If you could have just one autograph...

Mickey Mantle.... My Childhood Hero.

And I have 2, in fact they are the only autographs I have.

Not somebody you'd hear much, but I've always wanted to meet Tony Womack and get his autograph. Not extremely popular but hes always been one of my favorites. He gets the job done and doesn't try to make a big name for himself.

Derek Jeter. Plays the game the game like none other. Or Barry Bonds for what he does on the field.

Justbaseball Does you son play at Stanford???

Arm-pumping gimpy Kirk Gibson

I thought for sure she would've said RON CEY. For me, its Teddy ballgame--but only if I KNEW it wasn't a fake.

There are many.

Reggie Jackson, Roberto Clemente, Robin Yount, Johnny Bench, Thurman Munson, Catfish Hunter, George Brett. There are others but that is a nice start

My #1 would be Bullwinkle.

.
Ruth.

One down the street. Considering burglary as a second career...

Ruth, Koufax, Matthewson.

I've already got mine. Cal Ripken Jr. Not only was he a HOF caliber player, but a real class act.

sandy koufax

I've got one...it's here somewhere...under the divan?...nope...in my travel kit?...no...maybe in the envelope with all of the Campbell's Soup Labels for Education...not there either...oh...there it is!...my prized autograph...fastened nobly to our refrigerator with a STAMP OUT WORLD HUNGER...THE FREE MARKET APPROACH magnet...Milton Friedman. That man could really hit 'em out of the park!

Two Top five lists:

Historic players - Ruth, Walter Johnson, Ty Cobb, Williams, Cy Young

Modern Players - Koufax, Ryan, Bonds, Bench, Gibson

JT ..

If you only knew the story behind my affinity for penguins, the Dodgers' own Penguin, old loves ... oh well, too detailed to discuss here ... and pretty inappropriate I might add

I am still waiting for my Zach Duke autographed baseball.

TPM,

I have it. Along with the autographed bat, and baseball card - all from eBay, just before he became so famous.

Guess we need to get FB.M an autographed Wheezy.

MN,
We went to see Zach play and he had the autographed balls waiting for Bighit and I , but got into a rain delay.
I thought it would be cooler getting handed one form the Duke himself!
This season will try again!

Pujols or Tony Gwynn. Two of my favorite hitters.

Very interesting.
Two of the most cherished records in baseball history and neither player on the list, so far.
I would love to have autographs of Henry Aaron and Roger Maris. Have come to respect their records even more. Love Koufax and Ripken also. Perhaps the one I would want most, Roy Campanella. He sounds so amazing from everything I have read. He and Yogi in the same City at the same time..along with Mantle, Mays and Snider. Amazing.

TPM,

You're right, that would be VERY cool to meet Zach and have him hand you the autographed ball!

I figured someone would bring up Mr. Duke.

Great choice!

Nolan Ryan, hands down. The classiest, hardest working player in league history...and rumor has it, the guy was a pretty decent pitcher to boot!

roger marris,john kennedy,tony c,tom yawkey

almost forgot the new greats, linear ,trhit,gotwood,the mysterious yo yo yo.and more that i can't remember from hsbbweb

There can be only 1 answer to "the greatest"

The Babe.

1. Ted Williams
2. Tony Gwynn
3. George Brett

Every time I am in KC I go to the Plaza where his restaraunt is with a ball and sharpie, maybe one day I will catch him there.

If one and only one- Babe Ruth. It's the Babe, the Sultan of Swat, the greatest in my book. An absolutely mythical figure.

If I can have a second it would be Jackie Robinson. A true American hero and legend besides being a HOF player.

If I can squeeze one more, it would be Shoeless Joe Jackson (argued by some to be the greatest hitter ever and I'm intrigued by his history-Black Sox and all).

If I could get just one last one it would be Sandy Koufax, my childhood hero and I'm thrilled to say i've got that one.

I am curious.
Why is Babe Ruth such a mythical legend, the greatest, etc? Could it be because we never saw him play and his stories have become "legend?"
Henry Aaron is the all time leader in home runs, the most celebrated record in all of sports perhaps. He overcame bigotry, racism, the eye of the media, the swarm of the media, and everything else, maybe not to the extent of Jackie Robinson but certainly not far behind. Is Ruth a legend and Aaron not because most all of us watched Aaron and recognize he was human and not immortal, so to speak? Curious to me and would love input from others.

And Ruth came out of a Catholic home for troubled youth. So what? Why does the race card seem to pop out so frequently these days?

Aaron had more games per season to reach his totals. The baseballs were more lively for Aaron. The conditioning was more scientifically advanced. Aaron had a lot of advantages over Ruth. We won't even talk about the 'roid boys.

Look at how much Ruth stood out compared to his contemporaries.

To me, Ruth will always be the HR king.

Texan, no race card intended. Just a fact that he dealt with different issues than Ruth. Geez, since when can you not make a factual observation and have it rebound as being offensive.
He didn't have a short porch, he hit home runs when mounds were lowered and when mounds were raised, when home run totals were low and also when they were higher and certainly before current training regimens. Roids? How did that get into this?
Perhaps my point was missed or miscommunicated. The real idea was to question whether myth and legend are diluted when you have regularly seen the player either personally or on TV as opposed to reading and hearing, and never seeing the person your self.

infielddad - I happen to have Hank Aaron's autograph and really treasure it. I saw him play as a kid and was listening on the radio when he hit #714 in Cincinnati...to be followed days later with #715 back in Atlanta.

I think some of it is because we still know him, remember him, visualize him. Unfortunately, I also believe some of it has to do with race too. 1974 wasn't too far behind the turbulent 60's, especially in the South.

But why Babe Ruth? Many reasons I think. The character that he was reported to be, the physical appearance and trot are a tad endearing, the fact that none of us got to see him play, the legends surrounding his personality and behavior (sometimes I wonder if our present-day media might tear down Babe Ruth if he were playing and recreating today).

But to a large degree, I think Babe Ruth brought baseball to the fore in American culture. He changed the game dramatically with the home run and he played in New York.

I once saw a Babe Ruth autographed baseball in a shop in Dodger Stadium on sale for $30K...about the price of a new car these days. I thought that if I were a wealthy many, it almost seemed worth it to me.

Good question on Ruth versus Aaron. The orignal question didn't allow me to pick Ruth but now that we have gone there in this thread, yes Ruth was the greatest player of all time and the rest are not even close imho.

He spent the first several years of his career racking up almost 100 wins as a pitcher. He had a stellar pitching record in the World Series as well. Then, when they figured out he could hit is when he went on to assault all of the records. He was more than just a homerun hitter as well. In the movie "61" the other night, a line was that Ruth was bigger than the game. I believe that. He has been dead since 1948 and we still talk about him. He deserves all the attention imo and that is not to diminish Henry Aaron in any way.

quote:

Originally posted by infielddad:
Texan, no race card intended.

My apologies.

Yet Ruth also had to deal with issues. Many players have. IMHO, such discussions are best kept to what is on the field.

Can legends grow? Of course. But again, go back & look at what Ruth did. The circumstances under which he set his records. How long his records stood. How much he stood out over his contemporaries. And, as CD pointed out, he was a pretty darn good pitcher as well.

His legend was earned, IMHO.

Well, as far as Ruth for me, I look at his numbers which were just astounding (not just the homeruns). As far as homeruns, he often hit more in a season than entire teams in his era. He truly revolutionized the game.

As mentioned above, he was also an amazing pitcher and might have been one of the best ever had he continued that role.

The number of championships, playing in New York and the stories about him, he just is a larger than life character.

It also goes beyond the playing field to the cultural impact of Ruth. At a point in time if something or someone was the greatest in their field they were referred to (some still make the reference) as the Babe Ruth of......

Ruth was so omnipresent and such an American icon that, of example, in WWII many Japenese soldiers when attacking U.S. troops would scream f**k Babe Ruth.

The saying that someone "is in leftfield" is directly attributable to the impact of Babe Ruth as any fan with knowledge of the game at the time would want to sit in the right field stands with Ruth being a left handed hitter and being a right fielder. So anyone who would choose to sit in left field was ignorant ("is in leftfield"). So the impact of Ruth on culture was so enormous that he literally effected our language.

Can't think of too many people in any walk of life that have had the impact of the Bambino.

I would take Willie Mays over Hank Aaron every day of the week.

Number 1/8 of the St.Louis Browns Eddie Gaedel.

Ruth, Mays, Aaron. All greats and many more not mentioned here. Ruth was So dominant in his era and he was not only a good pitcher, he held world series scoreless innings record for many years. He hit many homeruns on the road and you can check that. He was also very athletic. Talk about image. It wasn't until 1929-30 that he began to baloon up. I've seen pics of him in '25 with his shirt off, the guy was built. Slugging percentage, average, decent fielder with a pitchers arm in right, and what was said earlier, brought the game to the forefront and he was So much bigger than the game. There are great players and then there is Ruth.

its, very interesting post but no explanation!
Care to offer any follow up? BTW, I didn't mention Mays because I have 4 autographed balls, one autograph on my son's little league glove and a few others stored away.
I wonder why Aaron does not seem to receive more credit for what he accomplished. Great fielder, great arm, always made things look easy and unbelievable stats and longevity. Could it be he played in Milwaukee and Atlanta, neither of which were media centers.
I know that Ruth was dominant in his era. More dominant than perhaps any figure in sports history. I still wonder if that truly reflected his status on the field or is more a reflection of history reconstructed?