Willie Mays - The Greatest Ever
Four members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame walked onto the field of Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati arm-in-arm on Tuesday night, introduced as baseball"s greatest living players, and half of them hail from Alabama.
Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mayswere revealed before the All-Star Game as the top four in an online poll that opened in April to select baseball"s greatest living players.
Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, Pedro Martinez and Tom Seaver also were on the ballot, and fans could cast write-in votes, too.
Aaron is a native of Mobile who spent 23 years in the big leagues, all but two seasons with the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mays is a native of Fairfield who spent 22 years in the big leagues, all but two seasons with the Giants in New York and San Francisco.
Aaron was selected for 25 All-Star Games, more than any other player and one more than Mays. Mays was in the starting lineup for more All-Star Games than any other player with 18 -- one more than Aaron.
Aaron played in 3,298 games. In 12,364 at-bats, he had 3,771 hits for a .305 batting average. Aaron scored 2,174 runs and knocked in 2,297, which is the all-time record. He had 624 doubles, 98 triples, 755 home runs, 240 stolen bases, 1,402 walks and 1,383 strikeouts. Aaron"s on-base average was .374 and his slugging percentage was .555.
Mays played in 2,992 games. In 10,881 at-bats, he had 3,283 hits for a .302 batting average. Mays scored 2,062 runs and knocked in 1,903. He had 523 doubles, 140 triples, 660 home runs, 338 stolen bases, 1,464 walks and 1,526 strikeouts. Mays" on-base average was .384 and his slugging percentage was .557.
The catcher for the Big Red Machine, Bench was a 14-time All-Star for Cincinnati and won the National League MVP Award twice, including becoming the youngest winner of the award in 1970.
A Dodgers" left-hander, Koufax won the National League Cy Young Award three times, the World Series MVP Award twice and the NL MVP Award once in his final four seasons before arm issues ended his career at age 30.
Koufax threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the All-Star Game to Bench.
In an AL.com poll to pick baseball"s greatest living player, Mays finished in the top spot, followed by Aaron, Pete Rose and Cal Ripken Jr.
RELATED:AN MLB ALL-STAR TEAM WITH AN ALABAMA PLAYER AT EVERY POSITION
Source: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/07/hank_aaron_willie_mays_take_pl.html
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