A simple one vote poll and feel free to explain your vote or argue over others.
Should we consider all-around game or just defense. I’m voting for Mays using all-around criteria.
Vote for all around is my opinion but it is up to each person voting. I went for Joltin’ Joe as Willie Mays said Joe was #1 and well Willie has got to be #2 then.
I went with Mays. If you’d had Kirby Puckett in there, I’d have gone with him. 
Curious, is that just a beloved player vote? Honestly I think he is one of those borderline Hall of Famers but I only saw in play occasionally, not every day.
Hell, I don’t even think Joe DiMaggio was the best center fielder to play for the New York Yankees.
I picked Mays, but Mantle was very close.
I’d have gone with Puckett due to sentimentality, but there’s no doubt he’s a HOF lock. He was a great fielder who would have won more Gold Gloves if Griffey Jr. hadn’t come along. As far as hitting was concerned, he was top 3 for seemingly 5 years straight in avg, and he had some pop, too. My guess is that he was a career .310/18/95 player, and that was before the increase of power (both in actuality and importance). Plus…Game 6! “And we’ll see you, tomorrow night!”
As it stands, I voted for Mays.
Cobb. He’s only behind Mays in HRs, and he played in the deadball era and refused to hit them once the lively ball came in (something he proved conclusively – he told reporters he could easily hit home runs if he wanted to and then set the AL record for most HRs in two consecutive games – which lasted for decaded).
As a human being, Mays wins by a longshot, but Cobb was the greater player.
The only one close to Mays would be Cobb. But even if Cobb was not hitting homeruns on purpose (I stupid idea if I ever heard one) the fact remains Mays was one of the best homerun hitters ever. Along with being a great fielder, runner and hitter. Mantle had the potential but lost some of his mobility early on due to injury.
If Cobb really could have led the AL in HRs during the 1920s, but chose not to, then he is the stupidest man ever to play MLB.
I voted for Cobb just for the old-timiness of it. Mays and him are both very very close in career value. In fact, Fangraphs WAR has them 0.7 wins apart. Of course Mays is the far better fielder, so that’s probably the better choice.
I would like to put out a sentimental nomination for Jim Edmonds, who slots right between Hamilton and Ashburn on the all-time WAR list for CF.
Eh, that’s discretionary modesty. Joe Gordon said that Mays was better than Joe D, so I’m voting for Mays:)
Agreed. I understand the importance of small ball. But who would voluntarily give up getting a run by HR in order to get on base and hope that someone else drives you in?
Someone for whom the most enjoyable part of playing the game was sliding into second with his spikes up.
I’ll concede this is my homer vote but in the same 30 minute interview he mentioned that if he played in the same little ball parks that Aaron did, He (Mays) would have been the home run king. So I think he meant it but to be fair he probably meant glove and not overall.
I agree with pretty much all of this and voted for Mays. Cobb’s batting stats are ridiculous, even without the HRs, but for CF, you’d really like your player to be great defensively too.
I was concerned about the existence of this poll when I first saw it. Then I saw the voting totals after I put in my vote (for Mays, of course) and realized all was right with the world.
Is the person who voted for Billy Hamilton going to speak up and admit it?
Hamilton has the best nickname.
Sliding Billy? Better than “The Commerce Comet” or “The Grey Eagle”?
The “Say Hey Kid”.