Since It Is Baseball Time Again- Greatest Hitter Ever?

[judcole]

There is, according to Charlie Steiner, a steroid player already in the Hall of Fame, though Charlie refused to name him.

Not worth much, then, is it?

As far as I am concerned, a comparison between Rose and steroid users is irrelevant. Rose violated the rules of baseball, knew it, and shows no remorse. Why should he be reinstated?

I thought Barry Bonds was the best hitter - has that changed?

I'm not sure anyone ever thought that; if they did - how can you make a claim like that for someone who is a heavy steroid used?

I can think of no better example of hubris in modern athletics that Bonds. He had huge amounts of talent, and would probably have gotten to the Hall of Fame. Now...

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Jud are you saying Barry Bonds isn't in the hall of fame? Doesn't he have the most home runs in the history of the game? How can that be?
Ok, admittedly this Canuck knows zilch about baseball.
I know there has been some controversy about steroids in sports. Was it actually not allowed in baseball during the time bonds is alleged to have used them?

 

[radio807]

Ted Williams played for the Red Sox, so that alone is enough to disqualify him :nana:

 

[docrx]

I 'll mention Stan Musial , Hank Greenberg,and Ralph Kiner as 3 of the best!

 

[eaglerico]

Just to throw out some lesser know people but great hitters none the less. I hate that hitting debates almost always turns into a HR debates, not that his one has. I like this one. (I can't believe no one jumped on my Jordan comment)
Craig Biggio

Jeff Bagwell

Ivan Rogriguez

Cal Ripken Jr.

Tony Gywn

Ken Griffey Jr.

Chipper Jones

Todd Helton

 

[kcghost]

I hope the guys referring to Rose as the greatest are joking. He isn't remotely in conversation. Holding a counting statistic record isn't a validation of quality.
There are only three guys in the conversation for greatest hitter: Ruth, Williams, and Bonds. Ruth dominated the game that is unfathomable today. He also lost some years as a pitcher so that neutralizes the Williams war factor. Bonds was the most feared hitter of his day, but there were a bunch of guys who were hitting the cover off the ball in the home run/steroid era.
I'll take Ruth.

 

[uberam3rica]

Heres an interesting thought about Babe Ruth. In his time onely white people were allowed to play. I wonder if he would still be so o great. There might have been someone better, but they were black

 

[uberam3rica]

Uber, you don't really know much about Babe Ruth, do you?

I know he was amazing. But whos to say there wasn't someone more amazing?

 

[crpntr1]

Craig Biggio

+1...kind of

probably my favorite ball player ever...a true team player

But not the best hitter

 

[teufelhund]

I would like to point out that hitting the most home runs has nothing to do with being a good hitter. Hell the babe struck out something like 2x as many strike outs as he does homers. Give me the guy who gets on base and has the legs to get the triple when he should rather than be winded reaching second base.

 

[judcole]

I 'll mention Stan Musial , Hank Greenberg,and Ralph Kiner as 3 of the best!

Amen!

I would like to point out that hitting the most home runs has nothing to do with being a good hitter. Hell the babe struck out something like 2x as many strike outs as he does homers. Give me the guy who gets on base and has the legs to get the triple when he should rather than be winded reaching second base.

Cobb.

Jud are you saying Barry Bonds isn't in the hall of fame? Doesn't he have the most home runs in the history of the game? How can that be?

Steroids.
Uber has an interesting point - there were some great black ballplayers that, because of racism, never got a chance to play in the MLB. Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell come to mind right away.

"I remember one game I got five hits and stole five bases, but none of it was written down because they didn't bring the scorebook to the game that day." - Cool Papa Bell

 

[peckinpahhombre]

A hall of fame that doesn't have the best players in it like Bonds and Rose really doesn't have much credibility, does it? It's a little like a museum devoted to the world's best sports cars that doesn't have any ferraris.
I don't really understand the whole steroid thing. It is their body and a personal choice. Then again, I confess I have never followed the whole thing.

 

[cigrmaster]

Guys, you need to look at that site and then look at all the different categories, yes more hit home runs, yes more had more rbi's, yes more had hits, but you are not taking into account 5 years lost do to war, plus all the other categories. Look at the categories I listed and then compare your favorites to Williams. It is not just one category that makes the best hitter, it is a multitude. If you look at all the categories and see where Williams places in all of them, it is hands down Williams.
On another note, the greatest fielder in the history of the game was without a doubt Brooks Robinson, he did things that I have never seen anyone else do. The most dominant pitcher was Sandy Koufax, look at his numbers, they are mind boggling.
Every player that took steroids is automatically out of the running, they cheated and are not worthy of consideration.
Also look at Ichiro's numbers and look at how many consecutive 200 hit seasons he had, simply incredible.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Google tells me Ted Williams used a corked bat. Cheater. :roll:

 

[cigrmaster]

peck, don't even make me take a bat to your head, besides what the hell do canucks know about the American pastime. lol

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I'm pulling your chain. I'm not even sure who ted Williams is - is he the guy who was married to Marilyn Monroe?

 

[teufelhund]

I am ashamed to admit this oversight, but I feel it is my duty to rescind my previous nomination and say +1 for Stan the Man... As a St. Louis native I feel it is my duty. Rest in peace Stan...

 

[peckinpahhombre]

My vote goes for the guy who married Marilyn Monroe (whoever that was) - I mean, who wouldn't try to hit that.

 

[ghost]

Not having the Expos is still painful, but I digress...
The beauty of baseball is that you can have a conversation like this that compares players over generations unlike any other sport because the game itself hasn't changed that much, steroids be damned. I believe that if you had a time machine and had Carl Hubbell at his prime pitch to Bonds in his prime, you would still have an epic matchup that could go either way. Put the 1939 Bruins against the 2013 Bruins, using hockey as an example, and you have a massacre.
Getting back to the topic at hand, even though I never saw any of them play, I'd vote for Ted Williams but I probably could be lured to Willie Mays side too.
Babe Ruth can't be left out of the conversation for greatest hitter of course, but I would say that he should be considered the greatest player of all time since he was also a heck of a pitcher! All on a diet of booze and hot dogs...breakfast of champions!

 

[ghost]

peck, don't even make me take a bat to your head, besides what the hell do canucks know about the American pastime. lol

This one knows more about baseball than hockey, baseball was always my favourite sport although I played both. I'm the kid that memorized the stats on the cards, and would read Total Baseball over and over. I still love the game, and I follow the Red Sox now, but my heart is still with an ugly UFO shaped monstrosity in east end Montreal. :mrgreen: