Top 10 Most Famous Baseball Players of All Time

Regardless of what some football supporters may believe, baseball is indeed our favorite sport, with a deeper tradition than everything else in American culture. Over the years, there have been several truly gifted performers who have taken the field, and what remains is my effort to list the top ten most famous players in Major League Baseball history.

Top 10 Most Famous Baseball Players of All Time

10. Stan Musial

Stan Musial, a 20-time All-Star and one of the greatest all-around attacking players in baseball history, ended his 22-year career with a.331/.417/.559 batting line, 475 home runs, 1,951 RBI, and 1,949 runs scored.

He earned seven batting titles and led the National League in hits six times, putting him in fourth place all-time with 3,630 hits. His 725 doubles rank him third all-time, and his 6,134 total bases rank him second only to Hank Aaron.

Musial won the National League MVP award three times, in 1943, 1946, and 1948, and he played his entire tenure with the Cardinals. He is surely one of the greatest and most famous baseball players of all time.

9. Lou Gehrig

In terms of stardom, Lou Gehrig might have been second best to Babe Ruth, but he’s one of the best in history in his own way, and he was a major factor in why Ruth was able to bring up the numbers he did.

Despite being cut short by what would later be called “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” one of the most famous baseball players ended his career with 2,721 hits, 493 home runs, and 1,992 RBI, as well as a.340/.447/.632 slash line.

In 1927 and 1936, he was named American League MVP after leading the league in home runs three times and RBI five times.

8. Ted Williams

Williams is also regarded as the best left-handed hitter of all time, after missing more than three years due to military service. Possibly his greatest hitting accomplishment is batting.406 in 1941, the only time any baseball hitter batted over 400 in a period. 

The great Williams was also a 19-time All-Star and a two-time recipient of the MVP Award, as well as a two-time Triple Crown holder. His career on-base percentage of.482 is also an unbreakable streak.

Williams’ target, in particular, was for people to point to him and claim, “There goes Ted Williams, the best hitter who ever lived and one of the most famous baseball players of all time.” 

7. Roy Campanella

Only a few catchers are also sluggers, yet Roy Campanella was one of them. He hit 41 home runs, drove in 142 runs (a team record), batted.312, scored 103 runs, and had an OPS of 1.006. In 1953, one of his MVP great seasons, he struck 41 home runs, drove in 142 runs (a franchise record), batted.312, scored 103 runs and had an OPS of 1.006.

Campanella, who is also a solid defensive catcher, threw out 57% of the runners who attempted to rob a base on him, which is high for MLB catchers.

Campanella was one of MLB’s first black members, having entered the league in 1948. The great baseball player, on the other hand, was injured in a car crash in January 1958 and never saw baseball again.

Despite this, he remained involved in the Dodgers organization and marked himself as one of the greatest baseball players of all time.

6. SP Walter Johnson

Walter Johnson, the best pitcher in baseball history, pitched with the Washington Senators for his whole 21-year career, going 417-279 with a 2.17 ERA, 1.061 WHIP, and 3,509 strikes in 5,914.1 innings.

He led the league in ERA 5 times and surpassed the 20-win threshold 12 times. He has won 12 strikeout championships, and from 1921 to 1982, he maintained the all-time strikeout record, which he still has.

Johnson’s 152.3 rWAR is second only to Cy Young among pitchers, and although Young did it for a prolonged period of time, Johnson did it better, earning him the top spot among the most famous players of all time.

5. Ty Cobb

Behind his combative temperament, Ty Cobb is unquestionably one of the greatest players in baseball history, with a career batting average of.366.

On his way to 4,189 total hits, he earned 12 batting titles and went over.400 three times. He also had 724 doubles, 295 triples, and 117 home runs to go along with 1,938 runs batted in and 2,246 runs earned.

With 897 stolen bases, it’s difficult to claim that Cobb isn’t one of the greatest offensive performers in baseball history.

4. Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth was widely regarded as the best baseball player of all time because he could not only strike but also pitch. His biggest baseball contributions, though, are as a slugging outfielder. Although two players have exceeded his career home run total of 714Although two players have exceeded his career home run total of 714

With a career ERA of 2.28, the Babe earned 94 games and twice had seasons in which he won over 20 games. Interestingly, after Babe Ruth started hitting an exceptionally large amount of home runs during the so-called dead-ball period, hitting 29 in 1919, the new live-ball era began in 1920.

Babe Ruth is one of baseball’s most well-known players, and his image is associated with the game.

3. Grover Cleveland Alexander

Grover Alexander was impressive from the outset, winning 28 games (a rookie record), pitching 31 complete games, and racking up 367 innings pitched in his first season in the major leagues. He was a right-handed powerhouse who pitched in over 40 games eight times in a season. 

 His best season was 1929 when he went 33-12 with a 1.55 ERA and threw an impressive 389 innings! Unfortunately, Alexander’s childhood was marred by tragedy and poor decisions: whilst battling in WWI, he was exposed to mustard gas, which left him with seizures for the remainder of his life; and he suffered from alcoholism during his life.

One of the greatest players Alexander holds the record for most games won by a player who has never thrown a no-hitter in the Major Leagues.

2. Cy Young

The Cy Young Award in Major League Baseball is named for Cy Young, the pitcher with the most career wins (511) in the sport’s history. Of course, Young pitched in an era when starting pitchers routinely threw full games, sometimes in doubleheaders, and some even threw more than 300 or 400 innings a season.

Of course, Young pitched in an era when starting pitchers routinely threw full games, sometimes in doubleheaders, and some even threw more than 300 or 400 innings a season. Young is famous for throwing so hard that the ball ripped holes in fences, making them appear as if they had been struck by a cyclone.

Young, playing for the Boston Red Sox, threw the first pitch in MLB’s first World Series in 1903; he also threw the first perfect game in American League history in 1904; and he hurled 25.1 innings without allowing a hit the same year, which is still an MLB record. Cy is among the most famous and greatest baseball players of all time.

1. Willie Mays

Willie Mays, the greatest center fielder in history, molded elite touch, speed, and safety to become the game’s best-known player. Mays was fifth in the AL with 660 home runs, a.302 average, and a 156 OPS+. Through this, his glove propelled him to second place.

When Willie returned from the military in 1954, he didn’t have a poor season till 1967, when he only had a 124 OPS+ and 4.3 rWAR at the age of 36. He didn’t contribute anything past 40 games for the New York Mets in his final two seasons, but no one can keep it against a versatile star who appeared in 2,992 games. The Say Hay kid stands in first place among the most famous baseball players of all time.

Summary

The most famous and best baseball players in history are:

1. Willie Mays
2. Cy Young
3. Grover Cleveland Alexander
4. Babe Ruth
5. Ty Cobb
6. SP Walter Johnson
7. Roy Campanella
8. Ted Williams
9. Lou Gehrig
10. Stan Musial

Who is your favorite baseball player of all time? Do share your thoughts in the comments.