Last Tuesday, Major League Baseball (MLB) lost one their all-time great baseball players when Willie Mays passed away at the age of 93.

For this week’s installment of ‘Will’ful Thinking, current and former Gasconade County baseball coaches and administrators will give us their favorite baseball players of all time.

Former Dutchmen head baseball coach Casey Fisher went with Mays as his greatest baseball player of all time.

“I would probably have to say Willie Mays also,” Fisher said. “He was a great defender and of course a great hitter as well. He had so many clutch hits in his career it’s crazy to even read about.”

Fisher is now the Director of Technology for the School District of Washington.

Going another route was former Dutchmen head baseball coach Mark Jett.

“Babe Ruth,” Jett said. “He just dominated his era more than any other player.

Now retired, Jett lives in the St. Louis area where his oldest son Jesse Jett is currently the head softball and baseball coach for the Longhorns at Parkway West High School.

Current Owensville High School (OHS) Activities Director Matt Johnson listed additional players along with his greatest of all time.

Johnson chose “Willie Mays because of his speed, power and defense.”

During his MLB career with the San Francisco Giants, Mays finished with 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, 1,903 runs batted in (RBI) and 12 Gold Gloves in the National League.

“There are so many good one and comparisons are tough,” Johnson elaborated.

Players that Johnson thought came in close behind Mays included Hank Aaron, Ruth, Ken Griffey Jr., Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Ivan Rodriguez.

“The greatest catcher ever deserves a spot,” Johnson said of Rodriguez.

Hermann High School (HHS) Activities Director and assistant baseball coach Todd Anderson agreed with Jett.

“I’ll go with Babe Ruth,” Anderson said. “His WAR numbers outpace the rest of the field by a considerable amount. He was ahead of his time as a hitter and was a pretty good pitcher in his early years as well.

WAR stands for Wins Above Replacement. WAR measures a player’s value in all facets of the game by deciphering how many more wins he’s worth than a replacement-level player at his same position (e.g., a Minor League replacement or a readily available fill-in free agent).

Former Dutchgirl assistant softball coach Shane Hunt also went with Mays.

“Willie Mays was the complete player,” Hunt said. “His defense was superb and his offensive statistics in all areas really stood out.

Hunt is still in the Gasconade County R-2 School District as a Physical Education (P.E.,) teacher at Gerald Elementary School (GES)

Playing one year of high school baseball while at OHS, former Dutchgirl head basketball coach Steve Tappmeyer also chose Mays as his greatest baseball player of all time.

“Willie (Mays) would probably be my choice,” Tappmeyer said. “Babe Ruth’s stats are amazing but in a different time.