Qualify Much?

Overheard last night on 97.5 "The Fanatic." Frequent offender Dan Schwartzman, discussing Manny Ramirez:

One of the best hitters I've ever seen in the history of baseball, especially during my lifetime.

So Manny is "one of" the best hitters. Okay.

Confusion sets in when Schwartzman tosses in "I've ever seen." So now it's limited to those that the host has personally observed? Not as impressive. Confusion then mounts with "in the history of baseball" - are these players that Schwartzman has seen, including some from those grainy black-and-white-films from the 1930's or in Ken Burns's Baseball? Or is he ditching his own observations to include every hitter who has ever played the game? Then the kicker - "during my lifetime."

Any one who can successfully deduce what pool of players Schwartzman is using to gague the "best hitter" qualifications of Manny Ramirez, please let me know.

This is the same host who had a debate with himself over who deserves more money: Jason Bay or Jayson Werth. Werth wants the same money Bay got, but Schwartzman "had news" for him - he doesn't have the track record of success that Bay has. But Werth is probably still a better player than Bay. So does Werth deserve the money? Probably not. But who would Schwartzman rather have on his team? Probably Werth.