#1 - Willie Mays (1931- )

"The Say Hey Kid"

Position:
Center Field

Teams:
New York/San Francisco Giants (1951-1952; 1954-1972)
New York Mets (1972-1973)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .302
Home Runs:  660
RBI:  1,903
Slugging Percentage:  .557
On-Base Percentage:  .384
Hits:  3,283

William Howard Mays, Jr. was born in Westfield, Alabama, which lies just outside of Birmingham.  His father was a gifted baseball player who played on a Negro League industrial team for the local iron plant.  His mother was a talented basketball and track star in high school.  Mays inherited his parents' athletic gifts and excelled in many sports, such as basketball and football, in addition to baseball.

In 1947, while still in high school, Mays played a short time for the Chattanooga Choo-Choo's in Tennessee after school let out for the summer.  He then returned home to Alabama to play for the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League.  He led the team to the 1948 Negro League World Series, but they ultimately lost to the Homestead Grays.  He was a standout defensively and on the base-paths, though his batting average was only .226.  Over the next several years, multiple scouts from different Major League Baseball teams came out to watch Willie play.  The first team to scout him, the Boston Braves, passed on him.  Then the Brooklyn Dodgers rejected him because they felt he couldn't hit the curveball.  Finally, the New York Giants took notice and signed Willie to their class-B affiliate in Trenton, New Jersey in 1950.

After posting a .353 batting average in Trenton, Willie was moved up to the class AAA Minneapolis Millers of the American Association.  After hitting .477 and playing stellar defense, Mays was called up to the New York Giants on May 24, 1951.  He went hitless in his first twelve at-bats, but he rocketed a homer over the fence in his thirteenth against Warren Spahn.  He continued to improve throughout the season, though his .274 average, 20 homers, and 68 RBI were the lowest of his career.  Despite this, he still managed to win Rookie of the Year.  His Giants met the New York Yankees in the World Series that year, though they lost the Series 4-2, with Mays performing poorly.

Mays was drafted by the United States Army in 1952 and ended up missing most of the '52 season and all of the '53 season.  He spent most of his service time playing baseball in Fort Eustis, VA.

He returned to the Giants in 1954, leading the league with a .345 batting average and hitting 41 homers.  He won the National League MVP that season, and once again led the Giants to the World Series where they swept the Cleveland Indians.  This Series is best remembered by what is now referred to as "The Catch," Mays's over-the-shoulder running grab in deep center field of the Polo Grounds.  This is one of the most memorable plays in the history of baseball, and it also prevented two Indian runners from scoring, preserving the tied game. 

During the last three years the Giants spent in New York, Mays continued to perform at a high level.  In 1956, he hit 36 home runs and stole 40 bases.  In 1957, he won the first of twelve consecutive Gold Glove Awards (this was the first year the Gold Glove was awarded).  In 1957, he became only the fourth person to join the 20-20-20 club (20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs), as well as stealing 38 bases.

In 1958, the Giants relocated to San Francisco.  This season, Mays narrowly missed winning the National League batting title, when his .347 average couldn't quite top the Phillie's Richard Ashburn's .350.  On April 30, 1961, Mays hit four homers against the Milwaukee Braves.  He remains the only Major Leaguer to have both a four homer game and a four triple game.  The following season, the Giants made it to the World Series, but Willie struggled, hitting just .250.  They lost in seven games to the Yankees. 

In both the '63 and '64 seasons, Mays drove in over 100 runs and hit a combined 85 homers.  He won his second MVP in 1965 with a career-high 52 home runs.  On September 13, 1965, Willie hit his 500th career home run.  Willie set a major league record for playing in over 150 games for 13 consecutive seasons.  He hit career homer 600 in September 1969 against the San Diego Padres. 

In May 1972, the 41-year old Mays was traded to the New York Mets.  The Giants franchise had been losing money and they could not guarantee Willie an income after retirement.  The Mets, on the other hand, offered him a position as a coach after his retirement.  In his May 14, 1972 debut, he hit a fifth-inning home run against his former team.  Then, on August 17, 1973, he hit his 660th and final home run against the Cincinnati Reds.  He ended up playing a season-and-a-half with the Mets before announcing his retirement.  He was honored in a ceremony on September 25, 1973.  He capped off his career by playing in the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, though he was limited in playing time.  The Mets ended up losing in seven games.

Mays remained active after leaving baseball, appearing on television, movies, and other non-sports related media.  He stayed with the New York Mets as their hitting instructor until 1979.  On January 23, 1979, Willie was elected to the Hall of Fame.  Over the next few years, Willie took up golf, and became quite adept at it, playing to a handicap of 4.  Shortly after being elected to the Hall of Fame, Willie took a job at the Park Place Casino in Atlantic City, working as Special Assistant to the Casino's President, and as a greeter, a job he performed alongside Mickey Mantle.  When Bowie Kuhn (Commissioner of Baseball) found out about this, he suspended Mays and Mantle from having any involvement in baseball because of the rules against gambling.  Kuhn successor, Peter Ueberroth, rescinded the suspension in 1985.  Since 1986, Willie has served as Special Assistant to the President of the San Francisco Giants, as well as serving on the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, an organization dedicated to helping former Minor, Major, and Negro League baseball players through financial hardships. 

It was difficult trying to decide whether to place Willie Mays or Hank Aaron atop this list.  Their numbers were both incredibly impressive.  In some cases, Hank Aaron's were slightly better.  In other cases, Willie Mays's were.  And I do mean slightly.  However, I feel that Willie Mays was a better all-around player.  Here's a comparison of their numbers:

Willie Mays                                                                            Hank Aaron
Batting Average:  .302                                                            Batting Average:  .305
Home Runs:  660                                                                   Home Runs:  755
RBI:  1,903                                                                            RBI:  2,297
Slugging %:  .557                                                                   Slugging %:  .555
On-Base %:  .384                                                                  On-Base %:  .374
Hits:  3,283                                                                            Hits:  3,771
2B:  523                                                                                2B:  624
3B:  140                                                                                3B:   98                                                        Stolen Bases:  338                                                                 Stolen Bases:  240
Caught Stealing:  103                                                             Caught Stealing:  73
Steal Success:  .766                                                               Steal Success:  .766
Base-on-balls:  1,464                                                             Base-on-balls:  1,402
Strike-Outs:  1,526                                                                Strike-outs:  1,383
On-Base plus Slugging:  .941                                                 On-Base plus Slugging:  .928
Total Bases:  6,066                                                                Total Bases:  6,856
Fielding %:  .981                                                                    Fielding %:  .98

Many of their numbers are nearly identical.  A .002 difference in batting average, a 95 difference in homers, 394 difference in RBI, a .002 difference in slugging, a .01 difference in OBP, a difference of 488 in hits, 101 difference in doubles, a 42 difference in triples, a 98 difference in stolen bases, an identical steal success, a difference of 62 in walks, 143 difference in strike-outs, .013 difference in OPS, a 790 difference in total bases, and a .001 difference in fielding percentage. 

It's obvious why it was such a difficult choice.  I briefly considered having both of them share the top spot, but I didn't want a tie.  The main factor it finally rested on was fielding ability.  While their fielding percentages were nearly identical, the fact is that Willie Mays played center field and Hank Aaron played mostly right field.  Center field is a much more difficult position to play than right, as more balls are generally hit in that direction .  Also, Willie Mays spent the first seven years of his career playing at the Polo Grounds in New York, which was a whopping 483-feet to center field.  Willie had much more ground to cover than Hank Aaron ever did, and he covered it nearly flawlessly.  That is what ultimately tipped the scale in Willie's favor.

Now, on to the pitchers!

#2 - Hank Aaron (1934- )

"Hammerin' Hank"

Position:
Right Field
First Base

Teams:
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1954-1974)
Milwaukee Brewers (1975-1976)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .305
Home Runs:  755
RBI:  2,297
Slugging Percentage:  .555
On-Base Percentage:  .374
Hits:  3,771

Henry Louis Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, though he spent much of his time in Toulminville.  Aaron's family was very poor and could not afford any real equipment for Hank to play baseball with, so he would often hit bottle caps with sticks.  He would sometimes craft his own balls and bats out of material he would find lying around.  As a freshman and sophomore, he attended Central High School and led his team to the Mobile Negro High School Championship each year that he played.  He was also an excellent football player and received several scholarship offers, but he turned them all down to focus on baseball.  In 1949, when he was 15, he tried out with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but did not manage to make the team.  He returned to school and finished out his education at the Josephine Allen Institute.  When he was a junior he joined the Mobile Black Bears, an independent Negro League team.  On November 20, 1951, Aaron was signed to a minor league contract with the Indianapolis Clowns.

In 1952, his first year with the Clowns, he helped them win the Negro League World Series.  This resulted in him receiving offers from both the New York Giants and the Boston Braves.  The Braves offered slightly more money, so he signed with them.  During his stint in the Negro Leagues, he was credited with a .366 batting average, 5 homers, 33 RBI, 41 hits, and 9 stolen bases. 

After signing with the Braves, Hank was assigned to the Eau Claire Bears, the Braves's Northern League Class-C farm team.  At the end of his first season in the minors, he was unanimously selected as Rookie of the Year.  Out of just 87 games he played in, he batted .336, scored 89 runs, had 116 hits, hit 9 homers, and drove in 61 runs.

In 1953, he was promoted to the Jacksonville Tars, the Braves's Class-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League.  Aaron led the league in runs (115), hits (208), doubles (36), RBI (125), total bases (338), and batting average (.362).  He helped his team win the championship and was award the Most Valuable Player Award.  Aaron spent the winter of '53 playing in Puerto Rico where he received tutelage on how better to hit the ball for power to all fields.  The Braves also relocated to Milwaukee in the 1953 season.   

On March 13, 1954, Bobby Thompson (Braves left fielder) broke his ankle during spring training.  Aaron was allowed to make the start in his place the following day and hit a home run.  After this, the Braves offered him a major league contract.  He made his regular season debut on April 13, but was hitless against the Cincinnati Reds.  He finally got his first hit on April 15 and his first homer on April 23.  During the next 122 games, Hank batted .280 with 13 homers before fracturing his ankle on September 5. 

In 1955, Hank made his first of 21 All-Star appearances.  That season, he hit .314 with 27 homers and 106 RBI.  In '56, he hit .328, won his first National League batting title, and was The Sporting News National League Player of the Year.  Nineteen fifty-seven saw Hank win his first, and only, MVP award, batting .322 and leading the league in homers and RBI.  His batting prowess led the Braves to the World Series that year, where they defeated the New York Yankees. 

In 1958, Hank batted .326 with 30 home runs and 95 RBI.  The Braves made it to the Fall Classic again, but ultimately lost a seven-game series to the Yankees.  Aaron remained steady over the next few years, putting up huge numbers and blasting homers with regularity.  In 1963, he nearly won the Triple Crown.  He led the league in home runs and RBI, but fell behind to third place in batting average.  After the 1965 season, the Braves relocated to Atlanta.

On July 31, 1969, Aaron hit his 537th career homers, surpassing Mickey Mantle and sliding into third place on the all-time list (Willie May and Babe Ruth were ahead of him).  On May 17, 1970, he became the first player to hit 500 homers and get 3,000 hits.  During the strike-shortened 1972 season, Hank passed Willie Mays to claim second place on the all-time home run list with his 661st homer.  At the end of the '72 season, he also passed Stan Musial's record for total bases, with 6,134. 

Aaron's popularity was soon soaring throughout the country and many expected him to break the Babe's home run record.  Hank downplayed much of the frenzy surrounding him, although he also began receiving hate mail and death threats because some did not want to see a black man top the beloved Babe Ruth. 

On September 29, 1973, Hank hit his 713 homer, bringing him within one of tying the Babe's record.  With one game left in the season, Hank was unable to tie the record and was forced to wait until the 1974 season began. He tied the Babe in his very first at-bat of the 1974 season, against the Cincinnati Reds. 

The team returned to Atlanta for a series of home games, and on April 8, 1974, in front of 53,775 fans, Aaron hit home run 715 off of Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The stadium erupted and two white college students ran onto the field to congratulate Hank as he rounded the bases.  Long-time Dodgers announcer, Vin Scully, stated:  "What a marvelous moment for baseball; what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia; what a marvelous moment for the country and the world.  A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.  And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron . . . And for the first time in a long time, that poker face in Aaron shows the tremendous strain and relief of what it must have been like to live with for the past several months."

Aaron hit his 733rd and final homer as a Brave on October 5, 1974.  Shortly thereafter, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.  On May 1, 1975, he broke the all-time RBI record with 2,217.  On July 20, 1976, Hank Aaron hit his 755th and final career home run at Milwaukee County Stadium.  He retired after the '76 season.

On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was elected to the Hall of Fame.  He was then named the Atlanta Braves's vice president and director of player development.  Since December of 1980, he has served as senior vice president and assistant to the Braves's president.  He is also the corporate vice president of community relations for TBS, as well as a member of the company's board of directors, and the vice president of business development for The Airport Network.  Aaron also owns a BMW dealership in Union City, Georgia, as well as Mini, Land Rover, Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda dealerships throughout the state.  In 2007, he sold all but the Toyota dealership. 

There was some speculation during Barry Bonds's chase to top Aaron's home run record that Aaron didn't approve of Barry breaking the record because of the allegations of steroid abuse.  This was due to the fact that Aaron said that he would not be present when Bonds broke the record.  However, Hank made it clear that his reluctance was based upon the fact that believed baseball wasn't about breaking records, but rather about playing to the best of one's potential. 

When Bonds hit his 756th homer on August 7, 2007, breaking Hank's record, Aaron appeared on the park's JumboTron and stated:  "I would like to offer my congratulations to Barry Bonds on becoming baseball's career home run leader.  It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity, and determination.  Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years.  I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historical achievement.  My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire other to chase their own dreams."

#3 - Babe Ruth (1895-1948)

"The Bambino"  "The Sultan of Swat"

Position:
Right Field
Pitcher

Teams:
Boston Red Sox (1914-1919)
New York Yankees (1920-1934)
Boston Braves (1935)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .342
Home Runs:  714
RBI:  2,217
Slugging Percentage:  .690
On-Base Percentage:  .474
Hits:  2,873

As a pitcher:
Record:  94-46
ERA:  2.28

George Herman "Babe" Ruth, Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland.  Not much is known about his early life, but it is known that his mother was constantly sick (later dying of tuberculosis when he was a teenager).  When he was seven, his father sent him away to live in a reformatory and orphanage, called St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys.  He remained there for twelve years, only seeing his family on special occasions.  While he was at the orphanage, he was taught how to play baseball by the Head of Discipline, a man named Brother Matthias Boutlier, who also taught him how to read and write.  Ruth began to look to Boutlier as more of a father than his own ever was.

In 1913, when Ruth was nineteen years old, his school's team was playing against Mount St. Mary's University.  Joe Engel, a former student at Mount St. Mary's and pitcher for the Washington Senators, was attending the game that day.  He was so impressed with Ruth's pitching abilities, that he brought him to the attention of Jack Dunn, the owner and manager of the Baltimore Orioles (which was a minor league team at the time).  After watching Ruth perform, Dunn signed him to a contract, though he was obligated to become Ruth's legal guardian because the age of majority was 25 at the time.  When the other players saw Ruth, they called him "Jack's newest babe."  From then on, George would always be "Babe."  On July 9, 1914, Dunn sold Ruth's contract to the Boston Red Sox.

As a pitcher, Babe picked up his first major league win on July 11, 1914.  He only appeared in five games that season because the Red Sox lineup was so full of star players.  He was soon sent to the minors to play for the Providence Grays, where he helped them win the International League penant.

In 1915, Babe secured a spot in the Red Sox pitching rotation.  He went on to an 18-8 record, while batting .315.  He also hit his first four homers.  That year the Sox would go on to win the World Series.  In 1916, he went 23-12 with a 1.75 ERA, and had nine shutouts.  Again, Boston won the World Series.  In 1917, Ruth went for a 24-13 record with a 2.01 ERA and six shutouts, as well as hitting .325.  The Sox ended up falling to second place that year to the Chicago White Sox.  In 1918, Ruth posted a 13-7 record with a 2.22 ERA, though the Sox were beginning to use him more and more as an outfielder.  He also hit a league-leading eleven homers.  The Red Sox would again win the World Series, this time defeating the Chicago Cubs.  By 1919, Ruth only pitched in 17 out of 130 games and set a single-season home run record with 29.

On December 26, 1919, Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees because Ruth was demanding a raise that the Red Sox were unwilling to give him. 

In his first season with the Yankees (1920), Ruth obliterated his single season home run record by hitting 54 homers, while batting .376.  His slugging percentage was .847, which was a record until Barry Bonds broke it in 2001.  He performed even better the following season, belting 59 homers and batting .378 with a .846 slugging percentage.  On July 18, Babe Ruth became the all-time home run leader with 139.  Ruth's Yankees made it to the World Series that year, but ultimately lost to the New York Giants.  Ruth's productivity during the Series was diminished because of a badly scraped elbow.

The Babe started the next season suspended because he had played in some exhibition games in the off-season, which was prohibited.  Ruth returned to the lineup May 20, 1922, but his production slipped slightly from the previous season.  The Yankees would again lose to the Giants in the World Series.

Ruth finished the 1923 season with a career-high .393 batting average and 41 homers.  Once again, the Yanks met the Giants in the World Series, which Ruth dominated.  He batted .368, walked eight times, scored eight runs, hit three homers, and slugged 1.000.  The Yankees won the series 4-2, their first championship.

Ruth nearly won the Triple Crown in 1924.  He hit .378, led the league with 46 home runs, and drove in 121 runs, which was just short of Goose Goslin's 129.  However, the Yankees finished second that year to the Washington Senators, who would go on to win their first and only title (while based in D.C.).  Due to illness, Ruth was limited to 98 games in 1925.  This would be his most unproductive season as a Yankee, hitting .290 with 25 homers.  They came in next to last place, sporting a losing record which wouldn't be repeated until 1965.

He came back with a vengeance in 1926, batting .372 with 47 homers and 146 RBI.  The Yanks met the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series that season.  In Game 4, Ruth hit three home runs, but ended up making a baserunning blunder trying to steal second base that ended the game and the Series.  In 1927, Ruth and his "Murderer's Row" teammates won a then-record 110 games (out of 154).  They took the penant by 19 games and swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.  The 1926 season was also notable because Ruth broke his own single season home run record with 60.  This record would stand until broken by Roger Maris in 1961.  Ruth also batted .356, drove in 164 runs and slugged .772.

Ruth got off to a hot start in 1928, but was soon hobbled by a bad ankle that limited his performance.  He ended up batting .323, but still hit 54 homers.  This would be the fourth and final season he would hit over 50.  When his Yankees faced the Cardinals in the World Series that year, Ruth erupted for a .625 batting average, while also having another three home run game.  They destroyed the Cardinals in four games.

The Yankees failed to make the World Series in 1929 for the first time in four years.  The team itself had slipped, but Babe still put up impressive numbers, leading or tying the lead in home runs each year between 1929 and 1931.  In 1930, Ruth was called on to pitch for the first time since 1921.  He pitched a complete-game victory.  In 1932, the Yankees returned to prominence, posting a 107-47 record.  The Babe batted .341 with 41 homers, and 137 RBI.  The Yanks swept the Cubs in the World Series that year.  During Game 3, Ruth (after already hitting one homer) hit what is now known as Babe Ruth's Called Shot.  Supposedly, the Babe pointed to centerfield, and then proceeded to drive a monster home run to that same spot.  There is some doubt, however, that he was actually calling his shot.  Some believe he was either pointing at the pitcher or at the Cubs dugout, where he was being heckled.

Ruth batted .301 with 34 homers and 103 RBI in 1933, though it was becoming painfully obvious that he was gaining weight at a rapid pace.  Towards the end of that season, he was called on to pitch again, and got a complete-game victory.  Babe's numbers dropped in 1934, as he recorded an average of  .288 with 22 homers.  By the time the All-Star break rolled around, Ruth had 700 career homers and was ready to retire. 

Ruth's ambition was to retire as a player and become the Yankees manager.  However, Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, had no desire to replace skipper Joe McCarthy.  Soon, Ruth began shopping himself to other teams around the league, offering his services as a player or a manager.  Some serious discussions began with the Detroit Tigers, but Ruth failed to show up at a meeting, so any deal was called off.  Emil Fuchs, the owner of the Boston Braves was drowning in debt and thought the addition of Ruth was just what was needed to improve attendance.  On February 26, 1935 the Yankees traded Ruth to the Braves.  In addition to his capacities as a player, Ruth would become vice president and would be consulted on all transactions.  He would also be assistant manager to Bill McKechnie.  Fuchs also promised Babe a share of the Braves's profits, as well as the possibility of becoming co-owner of the team.  He also raised the possibility that Ruth could eventually become the Braves's manager. 

Interest in the Braves spiked once fans learned that the legendary Babe Ruth was going to be part of their lineup.  But it soon became obvious that Babe had lost it.  He could still hit, but his fielding was abysmal, and he could little more than trot around the bases.  Before long, he'd lost his hitting touch, as well.  His abilities in the field were so bad that several Braves pitchers refused to take the mound if Ruth was allowed onto the field.  Ruth soon discovered that he was vice president and assistant manager in name only. 

On May 25, 1935, the Babe hit the last home runs of his career.  He went 4-for-4, drove in 6 runs, and hit 3 homers.  Five days later, he played his last major league game.  Two days after this game, he spoke to reporters and announced his retirement.  He had hit a paltry .181 with only six homers.  His Braves team finished with a 38-115 record, which remains the third-worst record in history.

In 1936, Babe was one of the first five players to ever be inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  Two years later, he was offered a job as first base coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers.  He took the job, but only stayed for one season.  It would be the last job he ever had in Major League Baseball.

In 1946, he began to experience pain over his right eye.  After a visit to the hospital, Babe learned that he had a malignant tumor in his neck that was wrapped around his carotid artery.  The tumor was removed and he had to undergo radiation treatment.  By the time he left the hospital in February 1947, he had lost 80 pounds.  In June 1947, he began receiving a new, experimental chemotherapy drug that had shown some promise in clinical trials.  Ruth had been experiencing headaches, hoarseness, and difficulty swallowing.  On June 29, he began a regimen of these chemotherapy drugs, to which he responded very well.  We now know that Ruth was suffering from nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a tumor located in the back of the nose. 

On April 27, 1947, a ceremony was held to honor Babe at Yankee Stadium.  He spoke to a crowd of more than 60,000 people, and gave a heartfelt speech outlining his love for the game and his encouragement for the children in attendance to play.

Shortly thereafter, the cancer returned.  Babe attended the 25th anniversary of the opening of Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948.  He got to reconnect with many of his old teammates from the 1923 team who were in attendance.  Soon after, he was back in the hospital, where he received hundreds of cards and letters from fans and well-wishers.  He was able to leave the hospital temporarily on July 26, 1948 to attend the world premiere of the film The Babe Ruth Story.  By this time he was barely able to speak.  He was visited by Commissioner of Baseball, Ford Frick.  Frick later said, "Ruth was so thin it was unbelievable.  He had been such a big man and his arms were just skinny little bones, and his face was so haggard." 

The day after Ford's visit, August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died of pneumonia.  He was 53.  According to an autopsy, the cancer had begun in his nose and mouth and spread widely inside his body. 

After his death, the New York Times called him "a figure unprecedented in American life.  A born showman off the field and a marvelous performer on it, he had an amazing flair for doing the spectacular at the most dramatic moment."

#4 - Barry Bonds (1964- )

Position:
Left Field

Teams:
Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-1992)
San Francisco Giants (1993-2007)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .298
Home Runs:  762
RBI:  1,996
Slugging Percentage:  .607
On-Base Percentage:  .444
Hits:  2,935

Barry Lamar Bonds was born in Riverside, California but grew up in San Carlos, attending Junipero Serra High School, where he excelled in baseball, basketball, and football.  His father was the legendary Bobby Bonds, who made a name for himself primarily as a member of the San Francisco Giants, as well as several other teams.

From the years 1980-1982, Bonds was a star on his high school varsity baseball team and hit .467 during his senior year.  Barry was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 1982 Major League Baseball Draft, but they couldn't come to an agreement on a contract, so Barry opted out and attended college instead.  He attended Arizona State University, where he hit .347 with 45 homers and 175 RBI.  In 1984, he batted .360 and swiped 30 bases.  During the '85 season, he hit 23 homers with 66 runs driven to go along with a .368 batting average.  He graduated from college in 1986, and was then drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the draft (sixth pick).  He began his playing career in the minors, playing for the Prince William Pirates of the Carolina League, and then for the Hawaii Islanders of the Pacific Coast League.

Barry Bonds made his major league debut on May 30, 1986.  In the early years of his career, he batted in the lead-off position.  That season, he led all National League rookies with 16 homers, 48 RBI, 36 stolen bases, and 65 walks.  He failed to win Rookie of the Year, however (the award went to Todd Worrell, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals).  In 1987, Bonds smacked 25 homers, drove in 59 runs, and stole 32 bases.  He remained steady in 1988, hitting .283 with 24 home runs. 

Bonds won his first MVP award in 1990, hitting .301 with 33 homers and 114 RBI.  He also managed to steal 52 bases.  He also helped to lead his team to the postseason for the first time since 1979, though they lost the NLCS to the Cincinnati Reds.  Bonds hit 25 homers and drove in 116 runs in 1991, on his way to another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award.  He finished in second place in the MVP voting that year, behind Atlanta's Terry Pendleton.  In 1992, he took home his second MVP, hitting .311 with 34 homers and 103 RBI.  He took the Pirates to their third straight National League East division title, though they lost the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves.  It was expected that Bonds would likely be snatched up by another team after the season was over as he was set to become a free agent. 

In 1993, Bonds signed a contract worth a record (at the time) $43.75 million for 6 years with the San Francisco Giants.  Bonds made an immediate impact, batting .336 with 46 home runs and 123 RBI, leading him to his second consecutive (third overall) MVP award.  During the strike-shortened season in 1994, Bonds hit .312 with 37 homers and 74 walks.  In '95 he had a somewhat down year, hitting .294, drove in 104 runs, though he still hit 33 home runs.

In 1996, Bonds became the second (and currently only four) to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season.  He drove in 129 runs and walked a then-National League record 151 times.  He also became only the fourth player in history to hit 300 homers and steal 300 bases in his career.  1997 saw Barry hit 40 home runs with 101 RBI, though is batting average was the lowest it had been since '89 at .290.  He also again led the league in walks with 145.

In 1998, he became the first player to ever hit 400 homers and steal 400 bases in a career, while also batting .303 with 37 homers and 122 RBI.  In 2000, Bonds hit .306 with 49 homers.  He also had a career-best (at the time) slugging percentage of .688.

On April 17, 2001, Bonds hit his 500th career home run off of Terry Adams of the Los Angeles Dodgers.  That season saw Barry Bonds break the record for most home runs during a season with 73 (Roger Maris's record of 61 had been broken in 1998 by Mark McGwire, who belted 70).  He also hit .328 that season, with 137 RBI, drew a major league record 177 walks, and posted an incredible .863 slugging percentage.  He also gained his fourth MVP award.

In '02, Bonds signed a five-year, $90 million contract with the Giants.  He then went on to hit 46 home runs, slugged .749, and also walked 148 times.  In 2003, he became the sole member of the 500/500 club, with 500 homers and 500 stolen bases.  2004 was perhaps Bonds's best season overall.  He hit .362, while breaking his own record with 232 walks, as well as slugging .812.  He also managed to hit 45 home runs while only striking out 41 times.  That year, he won his fifth MVP award.  On July 4, 2004, Bonds broke Rickey Henderson's all-time walks record with 2,191.  Bonds would again win the MVP in 2005.

By the time 2006 rolled around, it was becoming fairly obvious that Bonds had a very legitimate shot of topping Hank Aaron's all-time home run record of 755.  He entered the season with 708 homers, just six shy of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the list.  On May 20, Bonds tied Ruth, and then surpassed him for second on the list on May 28.  However, he would finish 2006 only playing in 130 games (out of 162) with 26 homers and 77 RBI and posting a .270 batting average. 

On August 4, 2007, Bonds tied Hank Aaron with his 755th homer off Clay Hensley of the San Diego Padres.  Finally, on August 7, Bonds hit his 756th homer to claim the top position on the all-time home run list with a monster 435-foot shot off Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals.  He finished the '07 season batting .276 with 28 homers, 66 RBI, and 132 walks. 

The Giants stated in September 2007 that they would not be re-signing Bonds after the season was over.  A mad dash to sign the star player was expected, but because of the cloud of suspicion of steroid use that was hanging over Bonds, no team signed him in 2008 or 2009.  To this day, Bonds remains unemployed, though he has never officially announced his retirement.  He has, however, noted that he's not in good enough shape anymore to play Major League Baseball, so it seems very likely that he has played his last game.

It was tough to determine exactly where I wanted to place Barry Bonds on this list.  As I said in the intro, Kalb had him as the greatest baseball player of all time, but I just can't agree with that placement.  Steroid use aside, I believe that there are three other players who have put up more impressive numbers overall than Bonds.

The steroid scandal surrounding Barry Bonds has polarized many people, but I believe it to be a bit overblown.  Do I believe he took steroids?  Absolutely.  Many people compare the fact that his body is so incredibly different from his debut in the league, when he was a lean, speedy lead-off hitter, to the end of his career when he had a muscular frame that was more adept at blasting homers. 

But look at how much his head has grown from his younger days up till now!

 














If this guy hasn't used 'roids he needs to see a doctor because there is some serious swelling going on in that brain.

But does usage of performance-enhancing drugs nullify all of a player's accomplishments?  I don't think so.  Steroids didn't make Bonds a great hitter.  They may have helped make him a more powerful hitter, but steroids didn't give him the careful eye that allowed him to walk a record number of times or the impeccable timing required to make perfect contact with the ball.  Barry Bonds is an immensely talented baseball player who deserves recognition for the things he has accomplished.  He's an enormous jerk by all accounts, but that doesn't mean his stats shouldn't be recognized.  And who knows?  There's an excellent chance he could've broken Hank Aaron's record without steroids.  Most people forget that Aaron wasn't exactly muscle-bound.  He was just a great power hitter, which is exactly what Bonds is.  When Hank Aaron hit his final home run, number 755, he was 42 years old.  When Bonds surpassed Aaron with his 756th homer, he had just turned 43.  So it's not as though Bonds broke the record ten years earlier than Aaron did; he was actually older. 

Here is a year-by-year comparison of Bonds's and Aaron's home run totals:

Hank Aaron:                           Barry Bonds:                            
1954:  13                                1986:  16
1955:  27                                1987:  25
1956:  26                                1988:  24
1957:  44                                1989:  19
1958:  30                                1990:  33
1959:  39                                1991:  25
1960:  40                                1992:  34
1961:  34                                1993:  46
1962:  45                                1994:  37
1963:  44                                1995:  33
1964:  24                                1996:  42
1965:  32                                1997:  40
1966:  44                                1998:  37
1967:  39                                1999:  34
1968:  29                                2000:  49
1969:  44                                2001:  73
1970:  38                                2002:  46
1971:  47                                2003:  45
1972:  34                                2004:  45
1973:  40                                2005:  5
1974:  20                                2006:  26
1975:  12                                2007:  28
1976:  10

Aaron out-homered Bonds in 11 seasons (omitting the one season extra that Aaron played).  Bonds out-homered Aaron in 9 seasons.  Granted, when Bonds out-homered Aaron, it was sometimes by a pretty considerable margin (42-24, 49-29, 73-44, etc.).  Aaron started producing pretty large home run numbers starting with his fourth year in the league; Bonds started producing these numbers during his seventh year.  It seems like a fairly good comparison

Do we believe that Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stripped of his seven Mr. Olympia titles because he admitting to taking steroids during training?  No, because every other competitor was taking them, too.  So should we strip Bonds of his lifetime statistics because he likely took steroids?  No, because a considerable number of baseball players are probably taking them.  The difference is, Schwarzenegger was the best at what he did.  He was blessed with amazing genetics that aided him; the steroids were a supplement.  Likewise, Bonds was endowed with phenomenal athletic abilities; the steroids supplemented that.  No one else has put up the kinds of numbers Bonds has in many years. 

So do I advocate taking steroids?  No way.  The risks far outweigh the advantages.  I'm not sure that I would go so far as to say that these players are cheating by using them because I don't think they give the player a necessary advantage, as I showed with the Bonds-Aaron comparison.  They might, however, turn a 400-foot home run into a 475-foot home run.  But for every Barry Bonds, there is a Pablo Ozuna, or a Henry Owens, players who tested positive for steroids, but never put up anything approaching impressive numbers.  Players like Bonds, are in a league all their own, and he deserves to be recognized as such, in spite of the fact that he's a jerk.

#5 - Ty Cobb (1886-1961)

"The Georgia Peach"

Position:
Center Field

Teams:
As a player:
Detroit Tigers (1905-1926)
Philadelphia Athletics (1927-1928)

As a manager: 
Detroit Tigers (1921-1926)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .366
Home Runs:  117
RBI:  897
Slugging Percentage:  .512
On-Base Percentage:  .433
Hits:  4,189

Ty Cobb once said, "Sure, I fought.  I had to fight all my life just to survive.  They were all against me.  Tried every dirty trick to cut me down, but I beat the b******s and left them in the ditch."  Such was the temperament and surly demeanor of Tyrus Raymond Cobb.  Perhaps no player this side of Barry Bonds has alienated and polarized so many baseball fans as has this incredibly talented hitter, ironically nicknamed "The Georgia Peach."

Cobb was born in Narrows, Georgia to Amanda and William Cobb.  He initially spent his baseball career as a member of the Royston Rompers, the semi-pro Royston Reds, and the Augusta Tourists of the South Atlantic League.  The Tourists released Cobb on the second day of the season.  He then joined the Anniston Steelers of the Tennessee-Alabama League.  He began a regimen of sending postcard to sports editor Grantland Rice of the Atlanta Journal as a means of self-promotion.  Rice soon began to take notice of his accomplishments.  After three months, Cobb returned to the Tourists.  He ended up hitting .238 in 35 games.  In August 1905, the Tourists sold his contract to the Detroit Tigers.

On August 30, 1905 in his first major league at-bat, Cobb hit a double.  He ended up batting .240 in 41 games.  The following season, he became the Tigers full-time centerfielder and hit .316 in 98 games.  He would lead the Tigers to three straight American League penants, though they lost each year in the World Series with Cobb under-performing.  Four separate times throughout his career beginning in 1907, Cobb would get on base with a single, then steal second, steal third, and then steal home.  At the end of '07, he was batting .350 with 212 hits, 49 steals, and 119 RBI.  He became the youngest player to ever win the batting title at age 20 (Al Kaline broke the record in 1955 when he was twelve days younger than Cobb was).  Cobb again won the title the following season, batting .324.

In 1909, Cobb came into his own, winning the Triple Crown with a batting average of .377 with 107 RBI and nine homers, all of which were inside-the-park.  However, Cobb faltered once again in the World Series, as his uninspired performance allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the championship.

By the end of the 1910 season, Cobb had a .004 lead on Nap Lajoie for the American League batting title.  Cobb ended up benching himself for the final game so as not to lower his batting average.  Lajoie, on the other hand, got eight hits during his team's doubleheader.  Six of these hits were bunt singles, and they later came under scrutiny, so Cobb was awarded with the higher average of the two.  It was discovered, however, that one of the games Cobb had played was counted twice, but the decision to award Cobb with the title stood.

Cobb had an amazing year in 1911, though he was still trailing Cleveland Naps outfielder Shoeless Joe Jackson by .009 points.  Though the two were friendly with one another, Cobb engaged in intense mind games when his Tigers played against Jackson's Naps at the end of the season.  Cobb felt that these mind games caused Jackson's average to fall to .408 while Cobb finished with .420.  In addition to his sky-high batting average, Cobb also finished 1911 with 127 RBI, 83 stole bases, 47 doubles, 24 triples, and a .621 slugging percentage.  He ended up winning the American League MVP that year.

In 1915, Cobb set a new record for stolen bases in a season with 96, a record which stood until broken by Maury Wills in 1962.  His streak of five batting titles ended the following year when he came in second behind Tris Speaker.  In 1918, Cobb enlisted in the Chemical Corps of the United States Army.  He served 67 days in France before being honorably discharged and sent back home.

In 1921, Cobb signed a contract to take over managerial duties of the Detroit Tigers from Hughie Jennings.  He was not incredibly successful in this capacity, though he often blamed Tigers owner Frank Navin for not allowing him to acquire any major talent.

On August 9, 1921, Cobb collected his 3,000th hit.  He still remains the youngest player to ever reach this milestone, at 34 years old. 

As the 1920's emerged, it became clear that a new style of baseball was rearing its head.  Babe Ruth was hitting monster shots out of the park, and Cobb was not impressed.  Prior to Ruth's rise to prominence, baseball was in what was called the "deadball" era.  Players focused more on getting hits and then stealing bases than trying to swing for the fences.  Cobb was openly hostile towards Ruth, feeling that he was a threat to his beloved style of play.  So to show Ruth than any good hitter could do what he did, Cobb decided to play Ruth's game.  On May 5, 1925, Cobb went 6-for-6 with two singles, a double, and three home runs.  His 16 total bases set a new American League record.  The following day, he collected three more hits, two of which were homers.  By the time the series ended, Cobb had gone 12-for-19 with 29 total bases.  He then promptly returned to his old style of play.

At the end of the season, Cobb was once more battling another player, this time his own teammate Harry Heilmann, for the batting title.  Heilmann ended up besting Cobb .393 to .389.

In November 1926, Cobb ended his career, though it was soon revealed that he and Tris Speaker had both been coerced into retirement when information came to light that the two of them had placed bets on baseball games.  They both denied any wrongdoing, and the charges were eventually dropped when their accuser, former pitcher Dutch Leonard, failed to show up at the hearing.  Cobb returned to baseball and signed with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1927.  He returned for the 1928 season, but his skills had diminished with age.  On September 3, 1928, Cobb got his last hit in the major leagues, hitting a double against the Washington Senators.  He then announced his retirement.  He finished his career with 23 consecutive seasons batting .300 or better.  His final career batting was .366, a record which still stands.

Cobb retired a very rich man due to careful money management, as well as his investment in the Coca Cola Company.  At the time of his death, he owned 20,000 shares of stock as well as three bottling plants.  He also served as a celebrity spokesman.  He was named to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, though by this time he was beginning to smoke and drink heavily.  As his health began to suffer, he started rethinking the way he had lived his life.  He donated considerable amounts of his fortune to his hometown so that it could build a modern hospital, which was named Cobb Memorial Hospital.  In 1959, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, and Bright's Disease.  He checked himself into Emory Hospital on June 17, 1961, carrying a bag containing $1 million in negotiable bonds.  He died a month later on July 16, 1961.

Ty Cobb is a difficult player to assess.  As I stated in the introduction, he played in a different era, one that favored finesse over power, so it's hard to say how good a player he truly was.  However, I find that the fact that he could, indeed, hit home runs when he desired, shows that he was an incredibly smart, disciplined player who did what he needed to do to get on base. 

His surly demeanor also turns a lot of people off to him because he was, without a doubt, an overly-aggressive, sometimes dirty, player.  Cobb was incapable of enduring the typical rookie hazing he received from his teammates during his first year in the league.  This ended up alienating many of his peers. 

He was also a notorious racist, which wasn't extremely unusual at that time.  However, he took it to lengths most others didn't dare approach.  He once got into a fight with a black groundskeeper because he didn't approve of the condition of the Tigers's spring training field.  When the groundskeeper's wife intervened, he choked her.  He also once climbed into the stands to fight a heckler, who, it turned out, had only one hand (and the other was missing three fingers).  He slapped a black elevator operator because he was being "uppity."  When a black night watchman stepped in, Cobb stabbed him.  Most notoriously, though, was Cobb's habit of sharpening his spikes before a game to...I don't know...disembowel the catcher, I guess.

Ty Cobb cannot really be defended.  He did some terrible things to undeserving people.  Judged based on character alone, he wouldn't crack the top 1,000 of anyone's greatest baseball players list.  But there is no denying the prowess he possessed for the game of baseball, and although his achievements can't overshadow the egregious things he did off the diamond, his talent for the game is without question.

#6 - Ted Williams (1918-2002)

"The Kid"

Position:
Left Field
Right Field

Teams:
As a player:
Boston Red Sox (1939-1960)

As a manager:
Washington Senators/Texas Rangers (1969-1972)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .344
Home Runs:  521
RBI:  1,839
Slugging Percentage:  .634
On-Base Percentage:  .482
Hits:  2,654

Theodore Samuel Williams was born in San Diego, CA and grew up in the North Park neighborhood.  He was taught how to throw a baseball when he was eight by his uncle, a former semi-pro baseball player.  He attended and graduated from Herbert Hoover High School where he was a standout player, serving as a hitter-pitcher.  While still in high school, he received offers from the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees.  However, his mother felt he was still too young to leave home, so he signed with a minor league team named the San Diego Padres (Not the pro team.  This team was a member of the Pacific Coast League).

While Ted initially served as a backup in the PCL, one of his teammates soon resigned to become head coach of the University of Georgia's football team.  This opened a starting position up for Ted.  In 1936, he managed a .271 batting average on 107 at-bats for the Padres.  He finally caught the eye of Boston Red Sox general manager Eddie Collins while Collins was scouting teammates of Ted's.  The Padres won the PCL title, with Ted batting .291 with 23 homers.  In December 1937, a deal was struck that sent Ted to the Boston Red Sox while the Padres received $35,000, two major leaguers, and two other minor leaguers.

Williams made it about a week in major league spring training before being sent down to AA Minneapolis Millers.  Former major league standout, Rogers Hornsby was the spring manager for the Millers, and gave Ted useful advice on hitting and the steps he needed to take to make it in the major leagues.  This became a pattern for Ted, as he often hit up seasoned veterans for tips on how to improve his game.

Ted easily became the star of the team in Minneapolis.  He once posted a twenty-two game hitting streak that last from Memorial Day to mid-June.  Though the team as a whole put in a lackluster performance, Ted was a standout, batting .366 with 46 home runs, and 142 RBI, while receiving the American Association Triple Crown and coming in second place in the MVP voting.

The following year, Ted made his major league debut in right field.  In his first game on April 20, 1939, Ted went 1-for-4 against the Yankees.  In his first home series at Fenway Park, Williams hit a double, a home run, and a triple off Cotton Pippen.  At the end of his rookie season, he finished with a .327 batting average, with 31 homers, and 145 RBI, as well as coming in fourth place in MVP voting.

In 1940, Ted's made a move to left field to give another player more time in right field.  Though he batted .344, his power had diminished slightly from the previous year, with 23 home runs, and 113 RBI.  He also angered many people in Boston by claiming that his salary was "peanuts" and that he hated the city of Boston.  He also claimed that the only real fun he'd had in 1940 was getting the opportunity to pitch once during a blowout loss to Detroit.

In 1941, Ted broke his ankle during the second week of spring training, which forced the Red Sox to pinch hit him for the first two weeks of the season.  By May 15, he had started a 22-game hitting streak.  By the time the All-Star break had arrived, he was hitting .405 with 62 RBI and 16 homers.  By late August, he was hitting .402.  Though his average declined slightly by late September, Ted managed to rebound, hitting .406 with 37 homers and 120 RBI. 

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.  In January 1942, Williams was drafted into the military.  Williams lobbied to be granted a Class 3-A deferrment because his parents had divorced in 1939, and Williams was his mother's only source of income.  His request was granted, but public perception was very negative, causing some of Williams' sponsors to drop him as a spokesman.  The conditions of the reclassification obliged Williams to join the military at the end of the season.  During the 1942 season, Ted won the Triple Crown with a .356 average with 36 homers and 137 RBI.  He came in second in the MVP voting. 

At the end of the year Ted entered the military, while also playing ball in Chapel Hill, North Carolina during preflight training.  He served as a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Pensacola.  He was then sent to Pearl Harbot awaiting his orders to join the China fleet when the war ended.  In January 1946, he was released from active duty, though he did remain in the reserves.

Afterwards, Ted made his one and only postseason appearance in the 1946 World Series.  He managed only five singles in 25 at-bats, with only one RBI.  The Sox lost to the Cardinals in seven games.  Williams was nearly traded to the Yankees in 1947 for Joe DiMaggio, though the deal was later cancelled when the Red Sox learned that the Yanks demanded Yogi Berra be shipped to Boston as well.  Many believed that Williams would have shone in Yankee Stadium as it was much more friendly to left-handed batters, such as Williams.

On May 1, 1952, Ted was recalled to active military duty to serve in the Korean War.  Williams was unhappy being called back into service, but he felt it was his patriotic duty to serve his country, so he went without complaint.  He ended up flying 39 missions before being pulled from flight status in June 1953 because of an inner ear infection which disqualified him from flying.

After returning to the Major Leagues, Ted broke his collarbone in 1954.  Despite this, he ended up with the league's highest batting average at .345.  In '57, he hit .388, and in '58, at the age of 40, incredibly led the league in average once again with .328.  In Ted's final major league at-bat on September 28, 1960, he capped off his incredible career by hitting a home run.

Williams spent his entire career obsessed with the art of hitting a baseball.  He often studied wind and air currents before games, studied pitchers and fielders, and spent much of his time in left field practicing his swing by watching his shadow on the ground.  He also received criticism due to this obsession because he allowed it to interfere with his defensive abilities.  Ted was a rather lackluster fielder, though he did possess a very powerful throwing arm.  However, hitting was always at the top of Ted's priority list, which was evident by the incredible numbers he put up.  He even released a book in 1970 called "The Science of Hitting." 

After retirement, Ted became manager of the expansion Washington Senators, and remained in that capacity after they relocated to Texas and became the Rangers.  His managerial record was fairly poor, with his best season being an 86-76 record in 1969.  After this, Ted would sometimes visit Red Sox training camp and tutor young players on the art of hitting.  Surprisingly, Ted entered into a successful career as a fly fisherman, being named to the International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame in 2000.  He also began marketing and endorsing sports equipment for Sears.

During Ted's final years, he began to have heart problems.  A pacemaker was installed in 2000 and he underwent open-heart surgery in 2001.  After suffering several strokes and congestive heart failure, he died of cardiac arrest in Citrus Hills, FL on July 5, 2002 at the age of 83.

#7 - Lou Gehrig (1903-1941)

"The Iron Horse"

Position:
First Base

Teams:
New York Yankees (1923-1939)

Career Statistics:
Batting Average:  .340
Home Runs:  493
RBI:  1,995
Slugging Percentage:  .632
On-Base Percentage:  .447
Hits:  2,721

Henry Louis Gehrig was born in Manhattan to German immigrants.  He first attracted attention for his athletic abilities at Cubs Park (now Wrigley Field) on June 26, 1920.  His team, New York School of Commerce, was playing Lane Tech High School of Chicago.  In the top of the ninth inning, with his team ahead 8-6, Gehrig crushed a grand slam that completely left the major league park.  He was 17 years old.

After graduating high school in 1921, Gehrig attended Columbia University for two years.  Though he was unaware of it at the team, he had rendered himself ineligible to play baseball for the university because he had played for a professional summer league during his freshman year.  He was, however, allowed to play football and became an exemplary fullback.  He later regained his baseball eligibility and played that sport as well.

On April 18, 1923, Gehrig struck out seventeen hitters from Williams College, though his Columbia team ended up losing the game.  Yankees scout, Paul Krichell attended this game, though he was more impressed with Gehrig's powerful swing than his pitching prowess.  He had once hit a 450-foot home run at Columbia's South Field which ended up on 116th Street and Broadway.  Two months later, Gehrig signed a contract to play with the New York Yankees.

He joined the Yanks midway through the 1923 season, debuting on June 15 as a pinch hitter.  He remained primarily a pinch hitter for his first two seasons.  He played in only 23 games and was not added to the 1923 World Series roster.  In 1925, he batted .295 with 20 home runs and 68 RBI.

However, in 1926, Gehrig began to show his true potential.  He batted .313 with 47 doubles, 20 triples, 16 homers, and 112 RBI.  During the World Series that year, he pounded the St. Louis Cardinals, hitting .348 with two doubles, and four RBI.  The Cardinals ended up winning the Series 4-3. 

In 1927, Gehrig put up batting numbers that were some of the greatest in the history of the game.  He batted .373 with 218 hits:  52 doubles, 18 triples, 47 homers, 175 RBI (a record, until Hack Wilson drove in 190 runs in 1930), and a .765 slugging percentage.  His Yankees ended up defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates that year in the World Series.  Gehrig was named MVP that season, though his accomplishment was overshadowed by Babe Ruth's (his teammate) record-setting 60 home runs.  The Yankees lineup at this time is still considered one of the greatest ever, and is known by the sinister nickname "Murderer's Row."

Gehrig often found himself living in the shadow of the larger-than-life Babe Ruth, though the numbers he put up were beyond impressive.  He had 509 RBI during a three-year stretch (1930-1932).  Only Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg have ever batted in over 500 runners over three seasons, though their accomplishments took place over non-consecutive seasons.  He hit over .350 or better during six seasons, and seven seasons with 150 RBI or more, 11 seasons with over 100 walks, eight seasons with 200 or more hits, and five seasons with over 40 homers. 

One of the major accomplishments Lou Gehrig is renowned for is his 2,130 consecutive games played (a record which Cal Ripken, Jr. broke on  September 6, 1995), for which he was nicknamed "The Iron Horse."  He played through pain and terrible injuries on many occasions, such as getting hit in the head by a Washington Senators pitcher and suffering through a terrible bout of back pain (which many believe may have been an early symptom of the disease which would later claim his life).  Additionally, x-rays taken later in his life showed that every one of the fingers on each of his hands had been broken at some point during his playing career, injuries that he had continued to play through.  On the other hand, Yankees general manager, Ed Barrow, once postponed a game because of rain, even though it was not raining, all because Gehrig had the flu and would not be able to compete.

Mid-way through the 1938 season, Gehrig reported some physical changes.  He said, "I tired mid-season.  I don't know why, but I just couldn't get going again."  Though his stats from that season were still impressive, they had dropped considerably from 1937.  When the Yanks began spring training in 1939, it was clear something was seriously wrong with Gehrig.  His base running was affected, and at one point he collapsed at the Yankees spring training park.  He did not hit a single home run the entire pre-season.  By the end of April, his stats were the worst of his career, and it was obvious his coordination was off.  He was only batting .143 with one RBI.  He was still making contact with the ball, but his legendary power seemed to have disappeared seemingly overnight.  On May 2, Gehrig approached manager Joe McCarthy and said that he was benching himself for the good of the team.  He stayed with the Yankees as the team captain for the remainder of the season, but he would never play a major league game again.

As his symptoms becamse increasingly worse, Gehrig's wife contacted the Mayo Clinic and she was told to bring him in immediately.  They arrived on June 13, 1939.  After a rigorous battery of tests, Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which causes rapidly progressing paralysis, as well as difficulty speaking and swallowing.  The life expectancy was about three years. 

The Yankees announced Gehrig's retirement on June 21 and proclaimed July 4 "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day."  Between games of the Yankees's double header against the Washington Senators, a ceremony was held for Lou Gehrig.  Dignitaries and members of the 1927 Yankees World Championship Team (including Babe Ruth) attended.  Gehrig's number "4" was retired by the Yankees, the first Major League Baseball player to ever be awarded such an honor.  Footage of the ceremony shows many gifts being handed to Gehrig, though he had to immediately sit them down as he didn't have the arm strength to hold them.  After tearful speeches by manager, Joe McCarthy and former teammate, Babe Ruth, Gehrig stepped up to the mike and delivered one of the most famous speeches in sports history:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you've been reading about the bad break I got.  Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.  I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men.  Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day?  Sure I'm lucky.  Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert (owner of the Yankees)?  Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow (manager of the Yankees)?  To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins (teammate of Gehrig)?  Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy?  Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something.  When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something.  When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something.  When you have a father and mother who work all their lives so that you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing.  When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I've got an awful lot to live for.  Thank you."

Lou Gehrig received a two minute standing ovation.  Afterward, Babe Ruth came over and hugged him as the band played "I Love You Truly."  Gehrig was unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939, at the age of 36.

In October 1939, Gehrig accepted Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's offer of a ten-year term as New York City Parole Commissioner.  As on the baseball field, Gehrig efficiently performed his duties.  When official documents had to be signed, his wife guided his hand.  About a month before his death, his condition had deteriorated to a point where he was forced to resign his position. 

On June 2, 1941, two years after his retirement from baseball, Lou Gehrig died at his home in The Bronx.  

Lou Gehrig (l) being embraced by former teammate Babe Ruth after his farewell ceremony.