As great as Mays was, we often forget that he had almost two years in his prime lost to his service in the army. He, like Ted Williams, would have had even better stats if he had played those years.
Jim Edmonds should be in the Hall of Fame, and so should Fred Lynn. And definitely Andruw Jones. All three were some of the best centerfielders of their era, and just as good as Puckett, actually Jones was better than Puckett. It's easier to catch fly balls when you played half your career in a climate controlled domed venue with no adverse weather conditions. But the all time greats here are Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe Di Maggio and Ken Griffey Jnr., the 4 best all time.
Paul Blair really deserves to be on this list, particularly if you focus on the defensive aspect of center field. One of the all time best defenders in CF for the Orioles and major league baseball in the sixties. He was just a light hitter without much power however, but still maintained a decent lifetime batting average.
Excellent list. . .And I want to say it's nice you mentioned Curt Flood. Seems like so many fans only remember him for challenging the reserve clause which eventually led to players gaining free agency rights. . .But he was a great centerfielder as well. He sacrificed his career for the lawsuit. If he hadn't done that, I think he could have come very close to a 3000-hit career. Nice you remembered him.
I agree with your list ALMOST 100%. My sentimental favorite is Mickey Mantle if only because he's been my favorite player all my life. "The Mick" was the greatest for me.🥰🇺🇲🤩🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
As a kid, Mantle was my favorite, too. Now, its between a handful of players a century ago-Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson of course Babe and Gehrig.
While playing a "computer baseball" game, i ran across a centerfielder I'd never heard of before, a Hall of Famer from the old Negro League named Oscar Charleston. Though we don't really know how he would have done against major league pitching, he had a batting average nearly as good as Cobb's and was considered the best centerfielder in his league. At the very least he would have been one of the best players of his era.y.
Not bad. Good arguments. My list 1-10. Cobb, Mays, DiMaggio, Speaker, Mantle, Griffey, Hamilton, Duffy, Snider, Roush. Stats-Cobb .366 and 12 batting titles outperforms Mays .302 career batting average.
Intriguing!!! I have more to say but, note, Ty Cobb’s lifetime average was not .366. It was .367! Cobb wouldn’t let this error be made and neither will I …. speaking on his behalf. I love this program!! Thank you!
@@JABARDELLI Hate to break it to you, but it was .366. This has been changed for a while now. www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cobbty01.shtml Thanks for the kind words, though!
Mays was a great centerfielder, but I was at a game where he played shortstop. It was the famous 23 inning game at Shea Stadium against the Mets. By the end of the game, both rosters were so depleted by substitutions that the Giants didn't have enough infielders. Crazy, crazy game.
@@GentrovoKolyova Amazing! I too was at that game. As I recall it was the 2nd game of a doubleheader. Gaylord Perry was unknown, came in and pitched 10 scoreless innings and never looked back.
An absolutely legendary game. You were lucky to be there. The Mets’ shortstop was Roy McMillan who turned a triple play in the game which was the highlight for me. May 31, 1964 2nd Game of a Double header. Lasted more than seven hours. Giants won 8-6. Gaylord Perry said that was the game he first pitched a spitter.
I remember when everyone said Barry Bonds was the greatest all around baseball player Ever! I watched him forever and honestly he was the third best outfielder on the Pirates!
No one can rate Bonds accurately. HIs use of steroids distorted his career statistics. Without them he would still have been great, but maybe more in a class with Frank Robinson, great but not the greatest.
Glad you gave a mention to Curt Flood as a Cardinals fan. l cannot see him getting serious consideration as a top 20 center fielder of all time though.
Speaker had an ungodly number of unassisted double plays as a defender. Can you imagine how shallow he had to have played to catch a ball and run to the bag before the runner got back to the base?
Just thinking about how great of a baseball player Micky Mantle was damn near brings me to tears. He played the game the right way and your damn right he dunked his donut. #7Forever #Seinfeld #NY #LegendsLiveForever
You are Right, I never saw Willie, but I have been watching since the Big Red Machine and Ken Griffey Jr. is Absolutely the Best 5 Tool player I ever saw.
@@autiebell1357I saw Willie. Best I’ve seen. Except for torn ACL and tendon in his shoulder, Mantle would have been right there with him, at least batting and speed.
@@ron88303 Just like when I used to tell my old man that Montana was the best Quarterback I ever saw, he used to tell me I never saw Unitas. Griffey sure was something in his 20's. 😊
6:03 Technically Mays was an all-star 20 season since they had 2 all-star games a year from '59-62. Either way still he's number one and still a ludicrous number. Like Ted Williams and other that served, imagine his stats if he didn't miss almost 2 full seasons.
Good list. Everyone would have some differences. I place DiMaggio above Mickey and Speaker. As you said he. lost 3 peak years to military service. Also he was a righthanded batter in the old Yankee Stadium, a park built for lefties. His power alley went to 410ft to 461. Also after his WW2 service he developed a foot injury, surgery didn't work. Forced early retirement. Nevertheless, played in 10. World Series won nine of them in 13 years..
Larry Doby, Kenny Lofton honourable mentions. Andre Dawson played more in RF, but is listed on some CF lists as he played more than 1,000 games there. While not top ten, Devon White top 5 in dWAR, his signature catch the World Series triple play that wasn’t called. The only issue for me is I have Tris Speaker ahead of Mantle. WAR7 is about the same, slightly favouring Mantle, WAR/162 slightly favouring Speaker. But 24 more career WAR for Speaker hard to overlook.
1. Willie Mays 2. Ty Cobb 3. Mickey Mantle 4. Tris Speaker 5. Mike Trout - It's looking like he's going to end his career battling endless injuries. Too bad. 6. Ken Griffey Jr. - Could have possibly ended up number one without his injuries. But that's how it goes. 7. Joe Dimaggio 8..Kenny Lofton - Yes, really. 9. Duke Snider 10. Richie Ashburn Pretty straightforward list. You could put any of about a dozen players in spots #8- #10. Kenny Lofton is one of those the more you look at his career.. the better it was kind of players.
That list stands pretty well even in 2023. Mike Trout's career has been affected by injuries, just like that of Mickey Mantle. Somebody recently in a facebook baseball group was not sure which player on the Giants from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s was better between Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda. Speaking diplomatically I had to explain that it's hard to compare anyone to Willie Mays. There have been other 5-tool players in baseball history but none so obviously brilliant as Willie Mays. Sandy Koufax said something similar, that he had trouble believing that Babe Ruth was actually a better player.
There is a player around today in 2023 who is very impressive, and that's Mookie Betts. He plays mostly right field these days so he doesn't really qualify. He still is in his prime and he's put up some excellent seasons already. He could easily end up in the Hall of Fame.
1 more thing - From 1953 through 1956 Duke Snider was as good as Willie Mays. Unfortunately, Snider's knees did not last much longer though and he could not play as a regular for much after the age of around 32.
Willie was an entertainer. He purposely wore a cap too small so it would fly off his head when he raced after fly balls. Willie drew fans. So did Ruth but Ruth was a terrible base runner and didn’t play center field.
The Biographical Encyclopaedia of The Negro Baseball Leagues lists Oscar Charleston as a center fielder first, followed by 1st base. As an overall player, he was the best of his time. Thanks for the conversation. Next list please.
Jim Edmonds makes my all-time Cardinals line-up as the center fielder, Great combination of defense and hitting. I did like your honorable mention of Cardinals Curt Flood and Edmonds. For me the surest top 10 pick is Willie Mays who is number 1.
@@markskipper2199 Puckett was a fantastic defensive player. Fast, cannon arm, leaping ability, and absolutely automatic to make the catch. Won 6 Gold Gloves.
Mays' serious flaw is his weak showing at the plate in world series games. In 21 games he had a .230 BA, 0 home runs, 6 rbis, 17 hits, 2 sb... I thought great players came up big in big games? No games bigger than world series' games. Compared to Mantle's production, Mays' is downright anemic. Like Arod, Mays was great in the regular season but disappointed on the big stage. I saw Mays in person play in old Forbe'sField in Pittsburgh and he loved that Pirate pitching. An overall great player...but.
I can't disagree with any of your selections, and I can't imagine how anybody would not pick Willie Mays as the top center fielder of all time. But I hate "modern" baseball statistics. WAR, for which there is no real formula, is bogus, IMHO. And OPS? Where else in the world do you add two percentages together to come up with a figure? Home runs, RBI, Batting average, Stolen bases, and such things as number of All Star Games, MVP Awards, World Series appearances, and Gold Gloves, those are all totally legitimate. And the figure you used for I think it was runs prevented? How can anyone know how many runs Ty Cobb prevented? Such things weren't counted back in the day. Still, I think your Top Ten is right on!
Agree with you on WAR. But things like all-star appearances and Gold Glove awards involve quite a bit of subjectivity. Also , RBI is dependent on how good your teammates are at getting on base. A better measure would be the percentage of baserunners the player drove in. Also, OBP is a better measure of productivity than batting avg.
Puckett played a lot of left field, especially late in his career. Great offensive player and inspirational personality, but not a great defender in center. Willie, Mickey, and The Duke. Mickey might have been #1 if he hadn’t been injured so much. And as he said, “If I knew I was gonna live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.” Willie Mays is truly Numero Uno, by any and all standards. I do feel badly for Mike Trout. Being on such a shitty team without a chance of getting to The World Series must be painful. But all those millions probably eases it a bit. A truly great player, greatest of this generation.
Willie Mays for sure! Back in the 90s it only cost $5 to sit in the outfield bleachers in Oakland. Canseco in left. Ricky in right and Dave Henderson in center. Dave was amazing defensively and a better athlete than Ricky IMO. Good times.
Nice editing bro! Very well done. For me I think these lists need to be separated into modern players and old timers. That way more people recognize everyone on one of the lists.
You never put the names of the Center Fielders on the picture.. There are names difficult to write... MAYS #1 no problem but KEN GRIFFEY JR #7 i could not believe...My respect for you went totally down..
Very good list overall. I would flip flop Mickey Mantle with Joe D {5 - 3}. the top two choices are correct, but in the wrong order!! How can the "greatest player of all time", {Ty Cobb} not be the #1 centerfielder?
Tommy Lasorda said the Say Hey Kid was a 5 tool player; he was wrong. Willie was a 6 tool player. Willie was a coach on the field. He positioned Bobby Bonds in right field constantly.
Mantle was the fastest runner from home to 1st., to date, no one has beaten his time. But, his injuries slowed him down. Tris Speaker played the shallowest center in baseball history. Plus, he was only behind Ty Cobb for lifetime BA. So, Tris is my choice.
@@rayray4192 I'd have to say if Mantle never had injuries he would've been the greatest of all time. But, If Ted Williams never had 5 prime years taken away due to military service, he would have been the best of alltime. Look it up!🤩
If your going to bring up oldnegro players get their positions right. Pop loyd was a ss. Oscar Charleston was the best negro cf do some research. Mike trout is great but you can't have him above Griffey. Not yet. Griffey suffered major major injuries and still hit 630 hr. Before he was hurt he was talked about as being the very best all around player to ever play the game period. Not just Cf. The only cf I give the nod over Griffey to is May's. Mays griffey. 1,2.
Mike Childers I said Cool Papa Bell, not Pop Lloyd. And yes! I should have mentioned Oscar Charleston, an oversight on my part. Thanks for the feedback.
Finally, a dude who knows his stuff. I've been saying forever that Griffey Jr. is the best baseball player ever and if it wasn't for his injuries in Cincy, he would had broken every offensive record in baseball.
No way is Kenny Lofton's catch off Surhoff not one of the top two catches of all time. Edmonds was great but no way could he have jumped high enough to make the same catch.
@jdh6046 Lofton's catch was the best I ever saw, and I saw all of Edmonds. "Way harder" is a ridiculous assertion. Taking the human body to its ultimate and combining it with incredible timing is as difficult as any athletic feat can get.
Over an entire career: 1. Joe DiMaggio 2. Willie Mays 3. Ty Cobb 4. Mickey Mantle 5. Tris Speaker At their peak best: 1. Mickey Mantle 2. Willie Mays 3. Joe DiMaggio 4. Ken Griffey Jr. 5. Ty Cobb
WAR/162 helps us compare players from different eras who played radically different numbers of games: #1 Mike Trout (9.3), #2 Willie Mays* (8.6), #3 Oscar Charleston** (8.5), #4 Ty Cobb (8.1), #5 Turkey Stearnes** (8.1), #6 Joe DiMaggio* (7.8), #7 Tris Speaker (7.8), #8 Mickey Mantle (7.6), #9 Willard Brown** (7.6), #10 Cristobal Torriente* (6.5), #11 Billy Hamilton (6.4), #12 Pete Browning (5.6), #13 Larry Doby (5.5), #14 Benny Kauf (5.5), #15 Lip Pike (5.5). (*) I have slightly adjusted the WAR/162 for players who lost prime years to military service; why penalize them for their heroism? (**) I think Negro League stats are a bit inflated because NeL players who later played in the majors invariably had lower batting averages, suggesting NeL pitching and defenses were not quite as good as those in the majors. WAR/162 tells us that Mike Trout has been a top five player of all time when he has been able to play. Before Trout's injuries, he had the most WAR of any player at ages 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 27, if I remember things correctly. Think about it: over 20,000 men have played in the majors and Trout was better than ALL of them until he started to miss substantial games with injuries. Babe Ruth accumulated most of his positional WAR starting at age 24, so he didn't pass Trout age-wise until his thirties, or around age 28 if we include his pitcher WAR. -- Michael R. Burch
Great choice. Willie Mays is my all time favorite player. You left out some of the Mets Players. Carlos Belton watched a 3rd strike go by for the last out of a playoff game. He is not that good.
I saw most of the players on your list and disagree with a lot of your picks because you depend too much on power and not on the team they played with weak or strong how they played the game ..
Unbeatable All-Time Great Lineup(no roids) 1. S Mickey Mantle DH 2. L Ted Williams LF 3. R Willie Mays CF 4. L Babe Ruth RF 5. R Mike Piazza C 6. L Lou Gehrig 1B 7. R Rodgers Hornsby 2B 8. L George Brett 3B 9. R Cal Ripken Jr SS
How on Earth can you mention Cool Papa Bell and Turkey Stearnes, the latter of whom should be in the top ten, and not mention the best, Oscar Charleston, who might be the best CF period? You need to research the Negro Leagues further.
Tris Speaker and Mantle over Joe DiMaggio? Are you crazy? Mantle is always a what if. But he chose a crazy lifestyle that kept him from being even better. What about Bobby Bonds being at least mentioned.
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As great as Mays was, we often forget that he had almost two years in his prime lost to his service in the army. He, like Ted Williams, would have had even better stats if he had played those years.
If Fred Lynn stayed in Boston he would have been a top ten and a hall of famer
Jim Edmonds had some of the greatest catches I’ve ever seen.
Jim Edmonds should be in the Hall of Fame, and so should Fred Lynn. And definitely Andruw Jones. All three were some of the best centerfielders of their era, and just as good as Puckett, actually Jones was better than Puckett. It's easier to catch fly balls when you played half your career in a climate controlled domed venue with no adverse weather conditions. But the all time greats here are Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Joe Di Maggio and Ken Griffey Jnr., the 4 best all time.
@@tommcconville677 1st three ! Griffey was good but Top 4 ?
@@melvinhunt6976 I'll amend that to say Ken Griffey Jnr. should come in at no.5 behind Joe Di Maggio.
Paul Blair really deserves to be on this list, particularly if you focus on the defensive aspect of center field. One of the all time best defenders in CF for the Orioles and major league baseball in the sixties. He was just a light hitter without much power however, but still maintained a decent lifetime batting average.
Andrew Jones of the 90s and 2000s Atlanta Braves made some of the most unbelievable catches ever!
Paul Blair was one of the greatest defensive centerfielders I ever saw, but he doesn't have the offensive bona fides of some of these other guys.
Nor the arm.
Excellent list. . .And I want to say it's nice you mentioned Curt Flood. Seems like so many fans only remember him for challenging the reserve clause which eventually led to players gaining free agency rights. . .But he was a great centerfielder as well. He sacrificed his career for the lawsuit. If he hadn't done that, I think he could have come very close to a 3000-hit career. Nice you remembered him.
I agree with your list ALMOST 100%. My sentimental favorite is Mickey Mantle if only because he's been my favorite player all my life. "The Mick" was the greatest for me.🥰🇺🇲🤩🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲
As a kid, Mantle was my favorite, too.
Now, its between a handful of players a century ago-Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson of course Babe and Gehrig.
While playing a "computer baseball" game, i ran across a centerfielder I'd never heard of before, a Hall of Famer from the old Negro League named Oscar Charleston. Though we don't really know how he would have done against major league pitching, he had a batting average nearly as good as Cobb's and was considered the best centerfielder in his league. At the very least he would have been one of the best players of his era.y.
Not bad. Good arguments. My list 1-10. Cobb, Mays, DiMaggio, Speaker, Mantle, Griffey, Hamilton, Duffy, Snider, Roush. Stats-Cobb .366 and 12 batting titles outperforms Mays .302 career batting average.
Intriguing!!! I have more to say but, note, Ty Cobb’s lifetime average was not .366. It was .367! Cobb wouldn’t let this error be made and neither will I …. speaking on his behalf. I love this program!! Thank you!
@@JABARDELLI Hate to break it to you, but it was .366. This has been changed for a while now. www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cobbty01.shtml
Thanks for the kind words, though!
Mays was a great centerfielder, but I was at a game where he played shortstop. It was the famous 23 inning game at Shea Stadium against the Mets. By the end of the game, both rosters were so depleted by substitutions that the Giants didn't have enough infielders. Crazy, crazy game.
That’s awesome you were at that game!
@@GentrovoKolyova Amazing! I too was at that game. As I recall it was the 2nd game of a doubleheader. Gaylord Perry was unknown, came in and pitched 10 scoreless innings and never looked back.
@@deepcosmiclove I read somewhere that that was the game where he started throwing the spitball but that may be just another baseball myth.
@@jimwalter480 I think that is true.
An absolutely legendary game. You were lucky to be there.
The Mets’ shortstop was Roy McMillan who turned a triple play in the game which was the highlight for me.
May 31, 1964 2nd Game of a Double header. Lasted more than seven hours. Giants won 8-6. Gaylord Perry said that was the game he first pitched a spitter.
I remember when everyone said Barry Bonds was the greatest all around baseball player Ever! I watched him forever and honestly he was the third best outfielder on the Pirates!
No one can rate Bonds accurately. HIs use of steroids distorted his career statistics. Without them he would still have been great, but maybe more in a class with Frank Robinson, great but not the greatest.
Your list is really had to argue with. There may have been a few minor changes on the lower side but for the most part you have a good order.
Glad you gave a mention to Curt Flood as a Cardinals fan. l cannot see him getting serious consideration as a top 20 center fielder of all time though.
Speaker had an ungodly number of unassisted double plays as a defender. Can you imagine how shallow he had to have played to catch a ball and run to the bag before the runner got back to the base?
Good list. No complaints.
Just thinking about how great of a baseball player Micky Mantle was damn near brings me to tears. He played the game the right way and your damn right he dunked his donut. #7Forever #Seinfeld #NY #LegendsLiveForever
Junior was the second best 5 tool player l ever saw play. Willie was the best ever and my pick for greatest player of all time.
You are Right, I never saw Willie, but I have been watching since the Big Red Machine and Ken Griffey Jr. is Absolutely the Best 5 Tool player I ever saw.
@@autiebell1357I saw Willie. Best I’ve seen. Except for torn ACL and tendon in his shoulder, Mantle would have been right there with him, at least batting and speed.
@@ron88303 Just like when I used to tell my old man that Montana was the best Quarterback I ever saw, he used to tell me I never saw Unitas. Griffey sure was something in his 20's. 😊
@@autiebell1357 Both were top tier.
Junior was placed properly. Second half of his career was more like Willie Davis than Willie Mays.
Can't argue with the top 3
Just on defense, nobody can hang with Andrew Jones’s ability to make the other CF‘s diving catches be just routine basket catches!
You nailed it
6:03 Technically Mays was an all-star 20 season since they had 2 all-star games a year from '59-62. Either way still he's number one and still a ludicrous number. Like Ted Williams and other that served, imagine his stats if he didn't miss almost 2 full seasons.
Good list. Everyone would have some differences. I place DiMaggio above Mickey and Speaker. As you said he. lost 3 peak years to military service. Also he was a righthanded batter in the old Yankee Stadium, a park built for lefties. His power alley went to 410ft to 461. Also after his WW2 service he developed a foot injury, surgery didn't work. Forced early retirement. Nevertheless, played in 10. World Series won nine of them in 13 years..
Larry Doby, Kenny Lofton honourable mentions. Andre Dawson played more in RF, but is listed on some CF lists as he played more than 1,000 games there. While not top ten, Devon White top 5 in dWAR, his signature catch the World Series triple play that wasn’t called. The only issue for me is I have Tris Speaker ahead of Mantle. WAR7 is about the same, slightly favouring Mantle, WAR/162 slightly favouring Speaker. But 24 more career WAR for Speaker hard to overlook.
Nice job. Yea, say hey Willie Mays. Nice pick.^
Mays maybe the goat. He didn't have a weakness, and played with all his heart every game.
@@stephenfletcher1579 He played joyously and always said hey to the fans. A great man. Fun to remember him, thanks..
I agree with your top 5. Personally, I would take Joe DiMaggio. But any one of your top 5 center fielders is as good as it gets.
Thanks!
@@GentrovoKolyova Griffey should have been higher.
1. Willie Mays
2. Ty Cobb
3. Mickey Mantle
4. Tris Speaker
5. Mike Trout - It's looking like he's going to end his career battling endless injuries. Too bad.
6. Ken Griffey Jr. - Could have possibly ended up number one without his injuries. But that's how it goes.
7. Joe Dimaggio
8..Kenny Lofton - Yes, really.
9. Duke Snider
10. Richie Ashburn
Pretty straightforward list. You could put any of about a dozen players in spots #8- #10. Kenny Lofton is one of those the more you look at his career.. the better it was kind of players.
You gotta have Puckett on there. Cmon man
That list stands pretty well even in 2023. Mike Trout's career has been affected by injuries, just like that of Mickey Mantle. Somebody recently in a facebook baseball group was not sure which player on the Giants from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s was better between Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda. Speaking diplomatically I had to explain that it's hard to compare anyone to Willie Mays. There have been other 5-tool players in baseball history but none so obviously brilliant as Willie Mays. Sandy Koufax said something similar, that he had trouble believing that Babe Ruth was actually a better player.
There is a player around today in 2023 who is very impressive, and that's Mookie Betts. He plays mostly right field these days so he doesn't really qualify. He still is in his prime and he's put up some excellent seasons already. He could easily end up in the Hall of Fame.
1 more thing - From 1953 through 1956 Duke Snider was as good as Willie Mays. Unfortunately, Snider's knees did not last much longer though and he could not play as a regular for much after the age of around 32.
Willie was an entertainer. He purposely wore a cap too small so it would fly off his head when he raced after fly balls. Willie drew fans. So did Ruth but Ruth was a terrible base runner and didn’t play center field.
@@rayray4192 Ruth stole home 15 times.
@@pukulu He was not as good as Mays. Check their fielding percentages.
Nice video, man. I know this was last year, but please keep them coming.
The Biographical Encyclopaedia of The Negro Baseball Leagues lists Oscar Charleston as a center fielder first, followed by 1st base. As an overall player, he was the best of his time. Thanks for the conversation. Next list please.
Cool Papa Bell deserves mention as well.
Garry Maddox, only God covers more ground. Paul Blair was also great.
Jim Edmonds makes my all-time Cardinals line-up as the center fielder, Great combination of defense and hitting. I did like your honorable mention of Cardinals Curt Flood and Edmonds. For me the surest top 10 pick is Willie Mays who is number 1.
Kirby Puckett's career BA is .318. Andrew Jones' is .254.
Pucket, likewise was, at best, a mediocre defensive player. It didn’t help that was about 20 lbs. too heavy!
@@markskipper2199 Puckett was a fantastic defensive player. Fast, cannon arm, leaping ability, and absolutely automatic to make the catch. Won 6 Gold Gloves.
Mays has over 7000 putouts in CF. Nobody else is even close.
So Giants pitchers gave up more fly balls.
@@howie9751I was in St. Louis for most of Willies career and a die hard Cardinals fan but Willie Mays was the greatest all around player in history.
Mays played for 22 years...and it was centerfield.
@@johnnypastrana6727 Whaddya think CF stands for?
Mays' serious flaw is his weak showing at the plate in world series games. In 21 games he had a .230 BA, 0 home runs, 6 rbis, 17 hits, 2 sb...
I thought great players came up big in big games? No games bigger than world series' games.
Compared to Mantle's production, Mays' is downright anemic.
Like Arod, Mays was great in the regular season but disappointed on the big stage.
I saw Mays in person play in old Forbe'sField in Pittsburgh and he loved that Pirate pitching. An overall great player...but.
MickeyStandley of the Detroit tigers was a superb center fielder
Mickey was great defensively, but just a mediocre hitter.
Good SS too.
@Gentrovo Kolyova
Duke Snyder had 2 World Series titles, the second one unfortunately came against the White Sox in 1959.
Willie would have had more homers if he wasn’t playing at Candlestick Park, a notoriously difficult place to hit it out of.
I can't disagree with any of your selections, and I can't imagine how anybody would not pick Willie Mays as the top center fielder of all time.
But I hate "modern" baseball statistics. WAR, for which there is no real formula, is bogus, IMHO. And OPS? Where else in the world do you add two percentages together to come up with a figure?
Home runs, RBI, Batting average, Stolen bases, and such things as number of All Star Games, MVP Awards, World Series appearances, and Gold Gloves, those are all totally legitimate.
And the figure you used for I think it was runs prevented? How can anyone know how many runs Ty Cobb prevented? Such things weren't counted back in the day.
Still, I think your Top Ten is right on!
Thanks for the feedback!
Agree with you on WAR. But things like all-star appearances and Gold Glove awards involve quite a bit of subjectivity. Also , RBI is dependent on how good your teammates are at getting on base. A better measure would be the percentage of baserunners the player drove in. Also, OBP is a better measure of productivity than batting avg.
Honorable mentions could also include Dale Murphy, Andre Dawson, Kenny Lofton, Brett Butler.
I'm glad Curt Flood was mentioned
Puckett played a lot of left field, especially late in his career. Great offensive player and inspirational personality, but not a great defender in center. Willie, Mickey, and The Duke. Mickey might have been #1 if he hadn’t been injured so much. And as he said, “If I knew I was gonna live this long, I would’ve taken better care of myself.” Willie Mays is truly Numero Uno, by any and all standards. I do feel badly for Mike Trout. Being on such a shitty team without a chance of getting to The World Series must be painful. But all those millions probably eases it a bit. A truly great player, greatest of this generation.
Number one should be Willie Mays and number Two should be Ken Griffey Junior
Mantle had way better numbers than Griffey.
He is basically a first baseman
Agree... Those two could do ANYTHING and do it very well
Hack Wilson was awesome. Ken Griffey Jr should be in the top 5
No doubt on Hack. KG Jr had a bad backslide. Still one of the GOATs.
@@GentrovoKolyova After 10 years as the Best Center Fielder in Baseball. You NEVER Saw Him Play.🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
@@autiebell1357 😇
Willie Mays for sure! Back in the 90s it only cost $5 to sit in the outfield bleachers in Oakland. Canseco in left. Ricky in right and Dave Henderson in center. Dave was amazing defensively and a better athlete than Ricky IMO. Good times.
how about jimmy pearsall of the sox,fred lynn of the same team
See your point. But if he hadn't got hurt and layed off the alcohol he could have been maybe the best cf of all.
Nobody beats Mays in center field but Speaker was great and Mantle too and Jim Edmonds makes some of the greatest catches ever too
Great shoutouts. Edmonds is a Hall of Famer.
If you talk about fielding only, Paul Blair could catch anything in the park.
Earl Weaver once told Paul Blair to move back and play deeper. Paul Blair response to Earl was"I will move back when someone hits one over my head."
Didn't have a good arm.
Oscar Charleston! No one touches him!
Dude, you’re so right! A mistake on my part.
Nice editing bro! Very well done. For me I think these lists need to be separated into modern players and old timers. That way more people recognize everyone on one of the lists.
Pretty good list. i would put Oscar Charleston in there but i understand.
When I redo these lists I’ll put Charleston on it.
The old 50's beat writers in Boston claimed that few would at that time take Mays over a healthy Mantle - something I have always disagreed with.
Great list , but I’d find room for Lofton. At least an honorable mention.
Oscar Charleston
Yea, I need to update the list.
Fred Lynn
You never put the names of the Center Fielders on the picture.. There are names difficult to write... MAYS #1 no problem but KEN GRIFFEY JR #7 i could not believe...My respect for you went totally down..
He definitely shouldn’t be in the top 5
Very good list overall. I would flip flop Mickey Mantle with Joe D {5 - 3}. the top two choices are correct, but in the wrong order!! How can the "greatest player of all time", {Ty Cobb} not be the #1 centerfielder?
I agree with you about Willie Mays!
Mays 1st. Griffey Jr. 2. Jr was tremendous outfielder.
2 thumbs up!!
👍👍
Ken Griffey was the Best Center Field I Ever Saw. I have been watching MLB for 50 years.
Huh? Griffey ahead of Cobb and Mantle?
@@spacedude1145 Cobb DIDN'T Play Center Field.
Tommy Lasorda said the Say Hey Kid was a 5 tool player; he was wrong. Willie was a 6 tool player. Willie was a coach on the field. He positioned Bobby Bonds in right field constantly.
Mantle was the fastest runner from home to 1st., to date, no one has beaten his time. But, his injuries slowed him down. Tris Speaker played the shallowest center in baseball history. Plus, he was only behind Ty Cobb for lifetime BA. So, Tris is my choice.
@@jackel99 excellent choice. Mantle hit from both sides of the plate.
@@rayray4192 I'd have to say if Mantle never had injuries he would've been the greatest of all time. But, If Ted Williams never had 5 prime years taken away due to military service, he would have been the best of alltime. Look it up!🤩
@@jackel99 Mickey was injured when he unnaturally held up on a fly ball so he didn’t crash into Joltin Joe
@@rayray4192 Yes, you're correct. Mantle was chasing a flyball when his foot caught in a field dainage opening.
Ken Griffey #7? Son, you OBVIOUSLY Never Saw Him Play.🤣🤣🤣🤣
Cesar Cedeno
He was the best defender in CF that I ever saw, and I saw them all.
If your going to bring up oldnegro players get their positions right. Pop loyd was a ss. Oscar Charleston was the best negro cf do some research. Mike trout is great but you can't have him above Griffey. Not yet. Griffey suffered major major injuries and still hit 630 hr. Before he was hurt he was talked about as being the very best all around player to ever play the game period. Not just Cf. The only cf I give the nod over Griffey to is May's. Mays griffey. 1,2.
Mike Childers I said Cool Papa Bell, not Pop Lloyd. And yes! I should have mentioned Oscar Charleston, an oversight on my part. Thanks for the feedback.
Finally, a dude who knows his stuff. I've been saying forever that Griffey Jr. is the best baseball player ever and if it wasn't for his injuries in Cincy, he would had broken every offensive record in baseball.
Honorable mention: Tori Hunter
What about Willie Mays Hays? He may run like Mays, but he hits like shit...
How do you have a list without Jim Edmonds? He had the best 3 catches of all time
Edmonds was great!
No way is Kenny Lofton's catch off Surhoff not one of the top two catches of all time. Edmonds was great but no way could he have jumped high enough to make the same catch.
@carseye1219 edmonds may not have jumped as high but his catches were way harder
@jdh6046 Lofton's catch was the best I ever saw, and I saw all of Edmonds. "Way harder" is a ridiculous assertion. Taking the human body to its ultimate and combining it with incredible timing is as difficult as any athletic feat can get.
Lo Cain played all fields,just like Mays.
Wtf is war
Over an entire career:
1. Joe DiMaggio
2. Willie Mays
3. Ty Cobb
4. Mickey Mantle
5. Tris Speaker
At their peak best:
1. Mickey Mantle
2. Willie Mays
3. Joe DiMaggio
4. Ken Griffey Jr.
5. Ty Cobb
Best cf infers best position fielding not hitting prowess . Many other as good or better glove men.
It's both, but thanks for the feedback.
WAR/162 helps us compare players from different eras who played radically different numbers of games: #1 Mike Trout (9.3), #2 Willie Mays* (8.6), #3 Oscar Charleston** (8.5), #4 Ty Cobb (8.1), #5 Turkey Stearnes** (8.1), #6 Joe DiMaggio* (7.8), #7 Tris Speaker (7.8), #8 Mickey Mantle (7.6), #9 Willard Brown** (7.6), #10 Cristobal Torriente* (6.5), #11 Billy Hamilton (6.4), #12 Pete Browning (5.6), #13 Larry Doby (5.5), #14 Benny Kauf (5.5), #15 Lip Pike (5.5). (*) I have slightly adjusted the WAR/162 for players who lost prime years to military service; why penalize them for their heroism? (**) I think Negro League stats are a bit inflated because NeL players who later played in the majors invariably had lower batting averages, suggesting NeL pitching and defenses were not quite as good as those in the majors. WAR/162 tells us that Mike Trout has been a top five player of all time when he has been able to play. Before Trout's injuries, he had the most WAR of any player at ages 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 27, if I remember things correctly. Think about it: over 20,000 men have played in the majors and Trout was better than ALL of them until he started to miss substantial games with injuries. Babe Ruth accumulated most of his positional WAR starting at age 24, so he didn't pass Trout age-wise until his thirties, or around age 28 if we include his pitcher WAR. -- Michael R. Burch
What about Griffey Jr.?
Ken Griffey Jr. was a great player in his prime but injuries reduced him as a player overall.@@howie9751
IMHO, WAR is just a made-up thing. There is no solid formula to compute WAR.
What about Gary Maddox, Fred Lynn
Kirby Puckett. 6 Gold Gloves. Also Kirby Puckett, bad defense. You barely took a breath between those 2 statements.
No mention of Oscar Charleston?
Yea that’s my oversight. He’ll be on my updated list.
Great choice. Willie Mays is my all time favorite player. You left out some of the Mets Players. Carlos Belton watched a 3rd strike go by for the last out of a playoff game. He is not that good.
Speaker and Cobb were contemporaries, and their peers almost universally chose Speaker as the best centerfielder.
At that time of course.
@@howie9751 Certainly, I was reacting to Cobb being ranked over Speaker. Their peers did NOT agree.
@@roberthudson1959 I would agree with you.
As a center fielder, I would puy Tris speaker first, but Mickey Mantle would be the best player I have seen.
'Shoeless Joe Jackson"
Oscar Charleston 😮
Major oversight on my part.
How about Garry Maddox.
Bernie Williams should be honorable mention
Steve Finley
griffey is top 5
Top 2
Sorry ken Griffey Junior should be number 2
Mike Gibbons
Dale Murphy Nimmo is edging up there, Jonny Damon that's if you go top 20
Damon had a below average arm and OBP.
Kolyova??
The one and only!
Larry Doby should have made your honorable mentions.
You should have minded your own business.
GFU@@TheBatugan77
Larry Doby.
I saw most of the players on your list and disagree with a lot of your picks because you depend too much on power and not on the team they played with weak or strong how they played the game
..
I understand. Who would you put on your list?
Unbeatable All-Time Great Lineup(no roids)
1. S Mickey Mantle DH
2. L Ted Williams LF
3. R Willie Mays CF
4. L Babe Ruth RF
5. R Mike Piazza C
6. L Lou Gehrig 1B
7. R Rodgers Hornsby 2B
8. L George Brett 3B
9. R Cal Ripken Jr SS
Johnny bench over piazza.. he was a defensive liability
How about Ernie Banks at shortstop?
Having Piazza is a not right. Piazza wasn’t close to Bench as a player
Carew at 2nd for me. 7 batting titles
Pretty good choices, Aaron DH
Mickey Rivers
How far back are you going?
How much weight do you give defense vs offense?
Mickey Stanley?
Idk much about baseball anymore other than tigers
So. Chet lemon. Curtis Granderson. Austin jackson
Shout out to the always classy- Bernie Williams.
I think you meant 795
How on Earth can you mention Cool Papa Bell and Turkey Stearnes, the latter of whom should be in the top ten, and not mention the best, Oscar Charleston, who might be the best CF period? You need to research the Negro Leagues further.
This list needs to be updated. They are definitely in my list now.
Griffey at #7 😂😂😂 LOL OK.👌
Great list. Beltran, Ashburn, or Lofton over Puckett. And I like Puckett.
Where is Babe Ruth?
Babe was a right fielder, not a center fielder.
Tris Speaker and Mantle over Joe DiMaggio? Are you crazy?
Mantle is always a what if. But he chose a crazy lifestyle that kept him from being even better. What about Bobby Bonds being at least mentioned.
Peak Mantle was better than DiMaggio and Mays
Mantle was better peak, and Speaker had a much longer sustained career of greatness.
Bobby Bonds played RF.
Get a clue.