Wondering who are the 10 best baseball players in MLB history? Check out the list below!
1. Babe Ruth
With 54 home runs in a season and a whopping 714 home runs throughout his career, no one deserves the first spot more than Babe Ruth.
The New York Yankees legend hit 602 long balls from 1918 to 193. He tossed 650 innings in 1916 and 1917 (combined) for a 1.88 ERA, then transitioned into a full-time outfielder.
2. Willie Mays
Mastering contact, power, and defense, there's no way that the game's greatest center fielder, Wille Mays, won't rank high up the list.
Sixth with 660 career home runs, Mays had a .302 average and 156 OPS+. He never had a bad season until 1967, even though he still delivered a 124 OPS+ and 4.3 rWAR.
3. Ty Cobb
Sporting the all-time best batting average at .366, Ty Cobbs also ranks second in triples (295) and fourth in stolen bases (897).
Through 23 seasons, Cobb never batted below .316 – he actually topped .400 three times and landed a dozen batting titles. Many "bad" stories circled after his death, but we're honoring baseball here so we won't pay attention to that aspect.
4. Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds holds the MLB for most career home run record, hitting 762 throughout his 22-year career.
In 2004, pitchers walked him 232 times, 120 intentional. In 2002, he wrapped up a historic season by hitting .370/.582/.799.
Bonds has 8 Gold Gloves and 7 MVP awards to secure his name as one of the most elite baseball players in history.
5. Ted Williams
Ranking second to Ruth in OPS+, wOBA, and wRC+, Ted Williams is undoubtedly deserving of a spot on the most famous players list.
He has the best ever on-base percentage (.482) and surpasses Ruth in batting average (.344 to .342). He finished his end-of-career performance with an incredible .316/.451/.645 rate.
6. Hank Aaron
There's more to this game than home runs, but hitting 755 of them gives you an express ticket to its hall of fame.
Hank Aaron held that record up until 2007 while boasting a career .305 batting average and 155 OPS+. He's the only player with a strikeout percentage below 10.0 out of the 19 others with 534 or more long balls.
7. Lou Gehrig
Unfortunately, most people don't recall Lou's slash line of .340/.447/.632 when they hear his name. Instead, fans recall his famous retirement speech due to ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in 1939.
Lou Gehrig died in 1941, leaving behind 29 home runs and .295/.410/.532 rates in his last full season.
8. Walter Johnson
Winner of two Chalmers Awards, or MVP as known today, Walter Johnson sported a 1.65 ERA and 1.86 FIP from 1907 to 1919.
He tossed at least 320 innings and boasted an ERA of 1.90 or less in 7 straight seasons up until 1917's 2.21 ERA.
9. Cy Young
An unmatched workhorse throughout the late 1890s and early 1900s, Cy Young is the all-time leading pitcher with 7,356 innings. He's the only one with over 7,000 innings – an entire 1,000 more than the runner-up Pud Galvin.
As a result, Young's name is now code for pitching excellence. He never went over 4.00 ERA over 22 seasons but fell below 2.00 six times.
10. Stan Musial
Over 22 extraordinary years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Stan Musial won seven batting titles. The lefty has 475 career home runs and holds the third place with 725 doubles after Rose and Speaker.
Musial retired with a .331/.471/.599 slash line, and would've probably ranked third on the all-time hits leaderboard if serving in the military hadn't taken away the 1945 season.