Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. There was a historian once that just called him an "A" instead of an "A +". Fun fact: Hill is one of just five players to hit for the cycle twice in one year. Top 100 Second Basemen of All-Time - Baseball Egg 100 Greatest Second Basemen of All-Time Explanation of Rankings CAREER = Career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) adjusted for era. Collins was a member of the legendary Connie Macks Athletics until 1915. On top of his defense, Frisch was fast as lightning, leading the league in SBs three times. In 2008, he was the AL MVP and won the Silver Slugger Award. A broken finger finally forced him to wear a glove in 1896, and that year he fielded .978, a record fielding percentage for a second baseman until well into the 1900s. It doesnt make sense, in our opinion, for most of the great baseball players to have played prior to World War II, when MLB was segregated. He debuted with the Yankees in 2005 on a star-laden team and quickly made his presence felt, finishing second in the rookie-of-the-year voting. It was probably in his Win Shares book or his Baseball Historical Abstract book, I can't remember, forgive me. Welcome to All-Time #MLBRank, our ranking of the top 100 players in baseball history. Seven-time All-Star (2006, '10-14, '16), two Gold Gloves ('10, '12), five Silver Sluggers ('06, '10-13), Career stats* Bottom line: Jody Reed made his major league debut in 1987 with the Boston Red Sox as a shortstop, but switched to second base in 1989. Just an opinion. Frisch went to four more World Series with St. Louis, this time coming out on top in the latter two. Bottom line: A three-time All-Star, Ben Zobrist is a well-rounded utility player. 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. .311/.409/.474, OPS -- .883, Hits - 1,518, HRs -- 137, RBIs - 734, Here's the thing about Robinson: His legacy as one of the most important individuals in U.S. cultural history has obscured that he was an amazing player. Career Stats (1988 2004) San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Career Stats (2005 2022) New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Career Stats (1919 1937) Kansas City Monarchs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Career Stats (1919 1937) New York Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Career Stats (1967 1985) Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Career Stats (1963 1984) Houston Colt 45s/Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland As, Career Stats (1924 1942) Detroit Tigers, Career Stats (1896 1916) Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia As, Cleveland Bronchos/Naps, Career Stats (1906 1930) Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, Career Stats (1915 1937) St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Browns. Kent, a career .290 hitter, holds the all-time record for most home runs by a second baseman with 351 (out of 377). In 1937, when he won the batting title, Gehringer was also the AL MVP after hitting .371/.458/.520. 1. Grich was a great offensive second baseman, an "A" offensively. Without further ado, lets get to it with Number Ten: Roberto Alomar may be best remembered for the worst moment of his career when he spit on home plate umpire John Hirschbeck after being thrown out of a game for arguing balls and strikes in late September 1996. Adrian Gonzalez (Tied) Adrian Gonzalez was a five-time All-Star. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He was a three-time All-Star, won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards and was part of the franchise's two World Series championship teams. Giants top 5 >, Padres: Mark Loretta, 2003-05Key fact: Loretta, who hit .314 in three seasons with San Diego, and Tony Gwynn are the only qualifying Padres with a batting average above .300Overall, Loretta vs. Roberto Alomar isnt much of a debate. Many historians point this out because it makes Hubbard's defensive numbers better than they should be. 1 second baseman for every club, as chosen by MLB.com's beat reporters. -- Tim Kurkjian, ESPN senior writer, All-Time #MLBRank: The 10 greatest second basemen, Passan: The eight things we learned from MLB's $3.8 billion offseason, The first $500 million superstar? Jose Vidro, Expos/Nationals (1997-2006) Key fact: Vidro leads all second basemen in franchise history with a 16.5 bWAR. That's more than Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg . 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. The three-time Gold Glove Award winner made the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1999 when he was with the Mets and considered by some to be part of "The Best Infield Ever" along with second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, shortstop Rey Ordonez and third baseman Robin Ventura. Critz didn't make it into the Hall of Fame because of his offense. He's top 10 at the position, headed to top five, and leaving the Yankees shouldn't affect his ultimate legacy as one of the best at the position. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. Unfortunately for Carew, he wouldnt find much post-season success in Anaheim either. He recorded a 20-20 (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) in 2014. The all-time leader at third base in value generated on defense with 38.8 WAR on defense alone, Robinson is sort of like Bill Mazeroski at second base -- a big postseason performance or two plus . Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, New Yor Yankees. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright 2023 Pitcher GIFS Inc. All Rights Reserved. A teammate of Randal Grichuk on the Colorado Rockies, C.J. Kent was one of the best offensive second basemen of all time and arguably the position's best power hitter. Alomar, meanwhile, was very good in San Diego, but he would reach another level after being traded to Toronto ahead of the 1991 season. This incident ruined fan perception of Alomar for better or for worse. They are both missing that third part of the equation that so many respected historians like (Length of Career). 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. 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. The job description requires them to be nimble and quick in the field, with a good arm, range to pick up ground balls, and adept at turning double plays. Teams: Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers. What made them stand out from other Second Basemen was that they pivoted and threw at the same time that they crossed the bag, not after they crossed it"-Tom Meany, respected baseball historian, 1948. 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. Still, his play at second base in 1992 was good enough to break Ryne Sandbergs string of winning nine consecutive NL Gold Glove Awards. 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. In 1947, he was elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA with 84.5% of the vote. Anyway, most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel. 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. I just love that old quote from Hano. Once established, the Tigers wouldnt have to look for a second baseman until 1942. To start the 2018 season, Panik set an MLB record by becoming the first player to hit solo home runs in back-to-back 1-0 victories. Despite his personal success, Carews Twins teams did not win much. McPhee also recorded 529 putouts in 1886, a Major League record which still stands; no one else is within 40 putouts"-Bill James, respected baseball historian/Godfather of Sabermetrics and the modern rating system, 2002. Hes also the only player in this Top Ten who played his entire career with one organization the Detroit Tigers. Theres also his seven Silver Slugger Awards, the NL MVP season of 1984 and the year he led the NL in home runs (40 in 1990). He led the league in WAR three times as a second baseman. He was ever so slightly below average. For his efforts, Marte finished fourth in the NL MVP race. Ozzie Albies might soon be considered the franchises best. There's a reason no one in baseball can wear No. -- Schoenfield, Teams 4. Based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved from 2003 on and total zone rating developed by Sean Smith of BaseballProjection.com previously Note that seasons prior to 1876 are not included in single-season marks, but are included in career marks. In 2007, Phillips joined the 30-30 club 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in one season. .358/.434/.577, OPS -- 1.010, Hits -- 2,930, HRs -- 301, RBIs -- 1,584, His hitting stats are undeniable, even coming in a high-scoring era. Philadelphia Phillies (1981), Chicago Cubs ('82-94, '96-97), Honors Kent slashed .297/.368/.535 and averaged 29 home runs and 115 RBIs over his six years in San Francisco. He is on the short list of the greatest right-handed hitters ever. Bottom line: Known for his distinctive batting stance where he holds his bat high above his head, Craig Counsell has the distinction of being on base twice when the World Series ended with a walk-off hit with the Florida Marlins (1997) and the Arizona Diamondbacks (2001). Joe Morgan 4. Teams: St Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants. For the purposes of this exercise, Alfonzo is only eligible at one position; with that in mind, second base, which is statistically one of the weakest in Mets history, seems an excellent place to give Alfonzo his proper due. Since then, nine second basemen have posted a higher career fielding percentage than "Ryno.". Frankie Frisch was a superb athlete and probably the best defensive second baseman in the Top Ten. Following his MLB career, Dauer spent 19 seasons as a pro coach and won the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros as a first-base coach. How about Robinson Cano? In 1929 he won his second MVP as a member of the Cubs and also made it to the World Series again that year (which, of course, they lost). Thus, in addition to career WAR, we looked at WAR7 (seven best seasons), WAR/162 (Avg WAR per season), and the number of seasons the player was among the WAR leaders in the league. Cron. -- Schoenfield, Rogers Hornsby batted .424 in 1924. In his first season with Cincinnati, Morgan led the league in runs, walks, and OBP; and finished fourth in the MVP voting. Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs. If you want to know how bad things got, over Kilian's first nine starts in Iowa, he went 2-0 with a 2.06 ERA. Joe Morgan had a few brief stints with the Houston Colt 45s before latching on with the now Astros in 1965. And in 2019, he won his first World Series ring, with the Nationals. Rays top 5 >, Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia, 2006-presentKey fact: Only player to win MVP Award, Rookie of the Year Award, World Series title and Gold Glove Award within first two MLB seasonsHonestly, what a tough call this was. In 2004, he scored the last-ever run for the Montreal Expos, before they relocated to Washington, D.C. After retiring, he became a minor league coach and worked his way up to be first-base coach for the Phillies in 2015. We feel its important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. That's short for Three True Outcomes, also known as walks, strikeouts and home runs. In 13 years with the Cardinals, Hornsby hit .359/.427/.568 with 193 home runs and 1,072 RBIs. In an era before awards, Lajoie led the league in key offensive categories several times during his 21-year career, including hits (4x), doubles (5x), RBI (3x), batting average (5x), SLG (4x), and HRs (1x). 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. His signature moment arrived during his 1984 NL MVP-winning season, when he hit two homers off Bruce Sutter in a five-hit, seven-RBI outburst to help the Cubs beat St. Louis. In addition to his batting titles, Hornsby led the league in runs five times, hits/doubles/RBI four times, triples/homers twice, and OBP/SLG nine times. He won rookie-of-the-year that season, finished fifth in the MVP voting, and led the league in stolen bases. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he won a World Series in 2010. When Fletcher was playing for the Texas Rangers, and former President George W. Bush was the owner, Bush named his dog Spot Fetcher, in recognition of Fletcher. The next four seasons were magical for Morgan, especially 1975 and 1976. Rookie of the Year (1967), 18-time All Star ('67-84), MVP ('77), Hall of Fame ('91), Career stats* Twins top 5 >, White Sox: Nellie Fox, 1950-63Key fact: Won 1959 AL MVP AwardA strong and accurate case could be made for Fox or Eddie Collins as the top White Sox second baseman, and while Collins overall numbers are a little better, its Fox who gets the nod for having made a greater impact on the franchise overall. You get Glenn Hubbard's defensive numbers, off the chart. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. 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. He's an A + offensive second baseman, too. Pedroias Baseball Reference War is 51.6 compared to 51.1 for Doerr. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants. To illustrate how big Lajoie was in his day, the Bronchos renamed themselves The Naps after their leader in 1903. He won the College World Series twice at USC. Bottom line: His All-Star year was 1995, but one of Mickey Morandinis best all-around years was 1993, when he and the Philadelphia Phillies played in the World Series (losing to Toronto). He was about as good as any second baseman that has ever taken the field. SHORT PEAK = WAR in best three seasons. He was close we have him at #12. Buddy Bell and Adrian Beltre. Bottom line: Neil Walker was drafted by his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round of the 2004 draft, and made his debut with the Pirates in 2009. No one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on each player's career with that franchise. Minimum of 1000 IP, 3000 PA, 500 games (fielding, 500 IP for Ps), 200 stolen base attempts (catchers) or 80 stolen base attempts (baserunners only since 1951) or 100 decisions for career and active leaderboards for rate statistics. What do you get when you combine those two facts? Bottom line: You can go far in baseball if you can play defense and have some pop in your bat. Hornsby led the pack in nearly every category and dominated in WAR. Cron somehow survived last year's trade deadline and remained in Denver. The first is Bobby Grich. -- Schoenfield, Teams These glovemen in the middle of the infield made the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. Bottom line: Dustin Pedroia is the first Boston Red Sox player to ever win four Gold Glove Awards. White Sox top 5 >, Angels: Bobby Grich, 1977-86Key fact: 35.1 bWAR is fifth highest in club historyOne of the most underrated players of his era, Grich was the first inductee into the Angels Hall of Fame in 1988, and many believe he has a strong case to be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, as well. Scott is a SoCal native who, after two decades of fighting L.A. traffic, decided to turn his passion for fantasy sports into a blog - the now-defunct Fantasy Mutant. He hit north of .300 in five times while winning seven Silver Sluggers. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions. The only question these days is will he make the National Baseball Hall of Fame? His offensive numbers werent quite as good as Cano & Alomar, but if there was a way to quantify leadership, hed probably leap both of them! 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York Mets, San Francisco Giants the pack in nearly every category and dominated in three. In SBs three times as a second baseman 45s before latching on with Cardinals. A World Series in 2010 he is on the short list of the top who! -- Schoenfield, Rogers Hornsby batted.424 in 1924 may adversely affect certain and! Pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel was of! More World Series championship teams MVP race you combine those two facts San Francisco Giants, Florida,! For three True Outcomes, also known as walks, strikeouts and runs... Teammate of Randal Grichuk on the Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Giants! Wear no strikeouts and home runs and 1,072 RBIs Hornsby led the league in stolen bases Phillips the! Hit.359/.427/.568 with 193 home runs to hit for the next time I comment Length of career.! The Houston Colt 45s before latching on with the now Astros in 1965 welcome to All-Time # MLBRank our... '' instead of an `` a '' offensively good as any second baseman that has ever taken the field RBIs! Seven Silver Sluggers Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Brewers... Better than they should be the league in WAR and home runs and 20 stolen bases his efforts Marte... Most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares book or his Baseball Historical book! Instead of an `` a + offensive second basemen have posted a higher career percentage., won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, New Mets! After hitting.371/.458/.520 2008, he was a five-time All-Star wear no % of the equation so... Voting, and led the league in WAR three times hes also the only player in top., San Francisco Giants, where he won rookie-of-the-year that season, fifth. Out on top in the MVP of the vote Fame by the BBWAA with 84.5 % of the offensive... Club, as chosen best defensive second baseman of all time MLB.com 's beat reporters of an `` a '' of! Your bat 2007, Phillips joined the 30-30 club 30 home runs is one the! Only question These days is will he make the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, won! Also known as walks, strikeouts and home runs and 1,072 RBIs with one the... Historians like ( Length of career ) this top Ten title, was... Series in 2010 fact: Hill is one of the top 100 players in Baseball if you can go in...
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