Who's Your Favorite Baseball Player of All Time, and Why?

[the_Baron]

so which one is it?

for me its johnny bench. i like the catcher position (don't go there you sickos), and aside from being an excellent player, johnny exuded class.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

Willie Howard Mays. Born 6/6/31, Westfield, Alabama. Center Field, New York Giants 1951-1957 (two thirds of '52 and all of '53 in the Army), San Francisco Giants 1958-1972, and two swansong years with the Mets, '72 and '73. National League Rookie of the Year, 1951. National League MVP, 1954 and 1965. In his day, he had ten times as much name recognition across the country, even among non-sports fans, as anyone playing the game today, especially his Godson.
When I was little, and the Giants came to town (or the Mets visited the coast), I'd watch the game on TV, and Willie Mays would come up to bat. The first visible thing was his smile, which was bright enough to supply power to Western Europe. The smile told me that he loved what he did more than life itself, and that there was nowhere on the entire planet he'd rather be than there at the Candlestick plate, swinging his bat. The truth was not far off the mark here...I remember his final season with the Mets, and hearing about how incredibly depressed he was that it was all coming to an end. It was all this man ever wanted to do in his life, play baseball. Nothing else.
I attended Willie Mays Night at Shea, in September '73, during one of the great pennant races of the day, one in which the Mets eventually triumphed. It was one of the more tearful goodbyes of the age, as I remember, it had much longer than the usual 72 hour media shelf life that such special events normally have.
He's going to be 73 in May...I hope one day to meet him, I only hope I don't act like some kind of idiot when I do 😀

 

[KoocheeKoo]

Hank Aaron....I always wore a #44 Braves jersey as a kid because it was "Hammerin" Hank's number. The evening of April 8, 1974 will forever be the MLB highlight of my life....when Hank hit homerun #715 and surpassed Babe Ruth on the all time career list.

Hank wasn't just a great player....he's always been a class act, both on and off the baseball field 🙂

 

[red indian]

Wow!! thats a tough one!!.......

.......over here its called "rounders" and its only played by school girls, I just cant remember that far back.....sorry.....oh, hang on.....er....yes! got it! Angela, she looked very good at the game to me. Does that count?



ok,ok, mods....no need to push, I,m leaving ok?

 

[milagros317]

Sandy Koufax, of course, the greatest Dodger of them all.

He was born Sanford Braun on December 30, 1935. (His mother divorced Jack Braun and later married Irving Koufax.)

Played his entire career with the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers.

Among many other records:

Only pitcher to lead his league in ERA for five consecutive yeard. 1962 to 1966.
Only pitcher to pitch four no hitters in four consecutive years (1962 to 1965), and it included a perfect game.
ERA of 0.95 in World Series play.

 

[JPie1]

Mattingly, just loved to sit behind 1st base and watch him squat to catch a ball, best tush I have ever seen in a baseball player!!

seriously, so many great players...only 1 choice?? I think my all time favorite if I have to name one is Thurman Munson...and no I don't have all his stats but he was just a true Yankee, grit, NYC style, great catcher...

 

[dskodj]

Well..beings I could care less about sports these days and havent probably since I was in my early teens..I'll have to say Chris Sabo from the 1986 line up of the Reds. That guy was very unique with his Devo type goggles and also, he could sure as hell play some slick moves.

 

[giantfan121262]

Mine is Tom Seaver. He was my boyhood idol and he was the cornerstone of the best pitching staff the Mets ever had. The way he turned around the Mets in the 60's will forever be remembered in my mind. Beating the Orioles in '69. My version of D Day is June 15, 1977, when the Mets traded him to the Reds for Pat Zachary, Doug Flynn, Joel Youngblood and Steve Henderson. Pat Zachary 🙄 ???....plulease... the guy couldn't carry his jockstrap.

 

[Knox The Hatter]

6/15/77 was a black day indeed. I'll never forget it. To this day, I can't believe they traded him. I was done with the Mets for many years after that.

 

[Mitchell]

I actually have a tie for my top two favorite players if that's possible. One is Dale Murphy, the Braves star outfielder in the 80s. The guy almost never played on a winning team in Atlanta, as the Braves always sucked back then, but yet he always hit 30 HRs and drove in 100 runs every year. He was also a class example off the field, never getting into any trouble, doing drugs, etc. He was just a clean cut example of what a sports star should be.
The other is Greg Maddux, current pitcher for the Cubs who just left my Braves. I loved to watch him pitch a game when he was with Atlanta. He never had the dominating blow em away 95 mph fastball and yet will win 300 games in the majors. Plus, despite his four Cy Young awards, and the fact that he'll be in the Hall of Fame, he was always a very humble, soft spoken guy who set an example for others and was never a substance abuser or troublemaker. I like guys like that in sports, clean cut, hard workers, guys who may not have the best of something, like Maddux who has never had a great fastball, but worked hard and became a standout success in spite of it. I know the thread said to pick one guy, but I cant, as these two are tied for my favorite. One will be in the Hall of Fame, another belongs there, even though he isnt yet, in my opinion (Murphy) These are just class act guys who played the game the way it should be played, and set examples on and off the field.

Mitch

 

[Ticklebell]

I don't know. NOT DEREK JETER!!! DEREK JETER CAN DIE OF CLAMIDIA AND ROT IN HELL!!! And not Babe Ruth. B*st*rd, cursing the Sox...
if I'm picking a favorite, I'll just say Whitey Ford. I don't know anything about him. My mom has a signed ball, that's what I know. Mwah!

 

[crydun]

Joe Dimaggio

or

Babe Ruth

 

[The Sean Man]

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych. Why? Because, silly....THE BIRD IS THE WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Sean Man

 

[terorizer]

All time would be Dave Winfield, because back when I really followed the sport, my big brother was a Yankees fan and loved Winfield, so of course so did I! lol Later it was because I recognized his skills, fielding and hitting (who knows how many hits he'd have had if he ever learned to lay off that low and away fastball!!). Honorable mention goes to Kent Hrbek for such consistency.

It would have been Daryl Strawberry had he been able to keep it together for a whole career.

 

[q-ball]

Too tell you the truth , i have to agree with knox and say willy"The Say Hey Kid"Mays. He could hit, run, and play centre field like nobody else, bar none,plus he played the game because he loved it. Not like these guys today who do it just for the money. They think just because they get more money, that makes them the best around.HA!. IT DOSENT WORK THAT WAY. Look at Piazza, he singed a cotract with the mets for 7 years and was paid $98,000,000 what a joke ,sure he can hit ,but, his defence stinks , he can't throw to second base unless he bounces it, or over throws it. Listen people you can't have one without the other. I also have to say Randy"The Big Unit" Johnson, the man is awesome.

q-ball