MLB Top-10: Reader Response Time

The list in its entirety:

Preface

1. Babe Ruth
2. Ty Cobb
3. Stan Musial
4. Hank Aaron
5. Barry Bonds
6. Willie Mays
7. Ted Williams
8. Lou Gehrig
9. Randy Johnson
10. Rickey Henderson

Conclusion

What do you think?  Where did we go wrong?  What did we do right?  Who's too high?  Who's too low?  Who did we miss out on?  Who should be on the list but isn't?

Speak up!  Be heard!  Comment!

MLB Top-10: Eric's Parting Shot

Making up my list of the Top-10 baseball players of all-time was an exercise based almost entirely in statistics.  There was no other way I could do it.  For one, no other sport lends itself to be judged entirely on stats like baseball.  Also, it was the only way I could honestly compare the players of today to the ones who came before I was born, before my parents were born, even before my grandparents were born.

Now, I stand by my rankings wholeheartedly, but my only regret is that they don’t feel as personal as they could be.  I call myself a numbers guy, and these players certainly have the numbers to qualify for any Top-10 list.  But if you were to ask me to name my Top-10 players off the top of my head, based more on personal opinion, my list would have looked very different.

In my mind, Sandy Koufax was the greatest pitcher ever, but since he retired early, his career totals don’t stack up with those of Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, and others.  I based my analysis off career numbers, so he didn’t make the cut.

Without a doubt in my mind, Albert Pujols is the greatest player of his generation, yet he doesn’t get any credit on my list because he hasn’t played his full career yet.

Having Barry Bonds at fifth doesn’t sit quite right with me, but he has the numbers, tainted as they may be, so he stayed.  Ted Williams, very curiously, didn’t have the numbers I was looking for and ranks lower than he would have on my off-the-cuff list.

Despite my misgivings about what may or may not have gone into the official list, I ultimately enjoyed and am proud of it.  Geeking out and devising complex mathematical formulas to determine greatness is pretty much what baseball’s all about.  It’s what made list-making fun for me.

--from @jeuneski

MLB Top-10: #2 Ty Cobb and #1 Babe Ruth

2) Ty Cobb

We’re turning back the clock to discuss one of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s original members, Ty Cobb.

“The Georgia Peach” absolutely dominated of the turn of the century Major Leagues.  At the time of his retirement, Cobb was credited with creating or equaling more records than any other player, roughly 90 different categories.  Cobb still holds a number of those records to this day, including highest career batting average (.366), most career batting titles (11), and most career steals of home (54).  Only once in his entire career, in his rookie season, did Cobb post an average of less than .314, and he batted .400 on three separate occasions.

Cobb’s .433 on-base percentage ranks ninth all-time; he led the league seven times in that category.  Cobb led the league in slugging percentage eight times, and for his career he sits at .512.  Finally, with a career .945 OPS, Cobb’s OPS led the league ten times.

The feisty competitor Cobb played the 5th-most games in Major League history and his career numbers for plate appearances and at-bats also both rank fifth.  All-time, Cobb ranks second in runs scored with 2,246; in hits with 4,189; in singles with 3,053; and in triples with 295.  Plus he’s seventh with 1,938 runs batted in; fifth with 5,854 total bases; and fourth with 724 doubles and 897 stolen bases.

The one-time AL MVP reached three World Series with the Detroit Tigers but lost them all.  Cobb batted .262 in those Series, much lower than his career numbers.

#2 Ty Cobb

1) Babe Ruth

Like the other lists so far, the choice for #1 was extremely simple.  The Sultan of Swat.  The King of Crash.  The Titan of Terror.  The Colossus of Clout.  The Colossus of Clout.  The GREAT BAMBINO!

Babe Ruth.

Ruth is a legend, an athlete that transcends the sport he played in.  Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali: those are his peers, not baseball players. But to get that way, he had to be pretty good at baseball too.

The legend of Ruth begins in Boston where he was a three-time World Series-winning pitcher for the Red Sox.  Ruth even still holds the World Series record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched.  First playing in 1914, Ruth saw more at-bats every year in the majors.  Even as a pitcher, his bat was invaluable.  It wasn’t until he was traded to the Yankees though—a move that seemingly crippled Boston for the next 86 years—that Ruth moved to the outfield full-time.

Before Ruth came along, the record for home runs in a season was 27.  After seeing a few more at-bats and leading the league with 11 home runs in 1918, Ruth blasted 29 in 1919.  Coming to the Yankees in 1920, he hit 54.  The following year he hit 59.  Then six years later, in 1927 Ruth jacked 60 long balls, a record that stood for the next 34 years.  Ruth revolutionized the game and ushered in the “live ball” era.  His flair for the long ball and his over-sized personality made everyone want to watch.

What everyone saw was the greatest baseball player of all-time.

The league-leader in home runs twelve times, Ruth’s 714 career home runs record stood for 39 years; that total still stands third all-time.  Ruth still holds the MLB career records for both slugging percentage (.690) and OPS (1.164).  Ruth’s .342 batting average ranks tenth all-time; he’s second on the all-time RBI list with 2,213; he has the 2nd-highest on-base percentage with a .474 mark; Ruth ranks fourth all-time in runs scored with 2,174; he’s sixth with 5,793 total bases; and his 2,062 walks rank third.

As a pitcher, Ruth posted a 2.28 ERA, which stands as 17th-best all-time.  With a 94-46 career record, Ruth also holds the 11th-best win-loss percentage, and he has the 13th-lowest home runs allowed per 9 innings ratio in history.

All told, Ruth won seven World Series (three with the Red Sox and four with the Yankees), one MVP award, was named to two All-Star Games, and was the biggest player baseball’s ever seen.

#1 Babe Ruth

--from @jeuneski

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MLB Top-10: #4 Hank Aaron and #3 Stan Musial

4) Hank Aaron

When we talk about consistency, we talk about Hank Aaron.  From 1955-1973 he never hit less than 24 home runs in a season, and he hit 30 home runs a record fifteen times.  What that all added up to was Aaron’s retirement as baseball’s all-time home run leader with 755.  But when you play for 22 years and compile the second-most at-bats of anyone ever, you’ll do a lot more than just hit home runs.

A career .305 hitter with a .374 on-base percentage and .555 slugging percentage, Aaron won an MVP award playing for the 1957 World Series Champion Milwaukee Braves.  Also, Aaron won three Gold Gloves to go along with his record twenty-five All-Star Game appearances.  (If you’re asking yourself how can a player make twenty-five All-Star Games in twenty-two years, the answer is because from 1959-1962 there were two All-Star Games a year.)

Career-wise, Aaron ranks first with 2,297 RBI; 1,477 extra base hits; and 6,856 total bases.  He also holds the record for most consecutive seasons with 150+ hits with seventeen.  Aaron ranks third all-time in hits, games played, and plate appearances, is fourth in runs scored, twelfth in singles, and tenth in doubles.  Add to all that 240 career stolen bases.

Aaron had eight 40-homer seasons, led the NL in hitting twice and in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage four times each.  1963 marks the last time someone led their league in runs scored, HRs, and RBIs and did not win the MVP award.  Aaron finished third in voting.

#4 Hank Aaron

3) Stan Musial

Even though other players on this list might have higher career totals, Stan “The Man” Musial takes the third spot because of what he did relative to his peers.  Musial was always among his league’s leaders in practically every offensive category, leading the NL in games played five times, runs scored five times, hits six times, doubles eight times, triples five times, runs batted in twice, hitting seven times, slugging six times, on-base percentage six times, OPS seven times, and total bases six times.  Also, in 1948 Musial was just one home run short of winning the Triple Crown.

The career Cardinal was a three-time MVP (1943, 1946, 1948), four-time MVP runner-up, and three-time World Series Champion (1942, 1944, 1946) who tied Willie Mays’ record for most All-Star Game selections with 24.  Plus, he missed the entire 1945 season serving in the Navy.

Musial posted a career .331 batting average, a .417 on-base percentage, and a .559 slugging percentage.  Along with 475 career home runs, Musial has the 4th-most hits all-time with 3,630—1,815 came on the road and 1,815 at home—the 3rd-most doubles with 725, the 2nd-most total bases with 6,134, the 9th-most runs scored with 1,949, and the 6th-most runs batted in with 1,951.

Musial is one of the most chronically underrated players in baseball history.  Part of that is playing in the heartland, in St. Louis, away from big media markets.  Another part is just the guy Musial was: a quiet, go-about-your-business-type who would simply go out and rip line drives all day.  In essence, he’s the man.

#3 Stan Musial

--from @jeuneski

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MLB Top-10: #6 Willie Mays and #5 Barry Bonds

6) Willie Mays

The definition of a five-tool player, Willie Mays hit for average, hit for power, fielded, threw, and ran with the best of them.  And when I say the best, I refer to Mays’ 24-straight All-Star Game selections.

Mays won the first of his two MVP awards and a World Series with the Giants in 1954, and in his 1951 Rookie of the Year-winning season, he was actually the on-deck batter when Bobby Thomson hit his famous pennant-winning home run, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World."

Mays’ 660 home runs currently rank fourth all-time.  He ranks tenth all-time in runs batted in and has a career .302 batting average, .384 on-base percentage, and .557 slugging percentage.  Also ranking third all-time in total bases and eleventh in hits, Mays finished among the NL’s top-5 in OPS fourteen times, five times leading the league.  When Mays retired he was third in runs scored; his 2,062 runs now place seventh.

The two-time All-Star Game MVP hit 51 home runs in 1955 and 52 in 1965.  Those ten years are the longest stretch between 50-homer seasons for a player in MLB history.

Famous for his defense as well as his hitting prowess, Mays won twelve Gold Glove awards.  The award was introduced six years into his career; he easily could have won more.  Plus, Mays holds the record for most putouts by an outfielder with 7,095.

Range in the outfield translated to speed on the base paths for Mays.  Starting in 1956, Mays led the NL in steals four straight years.  Also, in 1969 Mays became the first member of the 300-300 club, a player with 300 home runs and 300 steals.

#6 Willie Mays

5) Barry Bonds

Next we come to one of the most controversial figures in all of sports, Barry Bonds.  However you feel about Bonds, the fact remains that he put up some historic numbers.  Tainted as those numbers may be, Bonds was bar-none the most prolific offensive force of his era.  In a generation where everyone used steroids, Bonds was unquestionably the most productive hitter.

Before Bonds’ career got off-track and he went the gorilla-with-a-maple-bat route, Barry Bonds was still a great player.  He won the Rookie of the Year in 1986, he won three MVPs in the early 90’s, and he won eight gold gloves before he bulked up and couldn’t move around the outfield.  Pre-2000, Bonds was consistently a .300 hitter who hit 30 homers, drove in 100 runs, and stole 30 bases.  It’s just what happened after that that causes us to look at his career in a different light.

I don’t care what Bonds wants to say, a consistently very good player, like Bonds was, does not all of sudden jack 73 home runs at age 36.  Still, that’s a record, ahead of other juicers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.  Also, with the steroid crackdown these days, it’s a record we may never see broken.

Bonds holds the career home run record with 762.  He’s a career .298 hitter with the all-time 6th-highest on-base percentage at .444 and the 6th-highest slugging percentage at .607.  Bonds’ 514 career steals, the vast majority coming pre-2000, make him the only member of the 500-500 club.  In addition, Bonds was perhaps the most feared hitter ever as evidenced by his record 2,558 career walks, a record 688 of them coming intentionally.

In all Bonds won seven MVPs (his next highest competitor has three), eight Gold Gloves, twelve Silver Slugger Awards, three Hank Aaron Awards, won the 1996 Home Run Derby, and was a fourteen-time All-Star.

Other records Bonds holds: most home runs against different pitchers (449), home runs by a 40-year-old (74), consecutive seasons with 30+ home runs (13), slugging percentage in a single season (.863), slugging percentage in a World Series (1.294), consecutive seasons with a .600+ slugging percentage (8), single season on-base percentage (.609), walks in a single season (232), intentional walks in a single season (120), consecutive games with a walk (18), consecutive MVP awards (4), Player of the Month selections (13), and he was the oldest player to win a batting title for the first time (37 years old).

#5 Barry Bonds

--from @jeuneski

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MLB Top-10: #8 Lou Gehrig and #7 Ted Williams

8) Lou Gehrig

Known as “The Iron Horse,” only something as serious as Lou Gehrig’s disease could keep Lou Gehrig out of the lineup.  Gehrig set the record for consecutive games played at 2,130 and held it for 56 years until Cal Ripkin Jr. finally broke it in 1995.

By playing in so many games, Gehrig really had the chance to pile up the stats and prove why he was voted the greatest first baseman ever by the Baseball Writers’ Association in 1969.  A career New York Yankee, Gehrig amassed a .340 batting average, sixteenth all-time; a .447 on-base percentage, fifth all-time; and a .632 slugging percentage, third all-time.  His 493 home runs currently rank twenty-sixth all-time and 1,995 RBI are fifth.  Gehrig also scored the tenth most runs in Major League history with 1,888 and holds the record for most career grand slams with 23.

Selected to the first seven All-Star Games, Gehrig won the AL MVP in 1927 and 1936, was runner-up two other years, won an AL Triple Crown in 1934, and was a member of six World Series Champion Yankees teams.  He batted .361 in seven World Series.

It is a shame we lost such a great player, “The luckiest man on the face of the Earth,” so early.

#8 Lou Gehrig

7) Ted Williams

For my money, and for a lot of other people’s, Ted Williams is the greatest hitter of all-time.  And despite how much I love that distinction, he’s still only seventh on my list.  I demote him for playing his entire career for the Red Sox during their Curse of the Bambino years— he never won a championship—and because he was so focused on his hitting that he was an aimless defender.  Let’s discuss what got him to #7 though.

Williams won two AL MVP awards and won the AL Triple Crown twice, but surprisingly, neither of his MVPs came during a Triple Crown season.

The seventeen-time All-Star selection also is the most recent of only eight players to ever post a .400 batting average over a full season, batting .406 in 1941, again, neither an MVP nor a Triple Crown year.

Williams hit 521 home runs, which was third-highest when he retired, and his .344 batting average is the highest of anyone with 500 or more career home runs.  His .344 average also ranks eighth all-time, but first among those who played their entire career after the dawn of the "live ball" era, meaning post-1920.  Williams holds the mark for highest career on-base percentage with .482, and his .634 slugging percentage ranks second all-time.  For all you Moneyballers out there, Williams has the second-highest OPS of all-time as well.

seventeenth all-time in runs scored, Williams led the AL in that category six times.  He also led the AL in hitting six times, slugging nine times, total bases six times, and walks eight times.

What astonishes me most however is to think of what his numbers could be if he hadn’t lost a number of his prime playing years to military service as a pilot in both World War II and the Korean War.

#7 Ted Williams

--from @jeuneski

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MLB Top-10: #10 Rickey Henderson and #9 Randy Johnson

10) Rickey Henderson

How do you win in baseball?  You score runs.  And the first guy on my list is baseball’s all-time leader in runs scored, Rickey Henderson.  Eight of the ten players who make my list are also in the top-10 in career runs scored.  So not only Henderson is in good company, he’s at the head of the class.

Unquestionably the greatest leadoff hitter ever, Henderson holds the career record for unintentional walks and stolen bases.  The two-time world champion (Oakland 1989 and Toronto 1993) and one-time AL MVP (1990), Henderson owns the single season record for most stolen bases with a whopping 130.  When Willie Mays Hayes says in Major League that he bought 100 pairs of gloves, one for each base he was going to steal, he was clearly following Henderson’s lead.  Henderson is the only American League player to have ever stolen 100 bases in a season, and he did it three times.  Plus, he finished among his league’s top-10 in steals 21 times.  Since Rickey stole 93 bases in 1988, no one else in all of the major leagues has come anywhere close to stealing 100.

With 297 career home runs, Henderson also had surprising power.  Another career record Henderson holds is games led off with a home run.  Henderson went yard in a game’s first at-bat eighty-one times.

His 1,406 stolen bases are 468 more than his next highest competitor.  He scored 49 more runs than the man in second place.  Henderson maintained a . 279 career batting average, .401 career on-base percentage, and .419 career slugging percentage.  The “Man of Steal” led the majors in stolen bases six times and the American League twelve.  He won the ALCS MVP in 1989 when he stole eight bases that series, another record.  For the ten-time All-Star, one Gold Glove and three Silver Slugger Awards also line his trophy case.

#10 Rickey Henderson

9) Randy Johnson

I’ve only got one pitcher on my list because when it comes down to it, a player that goes out there every day and bats four times a game is more impactful than someone who plays once, maybe twice per week.  I think I picked a good one though, “The Big Unit,” Randy Johnson. 

With a powerful fastball and devastating slider, it is no surprise that the 6'10" Johnson holds the career record for strikeouts per nine innings and is second all-time in total strikeouts.  Johnson is the all-time strikeout leader for left-handed pitchers.

The 300-game winner won five Cy Young awards in his career, won a World Series with the Diamondbacks in 2001, and threw two no-hitters, the second of which was the seventeenth perfect game in Major League history.  In the sixth inning of a 2001 game, Johnson struck out three Pittsburgh Pirates on nine pitches, becoming the thirtieth major leaguer to throw an immaculate inning.  He also won the pitching Triple Crown in 2002—leading the NL in wins, ERA, and strikeouts—for his fourth straight Cy Young, a unanimous selection.

The ten-time All-Star led his league in strikeouts nine times, in ERA four times, complete games four times, shutouts twice, holds the record for most strikeouts in a relief appearance with 16, and shared a World Series Co-MVP with Curt Schilling.  Johnson also holds the distinction of defeating each of the thirty teams in baseball.

Cooperstown surely beckons for the big blonde.  Plus, the guy killed a bird with a fastball.

#9 Randy Johnson

--from @jeuneski

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Let's Play Two: Mid-Season Review

Adam's AL	Adam's NL	All-Stars Position	Eric's AL	Eric's NL
Justin Verlander	Cliff Lee	SP	Justin Verlander	Roy Halladay
Alex Avila	Brian McCann	C	Alex Avila	Brian McCann
Adrian Gonzalez	Prince Fielder	1B	Adrian Gonzalez	Prince Fielder
Robinson Cano	Rickie Weeks	2B	Dustin Pedroia	Rickie Weeks
Alex Rodriguez	Ty Wiggington	3B	Alex Rodriguez	Aramis Ramirez
Elvis Andrus	Jose Reyes	SS	Asdrubal Cabrera	Jose Reyes
Carlos Quentin	Ryan Braun	OF	Jose Bautista	Ryan Braun
Curtis Granderson	Matt Kemp	OF	Jacoby Ellsbury	Andrew McCutchen
Jose Bautista	Lance Berkman	OF	Curtis Granderson	Matt Kemp
David Ortiz	---	DH	David Ortiz	---
Mariano Rivera	Joel Hanrahan	CL	Mariano Rivera	Joel Hanrahan

What’s been the biggest surprise of baseball’s first half?

Adam: After 18 straight losing seasons, the Pirates are above water at the midway point of the season.  Usually seeing the Pirates at the bottom of the standings is as reliable as the sun coming up each morning.  Maybe since we are approaching 2012, the Pirates' success is a sign of the apocalypse. 

Eric: I knew the Phillies were going to be good, but I’m surprised by how completely unbeatable they seem.  Just wait until their bullpen gets healthy again, and wait until the weather starts heating up and the baseballs really fly out of Citizens Bank Park.  Philly's going to be dynamite.

What’s been the biggest disappointment?

A: The drama with the Dodgers is an unwanted distraction.  The Dodgers are an important team in baseball, and I always hate storylines that have absolutely nothing to do with what is happening on the field.  I don’t want to hear about Frank McCourt and all of his personal troubles; that's his issue and not my business.  I just want to see the Dodgers run properly because they are a historic team, and I think baseball is better when they are competing. 

E: My Cubs having the 3rd-worst record in baseball right now is pretty depressing.  Coming in I certainly didn’t expect them to set the world on fire, but I also didn’t expect them to be sixteen games below the .500 mark.

What player has most improved his stock?

A: Jose Reyes is having an unbelievable year.  Mets owner Fred Wilpon said a few weeks ago that Reyes wouldn’t get Carl Crawford money in the free agent market.  He was right; Reyes will get more.  Short stop is such a vital position, and Reyes is a hitting machine right now, not to mention good for a Web Gem or two per game.  Reyes is hitting .354, with a .400 on base percentage, 30 stolen bases, and 124 hits, and we haven’t reached the All-Star break yet. 

E: Jose Bautista had a completely lackluster career up until a year ago when he jacked 54 home runs.  With his success so far this year, Bautista proved that his 2010 was no statistical aberration.  Leading the majors in homers again and also first in both on-base percentage and slugging, Bautista rightfully earns MVP consideration so far through 2011.

What’s your World Series prediction?

A: Still the same, Phillies over BoSox

E: Phillies over anybody

Who’s your First Half MVP?  Cy Young?

A: AL MVP – Adrian Gonzalez: He’s the anchor to the best lineup in the majors, is hitting for average and power, and also provides a slick glove in the field.  While hitting .350 with 16 dingers and 74 RBI, he’s as good as it gets at first base, and these days, that’s saying something.

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander: I make this pick because Verlander’s stuff is simply so electric.  I call him the most feared pitcher in baseball. 

NL MVP – Prince Fielder: Leading a good but not great Brewers team, Fielder is having the best season of his career.  Batting .296 with 21 homers (2nd in NL), 69 RBI (1st), and a .416 on base percentage (2nd) Fielder always produces great at bats for one of the National League's top teams. 

NL Cy Young – Cliff Lee: Because he’s simply ridiculous and just pitched something like 35 straight scoreless innings, I give the nod to Lee.  He always goes deep into games, he’s clutch, and with a 2.92 ERA, 9-6 record, and just a .234 batting average against, Lee’s numbers are absolutely tremendous.

E: AL MVP – Adrian Gonzalez: Getting out of Petco Park, he’s lived up to his billing.  Leading the AL in batting average, RBI, hits, and total bases, Gonzalez is exactly the run generator Boston was looking for when they brought him in from San Diego.

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander: Verlander leads AL in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, WHIP, and is second in WAR among pitchers by one tenth of a point.

NL MVP – Jose Reyes: His batting average is thirty points higher than the man in second place.  He leads the NL in my favorite category, runs scored, also in hits, singles, doubles, triples, total bases, and is second in stolen bases.  Though the Mets are just a .500 club, Reyes makes them much better than we thought they were going to be.

NL Cy Young – Roy Halladay: It was a coin flip between him and Cliff Lee, but Doc Halladay gets the edge due to his higher win total, strikeout total, more complete games, innings pitched, and lower ERA and WHIP.

--from @AdamHocking and @jeuneski