that if you could see in their prime (or perhaps see again) who would they be and in what order. For me it would be the following:
1. Babe Ruth - baseball history discussion starts and ends with the Babe, I would have loved to see him in person.
2. Willie Mays - the say hey kid would have been incredible to see live and I am sure there are plenty here that could attest to that.
3. Ted Williams - he claims that his vision was so good that he could see the spiral on the ball and maybe in thirty years we will be able to see the clone of Ted playing again (I know bad joke).
4. Nolan Ryan - I have always been a Nolan Ryan fan so much that my son is named Noah (could not get my wife to so with Nolan) and alas I have never seen him play live.
5. Ty Cobb - it would be fun to see if he really sharpened his metal cleats before every game as an intimidation tactic and whether he was really as bad-a$$ as people say but one thing is for certain he was a great ball player.
6. Pete Rose - he was also before my time and who really played the game any harder or with complete reckless abandonment than Charlie Hustle?
7. Lou Gehrig - if I could pick a time period to see the Babe play it would be in the early twenties when he and Gehrig were battling for the home run crown plus I could get two for the price of one.
8. Stan Musial - talk to any St. Louis Cardinals fan and Stan the Man is still that and watching some of the old footage he looks like he really put on a show.
9. Bob Gibson - those fans would also say that he was the other guy to watch play, you cannot pitch like Gibson used to.
10. Sandy Koufax - next to Nolan Ryan he is my favorite pitcher of all time and I never got to see him pitch.
11. Joe DiMaggio - he should probably be up higher on most peoples lists but I frankly do not like the Yankees and he was one of my list favorite Yankees but he would still be fun to watch play.
12. Micky Mantle - ditto as Jolting Joes comments.
13. Roberto Clemente - one of the best of all time and died well before his time - I am not sure if it is because he died before his time or not but everyone who has ever seen him play really paints a great picture and I would like to see it myself.
14. Satchel Paige - I would like to see the Satch who played in the Negro Leagues and not the one who was old and beat up that finally got his call up to the major leagues, that would be something.
15. Josh Gibson - same as Satch but he never got his chance - I went to the Negro League Museum and people in the know tell me that Josh was great but he could not hold a candle stick to some of the other Negro Leaguers who were just getting their due when the league folded and we will never know how great there really were - now true.
16. Sadahara Oh - the Japanese home run champ (868 homers in his career) - I would like to see if he had a sweet Griffey like swing, just raw power or were the porches to short - I would also like to see how he would compete against major leaguers during his time period.
17. Hank Aaron - he probably should be much higher on this list given his place in the game but everyone I spoke who have seen him play say that other than a few big shots he was not the most memorable player (goes to show you what consistency day in day out, year in year out, will pretty much lull a fan to sleep even though he is one of the greatest of all times).
18. Harmon Killebrew - one of my favorite players of all time (I am a Twins fan after all).
19. Al Kaline - I think he is one of the most underrated HOFers and most die hard Tigers fans speak very highly of Kaline.
20. Christy Matheson - complete game nearly ever time that he pitched - I would love to know what his pitch count was (of course I know back then they did not throw heat like today or have four to five pitches included 12 to 6 curveball and nasty sliders but still).
21. Ricky Henderson - it is not because he recently was named a HOFer (even though that is what got me thinking about this list) but because I never seen him play live and when he walked, stole second and stole third how exciting would that be to watch?
22. Pedro Martinez - some of the best pitched games that I watched in my lifetime was by this guy - I have never seen them live but many, many times on television.
23. Ken Griffey, Jr. - the most pure and sweetest swing I have ever seen but again I never got a chance to see him play live.
24. Roger Clemens/Randy Johnson - I could not decide between the two so I cheated and included them in the same spot.
25. Kirby Puckett - as a die hard Twins fan I have seen Kirby play many, many, many times but as a die hard Twins fan I would have loved to see him play many, many, many more times.
What is in your top twenty-five?
PS I cannot wait for baseball season to start!
1. Babe Ruth - baseball history discussion starts and ends with the Babe, I would have loved to see him in person.
2. Willie Mays - the say hey kid would have been incredible to see live and I am sure there are plenty here that could attest to that.
3. Ted Williams - he claims that his vision was so good that he could see the spiral on the ball and maybe in thirty years we will be able to see the clone of Ted playing again (I know bad joke).
4. Nolan Ryan - I have always been a Nolan Ryan fan so much that my son is named Noah (could not get my wife to so with Nolan) and alas I have never seen him play live.
5. Ty Cobb - it would be fun to see if he really sharpened his metal cleats before every game as an intimidation tactic and whether he was really as bad-a$$ as people say but one thing is for certain he was a great ball player.
6. Pete Rose - he was also before my time and who really played the game any harder or with complete reckless abandonment than Charlie Hustle?
7. Lou Gehrig - if I could pick a time period to see the Babe play it would be in the early twenties when he and Gehrig were battling for the home run crown plus I could get two for the price of one.
8. Stan Musial - talk to any St. Louis Cardinals fan and Stan the Man is still that and watching some of the old footage he looks like he really put on a show.
9. Bob Gibson - those fans would also say that he was the other guy to watch play, you cannot pitch like Gibson used to.
10. Sandy Koufax - next to Nolan Ryan he is my favorite pitcher of all time and I never got to see him pitch.
11. Joe DiMaggio - he should probably be up higher on most peoples lists but I frankly do not like the Yankees and he was one of my list favorite Yankees but he would still be fun to watch play.
12. Micky Mantle - ditto as Jolting Joes comments.
13. Roberto Clemente - one of the best of all time and died well before his time - I am not sure if it is because he died before his time or not but everyone who has ever seen him play really paints a great picture and I would like to see it myself.
14. Satchel Paige - I would like to see the Satch who played in the Negro Leagues and not the one who was old and beat up that finally got his call up to the major leagues, that would be something.
15. Josh Gibson - same as Satch but he never got his chance - I went to the Negro League Museum and people in the know tell me that Josh was great but he could not hold a candle stick to some of the other Negro Leaguers who were just getting their due when the league folded and we will never know how great there really were - now true.
16. Sadahara Oh - the Japanese home run champ (868 homers in his career) - I would like to see if he had a sweet Griffey like swing, just raw power or were the porches to short - I would also like to see how he would compete against major leaguers during his time period.
17. Hank Aaron - he probably should be much higher on this list given his place in the game but everyone I spoke who have seen him play say that other than a few big shots he was not the most memorable player (goes to show you what consistency day in day out, year in year out, will pretty much lull a fan to sleep even though he is one of the greatest of all times).
18. Harmon Killebrew - one of my favorite players of all time (I am a Twins fan after all).
19. Al Kaline - I think he is one of the most underrated HOFers and most die hard Tigers fans speak very highly of Kaline.
20. Christy Matheson - complete game nearly ever time that he pitched - I would love to know what his pitch count was (of course I know back then they did not throw heat like today or have four to five pitches included 12 to 6 curveball and nasty sliders but still).
21. Ricky Henderson - it is not because he recently was named a HOFer (even though that is what got me thinking about this list) but because I never seen him play live and when he walked, stole second and stole third how exciting would that be to watch?
22. Pedro Martinez - some of the best pitched games that I watched in my lifetime was by this guy - I have never seen them live but many, many times on television.
23. Ken Griffey, Jr. - the most pure and sweetest swing I have ever seen but again I never got a chance to see him play live.
24. Roger Clemens/Randy Johnson - I could not decide between the two so I cheated and included them in the same spot.
25. Kirby Puckett - as a die hard Twins fan I have seen Kirby play many, many, many times but as a die hard Twins fan I would have loved to see him play many, many, many more times.
What is in your top twenty-five?
PS I cannot wait for baseball season to start!
)
But I do think that Wagner was leaps and bounds ahead of any shortstop of his time, and that is the only way I judge players, against their contemporaries.
One of the beauties of baseball is that it's timeless in the sense everyone has player of "their" generation doing what others have done before on those same fields. You can take your wife and/or children and enjoy the festivities. It's the "slowest" sport of the major four (America) which allows plenty of time to talk between pitches about the game or other matters. 
