So Ken Griffey jnr is the greatest player in baseball history?

[Papageorgio]

Ruth, Mays, Williams, Bonds and Aaron would be on my list of the greatest of all time.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Warren Spahn and Walter Johnson were by far the greatest pitchers.

Griffey in his first ten years rivaled the greatest player of all time, Willie Mays.

I can see Barney but not Spahn.

Yes, griffey was willie mays good for the first ten years of his career. But most fans would say Ruth was the greatest player of all time. Hard to believe since the Babe was born 120 years ago but that's how it is.

Most would probably say Ruth, but Mays was the best overall 5 star player the game e"ver produced, in my opinion.

For Spahn: "Nobody was as good for as long as Spahn, who won 363 games, tops among lefties. He won 357 of them for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves from 1946-64. He pitched for 21 seasons, and went 23-7 at age 42. He was a 14-time All-Star, had an astounding 382 complete games and career ERA of 3.09. He led the league in strikeouts four times, won four World Series games and had two career no-hitters." More » He also hit 35 homers.

 

[hangover]

Just a few that were better the Griffey.
The Babe
DiMaggio
Ted Williams
Willie Mays
Jackie Robinson
Cy Young
Lou Gehrig
Hank Aaron
Greg Maddux
Nolan Ryan
Curt Shilling
Randy Johnson

 

[bodecea]

He just set a record at getting into the HOF. 99.3% of voters put him on their ballot. Previous record was 98.8% for tom seaver.

Griffey was fantastic his first 10 years but his next ten he was just a pretty good player. I expected him to get voted in yesterday but i thought he would get around 92% of the voters. He's maybe the 30th best player of all time.

Hope so...I have his Upper Deck rookie card...in fact the entire year one of Upper Deck with his rookie card #1.

 

[ShootSpeeders]

Just a few that were better the Griffey.
The Babe
DiMaggio
Ted Williams
Willie Mays
Jackie Robinson
Cy Young
Lou Gehrig
Hank Aaron
Greg Maddux
Nolan Ryan
Curt Shilling
Randy Johnson

Leave out ryan. He was the most over-rated player in history. Never won a CYA and never deserved one. Merely a pretty good pitcher who lasted 27 years. Some manager (tony larussa?) once called him "the most exciting mediocre pitcher in baseball".

 

[ShootSpeeders]

[
For Spahn: "Nobody was as good for as long as Spahn, who won 363 games, tops among lefties. He won 357 of them for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves from 1946-64. He pitched for 21 seasons, and went 23-7 at age 42. He was a 14-time All-Star, had an astounding 382 complete games and career ERA of 3.09. He led the league in strikeouts four times, won four World Series games and had two career no-hitters." More » He also hit 35 homers.

And spahn missed 3 years due to WW2. He was already 25 when he won his first MLB game.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Just a few that were better the Griffey.
The Babe
DiMaggio
Ted Williams
Willie Mays
Jackie Robinson
Cy Young
Lou Gehrig
Hank Aaron
Greg Maddux
Nolan Ryan
Curt Shilling
Randy Johnson

Leave out ryan. He was the most over-rated player in history. Never won a CYA and never deserved one. Merely a pretty good pitcher who lasted 27 years. Some manager (tony larussa?) once called him "the most exciting mediocre pitcher in baseball".

Seven no-hitters.
324 wins while playing for some AWFUL teams. (Like 8-16 with a 2.76 ERA in 1987)
5714 strikeouts.
Again:seven no-hitters.
222 complete games. (28% of his starts!) 61 of them shutouts.
Lifetime 3.19 ERA
Throwing 98MPH at age 45.
And...dude, seven ******* no-hitters!

 

[JakeStarkey]

I think that ERA led the league even with 16 losses.

And seven no hitters.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Warren Spahn and Walter Johnson were by far the greatest pitchers.

Griffey in his first ten years rivaled the greatest player of all time, Willie Mays.

It is not an exaggeration to say that, when compared to his contemporaries, Pedro Martinez is hands-down the most dominant pitcher. Ever. His 1999 and 2000 seasons were, quite simply, the best in baseball history...his ERA (2.07 and a stunning 1.74) was, in 2000, 3.27 BETTER than the 4.97 league average! (Second was Roger Clemens at 3.70!) And he did it in a hitters' park, in the toughest division in baseball, at the height of the steroid era. In 2000, he broke Walter Johnson's 87-year-old record for fewest baserunners per 9 innings, while going 18-6. The league hit a microscopic .167 against him. In 1999, he allowed nine home runs all season, in 213 innings, was an amazing 23-4. He won the Cy Young Award (unanimously) both years, and was screwed out of the MVP by two dishonest sportswriters.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I think that ERA led the league even with 16 losses.

And seven no hitters.

It did.

 

[ShootSpeeders]

[
Seven no-hitters.
324 wins while playing for some AWFUL teams. (Like 8-16 with a 2.76 ERA in 1987)
5714 strikeouts.
Again:seven no-hitters.
222 complete games. (28% of his starts!) 61 of them shutouts.
Lifetime 3.19 ERA
Throwing 98MPH at age 45.
And...dude, seven ******* no-hitters!

Ryan did everything but win. You left out his 292 losses. And he did NOT play on awful teams, just average teams. You also left out his walk numbers - highest in history. Seven no-hitters is interesting but not important. A no-hit is just another victory as far as the team is concerned.

The most over-rated player in history.

 

[ShootSpeeders]

It is not an exaggeration to say that, when compared to his contemporaries, Pedro Martinez is hands-down the most dominant pitcher. Ever. His 1999 and 2000 seasons were, quite simply, the best in baseball history...his ERA (2.07 and a stunning 1.74) was, in 2000, 3.27 BETTER than the 4.97 league average! (Second was Roger Clemens at 3.70!) And he did it in a hitters' park, in the toughest division in baseball, at the height of the steroid era. In 2000, he broke Walter Johnson's 87-year-old record for fewest baserunners per 9 innings, while going 18-6. The league hit a microscopic .167 against him. In 1999, he allowed nine home runs all season, in 213 innings, was an amazing 23-4. He won the Cy Young Award (unanimously) both years, and was screwed out of the MVP by two dishonest sportswriters.

1999-2000 was about the best 2 year stretch any pitcher ever had. He got voted into thre HOF in 2015 with 91% of the vote which seems about right to me. Pedro had a fairly short career and just barely won 200 games.

 

[Jarlaxle]

The 1987 Astros were a bad team, 76-86. Ryan went 17-18/3.36 for the 76-86 Angels in 1976, 12-11 with a 3.02 ERA in 1984 (80-82). Note that Cy Young has 316 losses!

And, yet again: Seven ******* no-hitters!

 

[ShootSpeeders]

The 1987 Astros were a bad team, 76-86. Ryan went 17-18/3.36 for the 76-86 Angels in 1976, 12-11 with a 3.02 ERA in 1984 (80-82). Note that Cy Young has 316 losses!

And, yet again: Seven ******* no-hitters!

And CY had 511 victories.!!!! He won 62% of his games while ryan won 52%. Ryan was just a slightly above average pitcher who played for 27 years.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Slightly above average pitchers do not rack up 5000 strikeouts. They do not pitch seven no-hitters. (Hell, plenty of great pitchers don't pitch ONE!)

 

[JakeStarkey]

How about this ten year average? Click on the image to enlarge it.

 

[ShootSpeeders]

Slightly above average pitchers do not rack up 5000 strikeouts. They do not pitch seven no-hitters. (Hell, plenty of great pitchers don't pitch ONE!)

As i explained earlier, 7 no-hits is a fantastic INDIVIDUAL accomplishment but it's not a big deal for your team. Same as a 3-hitter as far as your team is concerned. And winning games for the team is what it's about. A 52% win rate is just slightly above average.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Slightly above average pitchers do not rack up 5000 strikeouts. They do not pitch seven no-hitters. (Hell, plenty of great pitchers don't pitch ONE!)

As i explained earlier, 7 no-hits is a fantastic INDIVIDUAL accomplishment but it's not a big deal for your team. Same as a 3-hitter as far as your team is concerned. And winning games for the team is what it's about. A 52% win rate is just slightly above average.

7 no hitters is the all time record along with more than 5000 strike outs. He was far above average. Did I say 7 no hitters.

 

[ShootSpeeders]

How about this ten year average? Click on the image to enlarge it.

View attachment 60010

Barney was just fantastic. His 1913 year was 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA. People say "but back then lots of pitchers won 30 games".
Not so. The next best number of wins that year in the AL was just 23. The NL best was 27 wins.

36 wins in 1913 was about as rare then as it would be today. Barney also had a 261 BA that year while the league average was 256!! His SA was above the league average too!!!

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

Nolan Ryan was a great pitcher and I am not a fan of his.

Another pitcher I actually admired that many do not mention is Greg Maddux and is the only other pitcher besides Fergie Jenkins to strikeout three thousand batters and have less than one thousand walks.

Is Ken Griffey Jr. the greatest player ever?

No, but he is most likely a Top Ten candidate...