Baseball GOAT

Who was actually better?

Welcome to Baseball GOAT. Every major leaguer since 1871, Negro Leagues stars included, is rated here on one scale that accounts for the era he played in. Start with the all-time lineup: pick a position to see who holds it and who is next in line.

Compare two playersSee the top 100

No. 1 at right field

Babe Ruth

New York Yankees, 1914–1935

Ratings for Babe Ruth
ScoreAll-time rankCareerBest 7 seasons
135.51187.283.8

Career and best seven seasons are in wins, adjusted for era. Score is the average of the two.

right field depth chart

Compare Ruth and Aaron

The closest races

At some positions the top spot is all but a coin flip. Pick one and see how the two stack up.

Bring your own argument

Compare any two players, from any era, hitters against pitchers. You get a verdict and the numbers behind it.

Browse the rankings to find the best ever at a position, on a team, or both. The best shortstops the Cubs ever had, say.

Each player’s score comes from our own numbers, built so a star from 1910 and a star from 2010 can be measured side by side.

How the rankings work

Every player gets one number, wins added: the extra games his teams won because they had him and not a replacement-level fill-in.

  • His own era. Each season is measured against that league in that year. That is how a dead-ball hitter and a modern slugger end up on the same scale.
  • Everything he did. Hitting, baserunning, the position he played and pitching all count, so two-way players get credit for both.
  • Peak and longevity. A score blends a full career with a player’s best seasons. A long, steady career and a short, brilliant one can both rank high.
  • Fair seasons. Short schedules, from the 1870s to the Negro Leagues to 2020, get credit toward a full season. The iron-arm pitchers of the 1880s are judged on a workload a modern ace could carry.

The numbers are our own, built from public records, not borrowed from another site. They don’t measure fielding skill or the postseason, so expect a few rankings you’ll want to argue with.