Top 15 Best Baseball Players Of All Time In MLB

Top 15 Best Baseball Players Of All Time In MLB

Who are the best baseball players of all time?

All over the world, sports have had a tremendous impact on the lives of many people.

By means of it, deep and joyous relaxation that eliminates nerve-wracking emotions has been achieved.

It has also helped to cement bonds of unity and friendship among many people across the world.

One of such sports is baseball, and this is mainly due to vibrant players who have held spectators spellbound because of their superlative performance on the field of play.

Baseball has the top players that have continually thrilled fans for years to thank for its popularity in mainstream media.

In this article, we’ll review the top 15 best Baseball players of all times based on performances and awards won.

The MLB Best Baseball Players Of All Time

15. Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens
Wikimedia

Nicknamed “Rocket,” Clemens, a former pitcher for the New York Yankees, enjoyed a successful 24 seasons in the MLB.

He spent a larger part of his 24 years stint in the MLB, playing for Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

Totaling 354 victories, Clemens was one of the dominating pitchers in the MLB. 

He aided the New York Yankees to two world series titles and earned 11 All-Star invites.

He has seven Cy Young Awards to his name, the most won by any pitcher in baseball history.

His playing style was extremely competitive, and his pitching was long hard throws.

Nonetheless, this playing tactic of his proved useful in helping him achieved many wins.

14. Mickey Mantle

Mickey Mantle
Wikimedia

Many considered Mickey Mantle to be the greatest switch hitter in the history of baseball.

Of any center fielder, Mantle was one of the most threatening offensive in the MLB. 

He played his entire Major League Baseball career(1951-1968) with New York Yankees. 

Mantle was one of the greatest offensive threats of any center fielder in baseball history. 

He won the MVP award three times. 

Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, and that was his most successful year in baseball games. 

He was named American League (AL) most valuable player thrice and won the Gold Glove once.

He rounded up his baseball playing career, retiring from the New York Yankees Team in 1968.

13. Greg Maddux

Greg Maddux
Wikimedia

When the name Greg Maddux rings, what comes to mind is his playing days for the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs.

He is popularly known for his achievements in his stint for those two baseball franchises.

He put on a good show as a prolific pitcher for the two teams.

He won the 1995 World Series for the Braves. 

He was the first pitcher to record four straight Cy Young Award wins in major league history.

He won the award from 1992-1995.

Maddux won more games during the 1990s than any other pitcher. 

During his baseball playing days, his immense achievements resulted in him being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first eligible year.

Not many baseball players are voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility, a feat Maddux accomplished.

It serves as a testimony to his incredible talents. 

12. Honus Wagner

Honus Wagner
Wikimedia

From an era where only a handful of humans still exist, we are left to the annals of history to understand the accomplishment of this top baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in the MLB from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

In 1911, Wagner clinched his eighth and final battling title.

That achievement has become an unbroken National League record to this day.

1936 saw Wagner become one of the first five members to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Wagner is regarded as one of the greatest shortstop ever and one of the best baseball players in the MLB by baseball historians.

Among the many existing treasurable baseball cards, Wagner featured in one of them. 

There goes the length in proving how great Wagner was during his playing days.

11. Rogers Hornsby

Rogers Hornsby
Wikimedia

Hornsby inputted 23 seasons of play in the MLB. 

Aside from playing as a baseball infielder, he was also a coach.

In the course of his 23 season stint in the MLB, he received the National League Most valuable player(MVP) award twice and helped the St. Louis Cardinal to one world series championship title. 

After series of spells with various minor league teams, Hornsby debuted the MLB in the colors of St. Louis Cardinal, where he won his first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. 

That was the onset of a reveling career for Hornsby.

Many baseball fans and sports pundits consider him one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

In honor of his glorious career, Hornsby, in 1942, was elected to the National Hall of Baseball Fame and in 2014, along with 22 other former players, to the St. Louis Hall of Fame.

10. Cy Young

Cy Young
Wikimedia

Cy Young was such a great baseball player an award was created in his name to immortalized his deeds in the sport a year after his death.

Far back in 1890, Young debuted in the major league with Cleveland Spiders of the National League.

He was a pitcher for the franchise until 1898.

Later on, Young moved to the American League, playing for the Boston Red Sox, which he aided to one world series title in 1903.

In 1911, he retired from baseball after setting several pitching records and two decades later was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

9. Stan Musial

A playing-age Stan Musial in his baseball uniform, looking to the left and smiling
Wikipedia

Musial inputted 22 seasons in the MLB.

He played for just one team, the St. Louis Cardinals but made his presence enormously significant in baseball.

He played as a baseball outfielder and first baseman and won three world series championships with St. Louis Cardinals.

His incredible performance resulted in a wide acclamation of him being the greatest hitter in baseball history. 

A few years after his retirement from baseball, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2014 also saw him inducted to the St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Hall of Fame.

8. Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig
Wikimedia

An esteemed first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees(1923-1939), Gehrig was renowned for his power as a hitter and durability on the field of play.

He featured in seven All-star games consecutively and bagged the Most Valuable Player award in the American League twice.

He also was a one time Triple Crown winner. 

Upon his retirement in 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

7. Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson
Wikimedia

Walter Johnson was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. 

He spent 21 seasons in the MLB playing in the colors of the Washington Senators.

Many regarded him as one of the best pitchers in the sports. 

He sets series of impressive pitching records, most of which were unbroken until nine decades after his retirements.

In 1936, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

6. Ty Cobb

Ty Cobb
Wikimedia

Another name to consider in a list of baseball greatest players is Ty Cobb.

He was one excellent outfielder the MLB has ever seen.

He is famously known for setting 90 MLB records in the span of his career. 

As of the end of the 2019 season, Cobb still holds a number of records in the MLB. 

It is not surprising Cobb ranked third in the 1999 edition of Sporting News list of Baseball’s 100 Greatest Players.

He was such a phenomenal player in his time.

5. Ted Williams

Ted Williams
Wikipedia

One of the best hitters in the history of baseball is Ted Williams.

He started playing from early on in his youth, and no doubt this was an influencing factor in him becoming one of the sport’s best hitter upon joining his first professional baseball team.

He spent 19 years in the MLB playing for the Boston Red Sox. 

In the course of his career, he earned 19 All-star call up, won the American League Most Valuable Player award twice, was named Triple Crown winner twice, and emerged six-time AL batting champion.

4. Hank Aaron

Another person considered to be among the greatest baseball players is Hank Aaron.

He played as a right fielder for Milwaukee and the Atlanta Braves in his 23 years stint in the MLB. 

He featured in 25 All-star games, won three Gold Glove awards consecutively, and helped the Milwaukee Brewers to one world series title.

Sporting News placed him fifth in its 1999 edition of the “100 Greatest Baseball Player.”

3. Barry Bonds

Bonds’ 22 season in the MLB was a spell of success. 

The left fielder won countless awards, including a record 12 Silver Slugger awards.

He earned 14 All-star invitations and topped the MLB six times on-base plus slugging.

Being an all-around baseball player, Bond is undoubtedly one of the greatest baseball players ever in the MLB.

2. Willie Mays

Willie Mays
Wikimedia

Two National League (NL) Most Valuable Player awards and a record-tying 12 Gold Glove awards are enough echoings of Mays’s worth in the MLB.

Unsurprisingly, many consider him one of the greatest in the MLB.

The Sporting News ranked him second in their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball players.

A few years after his retirement from baseball, in honor of his achievement, Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. 

1. Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth
Wikimedia

Not debatable. 

The top spot definitely belongs to no other than the famous Babe Ruth.

Baseball sports pundits, fans, and coaches consider Ruth to be the greatest baseball player ever.

In fact, in American culture, Ruth is one of the greatest heroes.

His 22 years stint in the MLB saw him winning various awards, titles and establishing several records in the MLB.

As of 2019, a few of his MLB pitching records still stood.

A year after his retirement from baseball, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its “first five” inaugural members.

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Conclusion

There you have it, our ranking list of the best baseball players of all time.

Please do share with us your thoughts in the comment section below.

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