All-Time Ballplayer Survivor - Champion: Babe Ruth

[KC Royals Nation]

Folks....you know what time it is. It's time for MLB All-Time Ballplayer Survivor. Below is a selection of *120* of arguably the greatest players of all time. We will eliminate these players one by one until we are left with the best ballplayer of all time.

For this Survivor contest, we will return to the old format. We will vote by round:

• Only one person may vote in each round
  
• Three votes for one player in each round eliminates that player
  
• Guests may vote in this forum. However, if IP addresses match, then that member will be warned (as it is against our board policy) and only one of that person's votes will count in that particular round.
  
• Once a player has been eliminated, he is eliminated for good during the contest.
  
• Our beloved George Brett is not included in this contest.
  

Remember that you may cast your vote for any player for whatever reason possible, or no reason. However, for the good of the game, I strongly suggest you use sound judgment when choosing a player to eliminate. So...as an administrator, I'm encouraging you to vote for whomever you like (or don't like) for whatever reason, but as a member, I'm encouraging you to use sound reasoning when voting for someone. No voting Babe Ruth in round 5....we all know The Babe is truly one of the several (at least) greatest players of all time.

Remember to understand each era of baseball. In those eras, you need to understand ballpark dimensions, pitching success vs. batter success, HR rates, and many more unique characteristics that can be attributed to that era. In other words, a .260/.320/.420 hitting shortstop is more valuable in 1970 than in 2000. Take era differences into consideration, please.

Here are the eras, taken from Netshrine:
19th Century Era (1876-1900)
Dead Ball Era (1900-1919)
Lively Ball Era (1920-1941)
Integration Era (1942-1960)
Expansion Era (1961-1976)
Free Agency Era (1977-1993)
Long Ball Era (1994-Present)

*Note* I'm 'pretending' the long-ball era extends to present day, even though offensive numbers have dwindled since the era's pinnacle (2000 or so).

[KC Royals Nation]

Please note that un-retired players are included. *Voting starts at 9PM on November 2nd.*

Note: The list below is still somewhat subjective. Most of these players come from the SABR List. However, there are a few additions thrown in.

I have compiled the following list of players from the website Baseball Almanac. The study was conducted by SABR. For more information on the list and how it was compiled, then visit the link below:
www.baseball-almanac.com/legendary/lisab100.shtml

Here are 120 total players, divided by era.

Dead Ball Era
Grover Alexander (SP)
Mordecai Brown (SP)
Ty Cobb (OF)
Eddie Collins (IF)
Sam Crawford (OF)
Frankie Frisch (IF)
Harry Heilmann (IF)
Joe Jackson (OF)
Walter Johnson (SP)
Addie Joss (SP)
Nap Lajoie (IF)
Christy Mathewson (SP)
Eddie Plank (SP)
George Sisler (IF)
Tris Speaker (OF)
Pie Traynor (IF)
Rube Waddell (SP)
Honus Wagner (IF)
Ed Walsh (SP)
Cy Young (SP)

Lively Ball Era
Luke Appling (IF)
Yogi Berra (C)
Roy Campanella (C)
Mickey Cochrane (C)
Joe Cronin (IF)
Dizzy Dean (SP)
Bill Dickey (C)
Joe DiMaggio (OF)
Whitey Ford (SP)
Jimmie Foxx (IF)
Lou Gehrig (IF)
Charlie Gehringer (IF)
Hank Greenberg (IF)
Lefty Grove (SP)
Rogers Hornsby (IF)
Carl Hubbell (SP)
Ralph Kiner (OF)
Joe Medgwick (OF)
Johnny Mize (IF)
Mel Ott (OF)
Robin Roberts (SP)
Babe Ruth (SP, OF)
Al Simmons (OF)
Duke Snider (OF)
Warren Spahn (SP)
Bill Terry (IF)
Paul Waner (OF)

Integration Era
Bob Feller (SP)
Sandy Koufax (SP)
Mickey Mantle (OF)
Willie Mays (OF)
Stan Musial (OF)
Jackie Robinson (IF)
Ted Williams (OF)

Expansion Era
Hank Aaron (OF)
Ernie Banks (IF)
Johnny Bench (C)
Lou Brock (OF)
Rod Carew (IF)
Steve Carlton (SP)
Roberto Clemente (OF)
Bob Gibson (SP)
Fergie Jenkins (SP)
Al Kaline (OF)
Harmon Killebrew (IF)
Juan Marichal (SP)
Willie McCovey (IF)
Joe Morgan (IF)
Jim Palmer (SP)
Brooks Robinson (IF)
Frank Robinson (OF)
Pete Rose (IF)
Tom Seaver (SP)
Willie Stargell (OF)
Hoyt Wilhelm (SP)
Carl Yastrzemski (OF)

Free Agency Era
Wade Boggs (IF)
Dennis Eckersley (SP, RP)
Rollie Fingers (SP)
Carlton Fisk (C)
Tony Gwynn (OF)
Rickey Henderson (OF)
Reggie Jackson (OF)
Paul Molitor (IF)
Eddie Murray (OF)
Kirby Puckett (OF)
Nolan Ryan (SP)
Ryne Sandberg (IF)
Mike Schmidt (IF)
Ozzie Smith (IF)
Dave Winfield (OF)
Robin Yount (IF)

Long Ball Era
Jeff Bagwell (IF)
Barry Bonds (OF)
Roger Clemens (SP)
Jason Giambi (IF)
Tom Glavine (SP)
Ken Griffey, Jr. (OF)
Vladimir Guerrero (OF)
Randy Johnson (SP)
Chipper Jones (IF)
Greg Maddux (SP)
Pedro Martinez (SP)
Fred McGriff (IF)
Mark McGwire (IF)
Mike Mussina (SP)
Rafael Palmeiro (IF)
Mike Piazza (C)
Albert Pujols (IF)
Manny Ramirez (OF)
Cal Ripken (IF)
Mariano Rivera (RP)
Alex Rodriguez (IF)
Johan Santana (SP)
Curt Schilling (SP)
Gary Sheffield (OF)
John Smoltz (SP)
Sammy Sosa (OF)
Ichiro Suzuki (OF)
Frank Thomas (IF)
Jim Thome (IF)

Players Eliminated
1. Jason Giambi
2. Luke Appling
3. Sammy Sosa
4. Rafeal Palmerio
5. Ryne Sandberg
6. Mark McGwire
7. Rollie Fingers
8. Frankie Frisch
9. Paul Waner
10. Joe Morgan
11. Joe Cronin
12. Ed Walsh
13. Bill Dickey
14. Fred McGriff
15. Kirby Puckett
16. Carl Hubbell
17. Frank Thomas
18. Hank Greenberg
19. Manny Ramirez
20. Mike Piazza
21. Bill Terry
22. Gary Sheffield
23. Jim Thome
24. Jeff Bagwell
25. Dave Winfield
26. Harry Heilmann
27. Curt Schilling
28. Paul Molitor
29. Al Simmons
30. Pete Rose
31. Carlton Fisk
32. Joe Medwick
33. Johan Santana
34. Reggie Jackson
35. Mike Mussina
36. John Smoltz
37. Fergie Jenkins
38. Wade Boggs
39. Rickey Henderson
40. Addie Joss
41. Albert Pujols
42. Cal Ripken
43. Sam Crawford
44. Ichiro Suzuki
45. Chipper Jones
46. Charlie Gehringer
47. Dennis Eckersley
48. Tom Glavine
49. Pedro Martinez
50. Al Kaline
51. Eddie Murray
52. Mariano Rivera
53. Eddie Plank
54. Ralph Kiner
55. Vladimir Guerrero
56. Rube Waddell
57. Robin Roberts
58. Tony Gwynn
59. Mickey Cochrane
60. Dizzy Dean
61. Robin Yount
62. Jim Palmer
63. Hoyt Wilhelm
64. Johnny Mize
65. Willie Stargell
66. Pie Traynor
67. Mike Schmidt
68. Mordecai Brown
69. Rod Carew
70. Eddie Collins
71. Ozzie Smith
72. Carl Yastrzemski
73. Juan Marichal
74. George Sisler
75. Harmon Killebrew
76. Lefty Grove
77. Randy Johnson
78. Steve Carlton
79. Nolan Ryan
80. Duke Snider
81. Mel Ott
82. Joe Jackson
83. Ken Griffey, Jr.
84. Roger Clemens
85. Lou Brock
86. Brooks Robinson
87. Whitey Ford
88. Tom Seaver
89. Willie McCovey
90. Cy Young
91. Grover Alexander
92. Alex Rodriguez
93. Roy Campanella
94. Warren Spahn
95. Nap Lajoie
96. Jimmie Foxx
97. Ernie Banks
98. Jackie Robinson
99. Bob Feller
100. Roberto Clemente
101. Sandy Koufax
102. Yogi Berra
103. Greg Maddox
104. Bob Gibson
105. Frank Robinson
106. Johnny Bench
107. Walter Johnson
108. Barry Bonds
109. Rodgers Hornsby
110. Tris Speaker
111. Christy Mathewson
112. Honus Wagner
113. Ty Cobb
114. Joe DiMaggio
115. Mickey Mantle
116. Lou Gehrig
117. Willie Mays
118. Stan Musial
119. Hank Aaron
120. Ted Williams

WINNER: Babe Ruth

[KC Royals Nation]

It's 9PM.....let the voting begin. The finalized list above contains 120 players. Helpful sites for player research would be Baseball Reference and Baseball Almanac.

First vote....

Luke Appling.

[dejesus9]

Sammy Sosa

[ror1fan]

Rafael Palmeiro

[tonymuser]

Ozzie Smith

(and Warren Spahn is listed under the wrong era....)

[gilgameche]

Barry Bonds

[kcroyal45]

Hands down: Jason Giambi

[mtroyals]

Jason Giambi

[ror1fan]

Change mine to Jason Giambi he is worse then Raffy

[KC Royals Nation]

Alright, moving on to Round Deux...

I'll vote for Luke Appling.

[ror1fan]

Luke Appling

[dejesus9]

Appling's out.

Sosa.

[KC Royals Nation]

By the way, I probably won't take steroids into account. If I did, then Bonds, McGwire et al would be eliminated early, and as anti-steroid as I am, we have no way of knowing how players' careers would have played out if.....

I'll go Dizzy Dean.

[ror1fan]

Sosa