[Hoot Gibson]

Good post. I think in the light that LWC was referring, this was about who had the greatest 10 year run offensively. From a pitching standpoint, I would guess that Gibson would be at the top. Ryan was my favorite, but his run with the lowly Angels hurt his early numbers.

But the OP does not specify and it does mention Gold Glove awards. There is no better defensive play than a three-pitch strikeout. :biggrin:

Gibson was my all-time favorite MLB player but Ryan's numbers were hampered by the fact that he played on some horrible teams during his career. In 1987, Ryan led the league in strikeouts and ERA and finished with an 8-16 record. He threw his record 7th no-hitter at age 40, almost 18 years after he threw his first one. He lost another 5 no-hitters with one out in the 9th inning.

The fact that he was so wild early in his career did not help his numbers either.

Randy Johnson is another pitcher who played in the past 50 years who should be considered for the era's greatest player.

I like Pujols and he may be the greatest player of the past 50 years but younger fans tend to forget some truly great players of the past who played before baseball talented was diluted through expansion and performance was boosted with chemicals.

Roberto Clemente also deserves some strong consideration for the best player of the past 50 years for his combination of speed, average, power, and defense (maybe the greatest arm on an outfielder of all-time) - but he died in a plane crash with some potentially great seasons still ahead of him. Clemente was a 15-time All Star and 12-time Gold Glove winner and hit .317 during an era when pitchers were more dominant than today.