The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>JimB</b><p>I suppose it depends what the question is asking. Is the question: Who are the best 5 baseball players of alltime? Who are the most popular HOFs among pre-war collectors for collecting purposes? I think the answer would differ depending on what question is being asked.<br /><br />I think the most popular among collectors of pre-war cards are:<br /><br />Wagner<br />Cobb<br />Johnson<br />Mathewson<br />Ruth<br /><br />Best players of all-time:<br /><br />Cobb<br />Ruth <br />Williams<br />Mays<br />Johnson<br /><br /><br />Close runner-ups:<br /><br />Gerhig<br />Young

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p> You're basing your idea that Stan was a better team mate than Ted on what?

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>peter chao</b><p>Guys,<br /><br />Ted was well-respected by his teammates and maintained a closed relationship with them after his playing days.<br /><br />He got a bad rep only because he had a running feud with the Boston media.<br /><br />I really have no idea whether he was a better or worst teammate than Stan Musial.<br /><br />Peter

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>Frank Wakefield</b><p>The Musial-Williams beliefs would probably have been founded on hearsay, or what's been read or said by their teammates, or by reading the first Historical Baseball Abstract and reading what Bill James had to say. Cogent. <br /><br />I share their views. Williams seems to have been the better pure hitter, though. Still, Stan was no slouch at the plate.<br /><br />So go read what Bill James said in that first book, then come back and post.

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>Don</b><p>"You're basing your idea that Stan was a better team mate than Ted on what?"<br /><br />Williams had a close relationship with his teammates (Dom DiMaggio for example) and opposing players (Joe DiMaggio for example). He was also a class act in many ways. But he could also be selfish and very stubborn. His refusal to go the other way was both selfish and stubborn. There have been references to Williams placing personal statistics above team success. I don't think anybody would dare say the same about Musial. Musial went out of his way to help out younger players, and many of those players simply adored him.<br /><br />My statement wasn't that Williams was a poor teammate, it was that Musial was a BETTER teammate. <br />

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>John Kalafarski</b><p> Your notion that Ted put his stats over team is pure rubbish. Only from a Yankee fan!<br /><br />PS: Try The Teammates by David Halberstam and Lee Montville's Ted Williams. You might change your tune.

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>peter chao</b><p>Guys,<br /><br />Paige should have been on somebody's top five list. All the stories about him asking his outfielders to sit down in the field while he pitched have to have some validity. And to then subsequently strike out the side, that kind of story creates a legend. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14><br /><br />Peter

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>George Dreher</b><p>That reminds me of the stories that he had them remove the plate during warmup because it was too big of a target and he would throw strikes over a thimble. Also, he used to kill birds with rocks while they were flying overhead.

The Top 5 Hofer's
 

Posted By: <b>dennis</b><p>before ol satch was born rube waddle called in his team and struck out the side on 9 pitches.<br /><img src="http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l239/dcc1/waddle.jpg">