Is Joe Mauer the Best Player in Baseball?

[DuWayne Steurer]

my vote still goes to Albert Pujols. I think Pujols might be the greatest hitter of all-time, actually. Ted Williams played too much before integration to know how he would have done vs Satchel Paige et al. Willie Mays had a 10-12 year streak with similar stats as Pujols but not as great of a batting average

 

Mauer might end up the greatest catcher of all-time though, and if you put him in a time machine back to Ruth and Gehrig's era and allowed him to face only white pitchers he'd probably hit .410 every year

Williams played in 13 seasons (11 full seasons) after integration, and only one of those (his next to last year) was his OPS below 1.000. The 233 OPS+ he posted in 1957 was the highest of his career. At the age of 38.

[The Truth]

I know RoCoBrewfan, however it is difficult to figure out when exactly baseball became fully integrated. It certainly wasn't in Jackie Robinson's first few seasons. Ted Williams was a remarkable hitter though, and I realize there are other factors that should be included, such as the higher pitching mound, day baseball every game, rougher travelling conditions, the stress of not making huge money etc