As someone who grew up hearing stories about Mickey Mantle, his legendary long home runs, and later his legendary boozing, it was usually followed with "and if he hadn't been hurt, he would have broken every record that there was."  You could probably also include "if he hadn't been hammered for most of his games" too, but at least there was some control over that.  Our generation of baseball players also finds several guys that you can play the "what if" game with, and as one of them looks for his 600th homer.

7. Mark Prior
Even though he was a highly touted college pitcher with an incredibly hyped debut, it's still easy now to forget how amazingly good Prior was at his best.  In 2003, he had a 2.43 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with 245 strikeouts.  Now he hasn't pitched since 2006, when he had a 7.40 ERA in just nine games.  He may be higher on the list but there has always seemed something JD Drew-y about him.

6. Darryl Strawberry
Yes, even drug problems and tax evasion can count as far as this list is concerned for "what might have been."  Underrated part of his career—he hit 24 homers in 1998.  Seems weird that he was still around then, much less hitting bombs.    Perhaps that is because he never played more than 63 (!) games in any season from 1992 to 1997.  His Baseball Reference page is fascinating because it's good year after good year, and then it just...stops.


5. Mark McGwire
Of course, steroids are always going to be brought up anytime McGwire's name is ever mentioned, which could be the reason that he had so many injuries, but there is no telling how many home runs that he could have hit with better health.  He missed over 200 games between 1993 and 1994, and didn't play 100 either of his final two years, forcing him to retire.  Even in his final two limping seasons, he still had incredible at-bats per home run ratios, and his career mark of 10.6 beats second place Babe Ruth by more than an entire at-bat, and the third place (Barry Bonds) by more than two.

4. Dwight Gooden
Can you imagine having him on your fantasy team in 1985?  24 wins, a 1.53 ERA and a 0.965 WHIP in 277 innings with 268 strikeouts.  And he was 19 years old.  Good Lord!  The next time someone mentions a 19-year old as reminding them of Dwight Gooden, make sure they present numbers like that before they make the comparison.

3. Kerry Wood
His success as the closer for the Cubs this year just makes his "what might have been" luster even greater.  He is even showing flashes of that nasty stuff that helped him throw maybe the greatest game of all-time in his fifth career start.

2. Pedro Martinez
Sometimes it seemed as if Pedro was pitching on such a superhuman level that it was almost a necessity that he go on the DL once a year, as if his body couldn't take how nastily he was pitching.  The 1999 All-Star Game is the best example of this, as he became surely the only MVP in history who only pitched two innings, but said innings were so amazing that he probably could have won the award even if his team had lost.  Personally, I think that Pedro is a certain Hall of Famer, but without his steady stream of injuries, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind.

1. Ken Griffey Jr.
He has averaged about 105 games per season in the 2000s.  For years he was known as the guy who was to break Hank Aaron's record before Bonds juiced himself up.  He has been lost in the shuffle for the decade, but as he sits at 599, more people are starting to realize what he is.  He is the best and most underappreciated player of the steroid era.  He is one of the top three most popular players of this generation as there was no other sports figure not named Jordan that sold more posters in the 90s.  And if he could have stayed healthy this decade, he could be known as one of the greatest players of all-time.

The Top 7 is written by Jason Major.  Had he not broke his thumb in 3rd grade, he would have become the all time kills leader in Contra.  Email him at jason@joesportsfan.com