Earlier than his loss of life Tuesday, Willie Mays was extensively considered as Main League Baseball’s biggest dwelling participant.
Mays hit 660 profession house runs and had quite a few iconic performs, together with “The Catch” in Sport 1 of the 1954 World Collection, inserting him among the many recreation’s greatest.
On Wednesday, the Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan contemplated this query:
With that in thoughts, listed here are our 5 picks:
Sandy Koufax | Age: 88
Koufax is the one pitcher in MLB historical past to guide the league in wins, earned run common and strikeouts 3 times in his three Cy Younger Award-winning seasons. For the ultimate 5 years of his 12-year profession, he was the perfect pitcher in baseball, posting a 1.95 ERA in 181 video games (176 begins) from 1962-66.
Nearly as good as he was throughout the common season, Koufax fortified his legacy with legendary postseason performances. In main the Los Angeles Dodgers to World Collection titles in 1963 and 1965, Koufax went 4-1 in 5 begins. In all, he had a 0.86 ERA, struck out 52 in 42 innings and allowed 33 runners in 155 at-bats.
On two days’ relaxation throughout the 1965 World Collection, Koufax led the Dodgers to a Sport 7 win over the Twins with a second consecutive complete-game shutout.
Pete Rose | Age: 83
MLB’s all-time hits chief with 4,256, Rose has on-field credentials that may’t be ignored. However he’ll all the time be inextricably linked to his betting scandal as Reds supervisor, which led to his ban from the league. Nevertheless, Rose was among the many recreation’s biggest gamers earlier than turning into persona non grata.
Batting leadoff for “The Huge Pink Machine,” he was MVP in Cincinnati’s seven-game World Collection win over the Boston Pink Sox in 1975. Like him or not, Rose is a big a part of baseball’s historical past and one of many sport’s biggest dwelling retired icons.
Nolan Ryan | Age: 77
Ryan completed his 27-year MLB profession with record-holding seven no-hitters and is the league’s all-time strikeout king (5,714).
Ryan’s consistency and longevity stand out. From 1968-92, he by no means posted an ERA above 4.00, and he additionally led the league in strikeouts from 1987-1990, his age 40-43 years.
On Aug. 4, 1993, he cemented his tough-guy rep by pounding Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox.
Rickey Henderson | Age: 65
Most individuals level to Cy Younger’s win whole (511) as baseball’s most unbreakable document, and when you will not hear any arguments from us, one other one we predict doubtless will stand the take a look at of time is Henderson’s stolen base document.
Throughout a 25-year profession wherein he starred for the A’s and New York Yankees, Henderson stole 1,406 bases, 468 greater than Lou Brock, who ranks second. (The lively participant with probably the most stolen bases is the Mets’ Starling Marte, 35, who has 350 by means of Tuesday’s video games.)
For his profession, Henderson batted .279 and posted a .401 on-base share. He led the league in walks 4 occasions (1982-83, 1989, 1998). Per Baseball Reference, he scored a run 39 p.c of the time he reached base, effectively above the MLB common (31 p.c).
Barry Bonds | Age: 59
Like Rose, Bonds has a legacy that’s tough to cope with, but when we’re merely taking a look at what he achieved as a participant, he could be baseball’s biggest dwelling participant.
Already on his method to a Corridor of Fame profession by the point he left the Pittsburgh Pirates in free company in 1993 to hitch the San Francisco Giants, Bonds hit one other stratosphere within the Bay Space.
However whereas he starred for the Giants, Bonds was dogged by tales he used performance-enhancing medication. Arguably, he’s the face of baseball’s steroid period.
For the Giants, Bonds hit a document 73 house runs in 2001 and posted the best on-base share for a season in 2004 with an absurd .609. Of his 2,935 profession hits, 49.1 p.c went for additional bases.
