Originally Posted by M Richardson

Mantle was truely on of the greats! As a kid he was one of my idols. Greatest of all time? Here we go again! Do we compare Cy Young with Nolan Ryan with Roger Clemons, etc? Where does Jackie Robinson fit in, or Roberto Clemente - and how do you compare them with each other or with athletes today? Ruth was a great pitcher and a great hitter - does anybody have info on his fielding ability? (Contrary to what Spider will tell you, I DO NOT remember Ruth.)
As far as a favorite baseball player (a totally different thread, I know) Yogi Berra was mine. Brilliant behind the plate and the best bad-ball hitter I have ever seen.

You are right, it is very hard to determine who is the best between the different era's of the game or any game for that matter. However we can give our opinions.

I think in today's game only so far only one player can compete with Mantle on being as good of a pure hitter and that is Pujols.

On a side not since you mentioned Nolan Ryan, he was my favorite player growing up. Man he could throw the heat!!!

IMO:
Pitcher: Greg Maddux or Walter Johnson
Position player: Roberto Clemente or Ty Cobb

This is a fun topic. It might be fun to go through each position and choose the "best".