I hope you can type through the pain.
Why?
Just… surprised by the specific adjective chosen by AskNott to describe the estimable Messr. Eckstein.
Devon White.
Bill Buckner
Mets fan?
John Smoltz.
If you absolutely have to have a win, he’s the guy you’d want on the mound. Incredible mental toughness. Incredible clutch performer.
I’ll second that.
Honorable mentions to Saberhagen, Willie Wilson, and Bo Jackson.
No, I just admire the man for continuing his life despite an unintentional mistake and the heaps of vitriol from crazed fans that resulted.
Ted Williams for best I have seen.
Norm Cash for his attitude. he had fun.
Lou Gehrig because I read his biography when I was little. He had a little peashooter thing and accidentally killed a bird and felt really bad about it.
Dwayne Murphy, centerfielder for the A’s in the early '80s. I have great memories of sitting the centerfield bleachers (before the rise of Mt. Davis) and watching Murph make play after play with his hat always flying off of his perfectly coifed afro.
I’m not sure if I could pick a current player. Nobody stays on the A’s long enough to become a favorite.
[singing]
Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski . . . the man we call Yaz
[/singing]
Bob Feller.
Favorite of all time: Lou Gehrig
Favorite of my lifetime: Rod Carew
Favorite for wacky reasons: Mark Fydrich
Paul Molitor.
As a Blue Jay, he threw himself into the life of Toronto, and the city loved him for it. And man, could he play ball!
Carlton Fisk
When I saw this thread, I thought for sure that someone would come in with my answer somewhere in the first 76 posts, but I was wrong.
Willie Mays
Even though I was quite a few years too young to see him play, he’s still the best ever.
I saw Mays play, but I always liked McCovey better. Mays was definitely a better player, but I just liked McCovey more.
Rickey could steal bases on one foot like Brock could.
The amount that Rickey is out in front of Brock (percentage-wise) is one of the largest differences you’ll find in almost any sport in almost any record.
The number of bases Rickey stole beyond what Brock stole would put him in the top 25 of all time.
In further praise of Rickey: the guy hit 297 home runs (including 81 times to lead off a game!). Compare that to the home run totals of the other top 25 base stealers of all time, who are generally a bunch of lightweights. Hell, Rickey is in the top 100 HR hitters of all time!