If you could turn back time...

[Soriambi]

John (JDPNYY) said something in Gehrig's thread about first basemen in this forum that gave me the idea for this thread. He said that if he could go back in time and see one player play, he'd pick Lou Gehrig.

So my question for you all in this thread is just that. If you could go back in time and see one player play his career, who would it be? In addition, if your choice is Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig (the two players who I figure people will mention the most), please add another player that is not Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig in addition to him. I just don't want this to turn into a thread of a bunch of people saying "Babe Ruth" and several saying "Lou Gehrig" and that's it.

It can be any player (Pitcher, hitter, Yankee, non-Yankee, even a Negro Leaguer if you so choose. If you want, it could even be a player that you saw play but that you didn't see the best years of. For instance, I would have loved to have seen Mattingly when he was a complete monster in the mid-80s, but I was about one or two when he was at his best.)

I also ask that you tell us what interests you most about the player (or players, if you choose Ruth or Gehrig and another player) that you choose that makes you want to go back and watch them the most.

Also, if you'd like, feel free to make a top 5 or 10 list. I'd also worried that everyone might just say Mantle or DiMaggio as their second player. Both fine choices, obviously, but it could get a bit boring if everyone says the same thing.

[Nome]

I was lucky. I got to see all our greats from the late 40's on. Leaving out Ruth and Gehrig, I would most have liked to see Jack Chesbro pitching one of his doubleheader wins in 1904. Second I would like to have seen Dickey in 1927.

Andy

[Soriambi]

For me, the first guy that I would have wanted to see is Babe Ruth. He completely dominated the league in a way that no one had every seen before and that has only really happened once since, at least statistically, with Barry Bonds from 2001-2004.) He's the most storied player in the history of baseball, and I would have loved to have seen him play.

My second player is Mickey Mantle. From what I can tell he's the favorite player of about 90% of Yankees fans who ever saw him play and I would have loved to have seen his career.

(Others that I would have loved to have seen include Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mattingly's prime years, Walter Johnson, and, crossing enemy lines, Ted Williams. There are obviously dozens of other all-time greats that I would have loved to have seen, but those are the guys who are at the top of my list. I would have liked to put a radar gun on Johnson to see how hard he really threw compared to the guys of today.)

[ShaneTravis]

It's been 65 years since Joe D had his streak----On July 17, 1941.
I don't know anyone who has ever seen him play but every time I read a biography of any of the old time players his name is always mentioned as one of the best to ever play. To watch him or Ted Williams (one of my favorite subjects to read about) play would be my wish.
Also the Bronx Zoo of the 70's with Billy M would have been something. Billy Martin stories seem to be the most entertaining. He was one of my dad's favorite players.

[Gehrig]

EVERYBODY knows my first choice...that being said I would go with Leo Durocher.

Allow me to 'splain...

If I get to follow his entire career well, Leo started at shortstop for the '28 Yankees through '29 (and a few games in '25), allowing me to watch Ruth AND Gehrig and most of the '27's...and the '28 championship.

Following him to Cincinnati I would get to watch him closely AND Edd Roush, another hall of famer. AND Ernie Lombardi, Chick Hafey Eppa Rixey and Jim Bottomly...ALL HOFers

Next old Leo the Lip and I would be off to St Louis where I would get to closely observe Frankie Frisch, Rogers friggins Hornsby !! Dizzy Dean, Dazzy Vance, Burliegh Grimes (the last man to throw a legal spitball) Pepper MArtin, Ducky Medwick...

Then off to BROOKLYN !!!


The list of who he played with goes on but you catch my drift…

Many many greats I would get to see…Me and the Lip…

[In Mo I Trust]

Satchel Paige. I'd love to be able to take in all of the barnstorming tours he took part in.

[fredgmuggs]

Jackie Robinson, there's no more influential person to have ever played this game. I'm not sure I would want to see what he had to endure, but I know I should. So, he's the guy.

[Soriambi]

EVERYBODY knows my first choice...that being said I would go with Leo Durocher.

Allow me to 'splain...

I guess the better question would have been "which player would you have most wanted to see play because you're interested in that player?" or "If you could see all of the ABs or IPs of one player ever, who would it be?" over the way I asked it, because the way I asked it opened it up to the Forrest Gump loophole you wisely used. Would it still be Durocher if I asked it that way, or who?

Interesting replies so far, everyone. Paige is a good one. I'd like to have seen just how great he was in his prime. Josh Gibson and Oscar Charleston, too.

[Gehrig]

Roy Hobbs...the best there ever was...

J/K

Ty Cobb...

(in my best Gump voice...) "Thats all I got to say 'bout that..."

[JDPNYY]

I'd go with Lou Gehrig.

[Sixty one]

I'd have loved to see Joe D. and Ted Williams when they were in their prime. I did see both play but this was in the early 50's for Joe and the late 50s for Ted.....by then they were on the downside of thier great careers.

[Blackout806]

cool papa bell would've been the most exciting to watch

granted he wasn't as good as Cobb or Charleston, or even Speaker

[Soriambi]

I'd go with Lou Gehrig.

Really?

What about a second answer, other than Ruth?

[Soriambi]

By the way, I was thinking of all of the players that Durocher played with thanks to Gehrig's post, and I wonder what player played with the most HOF teammates in his career. I wonder if it's Durocher or someone else.

[Nome]

By the way, I was thinking of all of the players that Durocher played with thanks to Gehrig's post, and I wonder what player played with the most HOF teammates in his career. I wonder if it's Durocher or someone else.

I would think it would be a Yankee with a long career. Someone like Yogi, Scooter, or Mickey.

Andy

[Casey37]

I'd love to be able to go back to 1927 so I could watch the greatest team ever in action. I honestly can't think of a bigger thrill than that.

[Jake_Gibbs]

Josh Gibson for me. My dad saw him play and said that there was no better catcher in the game. I also have a thing for catchers with the initials JG (as there have been quite a few of them).

[Gehrig]

By the way, I was thinking of all of the players that Durocher played with thanks to Gehrig's post, and I wonder what player played with the most HOF teammates in his career. I wonder if it's Durocher or someone else.

This my friend sounds like a great idea for a new thread...

I shall kick it of asap so we don't go too off topic here...

[NYYRocket]

Shoeless Joe Jackson

[hardrain]

I'd love to see the 1934 Gas House Gang play for a solid summer. Maybe grab a beer with Ol' Diz, Leo and Pepper Martin.

[JDPNYY]

I'd love to see the 1934 Gas House Gang play for a solid summer. Maybe grab a beer with Ol' Diz, Leo and Pepper Martin.

I'm pretty sure those guys didn't drink.

[ZooYawker]

Either Lefty Gomez or Whitey Ford. Nothing would be cooler than seeing two of the great crafty southpaws in action.

[krystl]

There are a lot of players I would like to see. I would like to see Thurman Munson (I did see him play but only in 77 and 78 and I was only 13 or so at the time.)

I also would like to see Yogi and Scooter. They have been such staples in the Yankee history. I only know Scooter as an announcer, so it would be interesting to see him as a player (other than the footage I have seen).

[penguin4]

Okay, since I can't say the guy in my av, I think I'll go with Walter Johnson.

My choice stems partially from scant (if any) video footage existing of him playing, and from several conversations I've had recently about the evolution of pitching. Why is it that back in the day guys were able to pitch nine innings every third day and you seldom heard about sore arms or muscle tears or other Pavanoesque aliments (cheap shot, I really don't care) that kept players out of the game? You would think modern medicine would only make it easier and yet guys are pitching less and getting hurt more. It's not like the players weren't throwing as hard (no radar guns back then, though using a motorcycle someone once approximated Bob Feller's arm in the mid-90's, for instance). And there certainly weren't any less pitches back then than there are now. The only possible explanation anyone could come up with for me was that the strategy had changed; guys were swinging at every pitch and thus using less pitches per at-bat, allowing pitchers to stay in longer -- which, of course, would translate to more pop flys and ground outs, less strikeouts.

Which makes Walter Johnson's 3509 K's -- far and away the leader until the 1980's -- all the more fascinating. Either he had a spring for an arm or he had some heck of control.

[hardrain]

I'm pretty sure those guys didn't drink.

[hellonewman]

No particular order:

1. Ruth, of course.
2. Walter Johnson, to see if he was REALLY that fast.
3. Ty Cobb. Always wanted to see what homicidal rage on a baseball field looks like.
4. Jackie Robinson. Not just for historical importance, but also he was reputed to be a really electric force on the basepaths. Would love to see him extricate himself from a rundown.
5. Sandy Koufax. I just missed him, and people I know who saw him just gush.
6. Ted Williams. Anyone who can win a batting title hitting into a shift has to be pretty amazing.
7. Joe DiMaggio, mostly to watch him field. But also to follow the 56-game hitting streak, which must have been something else to follow.
8. Willie Mays. I saw him when he was old, would have liked to have seen him when he was doing things like catching 470-foot Vic Wertz drives.
9. Grover Cleveland Alexander. Greatest control pitcher ever, drunk or sober. Would love to watch him work over a lineup.
10. Pete Gray. Jim Abbott was one thing, but a one-armed OUTFIELDER (who has to bat)? Amazing.

[JL25and3]

A lot of the guys who've been mentioned would be great, of course. I'll add a couple:

Of Yankees, I'll go with Mickey Mantle when he was young and could do everything. I saw Mantle play when he was old and could barely move, but my father - who saw Ruth and Gehrig and Dimaggio - always got a sort of dreamy look in his eyes when he talked about young Mickey.

There are a lot of pre-1920 guys I'd like to see, especially Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson. Both of them got nothing but superlatives from everyone who was around then. Wagner was supposed to be the greatest fielder anyone ever, and could play anywhere - he was actually a utility guy for about his first five years. I'd love to see what a great fielder looked like when the gloves were small, the fields had pebbles, and the balls were covered with tobacco juice.

[Gehrig'sGhost]

There are WAY too many to list without offending myself by leaving someone out. I'd just love to see a few dozen games from each decade 20's-early 50's to see a representative sample of players when they all played mostly for the love of the game - at least when they played it without thinking they'd get rich.

If I HAD to pick a couple, it would be Mantle before injuries and a young Satchel Paige.

[jlw1980]

I have to say Gehrig would be my #1 choice. I'm going to have a very long list, so be patient. (I'll put in bold my top choices, but these are in no particular order, otherwise.)

I'd love to see Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Nap Lajoie, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Cy Young, Yaz, Dizzy Dean, Bill Dickey, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson, Ted Williams, Whitey Ford, Stan Musial, Johnny Bench, Willie Mays, Mel Ott, Satchel Paige, Thurman Munson, Roberto Clemente, Hank Greenberg, Roy Campanella, Rogers Hornsby, Warren Spahn, Waite Hoyt, Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, Jackie Robinson, Phil Rizzutto, Brooks Robinson, Herb Pennock, and of course The Babe, Joe D, Yogi, and The Mick.

Oh, and I'd like to knock out Bill Mazeroski prior to the '60 World Series. My dad said he was watching that, and it irritates him to this day when he thinks of it. (I find it odd that he wasn't selected to be a HOFer until 2001. ) "Yankees outscored them by a ton of runs that series! Mazeroski hit maybe 3-4 home runs a year!"

[grandsalami]

I'd go back to when Bonds was a Pirate and warn him about steroid use.

[Big_E]

My answer is in my avatar.

Other than that, if I could pick a single season I'd take 1951.

DiMaggio's last year; Berra in his prime. Scooter at SS. Some kid from Commerce, OK was a rookie, not to mention pitching that included Raschi, Lopat and Reynolds.

[CallOfTheCrow]

Shoeless Joe

Babe Ruth

Ty Cobb

[dabomb2045]

Be able to follow the 1927 Yankees on a daily basis

[CallOfTheCrow]

I would have loved to follow the HR race of '61.

[yanksrule69]

My first pick would be Babe Ruth. Thurman Monson would be second. Mantle would be third.

[wexy]

Go to Hilltop Park in 1903 to see the Highlanders of Wee Willie Keeler,
Kid Elberfeld and Jack Chesbro and keep my seats to see the Openind Day of Yankee Stadium twenty years later to see the Babe go deep.

[4bronxbombers]

Play a part in "Luckiest Man" (if it were made into a movie). I love Lou Gehrig and this book is awesome so far...............

or:

Have season tickets to Yankees games back in Gehrig's day.