The Best Players at Each Position
The First Basemen with HOF Numbers
There are fourteen
first basemen who played in the 20th century who have HOF numbers
according to the NEWS monitor.
Here they are.
All numbers include
the 2006 season.
Bold print = Hall of Famer
Italic = active player in 2006
CWS = Career Win
Shares
CV = Core Value
(sum of win shares for 10 best seasons)
NEWS = Career
Value
=
CV
+ .25(CWS - CV)
CWS
CV
NEWS
1.
Lou
Gehrig
(1923-1939)
489
384
410
2.
Jimmie
Foxx
(1925-1945)
435
325
353
3.
Frank
Thomas
(1990-
)
383
301
322
4.
Willie
McCovey
(1959-1980)
408
285
316
5. Dick
Allen
(1963-1977)
342
304
314
6.
Eddie Murray
(1977-1997)
437
273
314
7. Jeff
Bagwell
(1991-2005)
388
287
312
8.
Johnny
Mize
(1936-1953)
339
296
307
9.
Harmon
Killebrew
(1954-1975)
374
279
303
10.
Mark
McGwire
(1986-2001)
342
283
298
11.
Rafael
Palmeiro
(1986-2005)
387
257
290
12.
Will
Clark
(1986-2000)
331
269
285
18. Hank
Greenberg
(1930-1947)
267
262
263
20. Bill
Terry
(1923-1936
278
255
261
As you can see, twelve of the fourteen first basemen with HOF numbers
have a NEWS score of 280 or better while two others (Hank Greenberg and Bill
Terry) have SAG numbers (a NEWS score of 255 with less than 1800 games
played).
Eight of these players are already in the Hall – with Lou Gehrig
and Jimmie Foxx emerging with the best
numbers. And Frank Thomas has
established himself as the best first baseman of the second half of the
century. I think that Frank
Thomas and Jeff Bagwell will have no great trouble being elected when
eligible. Dick Allen,
of course, is a different story.
He was on the ballot of the Veteran’s Committee for
2007. Despite having the best
numbers, he got only 13.4% of the vote – so it does not look like he
is ever going to make it. He will continue to be the position player with the best
numbers who has been eligible and who is not in the Hall.
Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro have both been stained by the
“steroids scandal.” Big
Mac was on the BBWAA ballot for the first time in 2007 and got only 23.5%
of the vote. Will he ever make
it? Who
knows. And Palmeiro has no chance
unless McGwire is voted in first.
Will Clark has been terribly
underrated. He appeared on the
2006 BBWAA ballot for the first time and got less than 5% of the vote so
he will not appear again.
Of these fourteen first basemen, only five played during the first
half of the century while nine played after 1950.
The Other First Basemen
in the Top 25
Here are the eleven other first basemen who round out the top 25 at
the position.
CWS
CV
NEWS
13. Jim
Thome
304
265
275
14. Jason
Giambi
283
271
274
15. Tony
Perez
349
249
274
16. Orlando
Cepeda
310
251
266
17.
Keith
Hernandez
311
248
264
21.
Norm
Cash
315
241
260
23. Carlos Delgado 262 248 252
24. George
Sisler
292
239
252
25.
Don
Mattingly
263
241
247
And here are two first basemen who are in the Hall of Fame but did
not make the top 25.
Jim
Bottomley
258
214
225
Frank
Chance
237
206
214
Note that there are a total of five first basemen who are in the Hall
but do not have HOF numbers according to the NEWS
monitor.
Jim Thome, Jason Giambi and Carlos Delgado were still active in
2006. It looks as if Thome and
Giambi will indeed reach the 280 NEWS
benchmark. So, Thome should
have a good shot at the Hall. But Giambi has “steroid suspicions” which might
hurt his chances. Delgado appears
to be a long shot to reach the 280 mark.
Besides Mark McGwire (mentioned above), there were three other first
basemen on the 2007 BBWAA ballot: Steve Garvey, Don Mattingly and Wally
Joyner. Only Mattingly is among
the top 25 above. Garvey got
21% of the vote, Mattingly got 10% and Joyner got 0 votes – so none
of the three appears to have a chance at
election. Here are the numbers
for Garvey and Joyner.
CWS
CV
NEWS
Steve
Garvey
279
215
231
Wally
Joyner
253
203
216
Gil Hodges and Mickey
Vernon were two first basemen who were on the 2007 Veteran’s Committee
ballot for the Hall. Neither
is among our top 25 first basemen.
Hodges got 61% of the vote and may have a chance – if the VC
ever elects anyone to the Hall.
Vernon got only 17% and appears to have no
chance. Here are their
numbers.
Mickey
Vernon
296
223
241
Gil
Hodges
263
221
232
The Second Basemen with Hall of Fame
Numbers
According to the
NEWS monitor, there are eleven 20th century second basemen who
have Hall of Fame numbers. Here
they are.
CWS
CV
NEWS
1.
Eddie
Collins
(1906-1930)
574
376
426
2.
Rogers
Hornsby
(1915-1937)
502
381
411
3.
Joe
Morgan
(1963-1984)
512
341
384
4.
Nap
Lajoie
(1896-1916)
496
334
375
5.
Craig
Biggio
(1988-
)
422
294
326
6.
Charlie
Gehringer
(1924-1942)
383
280
306
7. Roberto
Alomar
(1988-2004)
375
278
302
8.
Ryne
Sandberg
(1981-1997)
346
278
295
9.
Rod
Carew
(1967-1985)
384
257
289
10. Frankie
Frisch
(1919-1937)
366
256
284
16. Jackie
Robinson
(1947-1956)
257
257
257
Ten of these second basemen have a NEWS score of 280 or better while
Jackie Robinson has SAG numbers – a score of 255 with less than 1800
games played. Nine of the eleven
are already in the Hall of Fame.
In my view, Roberto Alomar and Craig Biggio should be easy choices
for the Hall when they become eligible.
Eddie Collins and Rogers Hornsby are easily the best second basemen
to ever play the game. Only
thirteen position players in major league history have a NEWS score better
than 400 and these two are among them.
Note that five of the top ten second basemen played during the first
half of the century and five during the second half.
The Other Second Basemen
among the Top 25
Here are the other players that I have found who are among the top
25 second basemen of the 20th
century. There is a tie among
three players for 25th place so there are sixteen players on this
list.
CWS
CV
NEWS
11.
Bobby
Grich
329
253
272
12. Jeff
Kent
313
252
267
13.
Lou
Whitaker
351
232
262
14. Nellie
Fox
304
242
258
15. Billy
Herman
298
243
257
17.
Larry
Doyle
289
240
252
18.
Willie
Randolph
312
220
243
19. Bobby
Doerr
281
223
238
20. Johnny
Evers
268
226
237
21.
Joe
Gordon
242
233
235
22. Tony
Lazzeri
252
215
224
23.
Chuck
Knoblauch
229
219
222
24. Red
Schoendienst
262
204
219
25.
Jim
Gilliam
247
208
218
Buddy
Myer
258
205
218
Del
Pratt
242
210
218
And here is the only second baseman in the Hall who did not make the
list of the top 25. Of course,
there are those who consider Bill Mazeroski to be the best fielding second
baseman of all time and deserving of the Hall for that reason
alone.
Bill
Mazeroski
219
173
185
As you can see, there are seven second basemen in the Hall of Fame
who do not have HOF numbers according to the NEWS
monitor.
Bobby Grich (NEWS = 272) is the top second baseman who does not have
HOF numbers. This will come
as no surprise to those fans who for years have argued that he belongs in
the Hall of Fame.
Jeff Kent is the only active player on the
list. With a NEWS score of 271,
he has a chance to reach the benchmark of 280 but he would need at least
a couple of very good seasons to do it.
Joe Gordon was on the ballot for the 2007 Veteran’s
Committee. He received only
12% of the vote and so does not appear to have any chance of being elected
in the future.
The Third Basemen with Hall of Fame Numbers
According to the
NEWS HOF monitor, there are only seven third basemen who have HOF
numbers. This is the smallest
number at any position except for catcher (where there are
six). Here are the
seven.
CWS
CV
NEWS
1.
Mike Schmidt
(1972-1989)
467
338
370
2.
Eddie
Mathews
(1952-1968)
450
333
362
3.
George
Brett
(1973-1993)
432
296
330
4.
Wade
Boggs
(1982-1999)
394
291
317
5. Ron
Santo
(1960-1974)
324
275
287
6.
Frank
Baker
(1908-1922)
301
280
285
7. Darrell
Evans
(1969-1989)
363
253
281
Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews are the two best third basemen of the
20th century – with George Brett and Wade Boggs not too far
behind. I suspect that these
four players being the top four third basemen will come as a surprise to
very few fans.
Five of these seven players are in the Hall of
Fame. Ron Santo was the top
vote-getter in the Veteran’s Committee 2007 election with
69.5%. Hopefully, he will be
elected sometime in the near future.
Darrell Evans is one of those truly underrated
players. Despite being one of
only 82 players in the century with a NEWS score of 280, he got only 2% of
the vote in his first year on the BBWAA HOF ballot in
1995. He can now only be elected
by the Veteran’s Committee when he becomes eligible.
Note that only one of these top seven third basemen played during the
first half of the century, Frank Baker.
The Other Third Basemen
in the Top 25
Here are the other eighteen players who ranked among the top 25 third
basemen of the century.
CWS
CV
NEWS
8.
Brooks
Robinson
356
247
274
9.
Chipper
Jones
301
262
272
10.
Stan
Hack
316
256
271
11.
Sal
Bando
283
251
259
12. Jimmy
Collins
274
242
250
13.
Heinie
Groh
272
243
250
14.
Bob
Elliott
287
236
249
15.
Graig
Nettles
321
224
248
16.
Ken
Boyer
279
235
246
17. Pie
Traynor
274
228
240
18. Ron Cey 280 &
