His 462 home runs have been trumped by 30 men in Major League Baseball history, and no player ? not Babe Ruth, not Ty Cobb, not Hank Aaron ? was good enough to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season before he put on a major league uniform.

During the prime of his career, he was brash, arrogant, cocky ? all the prerequisites for a superstar not named Cal Ripken. He could hit a baseball farther than perhaps any player who ever swung a bat and was hated or loved ? depending on the city.