A list like that is extremely hard to make in my opinion. I think you'd have to make the distinction of having the list be composed of players in the live-ball era (1920-present) or things could get kind of screwy. Guys like Ty Cobb, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Nap Lajoie were banging out 200+ hits with insane OBPs and OPSs like crazy, but the rules and the way the game was played was so different that I think that you'd have to separate those guys.
1920 to present in terms of pure hitting ability, here are a few guys off the top of my head in no order:
- Ted Williams
- Stan Musial
- Albert Pujols
- Tony Gwynn
- Rod Carew
- Mike Trout
- George Brett
- Todd Helton
- Wade Boggs
- Carl Yastrezmski
- Roberto Clemente
- Lou Gehrig
- Joe Dimaggio
My definition of a fine hitter really just speaks to the all-around game, like, I think that a guy like Michael Brantley is a fantastic all-around hitter even though his numbers don't jump off the page at you. I've always favored hitting towards the gaps and having a high BA/OBP/OPS over guys that consistently smoke 40 homers a year, but the guys that have high splits AND slug a ton of homers, guys like Pujols, Ted Williams, Helton, etc, jump up my list in a hurry.
EDIT: And that wasn't meant as an argument to your point or a discredit to Votto. I'm sure I'd have him on there if I really sat down, thought about it for a few days, and made a top-20/25 list, but damn, there have been a ton of amazing hitters since 1920.
