Who was the most gifted athlete in MLB history?

zendude

My answer is Mickey Mantle. He had more natural talent than probably anyone that's ever played the game. Who is your pick?

perkdog

Neon Deion Sanders hands down

zendude

Okay, maybe we need two categories.

Short career: Bo Jackson
Long career: Mickey Mantle

perkdog

<< <i>Okay, maybe we need two categories.

Short career: Bo Jackson
Long career: Mickey Mantle >>



I honestly forgot about Bo Jackson, good argument between Bo and Deion in my opinion.

CNote

Fernando Valenzuela

That dude was checking for storm clouds every time he threw the ball.

PSASAP

Willie Mays. The question wasn't who is the most friendly player, just who is the most gifted.

TheCARDKid

Babe Ruth? Who else could be a great pitcher and homerun hitter?

My second pick would be Ty Cobb.

PowderedH2O

I'll go with Jim Thorpe. He was kinda decent at some other athletic endeavours outside of baseball as well.

jivan

chuck connors of the dodgers and celtics

larryallen73

Dave Winfield was drafted by MLB, NBA and NFL I believe. He must have been a decent athlete.

soundgard

Barry Bonds

SanctionII

Being drafted by the MLB, NFL and NBA is something that few, if any, athletes accomplish.

My vote goes for Dave Winfield.

I attended an Angels game in the mid 1980's in Anaheim. Winfield was on the field during pregame warm ups catching and throwing the ball in the outfield. My buddies and I were at field level along the third base line not far from the outfield fence. A couple of my buddies knew something about Dave Winfield and started talking smack to him. They pointed at me and yelled at him that I was "Luke Witte" and that I wanted to go mano-amano with Winfield. Winfield got upset and started to challenge me to come out onto the field to fight him.

At the time I had no clue who Luke Witte, and did not know about the 1972 "basketbrawl" game at the University of Minnesota between the Golden Gophers (who Winfield played for) and the Ohio State Buckeyes (who Luke Witte played for) and did not know that Witte got beat up badly by the Gophers.

gregmo32

In the early nineties, I saw an aging Dave Winfield take batting practice at Camden Yards. He must've hit twelve bombs in a row into the deep left center stands, and it looked like he was barely swinging.

DWest

<< <i>Babe Ruth? Who else could be a great pitcher and homerun hitter?

My second pick would be Ty Cobb. >>



Agree with Ruth. My second pick would be Mantle.

Dboneesq

I'd have to go with THE MICK and then THE BABE.

Connecticoin

Bryce Harper.

Mickey71

Ruth
Thorpe
Mantle
Mays
Griffey
Henderson
Bob Gibson (played for Globetrotters)

honorable mention due to negro leagues- Josh Gibson

CNote

Griffey as an overall athlete does get overlooked. Despite my goofy Valenzuela vote, I have to agree with Ruth.

stown

It would be Chuck Norris, but he didn't want to shatter every record by miles and decided to stick with karate.

CEOBIDMC

Not sure how much of an athlete Ruth was. Comparing him to todays stars is apples and oranges; perhaps in his era, maybe.

if you take the game in 20 year stretches.... you got mays, winfield, bo jackson, griffey.

LodiBrewFan

Bo Jackson

jdip9

IMO, Bo Jackson is the best athlete to ever walk the planet.

TheCARDKid

With all due respect to Winfield, you can be drafted by mlb, the nba or nfl and not necessarily be athletic....i.e. Danny Ainge.

I don't think ainge's name would come up on this list, even though he played for the bluejays, and celtics, suns. Similar with Tony Gwynn, I think he got drafted by the clippers? And John Elway with baseball.

What about Charlie Ward as the best collegiate athlete of the last 20 years?

SanctionII

Actually Dave Winfield got drafted by four pro sports leagues.

MLB, NFL, NBA and the old ABA.

No one else has been drafted by four pro sports leagues.

Only two other athletes besides Winfield have been drafted by three sports leagues.

They are:

1. Dave Logan (Wheatridge High School in Colorado, 1972 and University of Colorado, 1976) was drafted by MLB, NBA and NFL. He played football in the NFL for many years; and

2. Mickey MacCarty (TCU, 1968) was drafted by MLB, NBA and NFL.

If the OP question of most gifted athlete in MLB history is defined to mean "most versatile" (meaning ability to play multiple pro sports), Winfield wins, hands down.

If the OP question is defined to mean the most gifted baseball player, I would say Willie Mays or Mickey Mantle.

AC000000

<< <i>IMO, Bo Jackson is the best athlete to ever walk the planet. >>




Right. And wrong.

Bo Jackson IS without any doubt the best athlete to ever walk the planet. What is incorrect is that it is NOT a matter of opinion.

PowderedH2O

If the OP question of most gifted athlete in MLB history is defined to mean "most versatile" (meaning ability to play multiple pro sports), Winfield wins, hands down.

I just don't agree with that. Jim Thorpe was a decent baseball player, a good lacrosse player, a collegiate ballroom dancing champion, and was a professional basketball player before there was an NBA. He was a Hall of Fame football player, and a Gold Medalist in the Olympics in the Pentathlon and in the Decathlon, which is the event that personifies the athlete that is the best overall athlete in the world. Of the fifteen events contested in these two events, Thorpe won eight of them. He DESTROYED the competition from around the world in an event that decided the title of "World's Greatest Athlete".

There is every indication that Thorpe was a "natural". He allegedly was put on the college track team after he high jumped nearly six feet while still in his street clothes. Five years later, he was the Olympic Gold Medalist. That, my friends, is gifted.

perkdog

There is too much of a pool of players to single anyone out however strong arguments can be made for guys like Thorpe, Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders.


I simply laugh at the notion of Ruth being mentioned though..

jwgators

Sid Fernandez?

JoeBanzai

Hard to argue with Bo Jackson. He played both Baseball and Football professioally at the same time and was an all-star in both sports.

Thorpe's Olympic record is impressive though.

I would say those two were the best, Deion was similar to Bo, but not as good, Winfield was drafted by a lot of teams and was a great College basketball player, but only played Baseball professionally.

Any love for Jackie Robinson? HOF Baseball player whose best sport was said to be Football.

Mantle had the most pure Baseball talent by far, if you look at it that way. Had he played his entire career with the average amount of injuries, his statistics would have probably been mind boggling.

Joe

jay0791

Best pure athlete...jim thorpe hands down.
Best potential....mantle
hard to argue against Bo Jacksom..so I'll say

larry walker

PowderedH2O

Mantle had the most pure Baseball talent by far, if you look at it that way. Had he played his entire career with the average amount of injuries, his statistics would have probably been mind boggling.

Can you imagine if Mantle had been a fitness guy and watched his diet and alcohol intake? I have no way to project those statistics, but barring injury, I think we could reasonably assume another ten to twenty points on his lifetime batting average, another 3-5 years of playing career, and an assault on the all-time home run record.

vladguerrero

I think you would have to go with the likes of Bo and Deion for best athlete ever, like the Charlie Ward mention for college. And although maybe not the best ever, but Vladimir Guerrero in his prime was the definition of 5 tool athlete. He was hitting bombs, stealing a ton of bases, a free swinger who would get hits from his shoulders down to his ankles, hitting .330, and could throw guys out at home from the right field wall (he would frequently throw people out at first on what should have been outfield singles and nailed runners at second on what should have been doubles). ...all while playing in a park that did not help power hitters.

Tabe

If you want to make the case for Deion Sanders, go ahead.

For me, it's gotta be Bo Jackson. That guy was just one ridiculously gifted specimen. Dave Winfield deserves a mention, as does Jim Thorpe it's still Bo, IMHO.


Regarding Winfield and Luke Witte, Witte (I think it's Witte, one of the OSU players anyway) tells the story that he was talking to his son one day. His son told him that Dave Winfield was his favorite basketball player. Witte said "That's OK, son, but let me tell you a story..."

Tabe

TheCARDKid

<< <i>I simply laugh at the notion of Ruth being mentioned though.. >>



I mentioned Ruth because....

-Before modern training. Or steroids, or performance enhancement drugs.

If you stick anyone else on this list in the teens and 20's, I don't think they could have done much more (basically what you're born with). 29 2/3 scoreless world series innings, lifetime .342 average, the slugging percentage, homeruns, etc.

-Changed baseball strategy, hit longer homeruns than anyone had ever seen, etc.

Darin

I'm not sure I would put Bo Jackson at the top or not.
I watched him a lot, and I've never seen anyone swing and miss more than he did. If you're one of the most gifted athletes, shouldn't your hand/eye coordination be a lot better than Bo Jacksons' was?
He sucked at trying to hit a baseball, other than that he was extremely gifted.

I looked up the numbers, Bo had 2626 plate appearances and 841 strikeouts, so he struck out 32% of the time.
Say he had a long baseball career and had 11,000 appearances, he would have struck out a whopping 3500 times, or about 6 1/2 seasons worth of at bats.

So I would pick someone other than Bo as most gifted, maybe Dave Winfield or someone like that who could actually hit a baseball.

JoeBanzai

Bo did strike out a lot but he was able to average .250 which is low but he made up for that by hitting for very good power. He averaged 33 home runs per year figured on a 162 game schedule, and he had an OPS of .784 which is quite good for a guy who played baseball as a second sport and missed a lot of games playing football.

I am sure if he was primarily a baseball player he would have been able to improve on his strikeout numbers. Also the OP's post asks who the most gifted athlete was not the best baseball player.

Joe

Mickey71

Hideki Irabu. Steinbrenner called him a fat toad. Because a toad can't normally pitch...and he could....he wins the award hands down. Most gifted toad.

jwgators

<< <i>I'm not sure I would put Bo Jackson at the top or not.
I watched him a lot, and I've never seen anyone swing and miss more than he did. If you're one of the most gifted athletes, shouldn't your hand/eye coordination be a lot better than Bo Jacksons' was?
He sucked at trying to hit a baseball, other than that he was extremely gifted.

I looked up the numbers, Bo had 2626 plate appearances and 841 strikeouts, so he struck out 32% of the time.
Say he had a long baseball career and had 11,000 appearances, he would have struck out a whopping 3500 times, or about 6 1/2 seasons worth of at bats.

So I would pick someone other than Bo as most gifted, maybe Dave Winfield or someone like that who could actually hit a baseball. >>



Babe Ruth struck out a tremendous amount of times relative to his playing days. Saying someone strikes out a lot has no bearing on their baseball skills let alone their status as an athlete.

Here is the progressive listing for players who have held the career mark for most strikeouts as a batter since 1928, some pretty decent baseball players:
Babe Ruth - 1928-1963
Mickey Mantle - 1964-1977
Willie Stargell - 1978-1981
Reggie Jackson - 1982-present

Darin

Ruth only struck out 12.5% of the time, Mantle 17.2%, Stargell 21%. Bo was a stupendous 32%.

I'm actually not sure if he was the greatest athlete ever to play baseball or not, maybe his other skills like speed, strength, etc. make up for his lack of hand/eye coordination.

NVbaseball

<< <i>If the OP question of most gifted athlete in MLB history is defined to mean "most versatile" (meaning ability to play multiple pro sports), Winfield wins, hands down >>



Except Winfield never had the ability to play more than one pro sport

Trying to find out what he did for the Gophers basketball team and about the only certainty is that he was around during the Minnesota-Ohio State brawl. Have to believe Kenny Lofton was a better basketball player. Never even played college football, so being drafted in a round that doesn't even exist any more cannot be worth anything. Greg Maddux probably plays golf at a higher level than Winfield ever played football

Ted Williams is easily the best choice not yet listed. Though I would have to go with Thorpe. Pretty hard to argue a Gold Medal in the decathlon doesn't make someone the top athlete

Publius

Thorpe. Hard to argue with football HOF, making the top of the list of top 100 athletes in history and winning the pentathalon and decathalon. Plus throw in a little side project in baseball.

Bo Jackson was a stud though, barring injury he would have gone far.
Give Sanders a few gold medals and he can compare with Thorpe

NVbaseball

More on the Dave Winfield silliness: Jackie Robinson was better at both football and basketball than Winfield and a very good track-and-field athlete

Frank Thomas was definitely better at football and a better hitter

The guy was a great rightfielder, nothing more. Good enough at that one athletic event to make the Hall-of-Fame. All that means is his athletic gifts were higher than Tony Oliva or Dave Parker. It does not mean they were better than the true all-time elite like Aaron or Pujols

PowderedH2O

Tony Gwynn was probably better than Winfield in baseball and basketball. BTW, Baseball-Reference lists Gwynn at 5'11" and 185 pounds. Does anybody believe that? Is that his high school weight?

pitboss

Ted Williams.

If he had not taken years out of his career to fight in two wars there is no telling what he would have accomplished.

firstbase23

Best athlete; Bo Jackson

orioles93

In his early days, Andruw Jones is the most athletic player i can remember seeing. But then again i am pretty young.

But i would have to go with Bo Jackson.

OckhamsRazor

Here's the youtube video link for that Winfield Minn vs Ohio St fight

D-Bags

fiveniner

Jim Thorpe.

drewsef

Bo

Tabe

<< <i>Tony Gwynn was probably better than Winfield in baseball and basketball. BTW, Baseball-Reference lists Gwynn at 5'11" and 185 pounds. Does anybody believe that? Is that his high school weight? >>


Maybe that's his weight from early in his career when he was stealing 30-50 bases a year

Tabe

Yankees001

Most gifted? Babe Ruth..... He could hit, field, steal bases and pitch.

How many other players excelled at hitting, pitching and fielding....NONE

Dave