It's an argument that everyone has an opinion. From the beginning of baseball lore with Ty Cobb right up to the current day, with stars like Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds. But is there any way to make an educated answer to the question, who is the greatest of all-time?
After a lot of reading online of various lists, from the sporting news to ESPN to the stat book itself, I have compiled five players who are featured at or near the top in all of these lists. I'm going to go player by player to make a case for them, then tell you my opinion at the end.
Pete Rose
Pete is the greatest pure hitter in baseball history. A mind boggling 4,256 hits in just over 3,500 games. Rose was selected to the all-star game seventeen times. A three time world series champion. He was the NL's Rookie of the Year in 1963, the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1973, and the World Series MVP in 1975. He shares the record for the longest hitting streak in the National League, a whopping 44 games. He hit above .300 in fifteen of his twenty four major league seasons and finished as a career .303 hitter. He holds seventeen different baseball records. Sure he's got that black cloud over his head because of the gambling problems that have followed him since then but when it came to playing the game, Charlie Hustle was one of the best.
Stan Musial
Stan The Man was one of the original hotshots of baseball. A career .331 hitter to go with his 3,630 hits & 475 home runs. He was selected to the all-star game twenty four times. He won the World Series three times. He was the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1943, 1946 & 1948. What makes all of those accomplishments stand out even more is that he missed the 1945 season to serve in the U.S. Navy. He retired holding seventeen major league records. When Stan retired, he took over the Cardinals as the GM, leading them to 101 wins & another World Series title.
Willie Mays
The Sey Hey Kid was the greatest player in San Francisco Giants history. A career 660 home runs, .302 Batting Average & 3,283 Hits. He was selected to the all-star game twenty-one times, twice winning the MVP award, in 1963 & 1968. He was the NL's Most Valuable Player in 1954 & 1965. The NL's Rookie of the Year in 1951 and won the World Series with the Giants in 1954. The man was as clutch as it gets, hitting twenty two extra-inning home runs. He's also the only major leaguer to hit a home run in every inning from the 1st to the 16th. As Ted Williams once said "they invented the all-star game for Willie Mays", he was that good.
Lou Gehrig
Gehrig is often over looked by some when recalling past greats. A career .340 average to go with his 493 home runs & 1,995 runs batted in. He was a seven time all-star selection. But he played ten years before the all-star game was even created! A six time world series champion. The AL Most Valuable Player in 1927 & 1936. He won the triple crown in 1934. An amazing 2,130 consecutive games played. He still holds the record for most Grand Slams in a career, having hit twenty three. He's the only player in baseball history to collect 400 total bases in five different seasons.
Babe Ruth
The Babe created the home run. A seven time world series champion & he was the 1923 AL Most Valuable Player. An impressive .342 career average to go with his 714 home runs & 2,217 runs batted in. And he didn't need steroids for those numbers, just hot dogs & beer. He is the "reason" the Red Sox couldn't win a world series until 2004. The first man to ever hit 30, 40, 50 & 60 home runs in a season. But what many don't credit him with is his amazing pitching performances. A career 94-46 record, 2.28 ERA, 1,221.1 inning pitched & just 10 home runs allowed.
There's a reason why people us the expression, "The Babe Ruth of ______." As the New York Times once stated, "a figure unprecedented in American life. A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment." Babe Ruth did it all, from pitching to hitting and is the reason baseball has become what it has. Babe Ruth is, without a doubt, the Greatest Baseball Player of All-Time.