Cal Ripken junior and for being a steroidal idiot, Jose Canseco. The bat looked like a toothpick in his hands.
Haha, very true.If you saw Canseco, he wasn’t even the best player you saw in person that day.
Forgot Puckett. Saw him against the Royals the game before the 1994 strike. Royals had a good season going.Puckett
I have seen the Yankees in playoffs but I hate them.
Saw a lot of baseball in the 70’s and 80’s. The one that always stands out is sitting in the bleachers at the Astrodome to watch the Cubs Astros. When the Astros’ pitcher took the mound and started warming up I thought the ball was getting from his hand to the catcher’s mitt awfully quickly. I decided it was just the angle - I didn’t usually sit in the outfield bleachers. Then I looked it up and saw it was Nolan Ryan.
From the outfield, he was visibly faster than any pitcher I’d ever seen. That was shocking to me.
Pujols while he was with the Cards and still good. In the Bay Area for work for a week and couldn’t get a flight home until Saturday morning. Bought a ticket to go to a Giants/Cards game by myself Friday night in the left outfield bleachers. Pujols hit a home run that landed about 4 rows right above me. As I was reaching for it before I realized it was going over my head I had a moment of clarity that this will hurt bad if I catch it. That ball was coming out fast and hard. Luckily someone else dealt with it.
Met him briefly at the Florida Sports Hall of Fame Dinner last year. He is a big guy - every bit as big as Tim Tebow, who was there as well.Chipper Jones
Trout when he was on the Kernels.
Not the best player but the best performance I ever saw in person was Art Mahaffey when he tied the record at 17 strikeouts. My dad had snagged great seats behind the plate. Perfect for watching a virtuoso pitching performance.I haven't seen Mike Trout yet he's on my bucket list.
But by position player
I would put Barry Bonds but the juiced factor.
Ken Griffey Jr.
Pitcher
Randy Johnson just absolutely crazy to see live behind home plate.