And Willie Mays went 0-23 to start his career.
And Willie Mays went 0-23 to start his career.
goreds2 (05-07-2021)
Just so we all know, what exactly are we using to measure players to be seen as the “greatest ever”?
Baseline data, peer reviews, fan reactions, comparison vs peers, comparison vs historical peers, championship teams
I’ll start
Rate stats
Counting stats
Comparison vs peers
Comparison vs historical peers
Peer reviews
Fan reactions
Championship teams
Change my mind
redsmetz (05-07-2021)
Yogi Berra was better than Mays? Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooool
Wow.
I mean, man, c'mon. I sorta agree with the point that Secretariat was in a class all of his own and 2nd place is distant so comparing Mays to Secretariat is inaccurate, but Mays is as far ahead of Berra as Secretariat is to the rest of the horse racing field.
You couldn't make a reasonable 10 man Hall of Fame without Mays. You could reasonably make a 100 man Hall of Fame without Yogi Berra.
Last edited by PTjvs; 05-07-2021 at 12:45 AM.
CySeymour (05-07-2021),Old school 1983 (05-07-2021),SomeCallMeTim (05-07-2021),westofyou (05-07-2021)
I'm glad I got to see him at Crosley in '66.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
cumberlandreds (05-07-2021),goreds2 (05-07-2021),RedsBaron (05-07-2021),redsmetz (05-07-2021),Ron Madden (05-07-2021),Tony Cloninger (05-07-2021)
I saw Willie at Crosley in 1970, the last time I ever attended a game at Crosley Field. In those days my family made a yearly trip to see a Reds game. My dad gave me the chose of deciding whether to go see a game at Crosley one final time, or waiting until later in the season when Riverfront Stadium opened. I opted for Crosley.
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."
cumberlandreds (05-07-2021),GAC (05-09-2021),goreds2 (05-07-2021),redsmetz (05-07-2021),Ron Madden (05-07-2021),Tony Cloninger (05-07-2021)
Mays is one of top 3 players of all time. No doubt in my mind about that. As someone else stated, he would broken the HR record of Ruth if he had played his entire career at the Polo Grounds. He had all the tools that most don't have and he used them well. I wish I could have seen him in his prime. About my only memories of him was in the 1973 World Series and I'm afraid he was playing like he was 90 years old then. But that doesn't delude any of the greatness of him. One of the best! Long live Willie Mays!
Reds Fan Since 1971
My dad always talked about getting to see Mays play at Crosley. His biggest memory was seeing Mays drop a basket catch. Talk about a rare event!
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
cumberlandreds (05-07-2021)
Ruth also only had to play against segregated competition, he didn’t face the best of the black players either. Mays played against everybody. That’s another notch in Mays’ book that puts him closer to equal footing as the GOAT IMO.
Moose Herd (05-07-2021),Tony Cloninger (05-07-2021)
Mays is the greatest baseball player I ever saw.
But some of his defensive and base running excellence might seem less special today, in comparison to more current athletes.
Still, he was the clearest example of a great five-tool player I’ve seen.
Mantle before hurting his knee was the only all around player who compared. Aaron was close to that level. Maybe Duke Snider then Banks and Robinson there as well. Williams and Musial were a little better pure hitters but not much of a gap. During the early to mid 60s only Frank R. Cepeda. Clemente and Tommy Davis were close to Mays and Aaron.
All my posts are my opinion - just like yours are. If I forget to state it and you're too dense to see the obvious, look here!
Old school 1983 (05-07-2021)
The best I have ever seen.
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