(Rev) List of 36: Best Players I’ve Seen Play In Person

Once again, the awards season has passed. With that, it’s time to revise the list of best players I’ve seen play live. As I’ve said, I make this list based mostly on awards. After all, my grandkids are more likely to ask me if I’ve seen a former MVP than some player who played well for a while (except for David Ortiz, I suppose). Since I’ve pretty much eliminated everyone from my top 36 who hasn’t won a Cy Young or MVP award, I’ll ignore the ROY winners. Which is nice, because I’m not sure I’ve seen either of them anyway. The two Cy Young winners were Jake Arrieta and Dallas Keuchel. I haven’t seen either of them play live, yet. So, they don’t make the list. For the MVPs, I have seen both Bryce Harper, and Josh Donaldson play. So, do they make the list? I think an MVP is better than just a Cy Young, right? Looking at my previous list, I had a couple slots taken up by pitchers with just a CYA on their resume. But, they each had two of them. I can pretty easily say that Harper bumps them with both a ROY and now an MVP. But, Donaldson?. Are two Cy Youngs better than one MVP? I think I say no. They both get the boot, and Donaldson gets a slot. So, here’s the new updated list. 

1. Roberto Alomar (HOF)

2. Wade Boggs (HOF)

3. Barry Bonds (MVP)

4. Ryan Braun (ROY, MVP)

5. Miguel Cabrera (MVP, triple crown)

6. Jose Canseco (ROY, MVP)

7. Roger Clemens (MVP, CYA)

8. Josh Donaldson (MVP)

9. Dennis Eckersley (HOF)

10. Jason Giambi (MVP)

11. Tom Glavine (HOF)

12. Juan Gonzalez (MVP)

13. Ken Griffey Jr (All-Century Team)

14. Vladimir Guerrero (MVP)

15. Josh Hamilton (MVP)

16. Bryce Harper (ROY, MVP)

17. Rickey Henderson (HOF)

18. Matt Holliday (MVP)

19. Randy Johnson (HOF)

20. Chipper Jones (MVP)

21. Greg Maddux (HOF)

22. Pedro Martinez (HOF)

23. Andrew McCutchen (MVP)

24. Justin Morneau (MVP)

25. Dustin Pedroia (ROY, MVP)

26. Kirby Puckett (HOF)

27. Albert Pujols (MVP)

28. Jim Rice (HOF)

29. Cal Ripken (HOF)

30. Alex Rodriguez (MVP)

31. Ivan Rodriguez (MVP)

32. John Smoltz (HOF)

33. Ichiro Suzuki (ROY, MVP)

34. Miguel Tejada (MVP)

35. Frank Thomas (HOF)

36. Mo Vaughn (MVP)

Who’s on your list?