Baseball is a unique sport when compared to the other major sports. No one would dare say Wilt Chamberlain or Johnny Unitas is the greatest player ever in their respective sport, but we’re pushing nearly an entire century since Babe Ruth last suited up, and he’s still the consensus best player of all-time.
Ruth was part of the original 1936 Hall of Fame class that saw five members elected. There are now 235 such major league players, and I attempted to rank all of them in reverse order. Making the Hall is an incredible accomplishment by itself, and it’s better to be the worst player in Cooperstown than not be in at all. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t undeserving players.
Pre-sabermetrics, voters often looked at simple numbers like home runs and wins. Now we’re blessed with in-depth websites that tell you everything from launch angle to batting average on balls in play (BABIP) to average spin rate on a curveball.
I looked at both traditional stats and sabermetrics, along with awards, impact on championship teams, and positional value, while also doing my best to factor in unquantifiable intangibles – how did peers around the league view said player?
While I have no doubt that Negro League players like Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Oscar Charleston would have excelled in the major leagues, I did not include them in this ranking. I also did not factor in pioneers/executives, managers, or umpires.
A few statistics explained:
WAR: Wins Above Replacement; a measure of the amount of wins a player contributes to his team in a given season compared to that of a player that could be called up from Triple-A; this factors in batting, fielding, baserunning, and positional value; 60 WAR is traditionally the benchmark for a HOF player
WAA: Wins Above Average; a measure of the amount of wins a player contributes to his team in a given season compared to that of an average major league player; a player can have a positive WAR and a negative WAA
JAWS: an invention by Jay Jaffe that combines a player’s career WAR with his WAR from his seven peak years and averages them out
OPS+: a player’s on-base percentage + slugging percentage combined and then compared to the league at the time; an average mark is 100 while 110 is considered to be 10 percent above average and 90 is 10 percent below average
ERA+: a pitcher’s ERA when compared to the league at the time; an average mark is 100 while 110 is considered to be 10 percent above average and 90 is 10 percent below average
Click here to read Part I (#235-201), Part II (#200-151), Part III (#150-101), and Part IV (#100-51).
The Rankings
50. Bert Blyleven, SP, 1970-1992
Stats: 287-250, 3.31 ERA, 4.970 IP, 3,701 K, 1.198 WHIP, 118 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 94.5 WAR, 50.2 WAA, 72.4 JAWS
On the surface, Bert Blyleven is 287-250 (a .534 winning percentage) with a 3.31 ERA. It’s difficult to separate him from Jim Kaat or Tommy John, and pre-sabermetrics, he was looked upon as a good but not great pitcher. With sabermetrics, he’s a clear cut Hall of Famer and a top 20 pitcher ever in terms of WAR, WAA, and JAWS.
Blyleven typically pitched for below-average teams, which didn’t help his career W-L record. He struck out over 1,500 hitters by age 25. Three times he led the AL in K:BB ratio and he’s still fifth on the all-time strikeout list. He put together 11 seasons of five or more WAR, although somehow finished with just two All-Star selections.
Blyleven’s kryptonite was the home run – he surrendered 430 in his career and is the only pitcher ever to allow 50 in a season. But years of strong play plus a terrific postseason resume (5-1, 2.47 ERA) make him a worthy top 20 pitcher ever.
49. Mariano Rivera, RP, 1995-2013
Stats: 82-60, 652 SV, 2.21 ERA, 1,283.2 IP, 1,173 K, 1.001 WHIP, 205 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 56.3 WAR, 32.4 WAA, 42.5 JAWS
Until Mariano Rivera came along, a case could have been made for a handful of different relief pitchers as the best to ever do it. After Rivera hung up his cleats – still fresh off another All-Star season at age 43– the debate was over.
Rivera is first all-time in saves (652) and ERA+ (205). His 1.000 WHIP is the lowest among qualified pitchers in the live ball era. He had a 1.80 career ERA after the age of 38. He racked up 126 saves in his 40s. And like some of the most dominant athletes ever – Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, Tom Brady – Rivera was even better in the playoffs.
Rivera had a career 0.70 ERA in the postseason. It was 0.32 in the ALDS, 0.92 in the ALCS, and 0.99 in the World Series. He allowed just two home runs to 527 batters. He threw 33 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings against the stiffest competition. The fact that he won a World Series MVP as a closer is miraculous enough, but how about the fact that he basically threw just one pitch – the cutter – for his entire career?
48. Kid Nichols, SP, 1890-1906
Stats: 362-208, 2.96 ERA, 5,067.1 IP, 1,881 K, 1.224 WHIP, 139 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 116.3 WAR, 73.5 WAA, 95.3 JAWS
Baseball might as well have been a different game when Kid Nichols pitched. Not only were there no individual awards for pitchers (All-Star appearances, Cy Youngs, MVPs), but the mound was 50 feet from home plate. No one hit home runs. And pitchers completed almost every game they started, regularly pitching three to four times a week.
How about this for a fact? Kid Nichols started 562 games in his career. He completed 532 of them. He was never removed from the game for a reliever, meaning he either finished the game or a pinch-hitter came in to bat for him.
Nichols won 30 or more games seven times, an all-time record for any era. He won his 300th career game at 30 years old, making him the youngest pitcher ever to do so. We can’t in good conscience compare Nichols’ 400-plus inning seasons to modern pitchers, but still, when he retired, only the great Cy Young had a higher career WAR than Nichols. Four times Nichols led all NL pitchers in WAR, and his league/era-adjusted ERA+ of 139 is greater than Young, Christy Mathewson, or Pete Alexander.
47. Ken Griffey, Jr., CF, 1989-2010
Stats: .284/.370/.538, 630 HR, 1,836 RBI, 136 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 83.8 WAR, 46.8 WAA, 68.9 JAWS, 5.08 WAR/162
During his first decade in the major leagues, Ken Griffey, Jr. could do it all. He hit home runs, stole bases, and climbed the center field wall to rob home runs, making him the face of baseball.
Griffey finished his career with a PED-free 630 home runs, leading the league four times, including three straight times. He hit a home run in eight straight games. He won 10 Gold Gloves and an MVP award. He famously scored the walkoff run in Seattle’s only playoff series victory in the ‘90s. And he was the first No. 1 overall draft pick to eventually make the Hall of Fame.
Injuries ultimately robbed Griffey of the second half of his career – he totaled just 7.6 WAR in 10 years after signing a mega-deal with Cincinnati. Among Hall of Fame position players, only Rabbit Maranville and Chuck Klein totaled fewer WAR in their final 10 seasons than Griffey – and neither of those two is deserving of the Hall of Fame. Still, Griffey did enough to still rank among the top 50 baseball players who ever lived.
46. Chipper Jones, 3B, 1993-2012
Stats: .303/.401/.529, 468 HR, 1,623 RBI, 141 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 85.2 WAR, 53.4 WAA, 66.0 JAWS, 5.52 WAR/162
Believe it or not, but Chipper Jones is one of only seven players ever to maintain a .300/.400/.500 slash line over 10,000 plate appearances – and he’s the only switch-hitter to do it. He batted .300 10 times and put together a ridiculous .364 average and .470 on-base percentage at age 36 in 2008. He walked enough to finish his career with over 1,500 free passes, and he had good enough plate discipline that he retired with more walks than strikeouts.
Jones really had no weaknesses. He hit 468 home runs, stole 150 bases, and had two 20 HR-20 SB seasons. He was an average defender at third base but was still playing the position even at age 40.
Jones won an MVP award in 1999, led the Braves to a ridiculous 14 consecutive division titles, and posted a solid .864 career OPS in the postseason. And when he made the Hall of Fame in 2018, he became just the second No. 1 overall draft pick to ever make it (after Ken Griffey, Jr.).
45. Jackie Robinson, 2B, 1947-1956
Stats: .311/.409/.474, 137 HR, 734 RBI, 132 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 61.4 WAR, 39.3 WAA, 56.8 JAWS, 7.20 WAR/162
Every fourth grader in America learns about Jackie Robinson famously breaking the color barrier in 1947, but you know what they don’t dwell on? Just how good Robinson was as a baseball player. It’s easy to think the Hall of Fame invited him largely for the fact that he paved the way for thousands of other African American baseball players, but Robinson was a flat out dominant player.
He was a .311/.409/.474 career hitter over 5,804 plate appearances. He hit for average, power (132 OPS+), walked a lot, stole bases (two seasons leading the league), won an MVP award at age 30, and played phenomenal defense at multiple key infield positions. He led the Brooklyn Dodgers to six pennants and a World Series championship in 10 years, famously sparking their 1955 title with a steal of home plate.
If you compare what Robinson accomplished strictly after making the major leagues, he’s unquestionably an all-time great. His 61.4 WAR after age 28 is the 22nd best total in major league history, and his 39.3 WAA (which factors in positional value) is 19th best. Because pf segregation, Robinson missed at least five or six prime seasons; at his career rate of six WAR per year, he would have pushed for 100 WAR. And his career average of 7.20 WAR per 162 games is better than notables like Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Frank Robinson.
44. Dan Brouthers, 1B, 1879-1904
Stats: .342/.423/.520, 107 HR, 1,301 RBI, 171 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 79.8 WAR, 55.1 WAA, 63.5 JAWS, 7.71 WAR/162
Here’s how insanely talented of a hitter Dan Brouthers was: He led the National League in batting average and on-base percentage five times each, slugging percentage seven times, OPS eight times, and OPS+ eight times. The only other players to lead the league in each stat a minimum of five times each are Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Ted Williams, and Stan Musial.
Brouthers’ career OPS+ of 171 is the eighth-best mark in baseball history, a full three points higher than all-time batting king Ty Cobb and 16 points higher than longtime home run king Hank Aaron.
There’s no denying that baseball was different when Brouthers played. There were no relief pitchers, no black or foreign-born players, which diluted the competition. But Brouthers was still probably the best hitter of his era. He retired with baseball’s career slugging percentage record, a mark that stood until Ty Cobb broke it in 1922. He was one of only four pre-Babe Ruth era players to hit over 100 home runs. And his .342 batting average is still a top-10 mark in league history.
43. Al Kaline, RF, 1953-1974
Stats: .297/.376/.480, 399 HR, 1,582 RBI, 134 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 92.8 WAR, 55.5 WAA, 70.8 JAWS, 5.30 WAR/162
Al Kaline was just 20 years old in 1954 when he led the major leagues in batting average (.340), won a Gold Glove, registered 8.2 WAR, and finished second to Yogi Berra in the MVP award voting. It’s one of the most impressive seasons by such a young player in the game’s history.
When Kaline retired 20 years later, he ranked 16th in home runs and 18th in RBIs – despite never even hitting 30 homers in a single season. Kaline is in the elusive 3,000-career hit club, and he even ranks in the top half of those players in OPS+ (134). In right field, he won 10 Gold Gloves, recording a fantastic 153 defensive runs saved.
Kaline even played his whole career for the same franchise, leading them to a World Series title in 1968, and finishing as a .333/.373/.563 postseason performer for Detroit.
42. Eddie Plank, SP, 1901-1917
Stats: 326-194, 2.35 ERA, 4,495.2 IP, 2,246 K, 1.119 WHIP, 122 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 90.9 WAR, 48.2 WAA, 68.0 JAWS
Despite not starting his professional career until age 25, Eddie Plank retired with the sport’s all-time record for wins by a lefthander (326). He never led the league in wins, strikeouts, ERA, or WAR for pitchers, but was just a top-five pitcher for the duration of his career.
Plank averaged 20 wins per year for his 14 years with the Philadelphia A’s, posted an ERA 20 percent above league average, and played a pivotal role in the A’s mini-dynasty. In four World Series, he was just 2-5 but through no fault of his own: his 1.32 ERA was stellar.
41. Sandy Koufax, SP, 1955-1966
Stats: 165-87, 2.76 ERA, 2,324.1 IP, 2,396 K, 1.106 WHIP, 131 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 48.9 WAR, 26.4 WAA, 47.4 JAWS
There wasn’t much in Sandy Koufax’s first six seasons to suggest he’d become one of the most dominant left-handed pitchers the game has ever seen. Through 1960, he was 36-40 with a league-average 4.10 ERA with a high walk rate, and the only statistic in which he had ever led the league was wild pitches (17 in 1959). And then the greatest thing Koufax could possibly hope for happened – the Dodgers moved to Dodger Stadium in 1962.
Koufax was 111-34 with a 1.95 ERA from ‘62 through ’66. He’s the only pitcher ever to win five consecutive ERA titles. He led the league in WHIP four times and set a single-season strikeout record with 382 in 1965. He won an NL MVP, three Cy Youngs and pitching triple crowns, and threw an absurd four no-hitters and a perfect game before his golden left arm gave out.
He was even better in the postseason, as Koufax played a major role in three Dodgers World Series championships. Twice he was named World Series MVP and his most memorable moment was throwing a three-hit shutout in Game 7 of the 1965 Fall Classic. All that is a good reason why he was dubbed “The Left Arm of God.”
Take Koufax away from the elevated pitching mound and the extreme park factors of the 1960s Dodger Stadium, and it’s tough to know what kind of pitcher he’d be. His career ERA at Dodger Stadium was 1.37; everywhere else, it was 3.39. Benefiting from the most absurd home ballpark conditions outside of modern day Colorado can’t be ignored. We’ll never know if Koufax would have been a Hall of Famer outside of 1960s Dodger Stadium’s pitching mound, but we do know that his five-year peak can hold its own against anyone.
40. Steve Carlton, SP, 1965-1988
Stats: 329-244, 3.22 ERA, 5,217.2 IP, 4,136 K, 1.247 WHIP, 115 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 90.2 WAR, 45.8 WAA, 72.2 JAWS
Few pitchers throughout history have seen both the highs and the lows of Steve Carlton. At his best, he was a four-time Cy Young award winner, the first left-handed pitcher ever to reach 4,000 strikeouts, a two-time World Series champion, and owner of the most unhittable slider the game has ever seen.
At his worst, he mixed spectacular seasons with bouts of inconsistency and erratic wildness. In various seasons throughout his career, Carlton led the NL in losses, hits allowed, walks allowed, home runs allowed, and wild pitches. He has twice as many balks (90) as the next-highest pitcher. And his late career decline (16-37, 5.21 ERA on five different teams over his final four years) is one of the most startling we’ve ever seen from a surefire Hall of Famer.
Still, Carlton’s peak puts him comfortably in the top 20 pitchers ever. His 12.1 WAR in 1972 still stands as the highest wins above replacement by a lefty in the post-Dead Ball Era, and he recorded 27 wins for a team that had 59 wins all year. He’s one of just three pitchers to lead the league in wins four times and strikeouts five times. And he’s the slickest pickoff artist ever, registering 144 in his career.
39. Warren Spahn, SP, 1942-1965
Stats: 363-245, 3.09 ERA, 5,243.2 IP, 2,583 K, 1.195 WHIP, 119 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 100.1 WAR, 48.5 WAA, 75.8 JAWS
No pitcher whose career started after the Dead Ball Era won as many games as Warren Spahn (363). In one of the most remarkable feats of consistency, Spahn won 20 games 13 times but never topped 23 – he had 20 once, 21 eight times, 22 twice, and 23 twice (the second time at his age-42 season).
Even acknowledging that pitcher wins are a very team-oriented stat (and Spahn did have the luxury of pitching on a team with Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews), Spahn led the NL in wins eight times, more than any other pitcher of all-time.
He doesn’t have the peak dominance of Pedro Martinez or Greg Maddux, but he was an unbelievable workhorse who just kept going year after year. No pitcher has ever made more All-Star teams than Spahn (17). He won ERA titles in three different decades. He got MVP votes 16 years apart (and every season in between except two). And he was even a terrific hitter, finishing with an NL pitcher record 35 home runs.
38. Wade Boggs, 3B, 1982-1999
Stats: .328/.415/.443, 118 HR, 1,014 RBI, 131 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 91.4 WAR, 57.4 WAA, 73.9 JAWS, 6.07 WAR/162
There are three hitters in the last 50 years who have retired with a batting average over .320 (Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew, and Wade Boggs), and only Boggs has done so while also putting up a .400 on-base percentage. An emphasis on home runs and an increase in strikeouts in modern baseball have made high batting averages more rare, and it’s almost a certainty that we’ll never again see someone do what Boggs did.
Boggs batted at least .325 in each of his first eight seasons. Five times he won batting titles and six times he led the American League in on-base percentage. At the start of the 1990 season, he was a .352 career hitter. Boggs hit 40 doubles eight times and also walked a ton, giving him a 131 career OPS+. That’s a higher mark than power-hitting Hall of Famers like Ernie Banks and Eddie Murray.
Despite winning two Gold Gloves, Boggs isn’t usually talked about as being a great-fielding third baseman. But he recorded +104 defensive runs saved over an 18-year career and only recorded negative season grades twice.
37. George Brett, 3B, 1973-1993
Stats: .305/.369/.487, 317 HR, 1,596 RBI, 135 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 88.7 WAR, 50.6 WAA, 71.0 JAWS, 5.31 WAR/162
Most experts would consider Mike Schmidt to be the greatest third baseman in baseball history, but George Brett is the consensus No. 2 pick – and the best to ever play his position in the American League.
Brett is one of four retired players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a .300 career batting average. Considering the others are Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Stan Musial, that’s a pretty impressive group. And Brett added in 201 steals, showing he could run too.
Brett was a batting champion in three different decades. He was an AL MVP once and a runner-up on two occasions. By virtue of his OPS+, he was the league’s best overall hitter on three occasions. Brett wasn’t in Schmidt’s class as an elite defender, but he won a Gold Glove and finished with a solid +47 defensive runs saved over 21 years. He also led Kansas City to a World Series championship in 1985, batting .370 in the seven-game series.
36. Cal Ripken, Jr., SS, 1981-2001
Stats: .276/.340/.447, 431 HR, 1,695 RBI, 112 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 95.9 WAR, 53.5 WAA, 76.1 JAWS, 5.18 WAR/162
Before Cal Ripken, Jr., shortstops were primarily 5’8” players whose primary job was to slap the ball for singles and play great defense. The 6’4” Ripken changed all that, winning an MVP award in just his second full season (and another one later on) and hitting 20+ home runs in each of his first 10 years. He still holds the record for most career home runs by a shortstop and he’s one of eight players at any position to hit at least 600 doubles and 400 home runs.
His defense is what solidifies Ripken as an all-time great. Despite winning just two Gold Gloves, the numbers show he was sensational at his craft. He led the AL in putouts six times, assists seven times, double plays eight times, and fielding percentage four times. When you look at defensive WAR – which factors in positional value – Ripken is fourth all-time (35.7). He’s the only player ever to top 75 offensive WAR and 30 defensive WAR.
And it’s impossible to talk about Ripken’s career without referencing his consecutive games played streak. The previous record in major league baseball was Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 and Ripken added three full seasons to that, and did so while playing the most demanding defensive position on the field. He still holds records with 2,632 consecutive games played, at one point suiting up for 8,243 innings in a row.
35. Carl Yastrzemski, LF, 1961-1983
Stats: .285/.379/.460, 452 HR, 1,844 RBI, 130 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 96.4 WAR, 50.1 WAA, 76.0 JAWS, 4.72 WAR/162
Carl Yastrzemski is a similar player to Al Kaline, but with even better career counting stats. Both were one-team AL outfielders for 20+ years who won an MVP and a bunch of Gold Gloves; Yaz actually shares the record with Brooks Robinson for most seasons playing for the same team.
Yaz is still second on the all-time list in games played and plate appearances, third in at-bats, sixth in walks, ninth in hits and doubles, 10th in total bases, 14th in RBIs, and 19th in runs scored. He won a Triple Crown, three batting titles, and led the AL in on-base percentage five times all before he turned 31.
Few players have ever combined Yastrzemski’s batting patience at the plate (1,845 walks) with his power (646 doubles and 452 home runs). He’s ninth all-time in defensive runs saved (+184), even putting up positive marks in his forties. He’s a .369/.447/.600 career postseason performer.
And Yaz’s 1967 season is still one of the greatest of all-time – he won a Triple Crown, MVP, Gold Glove, led the majors in OPS and OPS+, and finished with the highest single-season WAR (12.5) of any non-Babe Ruth season ever.
34. Bob Gibson, SP, 1959-1975
Stats: 251-174, 2.91 ERA, 3,884.1 IP, 3,117 K, 1.188 WHIP, 127 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 89.2 WAR, 54.1 WAA, 75.2 JAWS
It’s not hyperbole to say if you need one pitcher to win one start throughout history, Bob Gibson might be your guy. In a span of five years, he helped the St. Louis Cardinals win three pennants and two World Series titles. Twice he won World Series MVP, making him one of three players to do so and the only won to do it in every one of his team’s championships. His career World Series numbers:7-2, 1.89 ERA with eight complete games in nine starts and a ridiculous 17-strikeout start.
In the regular season, Gibson was a two-time Cy Young award winner and he gave us one of the greatest seasons baseball has ever seen. In 1968, he turned in a 1.12 ERA, a single-season record for the post-Dead Ball Era, throwing 13 shutouts while leading the league in strikeouts, WHIP, FIP, and hit rate. At one point, he threw five consecutive shutouts and 12 shutouts in a span of 18 starts.
Gibson was absolutely fearless on the mound. He’d throw at a batter’s head and knock him down. He won nine Gold Gloves, once batted .303 in a season, and hit 24 home runs. Twice he homered in the World Series. He was such a good athlete that he even briefly played for the Harlem Globetrotters.
33. Cap Anson, 1B, 1871-1897
Stats: .334/.394/.447, 97 HR, 2,075 RBI, 142 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 94.2 WAR, 55.2 WAA, 68.1 JAWS, 6.05 WAR/162
Cap Anson holds the MLB record for most years played (27), starting in the first-ever season of organized professional baseball and nearly reaching the 20th century. Until Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb came along, Anson was probably the best position player people had seen.
Baseball recordkeeping back then wasn’t nearly as precise as it is today, and as a result, some of Anson’s totals have changed over the years, but Baseball Reference currently ranks him as fourth in RBIs, seventh in hits, ninth in runs scored, and 22nd in doubles. Anson’s total of 2,075 RBIs, a number made even more remarkable by the fact that he finished his career with just 97 home runs, is still the fourth-best mark of all-time, ahead of sluggers like Barry Bonds (1,996), Lou Gehrig (1,995), and Willie Mays (1,903).
Anson also played every position in the field. He was primarily a first baseman, but spent some time at third base/catcher/outfield, a little at both middle infield positions, and even briefly as a pitcher. His impact on the game wasn’t all positive – he played a prominent role in preventing black players from playing in the major leagues – but solely as a player, he’s one of the greatest of all-time.
32. Tom Seaver, SP, 1967-1986
Stats: 311-205, 2.86 ERA, 4,783 IP, 3,640 K, 1.121 WHIP, 127 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 109.9 WAR, 68.9 WAA, 84.6 JAWS
Tom Terrific started his career with a bang, going 16-13 with a 2.76 ERA, earning an All-Star appearance, and finishing with both Cy Young and MVP votes. Two years later, he won 25 a league-best 25 games for the 1969 Miracle Mets. By his first 10 years in the league, he was a three-time Cy Young award winner, a five-time leader in strikeouts, and owner of the highest WAR in a pitcher’s first 10 seasons (71.2) since the Dead Ball Era.
Seaver didn’t really have any weaknesses. He was incredibly durable, tossing at least 250 innings in each of his first seven seasons. He won three ERA titles, led the league in FIP four times, and led the league in hit rate and WHIP three times each. He’s tied with Walter Johnson for the most career Opening Day starts (14).
Seaver was the ace of a World Series champion and posted a 2.70 career ERA in four World Series starts. When he was first eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1992, he gained a new record 98.84 percent of the votes.
31. Eddie Mathews, 3B, 1952-1968
Stats: .271/.376/.509, 512 HR, 1,453 RBI, 143 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 96.6 WAR, 58.9 WAA, 75.6 JAWS, 6.55 WAR/162
Eddie Mathews set the expectations so unbelievably high when he was young that by the time his career was finished, he was almost viewed as somewhat of a disappointment. That’s what happens when you hit 47 home runs at age 21 and are viewed as the likeliest candidate to one day break Babe Ruth’s career home run record.
Ironically enough, it was Mathews’ eventual teammate, Hank Aaron, who broke the record, while a back injury stalled Mathews’ career and limited him to ‘only’ 512 home runs, then the sixth-highest total in baseball history.
Mathews was still an amazing baseball player though and ranks among the two or three best third baseman ever (depending on whether you consider A-Rod to be a shortstop or third baseman). He hit 40 home runs four times and averaged 34 over his first 14 years. Four times he led the league in walks. The duo of Mathews/Aaron holds the all-time major league record for combined home runs by teammates (863 – 442 for Aaron and 421 for Mathews).
30. Johnny Bench, C, 1967-1983
Stats: .267/.342/.476, 389 HR, 1,376 RBI, 126 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 75.2 WAR, 46.7 WAA, 61.3 JAWS, 5.65 WAR/162
Johnny Bench didn’t waste any time establishing himself as a fantastic catcher. By the time he was 25, Bench had won a Rookie of the Year award, two MVPs, six Gold Gloves, and accumulated 35.5 WAR. He helped the Big Red Machine to consecutive World Series championships in the mid-1970s (winning the World Series MVP in the second one).
Bench did things at the plate you’d expect from a first baseman – 45 home runs and 148 RBIs one year, then 40 and 125 another year. He retired with nearly 400 home runs and a healthy 126 OPS+, and still holds the single-season record for home runs by a catcher.
Behind the plate, he was arguably better. He won 10 Gold Gloves, led the league in caught stealing percentage three times, and registered 72 defensive runs saved. He’s a top three catcher both offensively and defensively, and that combination makes him the consensus best catcher ever.
29. Joe DiMaggio, CF, 1936-1951
Stats: .325/.398/.579, 361 HR, 1,537 RBI, 155 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 78.1 WAR, 54.5 WAA, 64.6 JAWS, 7.29 WAR/162
People who watched Joe DiMaggio play said he was the perfect ballplayer – a five-tool player who had no real weaknesses – and he did this while playing the prominent position of center field for the New York Yankees.
DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941 was his crowning achievement and still stands as arguably the most impressive individual achievement in American sports. It’s a full 12 games longer than the second-longest hitting streak. Considering there was no NBA back then and limited interest in football, the hitting streak made DiMaggio an American hero.
DiMaggio won three MVPs and played in 10 Fall Classics in all, winning nine of them. And only 10 Hall of Fame position players in history have ever topped DiMaggio’s average of 7.29 WAR per 162 games, a number that may even have been higher had he not been forced to miss three prime seasons due to WWII.
28. Roberto Clemente, RF, 1955-1972
Stats: .317/.359/.475, 240 HR, 1,305 RBI, 130 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 94.5 WAR, 56.9 WAA, 74.4 JAWS, 6.29 WAR/162
Roberto Clemente was one of the all-around good guys in major league baseball when his plane to Nicaragua tragically crashed on New Year’s Eve in 1972. Fresh off a .312/.356/.479 season with the Pittsburgh Pirates that produced 4.8 WAR, it’s reasonable to argue that Clemente had multiple All-Star campaigns left in him. As it currently stands, he holds the all-time record for most career WAR in a position player’s final five seasons (33.0).
Clemente played his entire career for the same team, winning four batting titles and batting .300 13 times. He won an MVP, finished with exactly 3,000 hits, and led the Pirates to two World Series championships, during which he batted .362/.383/.534 in the 14 games and was named WS MVP in the 1971 series.
Clemente was arguably better with the glove than he was with the bat – officially, he won 12 Gold Gloves (each of his final 12 seasons) and Baseball Reference credits him with +205 defensive runs saved, the sixth-most of any player ever and the second-highest of any outfielder.
27. Joe Morgan, 2B, 1963-1984
Stats: .271/.392/.427, 268 HR, 1,133 RBI, 132 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 100.6 WAR, 63.5 WAA, 80.0 JAWS, 6.15 WAR/162
Bill James once called Joe Morgan the greatest percentages player of all-time, referring specifically to his ability to reach base, avoid grounding into double plays, steal bases at a high percentage, and play good defense. Basically, he did all the little things that can go unnoticed but add up via sabermetrics.
Remember that Big Red Machine with Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Tony Perez, and all those superstars? It was Morgan that won NL MVP in both 1975 and 1976. In fact, he remains the only player in baseball history to win consecutive league MVP awards and consecutive World Series championships.
He was a power/speed guy, finishing with 268 home runs and 689 steals. He and Rickey Henderson are still the only players ever in the 250/600 club. Morgan is fifth all-time in walks (1,865) and had such good plate discipline that he never even struck out 75 times in a season.
Morgan won five Gold Gloves. He’s eighth all-time with +80 runs added via baserunning and he’s 17th in runs added via double plays (+25). Few players have ever matched his all-around effectiveness at every standard for which baseball players are judged.
26. Greg Maddux, SP, 1986-2008
Stats: 355-227, 3.16 ERA, 5,008.1 IP, 3,371 K, 1.143 WHIP, 132 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 106.6 WAR, 66.8 WAA, 81.4 JAWS
Nothing about Greg Maddux’s physique or fastball suggests he should have had a successful major league career. He was barely 6’0” tall, 170 pounds, and threw a fastball that topped out in the low nineties. What he did do to a charm was masterfully work the corners, induce groundballs, and just throw innings after innings year after year. And it doesn’t hurt that he was a fielding wizard, winning an all-time record 18 Gold Gloves.
Maddux peaked with an unbelievable stretch in the 1990s, going 75-29 with a 1.98 ERA and winning four straight Cy Young awards. His 1994 and 1995 seasons (1.56 and 1.63 ERA) make him the only pitcher since Walter Johnson to post ERAs under 1.80 in consecutive years. Nine times Maddux led the NL in fewest batters walked per nine innings and he’s the only pitcher ever with 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and under 1,000 walks.
As a workhorse, it says something about Maddux that he averaged 226 innings over a 22-year period. He led the NL in starts seven times, innings five times, and batters faced four times. And he was the ace of an Atlanta Braves team that won 14 consecutive division titles, made five World Series, and won a championship.
25. Jimmie Foxx, 1B, 1925-1945
Stats: .325/.428/.609, 534 HR, 1,922 RBI, 163 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 96.1 WAR, 62.9 WAA, 77.9 JAWS, 6.72 WAR/162
Jimmie Foxx was known as Double X during the 1930s, and he was essentially the right-handed version of Babe Ruth. Foxx led the league in home runs four times, won three MVPs and a Triple Crown, and retired with more home runs than anyone but Ruth. Even though his career overlapped Ruth and Lou Gehrig, Foxx still led the league in slugging percentage, OPS, and OPS+ five times each.
Foxx held the major league record with 12 consecutive 30-homer seasons until Barry Bonds broke it. He drove in 100 runs in 13 straight years, averaging 134 during that span. He’s fourth all-time in career slugging percentage (.609) and fifth in OPS (1.038). And he walked enough that he topped 100 seven times and lead the league twice.
Foxx led the Philadelphia A’s to three straight pennants and a pair of World Series titles from 1929-1931, finishing his postseason career with a .344/.425/.609 line in 73 plate appearances. He was even a good defender in his prime, leading the AL in fielding percentage three times.
24. Nap Lajoie, 2B, 1896-1916
Stats: .338/.380/.466, 82 HR, 1,599 RBI, 150 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 107.4 WAR, 67.9 WAA, 83.9 JAWS, 7.02 WAR/162
Over a century later, Nap Lajoie’s .426 batting average in 1901 still stands as a single-season record. That year, he won the Triple Crown and also led the league in runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and adjusted OPS. It was the first of four straight batting titles Lajoie won (and five in all).
Due to a career stuck in the Dead Ball Era, Lajoie didn’t have traditional home run power, but he still finished with 3,243 hits, 657 doubles, and a .338 batting average. No one struck out back then, but still, 347 strikeouts in over 10,000 plate appearances is remarkably good bat control.
Lajoie also played strong to elite defense at second base. Coupled with his offense and longevity, he’s a top three second basemen ever.
23. Randy Johnson, SP, 1988-2009
Stats: 303-166, 3.29 ERA, 4,135.1 IP, 4.875 K, 1.171 WHIP, 135 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 101.1 WAR, 64.9 WAA, 81.3 JAWS
Hitting a baseball is hard enough but facing a 6’10” left-hander with long hair who throws a 100 mile-per-hour fastball? Impossible. “The Big Unit”, as Johnson was known, took some time to work out some early career wildness, but once he figured out his early career wildness, he was nearly unhittable.
Johnson won four straight Cy Youngs after joining the National League in 1999. He’s one of six pitchers ever to win a Cy Young in both leagues (AL in 1995). He averaged 354 strikeouts per year over a four-year period. He was absolutely unhittable in the 2001 playoffs, winning five games between the NLCS and the World Series and earning co-World Series MVP with Curt Schilling.
Without any whispers of PED usage, Johnson got remarkably better as he aged. He struck over 2,500 batters after the age of 35, threw a perfect game in his 17th season, and won 73 games after turning 40 years old.
22. Rickey Henderson, LF, 1979-2003
Stats: .279/.401/.419, 297 HR, 1,115 RBI, 127 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 111.2 WAR, 69.0 WAA, 83.2 JAWS, 5.85 WAR/162
There will never be another base stealer like Rickey Henderson. He holds major league records in total steals (1,406), seasons leading the league (12), 100-steal seasons (3), and single-season steals (130). Henderson’s career stolen base total is a ridiculous 50% higher than that of runner-up Lou Brock.
Not only was Henderson a great baserunner, he was extremely adept at reaching base and then scoring runs. He’s the all-time record holder in runs scored (2,295) and second in walks (2,190). He’s one of 32 players to have accumulated 3,000 hits and one of only seven to have done so while maintaining a .400 career on-base percentage.
Aside from being the best leadoff hitter who ever lived, Henderson even played good defense in left field. He’s worth 65 runs above average with his glove. There really were no weaknesses in Henderson’s game. One of the most amazing aspects of Henderson is that he was still playing in an independent league at age 46, even swiping 16 bases with a .456 on-base percentage.
21. Frank Robinson, RF, 1956-1976
Stats: .294/.389/.537, 586 HR, 1,812 RBI, 154 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 107.3 WAR, 64.8 WAA, 80.2 JAWS, 6.19 WAR/162
Maybe it’s because he played in the same era as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, and maybe it’s because he wasn’t Mickey Mantle and maybe it’s because he changed teams while still in his prime, but for whatever reason, Frank Robinson is unjustly underrated and overlooked.
His traditional stats and awards were just insane – a pair of MVP awards (one in each league), a Triple Crown, two World Series rings, a World Series MVP, a Rookie of the Year award, and a ridiculous 586 home runs. Robinson also stole over 200 bases, led the league in hit by pitches seven times, and topped all right fielders in fielding percentage on four occasions.
Robinson’s best moment was probably what he did for the 1966 Baltimore Orioles – after the Cincinnati Reds’ organization referred to him as an ‘old 30’, Robinson hit a home run in each of his first three games with Baltimore and won the AL Triple Crown and league MVP award. In the postseason, Robinson hit a pair of home runs in the Orioles’ World Series sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers and won the Series MVP award.
20. Christy Mathewson, SP, 1900-1916
Stats: 373-188, 2.13 ERA, 4,788.2 IP, 2,507 K, 1.058 WHIP, 136 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 106.0 WAR, 68.6 WAA, 87.9 JAWS
It’s tough to top Christy Mathewson’s resume. He was one of the first college-educated major league players. He once defeated the reigning world champion in a game of checkers. He briefly played as a fullback in the first National Football League. And then he went on to win 373 games as a Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Giants.
He averaged 27 wins over a 12-year period from 1903 through 1914. Four times he led the league in wins and he holds the NL single-season record with 37 in 1908. With his impeccable control, he led the NL in walk rate seven times and K:BB ratio nine times. And it’s what he did in the postseason that still stands out.
Mathewson threw three shutouts in the 1905 World Series. He made 11 starts in his postseason career and allowed just 11 earned runs. That’s an 0.97 ERA against the stiffest of competition.
19. Mel Ott, RF, 1926-1947
Stats: .304/.414/.533, 511 HR, 1,860 RBI, 155 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 107.8 WAR, 70.6 WAA, 80.3 JAWS, 6.40 WAR/162
At just 5’9”, 170 pounds, Mel Ott didn’t have the prototypical size for a slugger, but he was the first National League player ever to surpass the 500-home run plateau.
Ott debuted in the major leagues at just 17 years old and had led the league in homers five times before even turning 30 years old. When you combine his .304 career batting average with an extremely high walk rate (six seasons leading the NL in walks) and ridiculous power, Ott’s 155 career OPS+ is just a shade behind Willie Mays/Hank Aaron.
Ott surprisingly never won an MVP award or even finished runner-up in the voting, but he was routinely a top-five player in the game. He averaged .309/.420/.549 with 30 HR and 111 RBI over a 14-year span, also flashing an above-average glove in right field. Ott led the Giants to three World Series appearances and a title in 1933 when he batted .389 in the five games.
18. Pete Alexander, SP, 1911-1930
Stats: 373-208, 2.56 ERA, 5,190 IP, 2,198 K, 1.121 WHIP, 135 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 119.0 WAR, 78.8 WAA, 94.3 JAWS
You can make a case that no pitcher had a better 10-year start to his career than Pete Alexander. He led the NL with 28 wins as a rookie in 1911, won 30+ three straight years, and posted more wins above replacement in his first decade (80.6) than the average Hall of Famer has in his career.
Alexander was an insanely durable workhorse, leading the NL in innings pitched seven times and averaging over 300 per year for his first decade. He made the shutout an art form – he set a single-season record with 16 in 1916, led the league seven times, and once threw shutouts in four straight starts as a rookie. His career total of 90 shutouts is a National League record.
There’s no shame in ranking fifth among pitchers on an all-time list, but Alexander would probably rank higher if not for off-the-field issues. After fighting in WWI in 1918, he spent the rest of his life battling hearing loss, epilepsy, seizures, and serious alcoholism.
His famous strikeout in the 1926 World Series is his lasting legacy as a professional. While still hung over from the previous night, Alexander entered Game 7 as a relief pitcher with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, trying to preserve a 3-2 lead. He struck out future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri and pitched two more scoreless frames in helping the St. Louis Cardinals win their first World Series.
17. Pedro Martinez, SP, 1992-2009
Stats: 219-100, 2.93 ERA, 2,827.1 IP, 3.154 K, 1.054 WHIP, 154 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 83.9 WAR, 59.2 WAA, 71.1 JAWS
For the absolute peak of his career, Pedro Martinez was the greatest pitcher who ever lived. His 1999-2000 seasons are better than anything we’ve ever seen from Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, Jacob deGrom, or anyone else.
A measure of how dominant he was during those two years:
- Pedro was 41-10 with a 1.90 ERA, a 265 ERA+, and an 8.65 K:BB ratio. The next best numbers in the AL were a 3.65 ERA, a 128 ERA+, and a 3.90 K:BB ratio.
- Pedro’s 1.39 FIP in 1999 is the best of any pitcher in the last 100 years.
- Pedro’s 5.31 hits allowed per nine innings in 2000 is the third-best single-season mark ever.
- Pedro’s 0.737 WHIP in 2000 is the single-season record.
- Pedro’s .167 batting average and .213 on-base percentage allowed are single-season records.
The most incredible aspect of Pedro’s dominance was that he was a power pitcher despite being just 5’11”, 170 pounds. He led the league in ERA five times in seven years and his career ERA+ of 154 is the highest of any retired starting pitcher. He once threw a perfect game that didn’t technically count because his team didn’t score. He threw seven three-hit shutout innings in his World Series start for the 2004 champion Red Sox.
By any measure – the eye test, sabermetrics, regular statistics – Martinez is an all-time great. If you need to win one game and can pick any pitcher from any era, Pedro has a valid case to be selected.
16. Mike Schmidt, 3B, 1972-1989
Stats: .267/.380/.527, 548 HR, 1,595 RBI, 147 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 106.8 WAR, 73.6 WAA, 82.8 JAWS, 7.20 WAR/162
Mike Schmidt was baseball’s best overall player between the Willie Mays/Hank Aaron era and Barry Bonds’ late-career dominance. Despite a low batting average and high strikeout rate, Schmidt had tremendous power, a high walk rate, and a dominant glove at third base that earned him three MVP awards during the 1980s.
Schmidt led the league in home runs eight times – only Babe Ruth has ever led his respective league more times (12). Schmidt’s 548 total are the most ever by a player who spent his entire career with the same team. Four times Schmidt topped the National League in walks, five times in slugging percentage and OPS, and six times in OPS+, which factors in park value.
In the field, Schmidt deserved every one of his 10 Gold Gloves. His +127 career defensive runs saved are one of the top 50 career totals in the modern era – at any position – and the ninth-best of any third baseman. Schmidt also led the Phillies to their first-ever World Series championship in 1980, hitting .381 and winning the MVP award during the six-game series.
15. Lefty Grove, SP, 1925-1941
Stats: 300-141, 3.06 ERA, 3,940.2 IP, 2,266 K, 1.278 WHIP, 148 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 106.7 WAR, 66.4 WAA, 86.1 JAWS
The goal of a pitcher is preventing runs, and Lefty Grove may be the greatest run-preventer of all-time. No pitcher has ever won as many ERA titles as Grove’s nine. His 3.06 ERA may look fairly ordinary, but in the context of the era in which he played, Grove’s career ERA+ of 148 is the highest mark ever for a pitcher with at least 3,000 innings pitched.
In fact, when you look at some of the more advanced sabermetrics, Grove stands out as a clear cut top five pitcher ever. He’s the only pitcher ever to lead the league in WAR eight times. And if you look at WPA (Win Probability Added) for pitchers, Grove led the AL nine times – no other pitcher has ever led his league more than five times.
Even by traditional metrics, Grove is pretty special. He won 300 games during an era when Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx routinely dominated pitchers. He led the league in strikeouts in each of his first nine seasons in the major leagues. At one point, he went 59-9 over a two-year stretch, winning the 1931 AL MVP award. In eight career World Series starts over three years, Grove was 4-2 with a 1.75 ERA, leading the Philadelphia A’s to a pair of world championships.
14. Eddie Collins, 2B, 1906-1930
Stats: .333/.424/.429, 47 HR, 1,299 RBI, 141 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 124.0 WAR, 78.9 WAA, 94.2 JAWS, 7.11 WAR/162
It’s tough to play 25 seasons, collect over 3,300 hits, finish with a .333 lifetime batting average and still be overlooked, but that’s the result of playing during the same era as Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker. Collins batted .320 on 12 occasions and topped .340 10 times, yet never won a single batting title.
Collins didn’t have any home run power, finishing his career with just 47. But he was a speedster who stole over 700 bases, collected 187 triples, and laid down an all-time record 512 sacrifice bunts. Collins won an AL MVP in 1914, a year in which he batted .344 with a league-best 122 runs and a 176 OPS+. Over a seven-year span from ’09-’15, he averaged 9.0 WAR, which is insanely good production for a middle infielder without home run power.
When you add over two decades of star play, ridiculous offensive numbers, great baserunning stats, and a good glove at a key position (nine seasons leading the AL in fielding percentage), Collins’ total career value comes out at 124.0 WAR. That’s the 13th best total ever by a position player.
13. Tris Speaker, CF, 1907-1928
Stats: .345/.428/.500, 117 HR, 1,531 RBI, 157 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 134.1 WAR, 88.6 WAA, 98.3 JAWS, 7.79 WAR/162
Tris Speaker played the same position in the same league as Ty Cobb, which means he was never even the best player in the AL. And yet remarkably enough, Speaker still finished with the ninth-highest career WAR (134.0) of any position player ever.
Speaker was a .345 career hitter, which is the sixth-best batting average in major league history. He batted .300 18 times, .360 eight times, and .380 five times, but amazingly won only one batting title because of Cobb. Almost a century after he retired, Speaker still holds the all-time record for career doubles (792) and he’s sixth in triples (222).
And he was superb in the outfield. Legend has it that Speaker used to play so shallow in center field that he would sometimes take stolen base throws from the catcher, but he was also fast enough that he could still turn and track down balls hit over his head. He holds all-time records for assists and double plays by an outfielder and he led the AL in fielding percentage seven times.
12. Mickey Mantle, CF, 1951-1968
Stats: .298/.421/.557, 536 HR, 1,509 RBI, 172 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 110.3 WAR, 79.5 WAA, 87.6 JAWS, 7.44 WAR/162
You wouldn’t be out of line to call Mickey Mantle the most gifted baseball player since Babe Ruth, even ahead of Willie Mays. Mantle had the daunting task of replacing the flawless Joe DiMaggio, and he ended up being an even greater player.
Mantle hit 500 foot tape-measure home runs from both sides of the plate and holds the record for career walkoff homers. He played strong defense in center field, showed incredible patience at the plate, had blinding speed until injuries (and alcohol?) started taking its toll on him, and he avoided a ton of double plays with his speed. If the DH had existed when Mantle was a player, he surely could have padded his stats to the point of 600 home runs or more.
Mantle won three AL MVP awards and finished second on three other occasions. Four times he was a home run champ. If you go by WAR, he was the league’s best player on six occasions. Eight times he led the AL in OPS+, and his 172 career OPS+ is still the seventh-best mark ever. He even combined efficiency with his blazing speed, retiring with the highest stolen base percentage ever (80.11) for a player with at least 100 steals.
And most impressively, the Yankees won almost every year with Mantle. He led the team to seven World Series championships and 12 pennants in his first 14 years, and ranks first all-time with 18 home runs and 40 RBIs in World Series games.
11. Cy Young, SP, 1890-1911
Stats: 511-316, 2.63 ERA, 7,356 IP, 2,803 K, 1.130 WHIP, 138 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 163.8 WAR, 99.2 WAA, 120.8 JAWS
Arguably no player in professional sports holds more unbreakable records than that of Cy Young. No one will ever top his marks in wins (511), games started (815), complete games (749), innings pitched (7,356), and batters faced (29,565). If a new pitcher came up and averaged 20 wins per year for 25 seasons, he still wouldn’t top Young.
Young was the game’s greatest workhorse and so effective on the mound that the award for the game’s best pitcher is literally named after him. That award didn’t exist when Young played, but considering he led the league in WAR six times, he would have a lot of hardware. Young’s best aspect was his pinpoint control, coupled with a blazing fastball, that led him to lead his league in walks per nine innings 14 times.
Young won 20 games 16 times. He won 30 five times. He won a pitching triple crown, threw three no-hitters, a perfect game, and still holds the record with 25.1 consecutive hitless innings. He survived the transition from a mound that was 50 feet away to the standard 60 feet, six inches, and over 100 years after his retirement, he’s still a top-two pitcher ever.
10. Stan Musial, LF, 1941-1963
Stats: .331/.417/.559, 475 HR, 1,951 HR, 159 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 128.2 WAR, 81.7 WAA, 96.2 JAWS, 6.86 WAR/162
For two decades, Stan the Man Musial bridged the gap as the National League’s best overall player between Rogers Hornsby and Hank Aaron/Willie Mays.
Musial was a three-time NL MVP by just age 27 and was still earning MVP votes at age 41. He dominates the career leaderboards, where he’s second in total bases (6,134), third in doubles (725) and extra-base hits (1,377), fourth in hits (3,630), eighth in WAR (128.2) and RBIs (1,951), 10th in runs scored (1,949). If he hadn’t missed a prime year of his career due to WWII, he definitely would have surpassed 500 home runs and both 2,000 runs and RBIs.
As a fielder, Musial was versatile, spending over 1,000 games at first base, 929 in left field, 783 at right field, and 331 in center field. Per Baseball Reference, he registered 50 defensive runs saved for his career. The only other players in history to have matched Musial’s batting runs added (+885) and fielding runs added (+50) are Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.
And one of the more remarkable aspects of Musial’s career is that he actually started his professional baseball career as a pitcher but converted to outfielder after a shoulder injury limited his ability to throw. It’s safe to say he did ok as a hitter – he holds the all-time record for most career WAR by a player who spent his entire career with the same franchise.
9. Lou Gehrig, 1B, 1923-1939
Stats: .340/.447/.632, 493 HR, 1,995 RBI, 179 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 112.4 WAR, 78.5 WAA, 90.1 JAWS, 8.41 WAR/162
Lou Gehrig is most known today for the ALS disease that took his life when he was just 39 years old. But what he accomplished in just 14 full seasons is enough to put him on the list of the 10 greatest players – and No. 1 at his position – of all-time.
Gehrig had the benefit of batting behind Ruth, which helped make him the most prolific run-producer ever. He averaged 154 RBIs over an 11-year span, leading the league on five occasions. He just missed 500 career home runs and 2,000 runs batted in, finishing at 493/1,995. Gehrig was a two-time league MVP, Triple Crown winner, and still has the third-highest career OPS+ of all-time, trailing just Ruth and Ted Williams.
Gehrig was at his best in the World Series. He led the Yankees to seven titles, hitting over .500 in multiple series and finishing with a higher career OPS in the World Series (1.214) than he did in the regular season. In fact, Gehrig’s 2.30 WPA (Wins Probability Added) in the World Series is an all-time major league record.
8. Honus Wagner, SS, 1897-1917
Stats: .328/.391/.467, 101 HR, 1,732 RBI, 151 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 130.9 WAR, 91.8 WAA, 98.2 JAWS, 7.59 WAR/162
When he originally wrote his book, The Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James called Honus Wagner the second-best baseball player of all-time behind just Babe Ruth. If you had a shortstop who batted .347/.413/.501 over a 13-year span and led the league in OPS+ six times while playing at a Gold Glove level every year, what would that be worth?
Believe it or not, Wagner actually dominated the National League as much as Babe Ruth did to the American League – each rated by WAR as the best overall position player 11 different times. Wagner won eight batting titles and led the league in runs/hits/doubles/triples/RBIs/steals/total bases a combined 29 times.
Even now, Wagner has been retired for over 100 years and still ranks third in triples (252), eighth in hits (3,420), and 10th in steals (723). He’s the most accomplished shortstop ever and a legitimate case could be made for him as a top-five position player in MLB history.
7. Rogers Hornsby, 2B, 1915-1937
Stats: .358/.434/.577, 301 HR, 1,584 RBI, 175 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 127.0 WAR, 97.5 WAA, 100.3 JAWS, 9.11 WAR/162
Rogers Hornsby’s claim to fame is the fact that he was the greatest right-handed hitter in major league history, bar none. His .358 career batting average is second to only Ty Cobb among right or left-handed hitters. He won six straight batting titles (and seven total), hit .400 three times, and still holds the NL record with a .424 batting average in 1924.
But it was what he did in the decade of the 1920s that separates him from the pack: During a 10-year span, Hornsby averaged a .382 mark, accumulating six 10-WAR seasons and 93.2 WAR total. He’s one of four players (Honus Wagner/Ted Williams/Albert Pujols) to win a decade Triple Crown, meaning he led the league in home runs, RBIs, and batting average for a calendar decade (in this case, the ‘20s).
Twice Hornsby won single-season Triple Crowns and two additional times he won league MVP awards, and he even was the player-manager for the 1926 St. Louis Cardinals team that won the World Series. For his career, Hornsby led the league in OPS+ 12 times, which is as many as Babe Ruth or Cobb. On an efficiency basis, only Ruth has averaged more WAR per 162 games than Hornsby (9.11).
Hornsby played for 23 years and changed teams frequently in the second half of his career because he was notoriously difficult to deal with. He barely played over his final eight seasons, meaning he was all but finished as a regular by age 33. Hornsby was also an above-average defender at a key position (second base). He led the league in double plays turned by a second baseman on three occasions and finished with +54 defensive runs saved.
6. Hank Aaron, RF, 1954-1976
Stats: .305/.374/.555, 755 HR, 2,297 RBI, 155 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 143.0 WAR, 92.9 WAA, 101.7 JAWS, 7.02 WAR/162
For over 30 years, Hank Aaron held the most coveted record in all of professional sports – the career home run record. He hit his 755 over 23 years, leading the league on eight occasions, topping 30 15 times and 40 eight times yet remarkably never hitting more than 47 in a single year. While he’s since been passed by Barry Bonds in home runs, Hammerin’ Hank is still first all-time in career RBIs (2,297), extra-base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856).
Aaron had the good fortune of playing in the same league as Willie Mays during his whole career, so he only came away with one MVP award – and surprisingly, he never even finished second. But Aaron was as consistent as it gets, earning MVP votes every year from 1955 through 1973. He still holds the major league record by making 25 All-Star teams, and he won three Gold Gloves in right field and led the Milwaukee Braves to a 1957 World Series title, hitting .393 with three home runs in the seven-game series.
Perhaps the biggest ‘knock’ on Aaron is that his peak wasn’t as great as his all-time contemporaries. He never topped 9.4 WAR in his career, a mark that was topped nine times by Babe Ruth, seven times by Mays, and six times by Barry Bonds, plus countless other times by all-time greats. But Aaron topped 5.0 WAR for 17 consecutive seasons – the only player ever to do so – and he averaged 7.7 per year during that span.
5. Walter Johnson, SP, 1907-1927
Stats: 417-279, 2.17 ERA, 5,914.1 IP, 3,509 K, 1.061 WHIP, 147 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 164.5 WAR, 96.6 WAA, 126.9 JAWS
Ask anyone who the greatest basketball player is of all-time and you’ll assuredly get one of two answers: LeBron James or Michael Jordan. The greatest quarterback is Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. So what does it say about baseball that the unquestioned greatest player ever is Babe Ruth and the consensus best pitcher is Walter Johnson, two players who each played over 100 years ago?
Johnson threw from a unique sidearm delivery, throwing what was probably the fastest fastball of his era (although there were no radar guns back then). “The Big Train”, as he was known, stands the test of time when you see his statistics. He holds the all-time record with 110 shutouts. He’s second in wins (417). His career 3,509 strikeouts stood as a record for 50-plus years.
He’s one of the original five inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame and he’s first all-time in Bill James’ Black Ink test (150), Hall of Fame monitor for pitchers (364), Wins Above Replacement (164.5), Wins Above Average (108.7), JAWS (126.9), and seven-year peak WAR (89.2).
There were no Cy Young awards back then, but how about this? Johnson won two league MVP awards, three pitching triple crowns, and five ERA titles. Six times he led the AL in WHIP and 12 times in strikeouts. He once threw 55.2 consecutive scoreless innings. Even in the notorious Dead Ball era, Johnson’s 1.59 ERA for the entire decade of the 1910s is one of the most amazing achievements you’ll find. And he was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the Washington Senators’ championship in 1924.
4. Ty Cobb, CF, 1905-1928
Stats: .366/.433/.512, 117 HR, 1,944 RBI, 168 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 151.0 WAR, 101.9 WAA, 110.1 JAWS, 8.06 WAR/162
There will never be another major league player like Tyrus Raymond Cobb. He still holds the all-time record with a .366 career batting average, a mark he accomplished over 24 seasons and 11,000-plus at-bats. Cobb batted .300 in a record 23 consecutive seasons, won 12 batting titles, and topped .400 three times. Batting averages were higher during Cobb’s era, but still, no one came close to doing what he did.
And it’s not like Cobb was purely a singles hitter. He hit 724 doubles (fourth all-time) and 295 triples (second), and he held the career record for total hits until Pete Rose broke it close to 60 years after Cobb retired. Cobb even led the league in home runs once, winning the Triple Crown that year (1909). Cobb was arguably the most dangerous baserunner the league had seen until Rickey Henderson came along, stealing 897 bases, leading the league six times, and swiping home a record 54 times.
When the Hall of Fame had its initial vote in 1936, Cobb received the most votes of any player (222 of 226 ballots for 98.2 percent). That stood as the record for highest percentage of votes received until Tom Seaver broke it in 1992.
3. Ted Williams, 1939-1960
Stats: .344/.482/.634, 521 HR, 1,839 RBI, 190 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 123.1 WAR, 94.1 WAA, 96.2 JAWS, 8.70 WAR/162
Ted Williams used to always say his goal was to have people point at him walking down the street and say, “There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived.” It’s safe to say he succeeded at that goal. His raw batting numbers support the claim that he’s the finest hitter of all-time (although you could certainly make a case for Babe Ruth). Williams’ .344 batting average is the highest mark ever for a player whose career began in the Live Ball Era and his .482 on-base percentage is the highest of any era.
Williams’ batting eye at the plate is absolutely unparalleled. He won six batting titles and led the league in on-base percentage 12 times, slugging percentage nine times, OPS 10 times, and OPS+ nine times. That’s ridiculous production, and what’s even more amazing is the fact that Williams did all that despite missing close to five prime years in the middle of his career when he was fighting in WWII and the Korean War. It’s not unreasonable to think he would have pushed for 700 home runs.
Williams won a pair of AL MVP awards and two Triple Crowns, and he’s the last man to hit .400 in a season (.406 in 1941). He hit .388 as late as age 39 and won a batting title at age 40, and then famously homered in his last major league at-bat.
In terms of a complete player, Williams didn’t have great speed and was just an average defender in left field. Still, his overall abilities as a hitter and the fact that he lost five prime seasons due to circumstances beyond his control are what made me put him in the top three players on this list.
2. Willie Mays, CF, 1951-1973
Stats: .302/.384/.557, 660 HR, 1,903 RBI, 156 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 156.4 WAR, 110.3 WAA, 115.1 JAWS, 8.47 WAR/162
Willie Mays was quite possibly the perfect baseball player, a five-tool superstar who would have dominated the highlight reel for 20 years in a row had SportsCenter existed during his playing days. He hit home runs, stole bases, made insanely good catches in center field, and never got hurt – he still holds the major league record by playing in 150+ games for 13 straight seasons.
In his career, Mays hit 660 home runs and stole 338 bases. When he retired, he was third to just Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron on the all-time home run list; he’s since dropped to fifth. Mays was the first player ever to hit over 300 home runs and steal over 300 bases, and he’s one of just three players in the 600/300 club.
It’s surprising that Mays only won two Most Valuable Player awards – and they came 11 years apart. If you go by Wins Above Replacement standards, Mays led the NL in WAR 10 times (in a 13-year period), and he’s the only player ever with four straight 10-WAR seasons – which he did in his thirties. He was awarded 12 Gold Gloves in center field and deserved them all – his 185 career defensive runs saved ranks as the eighth-best total of any player at any position. His over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series, commonly referred to as The Catch, is still arguably the greatest defensive play ever.
There were no weaknesses in Mays’ game, and he’s widely accepted as the greatest player ever other than Babe Ruth. He even missed 1 ½ seasons due to the Korean War, which would likely have put him over 700 career home runs and 2,000 RBIs.
1. Babe Ruth, RF, 1914-1935
Stats: .342/.474/.690, 714 HR, 2,214 RBI, 206 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 182.4 WAR, 134.7 WAA, 133.7 JAWS, 11.81 WAR/162
There are only a handful of players in the history of professional sports that literally changed the way the game was played, and Babe Ruth was one of them. In an era in which pro football was just getting started, basketball didn’t exist, and the Great Depression was sweeping across the nation, Babe Ruth literally was an American hero.
Legends about Ruth say he hit 600-foot home runs and that the sound of the ball hitting his bat made a sound like no one else who has ever played the game. Everyone knows that Ruth once held the single-season record with 60 home runs and career record with 714 home runs, but many forget that he actually started his career as a pitcher – and would have made the Hall of Fame for what he did on the mound before he switched over to the outfield.
When Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920, that was more than any other team in the entire American League. He’s the all-time record holder in career slugging percentage (.690), a full 56 points ahead of Ted Williams. He’s second in RBIs (2,214), third in home runs and walks (2,062), fourth in runs (2,174) and extra-base hits (1,356), and eighth in total bases (5,793). When Ruth played, there was actually a rule limiting players from winning more than one MVP award, but if they had handed them out fairly, Ruth probably would have won it every year for a decade or more; in fact, he led all AL position players in WAR 11 times in a 13-year span.
Ruth wasn’t a dynamic base stealer, but he was effective enough to steal over 100 bases in 22 years. He was pretty underrated with the glove, producing +79 defensive runs saved in the outfield. And when you factor in his complete abilities as a player, he had nine 10 WAR seasons, three times topping 12, and a single-season record 14.1 in 1923.
And like all great players, Ruth elevated his production when the stakes mattered the most. He’s the only man ever to hit three home runs in a World Series game twice. He gave us perhaps the most famous home run ever when he called his shot in the 1932 World Series. And his career numbers in the Fall Classic include 15 home runs, a 1.214 OPS that was even better than his regular season mark, and a World Series record 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings as a pitcher. He won three World Series with the Boston Red Sox, then four more with the New York Yankees, making him a seven-time champion. He’s the best athlete of all-time.
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