Best Baseball Player, my thoughts.

Where is the place to say this? Here my BLOG is as good as anywhere else. Let’s take all three of these in the order I believe belong on the pantheon of ‘great baseball players” whatever that is:

Say Hay!

In evaluating baseball players, the term five tool player comes to mind in the realm of evaluating baseball talent, for everyday players i.e. excluding pitchers who are evaluated in other ways. When thinking about the five tools, Mays is hands down the best player to ever play the game. His baseball intelligence is unmatched both as one of the greatest centerfielders of the game AND as a hitter both for average and power. He was able to use his speed as a base for both his defense and on the basepaths. It also made him the most exciting player to ever take the field. I dare anyone to make an argument against me.

The Babe

                There is a good argument to present that makes Babe Ruth the greatest power hitter of all time. Perhaps the numbers don’t lie, but what is not mentioned is that the baseball had changed when the Babe started hitting, and he was able to take advantage while the rest of the game was adjusting. I say it this way because Ruth deserves credit for making this adjustment. Not enough credit is given to Ruth for this, instead the critics point out that he struck out too much. The critics also like to point out his lifestyle was inconsistent with how a player can produce the numbers he did, but his is not alone (Micky Mantle comes to mind among other alcoholics). When debating the greatest player in the game being Babe Ruth, the argument that he was a great pitcher has come into play. I will concede that the Babe was a great pitcher first, but he rarely did Pitch and play outfield at the same time. While Ruth has been told that he could if he gave up his nightlife, history now shows how many others have effectively done that, which I will get to.

Ohtani, Icharo and the complicated truth

                How important is it to have one great player on a baseball team. They can only fill one spot on the roster or even take one place on the field. If Mays was not such a great power hitter, this debate would be far more important. Every year Ohtani, except this one, we marvel at his ability to hit home runs and strike people out at the same time. Even before his injury, I have questioned how long this ‘experiment’ would last. I say it this way because I want Ohtani to succeed, even with the Dodgers (yes, I am a Giants Fan). The question has to be asked how much this mattered to the Angels or the Dodgers in the future? I also have to ask if it is more important to have a leadoff hitter like say Icharo who is an incredibly rare talent or a power hitter that is more available and questionable in a good baseball offense. Perhaps if I was just picking a team like we all did growing up, we should consider this, but it certainly if we were to even be an armchair fan we need to think about this, so that is why I would take Icharo or Ohtani on my team after securing Willie. I have no illusions that someone else would take Ruth after that.

Which Barry?

                Although I have no illusions as someone who was born in the Bay Area, but no longer lives there (I can’t afford housing). I also know this will not go over well to those who worship his numbers and attitude, I will get to his physique. If I were to evaluate having Barry Lamar Bonds on my team, I would have the same question I did when the Giants signed him and continued to sign him in multiple contracts. At least then I would know who I was dealing with, a gold glover who hits for average and power with speed on the basepaths. Perhaps he was the best player at the time, but that would be debatable. The Giants did get several years of this Barry Bonds, ending when he went 40-40 (40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same year) on a losing team. If there was a picture of him then, we would see a far different player than the one who would play later. That player was indeed the most feared hitter in baseball, but at the expense of his defense and he also was injury prone…. among other things. Despite being feared, I would reconsider having this Barry Bonds on my team. He became a liability in the field and a fixture at first base after being walked. Even at the times he did have effective hitters around him, how many World Series Rings does he have? This does not justify his taking up half a clubhouse with a large TV pointing in the direction away from the rest of the team.  Such a caustic attitude explains how and why he has no rings on his fingers and why I would question if I would want him on my team. Although Barry Bonds has always had an attitude, with his defensive liability adds to the fact that he had become a one-dimensional ball player, I would have to question if I would want such a player/person on my team.

                The goal of following baseball or any game is to see my team win, and it is important to note that Bonds never won the World series, and I do not believe that the Giants could ever be able to win the three World Series that my Giants won. For the record, I would put Bonds in the hall of fame, but in the wing with Clemens, Pete Rose, ‘Shoeless’ Joe and Ty Cobb as well as a lot of others in an additional wing of the Hall of Fame I would open. That is for another day.