Who's your favorite baseball player currently? Who's your favorite baseball player of all-time?

Glorified KC

These questions popped in my head the other night.  Baseball has gone insane with the home run over the past few years, however fan support continues to decrease and there's a looming negotiation for a new CBA.  Do you still enjoy the game of baseball and is there a player you loved growing up?  Is there still a player you love right now?

SPEEDY MCCREADY

Growing up

The Cubs had a 3rd baseman, Bill Madlock, who won back to back batting titles in 75 and 76. He was a hitting Machine. The Cubs, being the cheap ding-a-lings that they were at the time, traded him away, instead of giving him a pay raise. He went on to win 3 more batting titles, and a World Series in 79 with Pittsburgh. I would have loved to have seen Mantle, Clemente, and Mays play. I do remember seeing Aaron play his last couple years.

I cant say that I love any players today. Im 53 years old, and I just don't have the passion for baseball as I had 40 years ago. But I have to give Trout all the credit in the world. When his career comes to an end, he just may be considered the greatest of all time.

mfc2006

I definitely still enjoy the game today. It's honestly the only major sport that I watch on a very regular basis. The homers seem a bit out of control, but the game as a whole is just as exciting to watch. (Of course it helps that my team, the Astros, is playing well. Those 100 loss seasons were tough to watch, but I still watched them.) My current favorite player is Jose Altuve. My favorite player on another team has to be Trout. Those 2 are just a lot of fun to watch.

Growing up, I loved watching Mike Scott, Nolan Ryan, Jose Cruz and many other Astros. My favorite player growing up from another team was Greg Maddux. I loved watching him pitch.

MayDay10

I like Francisco Lindor.  Great player, plays for my favorite team and just seems to have fun and is always smiling.

When I was a kid?  Maybe Cal Ripkin or Ryne Sandberg


Favorite player of all time is Ty Cobb

SPEEDY MCCREADY

I remember my dad taking me to a game back in the late 70's. Cubs/Dodgers

Back when the Dodgers had Lopes/Russell/Cey/Garvey. We had great seats in the lower box. I remember having a 35m camera and getting pictures . Cey and Garvey actually posed together for me. I still to this day(its actually 10 feet away from me in my closet) have my autograph book, that those 4 signed. Great memory.

Have lots of great memories of going to Wrigley with dad.

F Me In The Brain

Still love it

Favorite now?  Joey Votto.  His game is declining but his sense of humor is awesome.  The crap this guy does/says just kills me.

Favorite of all time?  Ken Griffey, Jr.   Too bad my favorite player was traded to my favorite team after his greatest days, but it was still cool to have him on the team.

Favorite as a kid?  Eric Davis.

bootlegger10

Don’t pay attention now but grew up a big Cubs fan in the 80’s and 90’s and Mark Grace was my favorite player.  It was fun watching all the games on WGN in the afternoons.  Was a great time to be a Bulls fan too.

SPEEDY MCCREADY

The last time I went to a game because I JUST HAD to see a certain player live in concert?

Back in the mid 90's I went to Comiskey because Griffey Jr. was in town. Jr. hit 2 dingers.

Mission accomplished!  

SPEEDY MCCREADY

bootlegger10 said:

Don’t pay attention now but grew up a big Cubs fan in the 80’s and 90’s and Mark Grace was my favorite player.  It was fun watching all the games on WGN in the afternoons.  Was a great time to be a Bulls fan too.

Running home from school in the mid 70's, to catch the last 3 innings or so of the Cubs on WGN. Good memories.

bbiggs

Favorite player growing up was Ryne Sandberg.

Favorite player today is Anthony Rizzo.  He epitomizes being a professional ball player. 

SPEEDY MCCREADY

bbiggs said:

Favorite player growing up was Ryne Sandberg.

Favorite player today is Anthony Rizzo.  He epitomizes being a professional ball player. 

I agree with you on Rizzo. Both he and Bryant come across as just true professionals.

dankind

This is impossible.

Who started this thread? Some fucking sick masochist -- that's who!

ed243421

JojoRice

Growing up, Dale Murphey was my favorite.  He's the reason I wore #3 when I played little league. Had the privilege of meeting him a few years and is an awesome guy.  

Meltdown99

Growing up Jack Morris.

Today none.  Baseball sucks...

Glorified KC

dankind said:

This is impossible.

Who started this thread? Some fucking sick masochist -- that's who!

Hey I may be a masochist, but I am not sick!  MAKE UP YOUR MIND!!!

Glorified KC

Growing up was always tough for me to pick a favorite, because my team wasn't any good between 1986-2013 (Royals).  My current favorite is Alex Gordon.  Growing up, I did admire the hell out of Cal Ripken Jr.

pjhawks

today I'd have to say Mike Trout.  the game does suck today though. it's all strikeouts, home runs and pitching changes. might as well just check your phone for the score once in a while that watch. the ball is rarely actually put in play.

young kid growing up my favorite was Larry Bowa.  he made me want to play shortstop for the Phillies.  alas of course that didn't happen.

other favorites from youngster to mid age in no particular order: Dave Parker, Andre Dawson, Will Clark, Don Mattingly, Lenny Dykstra, JR Richard, Ryan Howard, John-tonight-let-it-be-Lowenstein

brianlux

I've lost much of my love for baseball.  I still love the game itself, but what I don't love is the way it's organized.  At one time, there was a fair degree of consistency in a teams make up.  For example, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Jim Davenport all played for the S.F. Giants very close to the same years, each averaging 12 to 14 years with the team.  What a blast it was to see those guys play year after year!  That just never happens anymore.  There is no consistency and players get traded out like musical chairs.

My favorite player of all time?  Tough choice, but I'd have to go with Willie Mays.  I loved seeing him play many a game in that foggy, breezing old Candlestick Park.

Glorified KC

The older I've gotten, the less I'll watch a game "casually." I remember thinking in 2015 that the game was doing great, however i was only thinking this in the vacuum of, my team just won the World Series.  I've really started falling out of touch with teams and players that aren't members of my favorite team.

dankind

I'm fairly close to giving up on it altogether. The changes they've made to the game to appease the short attention spans of today's "fans" has killed the spirit of the game. There was a purity about it that just isn't there anymore for me. I'll likely not renew my 10-game plan next season. I still love Fenway Park and the Red Sox, but the game being played on the field these days is soulless.

Glorified KC

What's depressing to me is how much incentive there is to be the worst in baseball to get high draft picks, especially in smaller markets.  Kudos to the Cubs and Astros making it work.  However, my team went from champs to the second-to-third worst team in baseball a few years later.  Now, they're mired in another string of 90-100 loss seasons, while they try to re-stock their farm system.  Most of the AL has teams tanking just so they can try to copy what the Astros and Cubs did.  The same can be said in the NFL and NBA, however the amount of time it takes to rebuild is so much longer in baseball.

ed243421

dankind said:

I'm fairly close to giving up on it altogether. The changes they've made to the game to appease the short attention spans of today's "fans" has killed the spirit of the game. There was a purity about it that just isn't there anymore for me. I'll likely not renew my 10-game plan next season. I still love Fenway Park and the Red Sox, but the game being played on the field these days is soulless.

markymark550

Current: Ronald Acuña 
Growing up: Tom Glavine
Yes, I'm a Braves homer. 

Glorified KC

markymark550 said:

Current: Ronald Acuña 
Growing up: Tom Glavine
Yes, I'm a Braves homer. 

Nothing wrong with that.  When I was at my folks last year, they had me go through some boxes of my stuff from when I was little.  I found a book I drew when I was 6, where Bo Jackson was teaching me how to hit home runs.  Maybe Bo Jackson was my favorite growing up.  It would be a homer thing for me to say George Brett, but I was too young to appreciate Brett in his prime.  I do remember his 3,000 hit at least.

Wobbie

Bumgarner

Bonds

cutz

ed243421 said:

Nice !!

HesCalledDyer

I still love the game of baseball at its core, but I admit I'm a little old & grumpy when it comes to the exit velo, launch angle, home run or sit the fuck down that the game is quickly becoming.  It's always going to be my favorite sport, no matter what, and I'm sure we'll eventually cycle back to hitting, slugging (and by that I mean hitting doubles & triples, not just homers), advancing runners, etc.  History repeats and I can't help but think what we're going through now is likely how many people felt 100 years ago.  But the bottom line is, baseball is and always will be the best.

Growing up, Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player.  He and Harry Caray are the two main reasons I'm a Cubs fan.  Grace, Dawson, & Sosa are up there as far as Cubs fandom goes.  Kirby Puckett was my favorite non-Cub, and I was also a big fan of the hometown boy John Kruk.

Favorite current player is Anthony Rizzo.  Non-Cub would be Buster Posey.

eeriepadave

Current: Rhys Hoskins.

Runner-up: Mike Trout (if he didn't play on the west coast maybe would be my favorite). I'm on the east coast so I rarely get to see him play.

All-time: Mike Schmidt

Runners-up: Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., and when he first came out until the steroid scandal I was a huge Roger Clemens fan

Wobbie

HesCalledDyer said:

I still love the game of baseball at its core, but I admit I'm a little old & grumpy when it comes to the exit velo, launch angle, home run or sit the fuck down that the game is quickly becoming.  It's always going to be my favorite sport, no matter what, and I'm sure we'll eventually cycle back to hitting, slugging (and by that I mean hitting doubles & triples, not just homers), advancing runners, etc.  History repeats and I can't help but think what we're going through now is likely how many people felt 100 years ago.  But the bottom line is, baseball is and always will be the best.

Growing up, Ryne Sandberg was my favorite player.  He and Harry Caray are the two main reasons I'm a Cubs fan.  Grace, Dawson, & Sosa are up there as far as Cubs fandom goes.  Kirby Puckett was my favorite non-Cub, and I was also a big fan of the hometown boy John Kruk.

Favorite current player is Anthony Rizzo.  Non-Cub would be Buster Posey.

Harry Caray was the worst.

worst. ever.

F Me In The Brain

I loved Ron Santo.

Caray?  Not so much.