Best Center Fielder of All Time

[Chris M.]

Poll coming.

[startBBtoday]

i wanted to vote for griffey with every fiber of my body, but i had to go with my grandma's favorite player of all time, the say hey kid.

until pujols came around though, i'd say griffey was definitely the best non-steroid player of our generation, and who knows how the numbers would have looked like had everyone not been on steroids, griffey's numbers could have been leaps and bounds above everyone else of the 90s.

[ActionActionFan]

I like Griffey but I had to go with Mantle.

[shit stroll]

andruw jones

[startBBtoday]

andruw jones

yeah. that makes sense.

[SSLYBY]

If Griffey never had hamstring problems I feel this poll would be have a different outcome.

[QuikTrig]

dead tie between mays and cobb for me, but i went with mays just because i'm a giants fan. they are both good enough to be a top 5 player, period, so i can't see how you can go wrong with either.

mantle and speaker are a close third and fourth. mantle was a beast, but his drinking cut his career short. he wasn't anything special in the field either. still an all-time great though. speaker was a very good hitter, and described as an even better fielder than mays. still, all awesome players.

[williek311]

Willie Mays Hayes. He hits like Mays and runs like Hayes. The best of both worlds.

[bigmike]

Man. This is fucking closer than I thought. I think I'm actually going to go with Cobb. On a per-year basis, Cobb and Mays are even, but Cobb had a longer career, so I'll take him.

I agree with QuikTrig that Speaker and Mantle are right there for 3rd and 4th. On a per-year basis, Mantle's even with Mays and Cobb, but he didn't have the career length.

I will crack up if either Fred Lynn or Kirby Puckett have any votes.

[zac_montucky]

I went Joe d. Only because I wasn't given the option to vote for the little professor, on of the best defensive center fielders ever. So I had to let his brother take it for him

[Sauceee]

Man. This is fucking closer than I thought. I think I'm actually going to go with Cobb. On a per-year basis, Cobb and Mays are even, but Cobb had a longer career, so I'll take him.

I agree with QuikTrig that Speaker and Mantle are right there for 3rd and 4th. On a per-year basis, Mantle's even with Mays and Cobb, but he didn't have the career length.

I will crack up if either Fred Lynn or Kirby Puckett have any votes.

Why? yeah he probably shouldnt be considered above most of these guys, but if he played for a longer stretch, he may have been a Hall of Famer himself. He was a great player, one of the most dominant of his time. MVP and ROTY in one season? That's unheard of. To a lesser extent than Griffey, if he played longer, he may be considered one of the greatest CF ever.

[fightinirish217]

Wow, much harder than I thought. I voted Mays but there's so many greats here. Cobb, Joe D, Mick, Junior, wow.

[bigmike]

Why? yeah he probably shouldnt be considered above most of these guys, but if he played for a longer stretch, he may have been a Hall of Famer himself. He was a great player, one of the most dominant of his time. MVP and ROTY in one season? That's unheard of. To a lesser extent than Griffey, if he played longer, he may be considered one of the greatest CF ever.
MVP is often wrong and winning that and ROTY doesn't =/= greatest ever. He only had one other season in which he approached that type of year again. I don't think he should be a hall of famer, either.

[Sauceee]

MVP is often wrong and winning that and ROTY doesn't =/= greatest ever. He only had one other season in which he approached that type of year again. I don't think he should be a hall of famer, either.

I didn't say that meant greatest ever or that he should be a Hall of Famer. I said that if he kept going on for a longer period of time than he did, he probably would be a Hall of Famer, and although nowhere near the likes of Mays, Mantle, Cobb, and Speaker, still one of the greatest CF of all time.

[J.C.]

This one's a bitch to pick, but I'm going with Mays.

[bigmike]

I didn't say that meant greatest ever or that he should be a Hall of Famer. I said that if he kept going on for a longer period of time than he did, he probably would be a Hall of Famer, and although nowhere near the likes of Mays, Mantle, Cobb, and Speaker, still one of the greatest CF of all time.
Who are you talking about? Fred Lynn or Griffey?

[Sauceee]

Who are you talking about? Fred Lynn or Griffey?

I'm talking about Fred Lynn, Griffey is already a Hall of Famer and one of the best CF of all time.

[bigmike]

I'm talking about Fred Lynn, Griffey is already a Hall of Famer and one of the best CF of all time.
Then your argument is essentially "If he carried his MVP year out for more seasons and played longer and had been better than he actually was, he'd be an all-time great?"

Because, there is no way, as of now, is he a top CFer of all times.

[Sauceee]

Then your argument is essentially "If he carried his MVP year out for more seasons and played longer and had been better than he actually was, he'd be an all-time great?"

Because, there is no way, as of now, is he a top CFer of all times.

Essentially, if he continued to play the way he did in his MVP season for longer than his career allowed, he would be. So yes, what you said. I agree, as of now, he isn't a top CF of all time. Just saying he had the potential to be.

[Bob Payne]

Gary Maddox isn't the best, but he's a better defensive player than about 75% of this list.

[bigmike]

Essentially, if he continued to play the way he did in his MVP season for longer than his career allowed, he would be. So yes, what you said. I agree, as of now, he isn't a top CF of all time. Just saying he had the potential to be.
So you're basically telling me that if he were more talented at baseball, he would've been a better player.

Thanks.

[Sauceee]

So you're basically telling me that if he were more talented at baseball, he would've been a better player.

Thanks.

No not at all, wiseass. Don't be a know it all, shit. I'm saying that he was a great player for a very short amount of time, and that is the reason he isnt a Hall of Famer. All he had to do was play for longer at the same pace and he would be a HoFer and one of the greatest CF. Jesus, if you dont get it yet, just stop trying to respond with witty comebacks.

[dignan]

best center fielder of all-time? here he is kicking some Phillies douchebag in 1991:

http://www.geocities.com/corey_shambaugh/otis4.jpg

[bigmike]

No not at all, wiseass. Don't be a know it all, shit. I'm saying that he was a great player for a very short amount of time, and that is the reason he isnt a Hall of Famer. All he had to do was play for longer at the same pace and he would be a HoFer and one of the greatest CF. Jesus, if you dont get it yet, just stop trying to respond with witty comebacks.
Except he wasn't a great player. He was simply above-average. Add in that his final 5 years were pretty bad (thus, dragging down his value), he was simply a bit above-average player. Even if you throw out his 5 worst seasons, he's still only a borderline all-star player. He's incredibly overrated and I, personally, don't even think he should be on this poll.

And I'm only responding in a dickheaded manner because your argument literally is "if he had been as good as his peak (which was his rookie year, mind you), then he'd be in the discussion for best ever." Which is a ridiculously bad statement in and of itself. If Brady Anderson had repeated his monster season, multiple times, and over a long period, he'd be in the discussion as well. When you state that if Player X essentially had been more talented and played longer that they'd be better than they actually were in reality, you're pretty much stating the obvious which is just dumb.

[Sauceee]

Except he wasn't a great player. He was simply above-average. Add in that his final 5 years were pretty bad (thus, dragging down his value), he was simply a bit above-average player. Even if you throw out his 5 worst seasons, he's still only a borderline all-star player. He's incredibly overrated and I, personally, don't even think he should be on this poll.

And I'm only responding in a dickheaded manner because your argument literally is "if he had been as good as his peak (which was his rookie year, mind you), then he'd be in the discussion for best ever." Which is a ridiculously bad statement in and of itself. If Brady Anderson had repeated his monster season, multiple times, and over a long period, he'd be in the discussion as well. When you state that if Player X essentially had been more talented and played longer that they'd be better than they actually were in reality, you're pretty much stating the obvious which is just dumb.

Anderson was on steroids, Lynn was because of injuries. You can't compare them.

Look, we're never going to agree lol. Let's just agree to disagree because you'll never convince me to agree with your opinion and I'll never convince you to agree with mine, so let's just agree to diasgree on this subject.

[underdawg1119]

best center fielder of all-time? here he is kicking some Phillies douchebag in 1991:

http://www.geocities.com/corey_shambaugh/otis4.jpg
Lol, my dad was working at his apartment building one day a few years ago, and as he was leaving for the day, Otis was was getting evicted. Some big guy asked him to look after his belongings on the curb while he went to get a truck to pick them up, and when he got back, he gave my dad an autographed picture.

/bragz

[dignan]

Lol, my dad was working at his apartment building one day a few years ago, and as he was leaving for the day, Otis was was getting evicted. Some big guy asked him to look after his belongings on the curb while he went to get a truck to pick them up, and when he got back, he gave my dad an autographed picture.

/bragz

classic Otis

[bigmike]

Anderson was on steroids, Lynn was because of injuries. You can't compare them.

Look, we're never going to agree lol. Let's just agree to disagree because you'll never convince me to agree with your opinion and I'll never convince you to agree with mine, so let's just agree to diasgree on this subject.
You missed my point in bringing up Brady Anderson.

[Deth]

Willie Mays by far, but present time would be Matt Kemp (i'm not a dodger fan, but man he makes amazing plays)

[CarouselBoy]

To me it's close between Mantle and Mays. I went with Mantle.


Anderson was on steroids, Lynn was because of injuries. You can't compare them.

Look, we're never going to agree lol. Let's just agree to disagree because you'll never convince me to agree with your opinion and I'll never convince you to agree with mine, so let's just agree to diasgree on this subject.

The point isn't about anderson. He could have used many other players like Lynn and still made his point. And since you don't seem to understand, his point is that your argument sucks :pause: because you could say what you've said about Lynn about a number of players. Lynn wasn't special.

[rcrook]

Willie Mays by far, but present time would be Matt Kemp (i'm not a dodger fan, but man he makes amazing plays)

..........

[S/T]

My parents actually decided on naming me Tyler because of Ty (Tyrus, I know) Cobb. More than enough to get my vote.