THE 10 MOST ELECTRIFYING BASEBALL PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY

This list contains baseball players that took your breath away with dazzling speed, awesome power, or a combination of both.  Here they are, the top 10—in reverse order!

10.  Jim Thorpe--Thorpe is, hands down, the greatest multi-sport athlete of all time. In 1912, Thorpe won Olympic gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon (both of which show ridiculous versatility). He won eight of the 15 individual events. His point total stood for more than two decades before it was bested.  He played professional football for 13 years, Major League Baseball for seven years and professional basketball for at least two years.  

Why is he so low on this list?  Because this list centers on being electrifying on the baseball field.  While his athleticism set him apart, his baseball skills were not to the level of others on this list.

9.  Willie Mays—I had the opportunity to watch Mays in the late ‘60’s, and even then (well past his prime), you knew he was a special athlete.  At that time, there was a host of great ballplayers you knew would be counted among the best in history (Aaron, Mantle, Clemente, Frank Robinson).  Somehow Mays seemed to be the best of them all.  Mantle had declined dramatically—it was almost depressing, and Aaron lacked the fizzle of Mays.  As an outfielder, I believe Mays was the best in history.  He won 12 total Gold Gove Awards.  He had a natural flair, making easy “basket” catches and countless highlight film caliber plays.  Unfortunately, sports television coverage was not the same at that time and younger people don’t appreciate Mays. 
 
I may be wrong about ranking Mantle ahead of Mays on this particular chart.  Mantle seemed a little more powerful and possibly faster (close call) during his younger years, but Mays just seemed more active and electrifying.  I’m giving the slight edge to Mantle based upon his post season play, an area Mays did poorly, with the exception of the 1954 Vic Wertz catch.  

8.  Dave Winfield--Winfield played with speed and power.  As an outfielder, he won the Gold Glove seven times. Winfield, who played for the University of Minnesota, was the Gophers' best hitter and pitcher, not bad since Minnesota made it to the semis of the 1973 College World Series. 

But there's more to Winfield. He was also good enough to play pro basketball, being drafted by both the Atlanta Hawks and the Utah Stars after starring as a power forward on Minnesota's Big Ten championship team. And he was such an amazing athlete that even though he never played a single down in college, the Vikings selected him in the 1973 draft. No other athlete has ever been drafted in all three pro sports.


7.   Frank Howard—I was reading an article in the local sports page about the longest homeruns in history.  Among the discussions of Mantle and others, the author mentioned a legendary homerun hit by Frank Howard, that was erroneously ruled foul, that went clean out of the old Yankee Stadium—in left field no less (substantially longer than right field).  Since a fair ball had never been hit out of the old Yankee Stadium, not even in the shorter right field, it didn’t seem possible.  Well it really happened.  I was there with my dad at that ’69 game and marveled at Howard’s raw power as the ball carried well over the foul pole and the left field fence, just leveling out to horizontal as it cleared the stadium’s outside wall.  Frank Howard was a big, passive guy, who didn’t make a fuss when the umpire made his delayed ruling of the ball being foul.  The umpire was probably stunned.  Yankees outfielder Bobby Murcer acknowledged to the press the ball was clearly fair.  Long story short, in my mind, Frank Howard hit the furthest ball in history, and routinely hit mammoth shots. 
 
At a listed 6’7” or 6’8’ with a weight of 255 to 275, Howard was an imposing figure.  He wasn’t much of an outfielder and seemed slow and plodding.  As an athlete, he was good enough to make All American Teams at Ohio State University in both basketball and baseball.  He was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors, but chose baseball, initially playing for the Dodgers, where he was Rookie of the Year.  Over his career he would hit 382 home runs, during a time when offense was diminished.  He probably should be in the Hall of Fame over a couple dozen over-rated singles hitters.

6.  Rickey Henderson—How can you not love Rickey!  No joke—Rickey once received a million dollar bonus from the Oakland A’s and had the check framed.  Months later, when the A’s tried to clear up the million dollar discrepancy in their books, they discovered Rickey had the check hanging on his wall and had never cashed it.  Rickey confirms this story during an interview that can be found on YouTube.  Classic Rickey.

As a player, Rickey was the epitome of electrifying.  He always played with flair and seemed to take matters right to the brink of disaster as a base runner.  When all was said and done though, he produced.  In fact, he retired as the all time record holder in runs scored (2295), his most cherished record.  As a base stealer, he took the art form to a whole new level that will never be matched.  He finished his career with 1406 steals, miles ahead of second place (Lou Brock at 938).  It’s doubtful any future player will make it halfway to Rickey’s totals in steals.   In the ‘80’s, he would drive pitchers crazy.  Amazingly enough, he continued to be a productive, high success rate base stealer right up to his retirement (2003) , a real tribute to his longevity and conditioning. 
 
Rickey was also a highly touted running back in high school at Oakland Tech.  I believe he would have been a successful Barry Sanders type of football player had he gone that route, taking into account his cockiness and explosive running.

5.  Mark McGwire—I believe McGwire has gotten a raw deal from sports writers.  Yes, we know he took performance enhancing drugs, but my strong belief is that we will learn in years to come that most other hitters, as well as the pitchers McGwire faced, used performance enhancing drugs at different points in their careers as well.  The money and stakes are just too high.  I’m not condoning anything, it’s just reality. 
 
Anyway, anyone who carefully watched McGwire during his glory period knows what a hitting monster he was.  Don’t tell me Tony Gwynn was actually a better hitter because of his high average.  That is totally ridiculous.  McGwire brought absolute fear to opposing pitchers and crushed the ball like nobody had since Mantle and Howard—maybe even further.  To appreciate the awesome power McGwire demonstrated during 1998, for example, you need to compare the average distance of McGwire’s homers to Barry Bonds in 2002.  McGwire hit several balls over 500 feet that season.  Watch the home run derbies.  McGwire didn’t need to win to take your breath away.  When he connected, he was a different animal.  All other power hitters bowed down to McGwire’s superior strength.  It wasn’t even close.  For his career, McGwire averaged a home run once every 10.61 at bats, the lowest home run per at bats ratio in baseball history. 

4.   Mickey Mantle—The “Commerce Comet” was widely considered to be the fastest in the game during his peak years.  He’s given credit for having the fastest recorded time running to first base, though one has to question the accuracy of the timing.  In film footage of his lefty drag bunts, one could see his amazing speed.  As a switch hitter, we know he had incredible power from both sides.  With the possible exception of Mark McGwire, Mantle probably had the most tape measure shot home runs of anyone.  He ended his career with 18 World Series home runs and several other World Series records.

3.   Bo Jackson—In eight major-league seasons, Bo hit .250 with 141 HRs and 415 RBI.  He also returned after surgery, and playing with a prosthetic hip, hit 29 homers in his final two seasons. In four part-time NFL seasons with the Raiders, he played only 38 games, but ran for 2,782 yards, an average of 5.4 yards per carry.
Bo's best baseball season came in 1989, when he hit .256 with 32 homers, 105 RBI and 26 stolen bases. He was named MVP of the All-Star game in 1989, and five months later, after he rushed for 950 yards in just 11 games for the Raiders, was named to the Pro Bowl team.  Most of us remember his dominant Monday Night Football game when he single handedly destroyed Brian Bosworth and the Seattle Seahawks.  His yardage for that game remains a Monday Night Football record. 
 
Along with being the only true all-star in two major sports, at least that I can think of, he kind of stands out because of what a freak he was.  Seriously, not only was he the fastest player in baseball, he may have been the fastest human being in history.  I’m not exaggerating.  When you saw him live, you knew he was special.  His 4.12 hand timed 40 yard dash at the NFL combine is the fastest NFL time in history—by a substantial amount. Naysayers may claim it was just a bad reading and he never would have done as well with electronic timing (which the NFL started in later years), but he also reportedly recorded a 4.17.    Bo Jackson was not lacking in power either.  If they ever had cage fighting in baseball, nobody would step into the cage with Bo Jackson.  Alright—that’s stupid!

2.   Jackie Robinson—Robinson was the first UCLA athlete ever to letter in four sports. As a Bruin, Robinson was an All-American running back, a point guard who twice led the Pac-10 in scoring, and the 1940 NCAA champion in the long jump, flying 25' 6 1/2".

He was a well rounded baseball player who could hit for some power, hit for average, steal bases with the best of them, and stretch doubles into triples. His baseball career was not especially long or we might have seen more great accomplishments.  He certainly electrified the game with his speed and athleticism, not to mention his strength of character.

1.  Babe Ruth—I’ll remind everyone that Babe Ruth revolutionized the game of baseball and was probably the most significant sports figure in history, with all due respect to Mr. Ali.  Starting out his career as a truly dominant pitcher, he gradually developed into the greatest hitter the world would ever see—by far!   
Statistically, you really can’t compare anyone to Ruth, and he started crushing the ball over fences back in the dead ball era.

In 1920, his first year with the Yankees, Ruth hit 54 home runs and batted .376. His .847 slugging average was a Major League record until 2001 (Barry Bonds’ biggest year). Aside from the Yankees, only one other team hit more home runs than Ruth did as an individual that season.  Long home runs were described as “Ruthian”, as the Babe reportedly hit many balls over 500 feet.  I’m not sure whether he was strong or fast, but he captivated our nation like no other athlete.

Well that’s the top 10.  What about Neon Deion, Gehrig, Eric Davis, and others?  Each of these guys received consideration.  Let me know who I forgot  Talk to you soon.