Baseball writers, fans, and front offices are always looking for that next big thing. Even The Immortals in Cooperstown were once superseded as they aged. There always comes a day when a Cy Young dims as a Walter Johnson shines, when a Babe Ruth steps down as a Joe DiMaggio steps up.
The greatest battles for the spotlight will be remembered forever. They weren’t the simultaneous ascensions and denouements of careers, but rather the coinciding peaks. Mantle and Mays is a war that the old guard will recall fondly, while those under the age of 45 will tell you about how the later-disgraced Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire saved baseball.