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Posted By: Cashews

i feel like it has to be ruth. babe forever changed the game single handedly and was above and beyond any player anyone had ever seen. he added a whole new dimension to the game and was seen as a larger than life folk hero, a lot like mickey mantle but to a much larger degree. not only did he demolish pitching, but he excelled at it as well. so in my mind if you were talking about the greatest all around player to ever play the game there is no doubt that it has to be ruth.

if we're purely talking about the greatest hitter to ever play the game then i don't think you can count out rogers hornsby or george sisler. sisler hit 400 twice with a high of 420 in 1922. that is absolutely incredible because it came after the dead ball era and matches cobb's high which came during it. hornsby hit 400 3 times in 4 years and in his prime was an incredible power hitter.

if we're just talking about the greatest "hitter" in terms of batting prowess then i don't think you can ignore joe sewell. he was undeniably the greatest contact hitter ot all time and never struck out more than 20 times in a season.

i love these discussions.