Thousands of players have come and gone in the history of baseball. Many have had outstanding careers, won MVP awards, appeared in All-Star games and earned other individual honors. But only 10 were able to add an ESPN's Player of the Decade honor to their résumé.
| |  | | Mike Schmidt was named the Player of the '80s. |
Topping the list was the Bambino himself, Babe Ruth. The Yankees outfielder registered the largest margin of victory of all nine user polls, pulling in 82.1 percent of the 32,956 votes cast in the '20s poll.
And Ruth wasn't the only Yankee on the Player of the Decades list. Mickey Mantle beat out Jackie Robinson to claim the title for the '50s.
Honors for the first two decades of this century went to Honus Wagner for 1900-09 and Ty Cobb for 1910-1919. Cobb was a clear favorite for his era, and Wagner received stiff competition from Cy Young and Christy Mathewson.
Slugger Jimmie Foxx ruled the '30s with 77.4 percent of the vote. Voting in the '40s was much closer as Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams edged out Joe DiMaggio and Stan Musial.
In the '60s, the "Say Hey Kid" -- Willie Mays -- stole the show by outdistancing a tough class that included Hank Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Roberto Clemente. Pete Rose got the nod for the '70s, outdistancing former teammates Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton and Joe Morgan.
In the tightest race of the nine polls, former Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt earned the '80s honor, edging out runner-up Nolan Ryan by 5.5 percent of the 34,188 votes cast.
The final decade -- the '90s -- will be decided by the players themselves. The winner will be announced as part of the Players Choice Awards show, which will be televised Friday on ESPN (8:30 p.m. ET).
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ALSO SEE
Baseball's Players Choice Awards
Player of 1900-09: Honus Wagner
Player of 1910-19: Ty Cobb
Player of the '20s: Babe Ruth
Player of the '30s: Jimmie Foxx
Player of the '40s: Ted Williams
Player of the '50s: Mickey Mantle
Player of the '60s: Willie Mays
Player of the '70s: Pete Rose
Player of the '80s: Mike Schmidt
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