Haren4prez inadvertently issued what I took as a challenge. Compiling a list of the top ten ball players that most can agree on.

My previous effort, ranking the top ten athletics of all-time proved a bit controversial, so I've decided to take a more democratic approach to this list.

Step one:
Compile a list of nominees.
In a very particular order, here they are:
Hank Aaron
Barry Bonds
Ty Cobb
Eddie Collins
Lou Gehrig
Rickey Henderson
Rogers Hornsby
Nap Lajoie
Mickey Mantle
Willie Mays
Joe Morgan
Stan Musial
Mel Ott
Cal Ripken Jr.
Alex Rodriguez
Babe Ruth
Mike Schmidt
Tris Speaker
Arky Vaughan
Honus Wagner
Ted Williams

I created this list of nominees by ranking them based on equal parts of their career WARP3, their 5 best years of WARP3 and their 1540 game average WARP3. It's a lot of WARP3, I agree - but we'll take a number of other measures into consideration in ordering this list.

Step two: This is where you come in.
While most of us can agree that the numbers help us understand and enjoy the game - being among the all-time greats means more than that. The greats are the guys whose swing and swagger their generation of kids was imitating. They are the guys who the World Series managers could pencil into their All-Star lineups in April. They are the guys that we will tell our kids about when we're teaching them about the history of America's pastime.

I am asking as many of you as possible to rank your personal top 10 of the 20 listed above. Use any measures you deem appropriate. Treat Bonds however you feel is fair. Try to be objective with Rickey - but I would understand if you are not able. I would also love to hear your thought process, but the numerical rankings will be all that goes into the final scores.

Step three:
Take equal parts of the first two steps and add a third equal part of "great achievements". This is where things like important records and achievements, clutch performances and other noteworthy factors will come into play. Please feel free to suggest things that should be included here.

I am excited about this. I hope everyone else is too.

For anyone interested, the honorable mentions, of sort, those who just missed the cut are:
Jeff Bagwell
Ernie Banks
Wade Boggs
Joe DiMaggio
Jimmie Foxx
Ken Griffey Jr.
Eddie Mathews
Frank Robinson
Frank Thomas

Note: I neglected to mention, this is only a list of everyday players. I hope to make a seperate list of pitchers and combine them in the future. Note 2: I somehow overlooked Nap Lajoie in putting together the nominations. There are now 21 nominees.