the historic 1961 season when he hit a career high 54 homers and drove in 128 runs. He was also champion of the tape-measure homer. In 1953, Mantle smashed a 565-footer off Washington Senators pitcher Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium. In 1955, he became the first player to reach the center-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium with a 486-foot shot that cleared the 20-foot hitter's background screen above the 461-foot marker. He bettered that in 1964 with a 502-footer off Chicago White Sox right-hander Ray Herbert.

Mantle's last good year came in 1964, at the age of 32. It was the last season he would bat over .300 or lead the league in any offensive category. During spring training in 1969, Mantle announced his retirement. "I can't play anymore," hesaid. "I can't hit the ball when I need to. I have to quit."

Today, Mantle is recognized as having possessed one of the greatest packages of speed and power the game has ever seen. Over 18 seasons, the Mick scattered 2,415 hits (952 of them for extra bases), hit 536 home runs, collected 1,509 RBI and walked 1,733 times. Although his career batting average was just short of .300 (.298), his career OPS+ of 172 comfortably lands him in the top 10 among baseball's greatest.

7. (tie) Dan Brouthers OPS+170
"Big Dan" Brouthers is the only nineteenth-century hitter to make our top 10. Born in Sylvan Lake, New York, in 1858, Brouthers played from 1879 through 1896 and was the most renowned slugger of his time, hitting 106 home runs