Baseball is definitely one of the biggest sports in the world, despite seeing a decrease in its popularity in the last decades due to some scandals in the early years of the 21st century.
Talking about Major League Baseball and the best players in its history will always be a tricky situation since the Big Leagues have more than 100 years of history and the criteria to define who is the best is always a subjective one.
Some fans and experts will believe that pitching is the most important part of the game, while others might be in love with the defensive prowess of many players throughout MLB's 116-year history. Offence is undoubtedly the most entertaining part of the sport, however, the best players were those who could do a little bit of everything.
Of course, modern era players are specialist, big hitters are not pitchers, and pitchers are focused on their arms and their approach to the rival team's best batters.
In this article, we will take a look at the three best players in MLB history. The main focus will not be solely on hitting, defensive performance or pitching perfection but overall impact.
Whether a player won a lot of championships or not, it should not be a stain in his resume, since baseball is, together with football and American football, one of the ultimate team sports in the world.
Let us take a look at these three superstars of MLB.
#3 Hank Aaron
The best hitter of all-time and the "real" Home Run King for many classic baseball fans, Hank Aaron holds a number of important records of the sport. He was probably the greatest hitter of his generation and finished his career with 755 home runs, the most of all-time until Barry Bonds broke the record in 2007.
Aaron played between 1954 and 1976 and played a record of 25 All-Star Games, taking advantage of the double All-Star Games played between 1959 and 1962. "The Hammer" hit 624 doubles, hit for a career batting average of .305, and set the all-time record for most RBIs ever, with 2297, which remains unbeaten.
He won a regular season MVP in the National League in 1957, his fourth MLB season. He played 21 years for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, winning the 1957 World Series, and played his last couple of seasons for the Milwaukee Brewers.
In the 1957 World Series, he hit three home runs and brought in seven runs with a batting average of .393. In his postseason career, he had a .362 batting average, six homers, and 16 RBIs in 17 games, with 14 of those coming in consecutive seven-game World Series against the Yankees in 1957 and 1958.
#2 Joe DiMaggio
DiMaggio's impact in the Yankees was at an all-time high. DiMaggio played 13 campaigns for the New York Yankees and won a staggering total of nine World Series rings.
His career took place between 1935 and 1951, with the outfielder missing three seasons (from 1943 to 1945) due to Military Service. His overall stats are amazing and his spot in the top three of baseball's biggest superstars should be undisputed.
DiMaggio played in the baseball All-Star Game in every season he was an active player in the Yankee roster. His offensive efficiency won him two batting titles, in 1939 and 1940 with a batting average of .381 (career high) and .352, respectively.
He wasn't only a fantastic hitter, he was a complete slugger, hitting 361 home runs and finishing his career with 1537 RBIs in 1736 games.
He ended his amazing career with 2214 hits, a career batting average of .325 and three American League Most Valuable Player awards.
#1 Barry Bonds
Definitely one of the most controversial and fantastic players of the history of the sport, Barry Bonds cannot be removed of the number one spot when it comes to deciding baseball's greatest.
The 14-time All-Star played for the Pittsburgh Pirates between 1986 and 1992, and with the San Francisco Giants between 1993 and 2007. The left fielder's career can be resumed by many to the simple talk of Performance Enhancing Drugs accusations.
Bonds is the all-time leader in home runs with 762 and holds the record for a single season with 73 in 2001. Usually, the PED allegations are about his early 2000s, when his body showed a more muscular body and his numbers were untouchable.
However, out of the record-setting seven MVP awards he won, he already had three prior to the allegations, and 445 homers during the "clean years".
Barry was not found guilty of the accusations and never got busted for PED use, making his career simply the best of all-time.
In addition to his power-hitting style and his home runs, Bonds won two batting titles in 2002 and 2004, with .370 and .362 average, respectively. Also, he is the all-time leader in walks received, which helps his case as the greatest hitter ever.
Defensively, he showed his fantastic athleticism and quick thinking snatching eight Gold Glove awards as an outfielder. When it came to baserunning, Bonds was solid too, stealing 514 bases in his career, being the only player with at least 400 home runs and 400 stolen bases, and 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases.
In the postseason, he is tied for the record of most home runs in a single postseason, hitting eight in the 2002 postseason, when he led the Giants to the World Series. In his first World Series at-bat, he hit a solo home run off of Angels' starter Jarrod Washburn. He proceeded to hit a home run in Game 2 and in Game 3 too.
He hit a big home run off of Francisco Rodríguez in Game 6 to give the Giants a 4-0 lead in the sixth inning, putting them closer to winning the title-clinching game, until the bullpen let it slip and the Giants lost the series in seven games.
Bonds is simply the greatest ever.