top players in mlb history

Honus Wagner is considered to be neck and neck with Ty Cobb as the greatest player in the Dead Ball Era of MLB. Although Wagner only hit 101 home runs in his career, he still drove in 1,732 runs. The Flying Dutchman is a member of the 3,000 hit club, collecting 3,430 hits in his professional career, all the while carrying a batting average of .329. Wagner was also known for his speed, as he retired with 722 stolen bases.

Barry Bonds should be in the top five of this list based on statistics, but I had to knock him down some because of the steroid scandal. Even before he bulked up and became the best home run hitter in MLB history, he was a five tool outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished with a .298 career batting average, 762 home runs, 2,935 hits, 1,996 RBIs and 514 stolen bases. He also won seven MVP awards and eight Gold Glove awards.

Walter The Big Train Johnson is the greatest pitcher of all time. Johnson is still the all time MLB record holder in shutouts with 110, second in wins with 417 and fourth in complete games with 531. Johnson also led the league in strikeouts an MLB record 12 times. He finished his career with 3,508 strikeouts and a microscopic ERA of 2.17. He won three Triple Crown awards, two AL MVP awards and a World Series title.

Stan The Man Musial was the model of consistency and excellence for 24 years. Musial made the All Star team in every single season that he played in MLB, despite missing two seasons to serve in the U.S. military in World War II. He retired with a lifetime batting average of .331 to go along with 3,630 hits, 475 home runs and 1,951 RBIs. Musial won seven batting titles, three NL MVP awards and three World Series titles with the Cardinals.

Ty Cobb was the second greatest hitter that the game of baseball has ever seen. Cobb holds the all time record for career batting average (.367), batting titles (12) and he is second in hits (4,191). In addition to being the second best hitter of all time, Cobb was also the games best base runner until Rickey Henderson came along. Cobb finished his career with 892 stolen bases. He won the 1909 Triple Crown and 1911 AL MVP.

Lou Gehrig spent over half of his entire life playing baseball for the New York Yankees. Gehrig died at the young age of 37 from ALS, which has become known as Lou Gehrigs Disease. He earned his nickname The Iron Horse for his durability, playing in an MLB record 2,130 consecutive games, a mark that was later broken by Cal Ripken Jr. Gehrig had a lifetime batting average of .340 and hit 493 career home runs.

For all of the people that refuse to recognize Barry Bonds762 career home run record, Hank Aaron would still be the home run king with 755 homers. HammerinHank still holds the all time records for RBIs (2,297), extra base hits (1,477) and total bases (6,856). Aaron also made the All Star team every season of his career and finished with 25 career selections. He also won both the NL MVP and World Series title in 1957 with the Braves.

Teddy Ballgame is the greatest hitter that has ever lived. Ted Williams is the last major leaguer to hit .400 in a season when he hit .406 in 1941. Williams still possesses the MLB record for career OBP, which is .482. Williams compiled a .344 lifetime batting average to go along with 2,654 hits, 521 home runs and 1,839 RBIs. He was named to 19 All Star teams, and won both the AL MVP and Triple Crown twice.

The Say Hey Kid is the second greatest player to have ever set foot on a baseball field. No other MLB player has ever been as dominant in all facets of the game as Willie Mays. As a hitter, Mays hit .302 for his career, with 3,283 hits, 660 home runs and 1,903 RBIs. Defensively, he has made the greatest plays baseball has ever seen and won 12 Gold Gloves to boot. Mays was a 24 time All Star, two time MVP and won the 1954 World Series.

Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player of all time. The Great Bambino did some amazing things throughout his career, but the most impressive is that he was just as dominant a pitcher as he was a hitter. At the plate, Ruth had a lifetime .342 batting average, 2,873 hits, 714 home runs and 2,213 RBIs. As a pitcher, Ruth had a 94 46 record and a 2.28 ERA. The Babe was a seven time World Series champion, 12 time home run champion and won the 1923 AL MVP.