I was watching MLB.TV last night and they were talking about the 10 best players in MLB history. Brian Kenny had a list, and Mad Dog Russo, the other host had one too.
Ruth was at the top of both lists. But that was about the only spot they agreed on. Condescending as ever, Kenny added Ohtani at # 10 because he felt Russo would feel slighted if he was not on there.
Mantle was on one list, Musial on the other. Kenney left all of the dead ball era guys off of his list. Griffey Jr. made both lists. To me this is an almost impossible task. The only way I see that it could be done fairly is by eras. 1890-1919, 1920-1940, 1941-1961, 1962-1990, 1990-2010, 2010-presant.
The dead ball era basically ended with the emergence of Babe Ruth as an everyday offensive player. All you need to do is see how many less players hit for high average once the long ball came into serious play.
Oddly, because baseball now recognizes the Negro League stats, the number of .400 hitters after 1920, exceeds the number before. 19 accomplished the feat by 1920, 31 did it until the last time it was reached by Ted Williams, .406, and Josh Gibson, .466, in 1941 and 1943 respectively.
Ed Delahanty, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Oscar Charleston, are the only hitters to top .400 three times. 2 timers include Jesse Burkett, George Sisler, Heavy Johnson, Rap Dixon, and Josh Gibson.
Another problem with rating the top players is the fact that the stats used today to grade a player’s greatness are far different. Since the game began, rules and stats have changed dramatically. Imagine how many bases Cobb or Henderson, and even Wills, might have had with the new rule instated this year. 
WAR is a big part of the way players are gauged today too. OPS is more important than BA. Muncy is a huge testament to that. And as for pitchers, let’s face it, no modern pitcher is going to come close to Young’s 511 wins, or the complete game record or the 110 career shutouts by Walter Johnson, who along with his 417 wins, recorded 34 saves.
The way things are going the new 300 is 200. And there were many dead-ball era pitchers who were dominant. Mathewson and Pete Alexander with 373 wins each. Candy Cummings, the inventor of the curve ball if you believe the history. 
If I had to, my top 10 would be all offensive players, with a separate top 10 for pitchers. 1. Ruth, Cobb, Mays, Mantle, Wagner, Hornsby, Williams, Aaron, Pujols, Gehrig. Pitchers. Young. Alexander, Mathewson, Plank, Maddux, Gibson, Koufax, Randy Johnson, Spahn, Ryan.
Go ahead, lets see yours.
Great article Bear….thanks for it.
My top 10 hitters not in any order:
Fun article Bear. Welcome back. Hope Jeff is doing better.I like your lists but I would put Bonds in for Pujols and Clemens in for Spahn
Jarrett Siedler of Baseball Prospectus on the Dodgers farm system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG7lqCIJFlg
How can you not include Walter Johnson in your top 10 pitchers??
Depends how we define “greatness.”
Jackie Robinson was a great man.
Who in baseball accomplished anything greater?
And let’s not forget all the players who endure injustice in these exercises. By many accounts, Josh Gibson was as good a ballplayer as Ruth or anybody else. Plus, he played catcher. Shouldn’t he get points for that? (Without the color line, how good would his stats be?)
And again, when we purely consider the data, how do we factor in the years that Ted Williams and several others lost to military service?
Now we have players packing on stats with the DH.
And let’s also give points for defense.
How about an all-time lineup?
Josh Gibson at C
Gehrig at 1B
Wagner at SS
OF of Ruth, Mays, Williams…???
Not sure about 2B and 3B. I’m suspicious of old stats that showed that hitting .400 wasn’t so uncommon way back when.
My pitching staff starts with Koufax and Gibson.
A Gibson-Gibson battery would have been special.
I think this can only be done by era.
The best baseball player I ever saw was probably Willie Mays. Mantle was right there with him, but most of his greatness was before age 30.
The best pitcher I ever saw was Koufax, with Gibson a close second.
The best pure hitter? Maybe Tony Gwynn. His .338 career average is the best of any player whose career started after 1947. I did see Stan Musial play, but it was late in his career. Never saw Ted Williams but his stats are unparalleled. And he missed 3 years in his prime.
Good topic for conversation.
Pete Rose
Mickey Mantel
Jackie Robinson
Babe Ruth
Joe Diamagio
Stan Musial
Ted Williams
Lou Brock
Willie May’s
Cal Ripken Jr
That would be my top ten players in baseball who played the game the right way.
Position Players:
Babe Ruth
Willie Mays
Ty Cobb
Henry Aaron
Tris Speaker
Honus Wagner
Stan Musial
Ted Williams
Lou Gehrig
Mickey Mantle
Pitchers:
Walter Johnson
Cy Young
Grover Alexander
Tom Seaver
Lefty Grove
Chrisy Mathewson
Greg Maddux
Randy Johnson
Warren Spahn
Sandy Koufax