Just passed. One of baseball's greatest players.

[www.mlb.com]

RIP. Maybe the greatest baseball player of al time.

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crholmstrom
RIP. Maybe the greatest baseball player of al time.

No, Babe Ruth

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crholmstrom
RIP. Maybe the greatest baseball player of al time.

No, Babe Ruth.And Ted Williams was probably the greatest hitter

RIP to one of the greatest of all time.

You can have different people as greatest player and greatest hitter.
Willie was the only one I ever saw in person.
And a delightful human being.

I was listening to the SFGiants broadcast when the news broke. The broadcaster had trouble just getting the words out when he made the announcement. Very emotional.

Baseball is like Cricket. A Sport for people who do not sport.

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Taylor1

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crholmstrom
RIP. Maybe the greatest baseball player of al time.

No, Babe Ruth

Questionable. Ruth became significantly heavier in the late-20s and that definitely affected his base running/fielding. Willie was considered the top 5-tool player for most of his career, up until he was close to 40 years old. Even when Ruth was fit, he was still never considered a top fielder (he was, from what I have read, very good, in his leaner days).

And you can't count out Ted Williams, over 500+ HRs which includes losing 3 full years in his prime years, due to being in the Military.

So it is not cut & dried, even in Ruth's own days, there is a debate -- Ruth or Ty Cobb?

*edit ... I see you did also mention Ted Williams in your next post



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-06-20 00:43 by LeonidP.

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Mirko
Baseball is like Cricket. A Sport for people who do not sport.

What does that even mean? Hitting a baseball is regarded by many as the hardest thing to do in professional sports. Round bat and a round ball that's moving all over the place and changing speeds from pitch to pitch. There's a reason that guys who are successful 30% of the time are considered elite.
Don't let the odd chubby first baseman or catcher fool you; What those guys do is exceptionally difficult.

Baseball's not much different to Cricket.

It's all about twatting a ball as far as you can and running as far as you can before the other side gets it back.

It's a shame that most of our cricketing greats aren't today held in anything like the huge esteem that the likes of Willie Mays are in the Baseball.

RIP Willie. [I've heard they can hit it for miles where you've gone]

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Mirko
Baseball is like Cricket. A Sport for people who do not sport.

Playing elite baseball, like Major League Baseball, is one of the hardest things there is to do in sports. Some sports you can get by just because of your size or running ability.

Hitting, pitching, catching and throwing a baseball at an elite level requires incredible talent, hand-eye coordination and smarts.

Willie Mays was of THE VERY BEST players of all-time. Maybe THE best.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-06-20 23:51 by Woody24.

Being 65 years old and having grown up in New York, I did get to see him play near the end of his career, not just when he was with the Mets in '72 and '73, but even before that, when he was still with the SF Giants and they played the Mets at Shea. Watching Mays (and especially McCovey) take batting practice .... damn, that was really something.