Who Are the Best Baseball Players of All Time? 10,000 Fans Have Finally Decided

Let me ask you something.

You think you know who the best baseball player of all time is. You are sure about it. You would bet money on it.

But what if 10,000 other fans completely disagree with you?

That is exactly what happened here.

At Ultimate Rankings, fans from all over the world voted to decide the best baseball players of all time. No experts. No fancy stats committees. No arguments about WAR numbers that only math teachers understand.

Just real fans. Real votes. Real results.

And trust us — some of these results are going to make you say "WHAT?"

But First — What Makes a Baseball Player the Greatest?

Before we get into the list, let us be clear about something.

Baseball is the hardest sport to compare across eras. A player from 1927 played in a completely different world from a player in 2026.

But here is what fans on Ultimate Rankings said they care about most:

•      Championships — Did they win when it mattered? World Series rings count.

•      Dominance — Were they so much better than everyone else it felt unfair?

•      Stats — Home runs, batting average, WAR — the numbers do not lie.

•      Impact — Did they change baseball forever? Did they bring new fans to the sport?

•      Longevity — One great season does not make a legend. Years of greatness does.

Keep this in mind as you read. And get ready to argue with your screen a little bit. 

The Best Baseball Players of All Time — Fan Voted Results 

1. Babe Ruth — The Man Who Invented Home Runs 

Here is a fun fact about Babe Ruth.

In 1920, he hit 54 home runs. The second-best team that year — the entire Philadelphia Phillies team combined — hit 64.

One man. Almost as many home runs as a whole team.

That is not normal. That is not even baseball. That is something else entirely.

•      714 career home runs — second most ever at retirement

•      7 World Series championships

•      Pitched 94 wins before switching to outfield — he was great at TWO things

•      .342 career batting average over 22 seasons

•      Still holds the record for highest career on-base percentage (.4817)

Ruth did not just play baseball. He saved it. After the 1919 Black Sox gambling scandal, nobody trusted the sport. Then Ruth arrived and started hitting home runs that nobody had ever seen before. Fans came back. Baseball came back.

But here is the funny part. Fans on Ultimate Rankings still had arguments about it. Because of one man named Willie Mays. 

2. Willie Mays — The Greatest All-Around Player Ever 

Ask any baseball scout, coach, or old fan this question:

"If you could build the perfect baseball player, who would it be?"

Nine out of ten will say Willie Mays.

•      660 career home runs — third most ever

•      12 Gold Glove Awards in a row — the best outfielder anyone had ever seen

•      2 MVP Awards

•      2 World Series Championships

•      Batted .302 for his career — hit for average AND power

But the number that does not show up in stats is this:

The catch.

In the 1954 World Series, Mays made a catch over his shoulder in deep center field — running full speed away from home plate — that people still talk about 70 years later. People who were not alive when it happened still know about it.

That is how good Willie Mays was. 

3. Hank Aaron — The Real Home Run King 

Let us talk about the most important baseball record ever broken.

On April 8, 1974, Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. He passed Babe Ruth. He became the all-time home run leader.

And he did it while receiving death threats in the mail every single day.

•      755 career home runs — held the record for 33 years

•      3,771 career hits — sixth most in history

•      2 batting titles

•      21 All-Star selections

Here is what makes Aaron special. He was not a "home run or nothing" player. He hit for average. He played great defense. He was the complete package for 23 seasons. 

4. Ted Williams — The Last Man to Hit .400 

There is one thing Ted Williams did that nobody has done since 1941.

He batted over .400 for a whole season. His final average that year was .406. That was 85 years ago. Nobody has come close since.

•      .406 batting average in 1941 — last player to ever do this

•      521 career home runs

•      2 MVP Awards

•      6 batting titles

•      Missed nearly 5 full seasons serving in World War II and the Korean War — and still put up these numbers

Williams missed almost five prime years of his career serving his country. Experts have calculated that if he played those years, he would have had somewhere between 650 and 700 home runs.

He went to war twice. He came back. He kept hitting.

5. Barry Bonds — The Complicated GOAT 

Nobody on this list makes fans argue more than Barry Bonds. And nobody on this list had a peak that was more insane than Barry Bonds.

In 2001, he hit 73 home runs. The most ever in a single season.

•      762 career home runs — the all-time record

•      73 home runs in one season — the single season record

•      7 MVP Awards — nobody else has more than 3

•      8 Gold Glove Awards

•      14 All-Star selections

 .

Bonds has never been voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Many voters believe he used performance-enhancing drugs during his peak years.

Fans on Ultimate Rankings are split right down the middle on this.

•      Some say: the records are the records. He was already a Hall of Famer before the controversial years.

•      Some say: it does not count.

This is the most heated debate on the entire Ultimate Rankings sports platform right now. Where do you stand? 

6. Lou Gehrig — The Iron Horse 

Lou Gehrig played 2,130 consecutive games.

That means for 14 straight years, he showed up. Rain, injury, sickness, personal problems — he showed up every single day.

•      2,130 consecutive games played — a record that stood for 56 years

•      493 career home runs

•      7 World Series appearances, 6 championships

•      .340 career batting average

•      2 MVP Awards

His speech at Yankee Stadium when he retired is one of the most famous speeches in American sports history. He called himself "the luckiest man on the face of the earth" while dying from a fatal disease.

Fans on Ultimate Rankings put Gehrig in the top 10 every time because greatness is not just about stats. It is about character.

7. Sandy Koufax — The Greatest Pitcher Who Ever Lived 

Every name on this list so far has been a hitter. It is time to talk about pitching.

Sandy Koufax had the most dominant five-year stretch any pitcher has ever had. From 1962 to 1966, he was simply untouchable.

•      3 Cy Young Awards in 4 years

•      0.95 ERA in the World Series — across multiple Fall Classics

•      4 no-hitters including a perfect game

•      382 strikeouts in 1965 — broke the single season record at the time

•      2 World Series championships

Here is the crazy part. Koufax retired at 30 years old because his elbow was so bad he risked permanent disability.

Fans on Ultimate Rankings consistently vote Koufax into the top 10 not just for what he did. But for what he COULD have done if he had kept playing.

8. Mickey Mantle — What Could Have Been 

Mickey Mantle is the great "what if" of baseball.

Mantle had bad knees his whole career. He played through injuries that would have ended most players' careers before they started.

And even with bad knees, he hit 536 home runs, won 3 MVP Awards, and played in 12 World Series.

•      536 career home runs

•      3 MVP Awards

•      7 World Series championships

•      12 All-Star selections

•      Hit the longest measurable home run in MLB history — 565 feet

Scouts who saw Mantle healthy in his first two seasons say he was the most talented player they ever saw. Better than Ruth. Better than Mays.

We will never know. The knees took that from us. 

9. Ken Griffey Jr. — The Most Loved Player of His Generation 

Ask anyone who watched baseball in the 1990s who their favourite player was.

The answer, nine times out of ten, is Ken Griffey Jr.

•      630 career home runs — fifth most ever

•      10 consecutive Gold Glove Awards — matching Mays

•      1997 AL MVP Award

•      13 All-Star selections

•      One of only five players in history to hit 600+ home runs

But here is the real reason fans love Griffey. He was just fun to watch. The backwards cap. The smile. The swing that every kid in America tried to copy in the backyard.

On Ultimate Rankings, Griffey regularly gets more fan votes than his stats might suggest he should. Because sports is not just about numbers. Sometimes it is about joy.

10. The Biggest Debate on Ultimate Rankings Right Now

Here is where it gets really interesting.

The greatest MLB players ever debate heats up most when you get to position 10. Fans on Ultimate Rankings are fighting over:

•      Roberto Clemente — 3,000 hits, 12 Gold Gloves, and died on a humanitarian mission. The most beloved player in Latin American baseball history.

•      Shohei Ohtani — The most talented two-way player anyone has ever seen. Still playing. Still breaking records.

•      Jackie Robinson — Changed not just baseball but America. Without Robinson, none of these other players have the same sport to play in.

•      Mike Trout — Three MVP Awards in his first 10 seasons. Some coaches say he is the most complete player since Mays.

There is no right answer. And that is the whole point.

This is exactly why Ultimate Rankings exist. Because every fan sees greatness differently. And every fan is right.

This Debate Will Never End. That Is Exactly the Point.

Here is what really matters.

Baseball is 150 years old. It has survived two World Wars, a gambling scandal, a steroid era, and a global pandemic.

It keeps going because of players like these. Players who made you sit down and watch. Players who made you gasp. Players who made you argue with strangers.

Babe Ruth. Willie Mays. Hank Aaron. Ted Williams. Barry Bonds.

These are not just baseball players. They are American history.

And now — your vote matters too.

Who Do YOU Think Is the Best Baseball Player of All Time?

This list is decided by fans. By people exactly like you.

Is Babe Ruth really number one? Or is Willie Mays better? Should Barry Bonds be on this list at all?

You decide.

FAQ 

1. Who is the best baseball player of all time?

Based on fan voted baseball rankings at Ultimate Rankings, Babe Ruth holds the top spot, followed closely by Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. Cast your vote and make your voice heard.

1. Is Babe Ruth or Willie Mays the greater player?

This is the biggest debate in baseball history. Ruth's home run numbers and World Series rings are unmatched for his era. Fans on Ultimate Rankings are split almost evenly between the two.

1. Should Barry Bonds be considered the best baseball player ever?

Barry Bonds holds the all-time home run record (762) and won 7 MVP Awards — more than anyone in history. However, accusations of steroid use have kept him out of the Hall of Fame. Fans on Ultimate Rankings are divided. 

4   Who is the greatest hitter in baseball history?

Ted Williams is widely considered the greatest pure hitter. His .406 batting average in 1941 has never been matched. For power, the greatest hitters in baseball history debate is between Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.

    5. Where can I vote for the best baseball player of all time?

Cast your vote at Ultimate Rankings - a fan-powered platform with thousands of sports ranking questions where your vote shapes the live rankings every day.