The greatest player in Major League Baseball history, according to a ranking compiled by ESPN, is Babe Ruth. And the team with the most all-time greats is the New York Yankees.
After that, the Detroit Tigers.
Eight current or former Tigers cracked ESPN's list of the top 100 MLB players of all time, which was based on 'career WAR, Hall of Fame status, peak performance and overall contributions to the game.'
Leading the way for Detroit was 12-time batting champ Ty Cobb, who came in at No. 4. Cobb's lifetime average of .366 is the highest in MLB history. Per ESPN:
"They were all against me," Cobb wrote in his autobiography. "But I beat the bastards down and left them in the ditch." Babe Ruth put it this way: "Cobb is a p---k. But he sure can hit. God Almighty, that man can hit."
Next on the list for the Tigers was Miguel Cabrera, at No. 59. (To which we ask: there are 58 players in MLB history better than Miggy?) Cabrera is poised to become just the seventh player ever to collect 500 homers and 3,000 hits early this season -- and as ESPN points out, 'he'll have the highest career average of the group.' He's also the only Triple Crown winner in the last 50 years.
Six spots behind Cabrera was Max Scherzer (65), who won his first of three Cy Young awards when he went 21-3 for the Tigers in 2013. And seven spots behind Scherzer was Justin Verlander (72), who won the pitching Triple Crown with the Tigers in 2011 when he also become just the 11th pitcher in MLB history to be named Cy Young and MVP in the same season.
Sandwiched between those aces was Hall of Famer, 18-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove shortstop Al Kaline at No. 71. Via ESPN:
Decorated Tigers scout Ed Katalinas famously said this about Kaline: "To me he was the prospect that a scout creates in his mind and then prays that someone will come along to fit the pattern.
Hall of Fame first baseman and two-time MVP Hank Greenberg -- 'the first Jewish superstar in the major leagues, per ESPN -- came in at No. 79, followed by Hall of Fame catcher, 13-time Gold Glover and seven-time Silver Slugger Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez at No. 90 and Hall of Fame second baseman Charlie Gehringer at No. 96.
Cabrera, Scherzer and Verlander, by the way, were three of just seven active players on the list, with Cabrera trailing only Mike Trout (No. 15), Albert Pujols (No. 30) and Clayton Kerhsaw (52). Bryce Harper came in at No. 94.