It’s completely irrelevant to the question being posed, and the popularity of baseball may even skew this in Judge’s favor… but I will never be as “impressed” with ANY baseball player as I can be with even the all-stars in hockey who aren’t all-time legends. Datsyuk, Fedorov, the Sedins, Forsberg… yes, all “greats” to be sure, but not in the conversation for most dominant or all-time best status. Heck, even guys Panarin or Gaudreau… to me being a 100+ point player in the NHL is far more impressive than anything you can do on a baseball diamond, and it’s just down to the differences in the sports. I played baseball from 7-16 year old (hockey from 4-present, I’m 37).
I’ve played on some men’s softball teams in the interim years and genuinely enjoy it for what it is, so not a hater by any means. Hockey is simply a different beast.
Just handling a pass in stride - on ice skates, with a small stick blade - can be as tricky as Jeter fielding a hard grounder up the middle, and to control that pass, maneuver body position on the defender and thread another pass to an open teammate, while skating, while a defender does everything in their power - including running you over - to make it impossible for you to do so is just a different level of athletic skill, IMO. To be able to do that, have that second pass result in… maybe a shot on goal and puck kicked to the corner, which you then go and battle for and win, using body position, fighting through checks, pivoting on ice skates, to then go make another tape to tape saucer pass, follow the puck to the net, get your hands on a bouncing rebound, control that and then snap it into the net… all in a 45 second shift… it’s just not the same, to me. An amazing shortstop will make an insanely athletic stop on a hit, manage to flip it to the 2B and initiate the double play and the also be a .340 hitter but they’re rarely doing everything all at once and they’re never doing anything for more than like 8 seconds at a time. To do some of the things that Crosby or McDavid do, being an elite hockey player period is simply far more impressive, IMO.
