johnny Bench. Bench was as good as any catcher ever at just about all parts of his game. But only if he had done it as long as, say, Carlton Fisk, would his career have surpassed Henderson's.

Juan Marichal wasn't shown, either - He is a Hall of Famer, too.



Later

[Chad ochoseis]

I went with Bonds, as the question was not "Who is the greatest living player, cheaters not included?"

[metirish]

Edgy MD wrote: Not shown is Johnny Bench. Bench was as good as any catcher ever at just about all parts of his game. But only if he had done it as long as, say, Carlton Fisk, would his career have surpassed Henderson's. Juan Marichal wasn't shown, either - He is a Hall of Famer, too. Later

That's what other is for ,tried my best to think of as many as I could

[Edgy MD]

Edgy MD wrote: Not shown is Johnny Bench. Bench was as good as any catcher ever at just about all parts of his game. But only if he had done it as long as, say, Carlton Fisk, would his career have surpassed Henderson's. Juan Marichal wasn't shown, either - He is a Hall of Famer, too. Later

As is Harold Baines and Jack Morris. I didn't mean to suggest, by invoking Johnny Bench, that all Hall-of-Famers should be candidates for this title.

[Frayed Knot]

I've never existed a day when Willie Mays couldn't be identified as the greatest ballplayer alive.

(The above quote lifted from another thread)



Well there was that 1969 survey (not sure who voted) designed to celebrate the centennial of professional baseball which bestowed that

mythical title on Joe DiMaggio. I remember my father arguing that the 'greatest living' wording implied alive but no longer active and that

the sport's greatest living player was, in fact, still playing (that would be WHMJr). But that GLP award became more or less official

(particularly among Italian-Americans, MFY fans, and other DiMaggio-ites) to the point where it practically became his nickname.

Whenever DiMaggio made appearances for the remainder of his days it was mandatory that he get introduced last if there were

multiple guests and that he do so with the title of 'Greatest Living Ballplayer'.





My feeling is that if there's not an obvious candidate then the title is vacant until such time and it isn't. In the other sports Gretzky is an

obvious one, and is Jordan, and I guess Brady. MLB doesn't seem to have one starting on 6/18/24

[Edgy MD]

I'm sure that Joe DiMaggio was nice to cats and stuff, but that what an ugly play that was by him and/or his people.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm sure that Joe DiMaggio was nice to cats and stuff, but that what an ugly play that was by him and/or his people.

I'm not entirely sure he was nice to cats and stuff either. Certainly the Richard Ben Kramer bio didn't portray him as a warm and cuddly guy.



DiMag was maybe the first athlete to be himself for a living for his entire post-player career, and in his case that was about a half-century

which gave him a degree of clout where he could name his terms if you wanted him at your function, the GLB intro was merely one of them.

My dad was friends with Bill Gallo and Gallo was not only one of the few writers who had the very guarded DiMaggio's phone number in

his rolodex, he was also the guy who organized an annual dinner which gathered cartoonists and sports notables (Gallo knew everybody

who was anybody, particularly in baseball or boxing). But even Gallo knew that if you booked Joe you'd also have to have a backup plan

as he could back out at any moment for any reason or for none at all.

So, yeah, it was an unofficial designation turned into a marketing slogan.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: I've never existed a day when Willie Mays couldn't be identified as the greatest ballplayer alive. (The above quote lifted from another thread) Well there was that 1969 survey (not sure who voted) designed to celebrate the centennial of professional baseball which bestowed that mythical title on Joe DiMaggio. I remember my father arguing that the 'greatest living' wording implied alive but no longer active and that the sport's greatest living player was, in fact, still playing (that would be WHMJr). But that GLP award became more or less official (particularly among Italian-Americans, MFY fans, and other DiMaggio-ites) to the point where it practically became his nickname. Whenever DiMaggio made appearances for the remainder of his days it was mandatory that he get introduced last if there were multiple guests and that he do so with the title of 'Greatest Living Ballplayer'. My feeling is that if there's not an obvious candidate then the title is vacant until such time and it isn't. In the other sports Gretzky is an obvious one, and is Jordan, and I guess Brady. MLB doesn't seem to have one starting on 6/18/24

I've been meaning to ask you this question for years: How come just about all of your posts have these odd format sentence breaks?

[Centerfield]

I'm not seeing Jordany Valdespin.