A ranking of the top 1000+ baseball players of all-time and my personal list for the ten best players ever

Monday 5/12/25

There's a baseball history discussion forum that I follow--I don't post, I just read. When I'm not doing anything--though really I'm always doing something, because I'm always thinking and that goes into my work, or I might come up with something as I fill up the coffee pot--I'm reading. I'm never not reading, really, unless I'm running stairs or walking.

Anyway, the people on this forum have been voting for the best players of all-time, in the making of this big list. They're up to over 1000 players now. I find the results very interesting. Here's a selection of where certain players are falling:

Carl Yastrzemski (46). Al Kaline (48). Johnny Mize (53). Gary Carter (58). Wade Boggs (66). Curt Schilling (76). Carlton Fisk (91). Tony Gwynn (100). Ernie Banks (103). Pee Wee Reese (111). Sandy Koufax (112). Derek Jeter (118). Jim Palmer (119). Nolan Ryan (125). Alan Trammell (133). Bobby Grich (154). Willie Stargell (170). Dave Winfield (171). David Ortiz (255). Darrell Evans (265). Bill Freehan (276). Jim Sundberg (298). Orlando Cepeda (341). Lance Parrish (493). Jack Morris (528). Bruce Sutter (600). Kirk Gibson (639). Jack Chesbro (670). Kent Hrbek (736). Bob Boone (815). Ted Kluszewski (943). Butch Wynegar (958). Greg Luzinski (983). Von Hayes (1028). Wally Joyner (1048). Jack McDowell (1083).

Carl Yastrzemski is a player that I think has become less and less well understood over the years. People now will often call him a compiler. You can't do that. What you have to do is really get inside of the numbers. Yaz is a bit like Fisk this way.

But here's something to consider: Carl Yastrzemski was the best player in baseball from 1967 to 1970. Four seasons. That's kind of a long time. Not many players can say they were the best player in baseball for four years. Forty percent of a decade. I think this list has him right around where he should be.

Same with Johnny Mize. As I wrote on here recently, Mize is the best player who got into the Hall of Fame via the Veterans Committee and it's not close. He should have been a first ballot guy, with ninety something percent of the vote.

And look at Gary Carter at 58! That's super. I think he's a little high. You see Fisk at 91, and I really believe that Fisk had the better career. Carter had the better prime, Fisk the better peak, but Carter faded and Fisk excelled late in a unique way for a catcher (Fisk was more effective in his forties than almost any baseball player ever).

One thing you'll notice from the examples above is how highly these voters valued catchers, and astutely, I'd say. Jim Sundberg at 298 was a pleasant surprise. Ditto Butch Wynegar at 958. The two Tigers catchers--Bill Freehan and Lance Parrish--are also well-regarded here. I've said time and time again that Freehan should be in the Hall of Fame.

The David Ortiz rating strikes me as ridiculous, though. To me, he's a top 75 player maybe top 50. I'll say this: I never saw someone impact more wins--as in, we won today because of this guy--than David Ortiz. Regular season and postseason. Actually, I'd definitely have in the top fifty. And I'd have him in front of Yaz and Wade Boggs, and Boggs was awesome.

Darrell Evans is a mild surprise, Dave Winfield and Willie Stargell--especially Stargell--are too low. They get Koufax right. Look at Hall of Fame pitchers Jack Morris and Bruce Sutter at 528 and 600 respectively. Are you surprised? Shouldn't be that surprised if you know your stuff. Jim Palmer should be higher. I've said on here before that Pee Wee Reese is a borderline top 100 player of all-time, and he comes in here at 111.

The legion Nolan Ryan worshipers (these are almost always people who don't understand baseball very well) would be appalled, but the truth is, he's still too high. When Nolan Ryan was in his prime, he wasn't the best pitcher on his own team. Frank Tanana was. That says a lot about Nolan Ryan. Tony Gwynn at 100 will surprise those people who don't know their stuff, but if you have a clue, it really shouldn't. He's about where he should be. And he was a Gold Glove outfielder for a while, and not just a great hitter.

But something I want to stress is the highest number guys I showed here. Wally Joyner, Von Hayes (who came up on here recently), Jack McDowell. These were super ballplayers! It puts in perspective how hard it is to be a big leaguer, and how many outstanding players there has been. How fiendishly difficult it is to be Hall of Fame level. You can win awards, have lots of black ink as they say, be an MVP--hell, a two-time MVP--and a regular All-Star, and be the 1000th best player in baseball history.

Where would I rank Mike Trout? Around 400.

I have a top ten list of the best baseball players. It changes a bunch. Well, parts of it change. I suppose it's not without its controversial aspects. But here it is, as of May 12, 2025.

1. Babe Ruth

2. Ty Cobb

3. Ted Williams

4. Walter Johnson

5. Hank Aaron

6. Willie Mays

7. Lou Gehrig

8. Rogers Hornsby

9. Stan Musial

10. Roger Clemens

Just outside: Mickey Mantle, Cy Young, Mike Schmidt, Honus Wagner.

Okay, I know what you're thinking--where's Barry Bonds and if you have Clemens how on earth don't you have Bonds?

I don't think pre-steroids Bonds was the all-time amazing player people say he was now and that this is more of a retroactive fitting than an accurate billing. Yeah, he was great, but I don't think he was anywhere near as great as any of these players pre-steroids. Whereas I think Clemens was.

For a bunch of years, I've had Musial outside of my top ten, but I just can't do it anymore. He may be the most underrated "innerest" of inner circle great performers in all of American sports.

I've written about Aaron having the better career than Mays before in an op-ed, and I just think he gave you more value. He was a better hitter, and he was greater longer. Hank Aaron was to baseball as Gordie Howe was to hockey. In my view, he's the perfect baseball player.

Cobb has a case for the top spot. I said a case. As in, someone could argue the point. But it's Ruth. Most people would have Honus Wagner in the top ten, but I'm a little underwhelmed by his OPS+. You could say that Hornsby didn't have enough great years to belong here, but he basically had the best years ever. You could argue--I'm not saying you'd be right--that the best season any player has ever had was had by Rogers Hornsby.