re: When deciding GOAT player, how you you rank these factors?

On a longer and longer timeline, all that is left of a player is his statistical record. The stories become legends and get discarded, and when we evaluate older players, we use stats. It's honestly the only way. None of us saw, say, Three Finger Brown throw a baseball.

But context is super important. Numbers don't always mean the same thing, and without context, they are virtually meaningless. You need to know a player relative to his league and the style of play or even his home arena (like the narrow boards at the Garden or the huge Polo Grounds).

But I tend to favor black/grey ink stats. How many times did you lead the league in something. How many times were you top 10. How did you, relative to your peers? That cuts down a lot a noise regarding fluctuating scoring averages.

Championships are like extra credit.