Name the most memorable/greatest player you saw in his prime in person put on a show.

[kairos12]

I would have to say it was Nolan Ryan. I think he struck out 15 or 16 the night I saw him.

Batters were looking back in the dugout with the face screaming how fast can I sit down look.

[livetohike]

1. Roberto Clemente. Fortunate to see him play at the old

Forbes Field and then at Three Rivers. Loved watch him throw from right field and nail a runner. He was and will always be my favorite player.

[apcalc]

23. +1 a great ballplayer and a great human being

[MyOwnPeace]

29. Skipped class from Duquesne University

to go to Forbes Field - got seats in right field behind "The Great Roberto!"
Loved watching him throw those bullets from right field back to the infield - they were a white streak about 5 feet off of the ground!
And when he ran the bases he always ran out from under his helmet!

[livetohike]

30. Great memories! He sure did run those bases like a

flash of lightning.

[MyOwnPeace]

33. Yep!

NEVER a clean uniform by the end of the game!

[Loge23]

2. Not a Yankee fan, but

I went to a game at Yankee Stadium many years ago with some friends. Ron Guidry was pitching.
He struck out 19 that night - an amazing performance that I was lucky to be at.
I am a Met fan. So in 1985 a young Doc Gooden was mesmerizing to watch - just unhittable. Between him and Strawberry, it was a thrill a minute when Doc was pitching and Straw ambled up to the plate. Straw used to bounce them off the old scoreboard at Shea - really something to see.

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Ted Williams.

May 1st or 2nd, 1959 Chicago,hit for the Cycle. After the game,the fellow who took us to the game was able to get us into the Locker room area and meet Williams and get our Programs Signed.

[kairos12]

6. That is remarkable.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Next was Kirby Puckett,

whom many of us who lived in the Twin Cities,had the pleasure to meet on many a occasion. Puckett and Herbek would do our Park and Rec end of Season Baseball Dinners.

[SeattleVet]

4. Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Joe Pepitone...

My grandfather used to take me to Yankee Stadium when I was a kid, so I got to see a lot of the greats in the early 60's.

[empedocles]

37. Similiar here. GF took me to Yankee Stadium, many years. Always Fri Nite game.

All time great Mickey Mantle, [rare triple crown winner,1956 BA .353, HR 52, RBI 130. I remember the rising 'low roar' at the House that Ruth built, as he strode towards the plate.

[Only others were Williams and Hornsby]

[empedocles]

43. Factor in double digit steals and the Mick was unique

[blm]

5. Jeff Healey. One of the greatest guitar performances I've seen.

Les Paul had asked him to play for an event at HoB in LA, and Jeff promised to be there. Jeff’s mother passed away right before the event, but, Jeff played. Only a small circle of us knew his mother had just died.

He played as passionately and mournfully as I had ever seen. He was down on the ground and his fingers were dripping blood, but he didn’t let up. It was incredible, it was draining. I will never forget that night.

[blm]

44. Um - just noticed this was in Sports group.

Oops

[Cracklin Charlie]

7. Most memorable?

Bo Jackson

[gibraltar72]

8. That's a toughie

Al Kaline made it look easy when it wasn't. Zeke could take over a game. Magic could dominate a game from any position. Larry Bird had icewater in his veins. Bird Fidrych probably put on the best show though.

[Chainfire]

9. That would be

Carl Sagan, battling christian hecklers after a lecture in the 1980s. It was a performance I will never forget.

And, yes, he was a good sport, but he still sent the opposition away crying in their milk!

[blm]

45. 👍🏽

[MaryMagdaline]

11. Al Leiter no hitter

Only time I saw a no hitter so I think I have to choose that game/ that performance

[kairos12]

13. Never saw one in person. I gave tickets away once where the pitcher threw one.

[MaryMagdaline]

14. Ouch!

[msongs]

12. at dodger stadium when don drysdale set the consecutive scoreless innings record nt

[The Polack MSgt]

15. My grandfather and i saw Roberto Clemente in 3 rivers stadium

But i was 8 years old. I can't really count that

The most amazing performances were probably Albert Pujols

In 2005 I saw Albert go 3 for 3 with 2 walks - a double and 2 homers and made 2 high light reel plays at 1st to steal hits from the Phillies. The best baseball game played that I ever saw live and in person

In a completely different way, Pujols impressed me a few years later.

In 2009 a fan in Pittsburgh fell onto the field near 1st base. He was attending the game with his son, who had Down's Syndrome on his son's 21st birthday.

Here is the story
https://www.stltoday.com/news/fan-feels-uplifted-after-fall-man-who-toppled-onto-playing/article_a5c37b06-cbd0-53ef-b8ec-1b26bf40ba29.html

[sweetloukillbot]

16. Not me, but my dad...

Saw Sandy Koufax throw a no hitter that was one batter shy of perfection (1 walk, I believe he said, in the 9th)

[heather blossom]

17. I am lucky

I saw Hank Aaron hit HR 695 and 696 in Shea Stadium. I was lucky enough to see the 1969 Mets play 5 times. Saw the great Tom Seaver &Nolan Ryan as a rookie. Saw Roberto Clemente play. Saw Nolan Ryan as a Texas Ranger. I got to see Adrian Beltre get hit #3000.

[Atticus]

18. In '61 or '62, I saw Stan Musial hit one out at the old original Busch Stadium

in St. Louis.

[Sedona]

19. Saw Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera all pitch in the same game

and...

it was game seven of the 2001 World Series.

Just wow. I was in the upper deck on the third base line.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI200111040.shtml

[kairos12]

20. I was at game six.

Game 7 is still one of the highlights of my sporting life. Mark Grace leading off the 9th was the right man in the right place against the only man sent to the HOF on a unanimous vote.

[Sedona]

24. Me too!

Sat next to the D'backs bull pen and had a conspiracy if Byung-hyun Kim started warming up we were jumping in to kick his ass.

It was the beer talking and with a 13 run lead at the top of the seventh we were off the hook.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/587262-2001-world-series-yankees-hero-byung-hyun-kim-signs-a-deal

It was freaky both nights with Guiliani and McCain there.

Wild night.

( I was SO in love with Mark Grace, what a hottie!)

[Journeyman]

21. Sandy Kaufax . . .

I liked Ryan. Saw him pitch a one hitter. But in his prime, there's never been another like Kaufax.

[apcalc]

22. Roberto Clemente in baseball, Dr J in basketball.

[stopwastingmymoney]

25. Rickey Henderson

May 1, 1991 in Oakland breaks the all time stolen base record

Also, in the course of looking up that date, I found that Rickey was the batter for Nolan Ryan’s 5000th strike out 😀

[leftieNanner]

26. Does this count?

I trick-or-treated at Willy Mays House in San Francisco. He gave out whole Hershey bars (we always remember the important details, don't we?).

Saw him play a few times at The Stick too.

[Indykatie]

27. Andre Dawson Was Always A Beast When I Saw Him at Cub Games

[jojog]

28. Tom Glavine game 6 1995 World Series

1 to 0 shutout of Cleveland to win their only WS.

[Moostache]

31. Frank Thomas...

The Big Hurt in 1992 was other-worldly...he was insanely talented and went largely unnoticed outside of the South Side...

The irony of the White Sox finally winning the series in '05 when he was essentially a non-factor was a cruel twist of fate, but those early 90's Sox teams with Thomas, Ventura and Co. were some of my favorites to see.

[gopiscrap]

32. Nolan Ryan

struck out 19 Mariners the night I saw him

[John Fante]

34. Shaquille O'Neal, 2000 Western Conference Finals, Game 7

Shaq was named MVP after turning in one of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history. He was utterly dominant.

His performance in game 7 wasn't memorable, but the game itself was - the Lakers trailed the Blazers by 15 points in the 4th quarter before mounting a furious comeback and winning. That game took years out of my life and I lost my voice screaming so much, but man, was it sweet in the end.

[broiles]

35. While I saw Nolan Ryan make a strike out record

the most memorable performance was an at bat by Mickey Rivers who fouled off so many pitches the pitcher wore out and Mickey got a hit. The pitcher was taken out.

[Va Lefty]

36. Brooks Robinson

Far from his prime, in fact by 1977 he had been reduced to part time player. In April I was at Memorial Stadium and saw Brooks hit his last hr, a 3 run walk off in the 10th to beat the Cleveland Indians 6-5 in the 10th. I cut the boxscore out of the paper and carried it in my wallet for 25 years or so until it fell apart.

[kairos12]

40. As a Reds fan I couldn't stand him because of the 70 World Series when nothing got

past him. He was a helluva player.

[Va Lefty]

42. Yeah, I always felt the same about Jeter

Seemed like every time the O's played the Yankees Jeter beat us.

[CanonRay]

38. Andre's Galarraga's 6 hit game against Astros

[SheltieLover]

39. Carlos Zambrano

No hitter, Sept. 2008 in Milwaukee. WOW! Crowd was absolutely electric! 😁

[hotrod0808]

41. At a Tigers-Orioles game in 1983

I saw Alan Trammell go 3-4 with two stolen bases. Same game, Lou Whitaker hit a 3-run bomb. They scored 14 runs that game. I think Petry was on the mound?