The Baseball Hall of Fame turns 70 today. Who is the greatest player ever? Should Pete Rose, Barry Bonds, and other disgraced players be included in the HOF? Is it fair that Kobe Bryant most likely raped a girl and will still easily make the Basketball HOF, while Bonds, Manny and others who did steroids may very well not make it into Baseball’s HOF?
Discuss…
→ 26 comments so far ↓
1
phil
// Jun 12, 2009 at 11:52 am
The greatest player ever is Ty Cobb (the next four are Rickey Henderson, Ted Williams, Lenny Dykstra, Tony Gwynn).
I hate halls of fame because they favor longevity over excellence so that durable mediocrity gets more love than flashes of brilliance tragically cut short.
Halls of fame should be museums about the history of the sport, there should be no boring exhibits cause kids will get dragged there by their dads and hate their dads. There should be an exhibit about Barry Bonds and it should mention all the positive and negative things about him and the controversies about steroids. By that time steroids will be mandatory not just in pro sports but for all forms of human endeavor so it will seem silly to us.
I am not against steroids because if my dentist could get her hands on a drug that made her a better dentist, I’d want her shooting it up right now.
2
eddie k
// Jun 12, 2009 at 11:58 am
I’m partial to Nolan Ryan just because I used one of his signature gloves in little league. Plus, 7 no-hitters!
3
Joe
// Jun 12, 2009 at 3:35 pm
@phil, I really disagree with your point of view on S-roids, but good job on being contrarian.
My reason has nothing to do with the integrity of the game. I just think about my own position. There are drugs that lets you work harder as an eng for example http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all.
They are the add drugs that are basically speed. I would hate it if everyone in my industry used them all of the time. Not only would it cheapen the hard work I did naturally but would pressure me to take this shit, with all of the side effects (no sleep, stress, hallucinations etc)
That’s why I never understood the unions anti-drug testing stance. The guys who profit from steroids are the owners. The guys who are hurt are the players.
BTW Phil, congratulations on your three best sellers:
* God’s Coach: The Hymns, Hype, and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry’s Cowboys, Simon and Schuster, 1990. ISBN 0-671-70581-4.
* The Boys: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys’ Season on the Edge, Simon and Schuster, 1993. ISBN 0-671-79359-4.
* Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the “Win or Else” Dallas Cowboys, HarperCollins Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0-06-018648-8.
4
phil
// Jun 12, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Joe just a couple days ago you yourself said right on this very page that you drink coffee at work and everyone who doesn’t needs to justify their sluggishness to their employer. Who’s to say that steroids aren’t closer to coffee than to methamphetamine in terms of how healthy they are?
I understand that there can be unfortunate consequences because everyone is pushed to keep up. I just don’t think the consequences are that severe. If I get too bothered by it, I won’t watch baseball.
What about Greenies? There are certainly current hall of famers that used Greenies.
5
Efrem
// Jun 14, 2009 at 3:27 am
So, There is this girl i know and her dad is a pro ball player. I don’t claim to much about baseball at all but aperrantly he is the shit. he has the mot golden gloves ever. Kinda neat. His pad is TIGHT. So i guess mr. langston? I love goin’ to ball games. I’m gonna see the angels tomorrow.
6
Conner
// Jun 22, 2009 at 11:35 am
I’m with Phil on this one. Ty Cobb is definitely the best baseball player that ever lived. Batted 23 straight season over .300
Won the triple crown in 1909
Batted 3 times over .400
Has the best career batting average as .367
2nd most hits 4191
Won 10 batting titles
Led the league in runs scored 5 times.
Led the league in RBI’s 4 times.
Led the league in slugging percentage 8 times.
Led the league on-base percentage 6 times.
Had 892 stolen bases.
For all the Ty Cobb haters out there. Him and Tris Speaker didn’t rigg a 1919 game. He wasn’t a drunk( he hardly drank anyways). Yes he did punch a black guy, but that doesn’t make him racist. He never sharpend his spikes before a game. He did pretend to once (as a joke). He honestly did come in to baggs with his spikes up, but thats how the game was played back then, even the great Honus Wagner did so. I learned all about this guys life from his autobiography(he wrote the book about himself) Ty Cobb: My Life in Baseball. It is a well written 279 page book with about 15 pictures of him and teammates.
7
phil
// Jun 23, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Conner you and I should run the baseball hall of fame!
8
Conner
// Jun 24, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Amen to that! I don’t live anywhere near Georgia, but if you do there is a great museum about Ty Cobb in Georgia.
9
historian joe
// Jun 28, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I cannot believe no one mentioned George Herman Ruth. the Great bambino did things unimaginable on the baseball field. He was the best pitcher in the AL for five years, and as a PITCHER, he set the season home run record with 29. The next season, playing the outfield, he hit 54. The 2nd closest player hit 19. When he hit his 700th home run, only two players, Lou Gehrig, and Rogers Hornsby had hit 300. He also had a .342 lifetime batting average, which is higher than Wade Boggs, and Tony Gwynn.
10
phil
// Jun 29, 2009 at 10:36 am
A strong case could be made for Babe Ruth also. I heard that most pitchers back then had to throw 9 innings three times a week, so maybe hitting stats were skewed back then.
11
ddefender3
// Jul 5, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Why has nobody mentioned ted williams?
1. best on base percentage (like .482 or something)
2.second best slugging(to babe ruth)
3.won 2 triple crowns
4.last .400 hitter
5. he did all of that missing season 4 through seven in his career to war as well as number 15 or something. If babe ruth had missed those years, ted williams slugging would be higher than his. If Ted didn’t have to deal with night games, he would have done better still. If he didnt miss those years, he may have had a .500 career opb. and btw, hed didnt win mvp during his triple crown years, dimaggio did and he is WAY worse than wiliams. williams should have won 8 mvps in 17 years…. he won 2.
12
Noel
// Jul 19, 2009 at 3:47 pm
forget ted williams and babe ruth nobody is talking about roberto clemente the greatest that ever lived he had 3000 hits and he would have had many many more if the american government had not stolen the good he sent to nicaragua which made him personally want to go and deliver the goods which resulted in his death. boriqua all day
13
CJ
// Sep 26, 2009 at 7:53 pm
TIM LICECUM IS THE BEST!!!!
14
Mr. GJG
// Sep 28, 2009 at 9:50 am
By any measurement Babe Ruth is the greatest ever.
Once you add the fact that he was on his way to being a HOF pitcher it makes any argument laughable.
15
Mr. GJG
// Sep 28, 2009 at 9:52 am
Why is this douche-bags picture next to my name?
16
Joe
// Sep 28, 2009 at 10:08 am
There is an algorithm that takes your comments and works up a personality profile. Then it finds a picture on the internet that matches that profile.
It has figured out that I am pretty sweet, therefor it gives me a picture of a cool guy in a tuxedo.
17
greg balteff
// Dec 15, 2009 at 12:25 pm
mays is the elvis of baseball…he is the greatest 5 tool player ever to play the game
18
sarah
// Dec 16, 2009 at 5:21 pm
WILLY MAYS.
That is all.
19
Shallow Throat
// Dec 18, 2009 at 11:31 am
Mays ‘n Clemente are in a class by themselves ;the others weren’t really 5 tool dudes. Clemente is the best ever defensively and the best hitter EVER against hall of fame pitchers. Home runs are really about fly balls where the outfield wall kept the other guy from catching it!!! Line drives should be rewarded ’cause they get to the wall QUICKER!
20
prof. fancy pants
// Dec 23, 2009 at 5:37 pm
i agree with eddie k. nolan ryan all the way!
21
caseycbs
// Jan 9, 2010 at 6:29 am
You guys are stupid. It’s Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Nobody else is even close except for mabye Rogers Hornsby, Stan Musial, Joe Jackson, and Micky Mantle.
22
jake
// Jan 9, 2010 at 9:52 am
I agree with caseycbs about the first sentence in his post, but the statement includes him.
Otherwise, I don’t know a whole lot about baseball history. I think maybe Arky Vaughan was the best.
23
jake
// Jan 9, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I’m j/k-ing about the “stupid” thing, btw (except for wrt caseycbs).
24
Danny
// Feb 9, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Cobb. Hands down. Ruth was amazing in a hitter era, but Cobb was above and beyond any other players. Ruth hit homers, but Cobb was a player, he played the small game that baseball is about. Without power.
25
feverishpoptart
// Feb 9, 2010 at 6:34 pm
I don’t know anything about sports, so I’m going to say DiMaggio, because he was married to Marilyn Monroe, and what other player could say that?
26
SUSANNAH
// Feb 24, 2010 at 11:23 am
hey im in school, and idk how im doing this but yeaa… anyways yall should talk to me?
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