Best Baseball players of the past decade

JonnyPistachio

I usually hear Albert Pujols name.

But I saw an interesting statistic -- Ichiro Suzuki has over 2,300 hits in just ten seasons in MLB. too bad he didn't spend his whole career, he might have had a run at Pete Rose's hit record.

and what about the next decade? I hope Mauer can get healthy. And is Bautista here to stay?

81

are we allowed to include roid users?

if yes, i'm going with Bonds

if not, i'm going with Halladay

musicismylife78

i would argue without question the most dominant player of our generation, though not necessarily the past decade was griffey jr. taking out the users on the homer list, he'd be 4th. Behind only Aaron, Babe, and Mays. That alone is a stunning statistic. have a look at the list to get a good idea of how far ahead he is of anyone of his generation. Junior had 630, the next two behind him were Arod and Sammy Sosa, so they dont count. They used. Jim Thome is at 593. Frank Robinson at 586. And the fact he did it relatively quietly. None of the fanfare of a mcgwire or bonds or sosa. but he did it nonetheless, and without doping.

jeter seems to be viewed as the ultimate classy guy.

So yeah junior, and jeter are my two picks.

JonnyPistachio

The 81 wrote:

are we allowed to include roid users?

if yes, i'm going with Bonds

if not, i'm going with Halladay

Yeah, Bonds of course had a great decade, and insane statistical increase in 2000-2001. hmm

I like the ones that sneak up on you though. I never really hear news of Ichiro, and now he's like 37-38 years old. Of course, that's because his team is never too good. Also I think i heard that Mark Grace had the most hits in the 90's. That surprised me (if it was in fact correct)

musicismylife78

going through that list is kind of sad. You have to take out so many players. Mcgwire, sosa, bonds, palmiero, Aod, ramirez, giambi, conseco, sheffield

FenwayFaithful

Past decade? Does Pedro qualify? His era of dominance was 97-04, so he wasn't exactly the last decade.

Yellow Ledbelly

Bonds never would've been news if Junior hadn't have gotten the injury bug....that dude would've blown him away...would've obliterated the record.

Last decade....Pujols and Jeter definitely belong there. Not a position player of course, but Big Papi has been one of the best, most-consistent hitters around for a while

81

Yellow Ledbelly wrote:

Big Papi

don't the best players typically play a position

Yellow Ledbelly

The 81 wrote:

Yellow Ledbelly wrote:

Big Papi

don't the best players typically play a position

Duly noted in my post.

Cool Face Ryan

Willie Bloomquist, the silent assassin

MayDay10

I vote for Ichiro.


Almost completely under the radar.

Cool Face Ryan

In seriousness it has to be Albert Pujols. He's done things that no one else has done, consistently putting up great numbers. Ichiro is a great player, but Pujols has outperformed him over the last 10 years in my opinion.

FenwayFaithful

JD Drew :?

mfc2006

Craig Biggio gets my vote

RW81233

FenwayFaithful wrote:

Past decade? Does Pedro qualify? His era of dominance was 97-04, so he wasn't exactly the last decade.

You could even stretch Pedro's era of being a great pitcher to 1994-2005 with his true dominance between 97-03. The fact that he doesn't have 6-7 Cy Youngs instead of just 3 is a shame.

LloydXmas

Lincecum gets my vote.

He's already got 1000 Ks and many more to come.

arq

The 81 wrote:

are we allowed to include roid users?

if yes, i'm going with Bonds

if not, i'm going with Halladay

Roids? hemorrhoids?

The Juggler

DOUG GLANVILLE.

pjl44

I'd say Pujols and ARod. Ichiro is definitely in the conversation and a first ballot HOFer. Sleeper? Check out Lance Berkman's numbers...dude's had a solid decade. Best pitcher is Halladay.

musicismylife78

pujols is interesting. never seen him play, but i know mark mcgwire suggested that pujols could be the best player in history by the time he retires. I know mcgwire isnt the most credible of sources, but i always supported him and still support him because i genuinely think he feels sorry and upset and ashamed of doping. i think few of those who doped in baseball have felt sorry and ashamed.

reguardless, is that assertion correct? could pujols be the best player in history in 10-15 years?

musicismylife78

arod and any of the other dopers will never be accepted as great players. i think you will always see people saying "but he doped" when they talk about bonds, or mcgwire, or sosa or any of those guys.

its the non dopers that will always be respected. i'd start naming off people and players who have used and i think its a safe bet, history will look kind on them

LloydXmas

musicismylife78 wrote:

arod and any of the other dopers will never be accepted as great players. i think you will always see people saying "but he doped" when they talk about bonds, or mcgwire, or sosa or any of those guys.

its the non dopers that will always be respected. i'd start naming off people and players who have used and i think its a safe bet, history will look kind on them

I was watching MLB Network last week and they were doing the top 50 Calls in MLB history. McGuire and Bonds were both on there and I couldn't help but feel bummed out that these guys ruined my young adult baseball experience.

Even as a Yankee fan, if Arod breaks the record, it'll still be Hanks to me

SomethingCreative

manutd3581 wrote:

Willie Bloomquist, the silent assassin

hahaha you may be from Jersey...but you're a true seattle sports "fan" at heart

Thoughts_Arrive

Sir Donald Bradman.

&

Michael Jordan.

polaris_x

gotta separate pitchers from position players ...

pitcher: halladay ... he's been consisently awesome, and whether or not he has his best stuff ... he works hard and eats innings up ...

position: pujols narrowly over ichiro ... both have gold gloves so they can play their position ... the home runs outweigh the stolen bases ...

he.who.forgets

Since the OP referenced "players" plural, I'm gonna throw Chipper Jones' name in the hat. I'd say he's at least top 10. He's another classic victim of the aforementioned injury bug (the last 5-6 years). 305 career average, 2500 hits, 442 HRs, 6-time all star. Solid all around ballplayer and he's spent his entire career with the same team.

pjl44

he.who.forgets wrote:

Since the OP referenced "players" plural, I'm gonna throw Chipper Jones' name in the hat. I'd say he's at least top 10. He's another classic victim of the aforementioned injury bug (the last 5-6 years). 305 career average, 2500 hits, 442 HRs, 6-time all star. Solid all around ballplayer and he's spent his entire career with the same team.

Yup. Should be another first ballot HOFer.

Gary Carter

BabaBooey1979 wrote:

Even as a Yankee fan, if Arod breaks the record, it'll still be Hanks to me

in some peoples mind ruth is still the home run champion since hank had more games to play

DewieCox

Pujols is #1, no questions asked. How many times have you heard "best first 10 years of a career by a player EVER" when describing him?

Some of the people mentioned seem too old to be on the list for the last decade.

Dissidentman

Iván Rodríguez

JonnyPistachio

pjl44 wrote:

I'd say Pujols and ARod. Ichiro is definitely in the conversation and a first ballot HOFer. Sleeper? Check out Lance Berkman's numbers...dude's had a solid decade. Best pitcher is Halladay.

This is what I like about these topics. Guys like Lance Berkman sneak in under the radar. He's doing well again this year.