Monday, September 7, 2009

Best Home Run Hitters of All-Time

The 500 home run club is an exclusive club, the rights of entry given only to the most elite players in major league baseball. There are only 25 members, 6 of them still currently active.If I were to be asked to rank the members of the club without looking at statistics, my list would go as follows: Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Barry Bonds, Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Mark McGwire, Eddie Mathews, Reggie Jackson, Eddie Murray, Harmon Killebrew, Willie McCovey, Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr, Frank Thomas, Ernie Banks, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Thome, and Gary Sheffield. Now, if I took away McGwire, Sosa, Palmeiro, and Bonds, because of steroid allegations, the list would be a bit shorter. But I ignored this, listing the members based on how they have performed. Most people should have the same first three, Ruth, Mays, and Aaron. Everyone, and I mean everyone, should have Babe Ruth listed first. No doubt is he the best player in the club, let alone all of baseball. But some may switch Mays and Aaron. Why? Because if you look at Aaron's stats, he hit more homers, had more RBI, and collected more total bases. But Mays was an excellent fielder, contributed much to his team, and had, some say, the best catch EVER! You can switch them if you want to, but I have to disagree. Next on the table is the label of "Mr. October". You could say that Reggie Jackson, who hit 18 postseason homers, 10 of them in the World Series, or you could lean to Manny Ramirez, who has hit 10 more postseason homers, but only 4 of them in the World Series. Most historians would probably say that no one can be named Mr. October because Reggie wil always be Mr. October, and I agree. Looking at this, I put Jackson higher up in the rankings than Ramirez simply because of how he performed and how much he contributed during his career, though Ramirez's career is not yet over. The rest is based solely on opinion, as I did not look at statistics. Time will tell whether or not players will move up or down in the rankings.

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