We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. In 2007, Phillips joined the 30-30 club 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in one season. Athletics top 5 >, Mariners: Bret Boone, 1992-93, 2001-05Key fact: His 141 RBIs in 2001 are the fourth most in a single season in Mariners historyA solid argument could be made for Robinson Can, as well, but Boone gets a slight nod thanks to his huge production in the 116-win season in 2001, when he hit .331/.372/.578 with 37 homers and an AL-leading 141 RBIs. In 1996, Morandini excelled in the field, participating in 87 double plays while making just six errors good for a .990 fielding percentage. Three times Hornsby hit over .400, including his .424 average in 1924. He bounced back and forth between playing shortstop and second base throughout his MLB career. After a falling out with Giants manager John McGraw in 1926, he was traded to the Cardinals after the season. He won rookie-of-the-year that season, finished fifth in the MVP voting, and led the league in stolen bases. Sandberg went on to manage Philadelphia from 2013 to 2015. Again, I can't remember which of his books. -- Rob Peterson, ESPN.com senior MLB editor, Teams He also won rookie-of-the-year that season for the Twins. note-next to each player I will also list an offensive letter grade, so you know where they stand in that category, the way I see it (we can assume they are all an "A +" defensively, since they are among the top 10 all time, defensively). Indians: Nap Lajoie, 1902-14Key fact: Indians' all-time leader in WARLajoie was literally the face of the organization, as the club changed its name from the Bronchos to the Naps in 1903 after Lajoie himself. He was also a great World Series performer, winning four titles and hitting .328 in 34 career games. Phillies top 5 >, Brewers: Jim Gantner, 1976-92Key fact: No. .338/.380/.466, OPS -- .847, Hits -- 3,243, HRs -- 82, RBIs -- 1,599, The first big star of the new American League in 1901, he ranks 23rd all time in Baseball-Reference WAR. After one season with the Athletics, in which Lajoie dominated the league in almost every statistical category, including the Triple Crown, he moved on to Cleveland. In summary, Max Muncy rakes, and he turns it up a notch higher come playoff time. Here's what happened with Hubbard, he DID play on ground ball teams (generally speaking). Bottom line: He played second base, shortstop and third base during a 16-year career that saw him net three Gold Glove Awards (2007, 2009 and 2011). Teams: Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals. Hubbard played much of his career for those Atlanta Braves teams that had an overabundant amount of ground ball pitchers on their team. Kent was one of the best offensive second basemen of all time and arguably the position's best power hitter. Best Season: 2008 - .292/.380/.535 with 33 home runs, 104 RBIs, 64 walks, a .915 OPS, 6.0 offensive WAR, 3.5 defensive WAR and an 8.2 fWAR Being blocked by Placido Polanco early in his career and knee injuries at the back-half of his prime kept Utley from accumulating the type of counting statistics to make him a slam-dunk Hall of Famer. In 1997, MLB retired the number 42, which Robinson wore, across all of baseball. After that season, he was traded to the Mets. I hate to bring up Bill James again (actually, I love it), but he came to an amazing conclusion on Bill Mazeroski, too. Childs played in just over 1,450 games and Richardson played in just over 1,300 games. And though he recorded solid seasons on defense, he never had strong enough numbers to win a Gold Glove Award. Hughie Critz (1930s) offensive rating: D -, "The New York Giant infield of Hughie Critz, Bill Terry, Travis Jackson and Freddie Lindstrom, the million dollar infield as it was called, and it used to perform up to its namethey were so deft, so quick, so breathtaking that the fans would sit, first in stunned silence, and then in gathered bedlam"-Arnold Hano, respected baseball historian. Your email address will not be published. No player in history has a higher single-season batting average with as many plate appearances as Hornsby had in 1924. He could run, hit, hit for power, and play stellar defense. The 10-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner remains the only player in Major League history to hit a walk-off home run in Game 7 of the World Series, which he did to lead the Bucs past the Yankees in 1960. Playing for the Colorado Rockies two years later in the best season of his career, Carroll committed just three errors at second base, and led all NL second basemen in fielding percentage. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. 1. Widely considered the best defensive third baseman of all time, Robinson won 16 straight Gold Gloves (1960-75), an American League MVP in 1964, two World Series with Baltimore (1966,. He batted .274 in his career, and while he didnt hit for much power -- Gantners homer off Oaklands Dave Stewart on Sept. 3, 1991, was his first in 1,762 at-bats spanning 544 games -- Gantner became a steady hand at second base, thanks in part to a strong throwing arm hed honed as a boy playing catcher. -- Schoenfield, Teams Houston Colt .45s (1963-64), Houston Astros (1965-71, '80), Cincinnati Reds ('72-79), San Francisco Giants ('81-82), Philadelphia Phillies ('83), Oakland A's ('84), Honors Hi Nels. The top 100 will roll out next week. Robinson won the MVP a few years later when he batted .342 with 37 SBs and 124 RBI in 1949. I think his system is flawless, except he puts too much weight on Length of Career, but that's another article. It was probably in his Win Shares book or his Baseball Historical Abstract book, I can't remember, forgive me. Corrective surgery allowed him to excel at baseball, and after being signed by the Boston Red Sox he blossomed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he was a three-time All-Star and won an NL batting title in 2006. Jackie only played 11 professional seasons, including one with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League, where he didnt debut until he was 26. Carew was an all-star for an incredible 18 consecutive years, starting with his rookie year in 1967. What MLB insiders are saying about Shohei Ohtani, Sources: Mets, OF Pham agree to 1-yr, $6M deal, Reports: Brewers ink ex-Marlins IF/OF Anderson, Deal merges Ripken, Cooperstown youth baseball, Sources: Red Sox, Duvall agree to 1-yr., $7M deal, A's formally welcome ex-Japanese star Fujinami, Mets GM: Lineup deep even after losing Correa, Thomas, Pirates star and original Met, dies at 93, Who will get traded? The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. Second Base JAWS Leaders. Its a fair argument, but as we mentioned when discussing Roger Clemens, its hard to know who did what throughout the games history. The switch-hitter from Puerto Rico signed as an amateur free agent when he was 15 years old, and eventually went to two World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (2006 and 2011) as the teams third-base coach. It's why he's a top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman, the earliest second baseman in the Hall of Fame and one of the 10 best second basemen in the history of MLB. He pretty much got the job done offensively, too. This didnt slow him down, though. Once Jackie debuted with the Dodgers in 1947, it became clear that he belonged. Angels top 5 >, Astros: Craig Biggio, 1988-2007Key fact: Franchises all-time leader in games, hits, runs, total bases, doubles, extra-base hitsDrafted as a catcher, Biggio made the move to second base in 1992 and went on to win four Gold Glove Awards and four Silver Sluggers at the position. The greatest defensive second baseman of his time, and perhaps of all-time, Mazeroski is ironically best remembered for an unmatched accomplishment at the plate. Zobrist was named MVP of the 2016 World Series. He went to four consecutive World Series with the club from 1921 through 1924, coming out a winner in the first two. Charlie Gehringers nickname was The Mechanical Man. He was dubbed so because of his robotic consistency and durability. Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. In 2008, he was the AL MVP and won the Silver Slugger Award. -- Mark Simon, ESPN Stats & Info, Honors There are three second basemen that often present themselves before me as should-be Hall-of-Fame second basemen. But, for now, the distinction belongs to Giles, who is the only second baseman in franchise history to produce a 110 OPS+ in at least three seasons. I just love that old quote from Hano. He was one of the most dominant second basemen of the '90s, helping the Astros win four division titles in five years (1997-99 and 2001), while also leading them to the postseason in 04 and the World Series in 05. And he did most of it under the most trying of circumstances. Collins can also boast an MVP win in 1914 and six top 5 MVP finishes. He ranks ninth on Fangraphs WAR for all offensive players and 12th on Baseball-Reference. 8) MLB Power Rankings: Trade candidate C.J. Bobby Grich (1970s) offensive rating: A, "Grich won four Gold Gloves, and won them over stiff competition-Frank White"-Bill James, respected baseball historian/Godfather of Sabermetrics and the modern rating system, 2002. The position is home to those who couldn't hack it at shortstop or slug enough to earn a corner-infield job. 17 is not formally retired, but the Brewers have not issued it to anyone sinceRobin Yount, Paul Molitor and Gantner played together for 15 years, the longest tenure for a trio of teammates in Major League history until the Yankees Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera broke the mark in 2010. The fact is, if I did a cross section of the 100 most respected baseball histoians in the United States, I can almost guarantee you that Mazeroski would show up as the best defensive second baseman in the history of MLB. Kinsler spent eight years with the Rangers while Franco was in Texas for five. Tigers top 5 >, Twins: Rod Carew, 1967-78Key fact: .334 career batting average with Twins is highest in club historyWhere were you during that summer of 1977 when Carew made his historic push for .400? He's not even the best defensive 3rd baseman to play for El Toro High School's 2009 varsity baseball team. On NBC that day, broadcaster Bob Costas proclaimed: "Roy Hobbs, The Natural, would be pleased. Cubs top 5 >, Pirates: Bill Mazeroski, 1956-72Key fact: The Hall of Famer hit the first and only walk-off home run in World Series Game 7 historyThe greatest defensive second baseman of his time, and perhaps of all-time, Mazeroski is ironically best remembered for an unmatched accomplishment at the plate. Ozzie Albies might soon be considered the franchises best. Either way, Grich, Childs and Richardson are the three best second basemen in the history of MLB that are not in the Hall of Fame, with arguments from Davey Lopes (1970s) and Tom Daly (1890s). (His older brother, Josh, is a rookie third baseman with the Rangers . 6. He hit .400 three times, including .424 in 1924, and .358 lifetime. Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays. His defensive rating on Fangraphs leads all second basemen all-time with over 1,000 plate appearances. He played every position on the diamond before settling in at second base. With catchers and first basemen in the books, next up is second base. Enough numbers to win a Gold Glove Award hit over.400, including his.424 average in 1924, out. ( generally speaking ) exclusively for statistical purposes position on the diamond before in. Baseman with the Rangers while Franco was in Texas for five numbers to win Gold! Forgive me, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays the AL MVP and won the Slugger! 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