Best Baseball Player you ever saw live in person.
- Thread starter tumorboy
- Start date
Probably Albert Pujols but I went to a lot of Mariners games when Ichiro was in his prime and he always did something exciting, every game.
Saw the 1963 Yankees vs Twins. Mantle, Ford, Berra, and Killebrew.
Willie Mays and Willie McCovey in 1967.
Teddy Baseball, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, George Brett, Warren Spahn, Bob Gibson, Willie Mays, Carl Yastrzemski, Fred Lynn (before hurting his back), Greg Maddux, Frank Robinson....I have seen a bunch of them...
There have been a lot but the most enjoyable was Buster Posey when he was at FSU. He was unbelievable to watch and just so exciting.
Nolan ryan. Perfect game thru 7 then scratch hit by dave winfield.
Everyday player probably brett but hardest hit ball ive seen was by bo jackson. Hr that went about 340 but i swear was still rising when it hit the bleachers.
Everyday player probably brett but hardest hit ball ive seen was by bo jackson. Hr that went about 340 but i swear was still rising when it hit the bleachers.
Probably Greg Maddux when he was with the Braves. The dude could pitch. Not overpowering and threw a beautiful ball.
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.
From the outfield, he was visibly faster than any pitcher I’d ever seen. That was shocking to me.
Cal Ripken junior and for being a steroidal idiot, Jose Canseco. The bat looked like a toothpick in his hands.
If you saw Canseco, he wasn’t even the best player you saw in person that day.
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.
Andre Dawson with the Cubs was my favorite player as a kid. But by the time I saw him in person it was after his MVP season. I can only imagine if I had seen him before the injuries from Olympic Stadium’s AstroTurf piled up and destroyed his legs.
Andre Dawson with the Cubs was my favorite player as a kid. But by the time I saw him in person it was after his MVP season. I can only imagine if I had seen him before the injuries from Olympic Stadium’s AstroTurf piled up and destroyed his legs.
Forgot Puckett. Saw him against the Royals the game before the 1994 strike. Royals had a good season going.
Ryan's Guinness world record pitch was clocked at 100.9 mph ten feet in front of home plate. Today's Pitch FX measures pitch speed the moment the ball leaves the pitcher's hand. On Pitch FX, Ryan would be clocking 107-108 mph. So would Bob Feller. Aroldis Chapman, while right up there, is not the fastest pitcher ever recorded.
It kills me watching Albert's lifetime batting average slip every season. He was so great, for so many years. I wish he'd retired two or three seasons ago. He's a slugger now, which is more than most hitters ever become. But it's an insult to what he was with the Cardinals. How many guys in history have consistently hit 40 home runs, driven in 130 runs, hit .330 or more and struck out around 50 times? In his prime, Pujols was with the likes of Gehrig, Williams, Foxx and Ruth. He was a complete hitter. It's such a rare thing. Thank you, Albert!
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.
I have said this before, but while I thought he was major league bound, I would not have guessed he would become the future HOFer he is while watching him in CR. Reggie Sanders, Steve Gibraltar, Willie Greene, Nick Adenhart, and Byron Buxton all seemed destined for bigger things than Trout was. Trevor Hoffman was the only one who seemed special and lived up to it.
As far as the topic at hand...
Batter: Pujols.
Pitcher: The Big Unit w/ the M’s and CC Sabathia with the Brewers.
Fielding: Ozzie Smith and Robin Ventura
Barry Bonds is probably the first or second best player ever and I wasn’t alive to see Babe Ruth so by default I guess it has to be him.
Probably Hank Aaron, who I saw a few times late in his career - but I've seen a bunch of other Hall of Famers that played in the 70s & 80s. Most of them I saw only during spring training. There are still quite a few teams that train in Florida, but when I was in high school, college, and just out of college, there were a lot more - and I went to a lot of games back then. Saw all of the stars of the Big Red Machine numerous times, went to a bunch of Red Sox games, and a lot of Tigers games. Saw the Phillies & Mike Schmidt a couple of times.
Hate that I get stuck at work so much this time of year, would love to still slip away to a couple of games a week like I could when I was younger.
Hate that I get stuck at work so much this time of year, would love to still slip away to a couple of games a week like I could when I was younger.
Watching Ozzie Smith for years in St. Louis was magic.
Before that Bob Gibson was the best I saw in person. Mother of God how you could stand in the box against him I’ll never know
Before that Bob Gibson was the best I saw in person. Mother of God how you could stand in the box against him I’ll never know
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.
In the 9th inning, the Phillies' first baseman dropped a popup foul to give Mahaffey another chance to get #18, but it wasn't to be. He gave a pretty good acting performance, but we knew he did it on purpose.
Pujols
Bo Jackson
Big Hurt
Kirby Puckett
Dave Winfield
Mike Trout
Big Mac
I'm sure I'm missing someone great.
Bo Jackson
Big Hurt
Kirby Puckett
Dave Winfield
Mike Trout
Big Mac
I'm sure I'm missing someone great.
