Making up my list of the Top-10 baseball players of all-time was an exercise based almost entirely in statistics. There was no other way I could do it. For one, no other sport lends itself to be judged entirely on stats like baseball. Also, it was the only way I could honestly compare the players of today to the ones who came before I was born, before my parents were born, even before my grandparents were born.
Now, I stand by my rankings wholeheartedly, but my only regret is that they don’t feel as personal as they could be. I call myself a numbers guy, and these players certainly have the numbers to qualify for any Top-10 list. But if you were to ask me to name my Top-10 players off the top of my head, based more on personal opinion, my list would have looked very different.
In my mind, Sandy Koufax was the greatest pitcher ever, but since he retired early, his career totals don’t stack up with those of Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and others. I based my analysis off career numbers, so he didn’t make the cut.
Without a doubt in my mind, Albert Pujols is the greatest player of his generation, yet he doesn’t get any credit on my list because he hasn’t played his full career yet.
Having Barry Bonds at fifth doesn’t sit quite right with me, but he has the numbers, tainted as they may be, so he stayed. Ted Williams, very curiously, didn’t have the numbers I was looking for and ranks lower than he would have on my off-the-cuff list.
Despite my misgivings about what may or may not have gone into the official list, I ultimately enjoyed and am proud of it. Geeking out and devising complex mathematical formulas to determine greatness is pretty much what baseball’s all about. It’s what made list-making fun for me.
--from @jeuneski
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