I've seen and read alot about Willie Mays since he died and while he's before my time there's no doubt he was the greatest living baseball player before he died. I try to keep up with baseball so I was struck by how many people made the case he's the greatest baseball player of all time. Even if you take issue with that it’s almost impossible to dispute that Mays was the greatest living ballplayer before he died. Alot of people tried to come up with who's now the greatest living ballplayer and there's no real agreement. It’s certainly a testament to Mays’ greatness that there isn’t really a consensus. But it did make me wonder who's now the GLB.

The names I heard alot over the last few days are Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Rickey Henderson, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, George Brett, Robin Yount, Chipper Jones, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Sadaharu Oh and Shohei Ohtani. That's 24 candidates. Anybody left out? Who do you think is the greatest living ballplayer.

Ohtani is on his way to all-time, but he does not belong on that list at current time.  I don't think ARod does either, to be honest.

For me, the choice is Bonds.  I find it distasteful in some ways to say him given his obvious PED use, but steroids or not, you have to have the skill to hit a ball.  He was incredible.  Griffey Jr. would be my second pick, but I'd find a lot of argument for Rose as well.

2 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

I've seen and read alot about Willie Mays since he died and while he's before my time there's no doubt he was the greatest living baseball player before he died. I try to keep up with baseball so I was struck by how many people made the case he's the greatest baseball player of all time. Even if you take issue with that it’s almost impossible to dispute that Mays was the greatest living ballplayer before he died. Alot of people tried to come up with who's now the greatest living ballplayer and there's no real agreement. It’s certainly a testament to Mays’ greatness that there isn’t really a consensus. But it did make me wonder who's now the GLB.

The names I heard alot over the last few days are Ken Griffey Jr, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Rickey Henderson, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken, Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, George Brett, Robin Yount, Chipper Jones, Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Sadaharu Oh and Shohei Ohtani. That's 24 candidates. Anybody left out? Who do you think is the greatest living ballplayer.

Joe Morgan doesn't qualify, as great as he was.

Griffey, Jr.

I'd put my favorite player ever, Eddie Murray, up there as well.   There aren't many 3000 500 guys.

Others I'd consider discussing would be Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax, and, if PEDs aren't in question, Barry Bonds.

My take on the Greatest Living Player discussion.

I think Mays was without a doubt the greatest centerfielder of all time and is the starter on any All-Time starting lineup.

Are any of the current living legends recognized as the GOAT of their position? If so they would be my GLP.

36 minutes ago, Jumper_Dad said:

My take on the Greatest Living Player discussion.

I think Mays was without a doubt the greatest centerfielder of all time and is the starter on any All-Time starting lineup.

Are any of the current living legends recognized as the GOAT of their position? If so they would be my GLP.

The only living legend that I think was the GOAT at his position is Bench.  He just loses me a little on the offensive end.   Jr. was among the best CFs ever when healthy and his offensive numbers speak for themselves.

Maybe Koufax, I think he is easily the greatest left handed starting pitcher ever. Bench is maybe the best all-around catcher ever. I'd probably lean to one of them as my GLP.

12 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

Joe Morgan doesn't qualify, as great as he was.

Cross Joe off the list. Not living! That's a DQ. I will now crawl out from under my rock. Too much football. Good discussion so far tho. Some thoughts since I'm on six cups of coffee.

I think Pete Rose might be the greatest living ballplayer but it's a tough sell. Junior is an easier sell due to no scandals but he was not so good for 10 whole years after 2000 maybe with the exception of 2005. Bench is a darkhorse worth more consideration. So is Schmidt. Bonds without PEDs is in the discission but how much did they boost him and for how long.

Koufax probably has the most mystique and was truly great in a short period of time, but he didn't pitch very long. Nolan Ryan pitched for 27 years, handled Robin Ventura pretty easily in that crazy mound rush by Ventura and had 5,714 strikeouts!! Pitchers are a tough sell for greatest living ballplayer because they can't hit like real hitters and they're not out there as much as non pitchers but Nolan Ryan was pretty dang great for a heck of a long time. Ryan threw his seventh no-hitter and struck out 16 when he was 44 years old. Oldest player ever with a no-hitter. Rose played until he was 45. He may always be the Hit King. I mean, who's going to break that record? Rose and Ryan just for sheer longevity while not ever being really terrible should definitely be in the discussion. 

Schmidt deserves a look as he meets Jumper's standard for current living legends recognized as the GOAT of their position: 3 MVPs, 5 Silver sluggers, 10 Gold Gloves, 18th all-time in WAR. That's pretty good. Eddie Murray definitely has to be added.

Bench shouldn't get dinged too much for offense because catcher is by far the toughest position to play in baseball. Not that he was shabby with the bat. From 1968 to 1977 he was by far the best hitting catcher in baseball while being clearly the best defender and handler of pitchers. In there were two MVPs, both years with at least 40 homers and 120 RBIs. The only knock on Bench is speed. But he was a good baserunner. He stole 25 bases in 27 attempts in 1975-76. Bench's greatness lies in his ability to make pitchers better. The Reds never had truly great pitching staffs in those days like the Orioles, A's and Mets, just a bunch of occasionally great pitchers who Bench made better.

14 hours ago, DragonFire said:

Ohtani is on his way to all-time, but he does not belong on that list at current time.  I don't think ARod does either, to be honest.

For me, the choice is Bonds.  I find it distasteful in some ways to say him given his obvious PED use, but steroids or not, you have to have the skill to hit a ball.  He was incredible.  Griffey Jr. would be my second pick, but I'd find a lot of argument for Rose as well.

Might not be the place to debate Bonds, but zero chance I give him this credit. His career final numbers are a lie. After a down year for him at age 34 as starts to happen with baseball players, Bonds suddenly hits 73 HR? He had never even hit 50 before that but at age 35, after two years of declining HR numbers, he hits 73? Fraud. Over 250 HR hit from age 35 on, one third of his career totals. Fraud. Zero chance he surpasses Hank without roids. Might end up with less than Junior without roids. I just can't consider Bonds.

Same stat story with Clemens. Look at Clemens 4 sessons from ages 30-33, and then his career after. Stupid. Just stupid. Another fraud. 

Twenty years more of time and stats and the fraud of the roids era players will look even worse.

Schmidt is a great pull from @Crazy Legs he is definitely in the running in my book.

Ryan is one of my 3 favorite players and as great as he was, the "Stat Geeks" would never allow him to be considered. 

Bonds and Clemens were great, just too much shade on them for me to name either GLP.

12 hours ago, Crazy Legs said:

 

I think Pete Rose might be the greatest living ballplayer but it's a tough sell. Junior is an easier sell due to no scandals but he was not so good for 10 whole years after 2000 maybe with the exception of 2005. Bench is a darkhorse worth more consideration. So is Schmidt. Bonds without PEDs is in the discission but how much did they boost him and for how long.

Pete was a great player, but he was never the best fielder at any of the positions he played.   And he was basically a singles hitter.   He hit a lot of them, but other than the number, nothing ever made you look at Pete and say Wow.

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

Pete was a great player, but he was never the best fielder at any of the positions he played.   And he was basically a singles hitter.   He hit a lot of them, but other than the number, nothing ever made you look at Pete and say Wow.

Pete Rose played 24 seasons for the Reds, Phillies and Expos. He had a .303 batting average, 4,256 hits, 160 home runs, 1,314 RBIs and 2,165 runs scored. He won 2 Gold Glove awards, 1 MVP award, the Rookie of the Year award, 1 Silver Slugger award, 1 World Series MVP award and 3 World Series.

Wow.

38 minutes ago, nkypete said:

Pete Rose played 24 seasons for the Reds, Phillies and Expos. He had a .303 batting average, 4,256 hits, 160 home runs, 1,314 RBIs and 2,165 runs scored. He won 2 Gold Glove awards, 1 MVP award, the Rookie of the Year award, 1 Silver Slugger award, 1 World Series MVP award and 3 World Series.

Wow.

Outside of the 3 WS titles, those are pretty much Tony Gwynn numbers.   I'd take him before I take Rose.

8 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Outside of the 3 WS titles, those are pretty much Tony Gwynn numbers.   I'd take him before I take Rose.

Pete Rose Major League records:

• Most career at-bats – 14,053.
• Most career plate appearances – 15,890.
• Most career hits – 4,256.
• Most career singles – 3,215.
• Most career times on base – 5,929.
• Most career outs – 10,328.
• Most career games played – 3,562.
• Most career winning games played – 1,972.

I have the upmost respect for Tony Gwynn and he had some great numbers (including 8 NL batting titles and 7 Silver Slugger awards) but he did not have Pete Rose numbers.

Maybe I'm jaded because I have worked with Pete and "his people".  He's a miserable person so he'd never make any positive list I come up with.