i was decent tooPablo Sanchez. The real ones know
Colon was a good hitter, had some power.Bartolo Colon. End of discussion.
Crazy that Aaron is so underrated. Holds* the most hallowed record in sports, was a great all around player with great consistency, and rarely gets mentioned as the best ever.
Roids and all, there were a few years where Bonds was so much better than everybody in the era. He pretty much never saw a fastball strike. If he did he absolutely smoked it.
Aaron was a compiler but at an incredibly high level. His peak years weren’t as high as some other guys, but he sustained greatness longer than anyone. Aaron is the rare guy that had a 5, 10, and 12 year peak where he was a top 3 player in the game, and had additional years outside those peak years where he was a top 5, top 10 player. There isn’t anyone that combined great peak years and incredible consistency over a long time. And he was very good defensively and as a base runner.Aaron and Rose played 23 seasons each. Are they compilers or did they just play at such a high level for so long? Maybe both?
Jeter was a career. 310 guy with almost 3500 career hits over 20 seasons. I think this career is the perfect example of compiling good numbers over a lengthy career. Hall of Fame numbers no doubt, but I don't think anyone on here would consider him the best hitter of all time.
It should also be noted that Hank had a season in the Negro League that would have surely resulted in additional MLB stats.
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson wasn’t just thought to be the best hitter in the Negro Leagues but one of the best hitters to ever live. Gibson’s reputation has risen to mythological heights. At 18, Gibson supposedly hit a 480-foot home run, and Gibson was also said to have hit a ball completely out of Yankee Stadium, a feat Babe Ruth never accomplished. He has been credited with as many as 84 home runs in one season.
Gibson played from 1930 to 1946, spending most of his career with the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, and in his 17-year career, Gibson has often been credited with over 800 home runs. The 238 homers that Seamheads gives him is a far cry from that, but Negro Leagues teams often played in exhibition games which haven’t been included.
Four of Gibson’s seasons came after falling into a coma in early 1943 and being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Gibson died of a stroke at age 35 in January 1947.
No doubt Cobb was one of the best, but you have to question numbers from a time when guys pitched 9 innings every day.
Same thing with Cy Young. Great numbers, but I don't know if you can really take them seriously.