It Happens Every Spring. The Major League Baseball season opens tomorrow in the USA.
Our favorite legal mind Dale Metcalfe, { of Twinkie Defense fame} profiled on CJD in November 2007, is a serious baseball fan. He did the research and offers CJD his opinion on baseball's greatest players. Among these all time greats are six legends of the game immortalized in CJD's Gallery of Robert Hattan, America's premier baseball artist. Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner.

Here are Bill James' picks from the Baseball Historical Abstract. It was mostly written by 2000 and slightly updated in, I think, 2002. So, it is not completely up to date.
In there, he explains a very complicated formula for figuring a players worth. He is the best there is for this and his figures check out when compared with other stats plus team stats. For example, as for throwing out potential base stealers by a catcher, one of my pet skills, he figures that the most runs a catcher could save is about ten in a whole season. Thus, it doesn't really enter into his formula. He does, however, make a small allowance for intangibles and for overall defense.
Catcher: 1. Yogi Berra; 2. Johnny Bench; 3. Roy Campanella; 4. Mickey Cochran; 5. Mike Piazza (easily the best HITTING catcher of all time).
First base: 1. Lou Gehrig; 2. Jamie Foxx; 3. Mark McGuire; 4. Jeff Bagwell; 5. Eddie Murray.
Second base: 1. Joe Morgan (called the best percentage player of all time); 2. Eddie Collins; 3. Rogers Hornsby; 4. Jackie Robinson; 5. Craig Biggio.
Third Base: 1. Mike Schmidt; 2. George Brett; 3. Eddie Matthews; 4. Wade Boggs; 5. Home Run Baker.
Shortstop: 1. Honus Wagner (makes the all-time young team and the all-time old team); 2. Arky Vaughan; 3. Cal Ripkin; 4. Robin Yount; 5. Ernie Banks.
Leftfield: 1. Ted Williams; 2. Stan Musial; 3. Barry Bonds; 4. Ricky Henderson; 5. Carl Yastrzemski.
Centerfield: 1. Willie Mays (either he or Babe Ruth is #1 on the total all-time list); 2. Ty Cobb; 3. Mickey Mantle; 4. Tris Speaker; 5. Joe DiMaggio.
Rightfield: 1.Babe Ruth (also on the all-young guys and all-old guys team); 2. Henry Aaron (little known fact: led his team in stolen bases many times); 3. Frank Robinson; 4. Mel Ott; 5. Pete Rose.
That's it. I put Bench first among catchers and Robin Yount and Ernie Banks ahead of Ripkin and Vaughan at shortstop and Bench, Micky Mantle and Willie Mays are still my three favorite players.