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
222
237
19. Scott Rolen 235 233 234
20.
Buddy
Bell
301
210
233
21.
Robin
Ventura
272
217
231
22.
Ed
Yost
267
215
228
23.
Larry
Gardner
258
211
223
24.
Ken
Caminiti
242
212
220
25.
Tim
Wallach
248
202
214
There are two third basemen in the Hall of Fame who did not make it
into the top 25.
George
Kell
229
192
201
Fred
Lindstrom
193
182
190
As you can see,
there are five third basemen in the Hall who do not have HOF numbers according
to the NEWS monitor. Brooks
Robinson is generally considered to be the best fielding third baseman of
all time – so I assume that few fans would deny him his place in
Cooperstown.
There are two active
players on this list: Chipper Jones and Scott
Rolen. With a NEWS score already
at 274, Jones appears to be a lock to post HOF numbers before he is
through. And through 2006, Scott
Rolen had only played in eleven seasons.
Barring injuries, I think he will make it to the 280
benchmark.
Stan Hack is the
third baseman that I hear most often pushed as deserving of the Hall of
Fame. I think of him as being
in the same category as Bobby Grich and Keith Hernandez – three very
fine ballplayers who just fell short of HOF numbers.
Ken Boyer was on
the ballot for the 2007 Veteran’s
Committee. Hoe got only
11%
of the vote and does not appear to have any chance of election to
the Hall.
The Shortstops with Hall of Fame Numbers
There are eleven
shortstops who have Hall of Fame numbers according to the NEWS
monitor.
CWS
CV
NEWS
1.
Honus
Wagner
(1897-1917)
655
422
480
2.
Alex
Rodriguez
(1994-
)
340
317
323
3.
Arky
Vaughan
(1932-1948)
356
308
320
4.
Robin
Yount
(1974-1993)
423
278
314
5.
Cal Ripken Jr
(1981-2001)
427
276
314
6.
Luke
Appling
(1930-1950)
378
275
301
7.
George
Davis
(1890-1909)
398
255
291
8.
Joe
Cronin
(1926-1945)
333
275
290
9. Bill
Dahlen
(1891-1911)
394
250
286
10.
Barry
Larkin
(1986-2004)
347
258
280
14. Lou
Boudreau
(1938-1952)
277
255
261
As the numbers indicate,
Honus Wagner is in a league of his own as far as shortstops are
concerned. If Alex Rodriguez
continues to play at the rate that he has so far in his career, there is
a slight possibility that he might challenge Honus as the #1 shortstop of
all time – although that is a real longshot.
Eight of these eleven
shortstops are in the Hall of Fame.
And ARod is a given when he becomes
eligible. I also think that
Barry Larkin will be elected by the writers within his first few years of
eligibility. Bill Dahlen has
been overlooked for years. He
was not even on the ballot for the Veteran’s Committee in 2007 –
can anyone explain that omission?
You will notice that he has 394 career win shares and every player
with 400 is in the Hall of Fame.
It is interesting
to note that seven of these eleven outstanding shortstops played the bulk
of their careers before 1950. Only
ARod, Yount, Ripken and Larkin played during the second half of the
century.
The Other Shortstops in the Top 25
Here are the other
fourteen players who round out the top 25 shortstops in the 20th
century.
CWS
CV
NEWS
11. Ernie
Banks
332
247
268
12. Derek Jeter 277 258 263
13. PeeWee
Reese
314
246
263
15.
Alan
Trammell
318
238
258
16. Bobby
Wallace
345
227
257
17. Ozzie
Smith
325
226
251
18.
Vern
Stephens
265
239
246
19. Joe
Sewell
277
233
244
20.
Jim
Fregosi
261
226
235
21. Dave
Bancroft
269
222
234
22.
Tony
Fernandez
280
219
234
23. Rabbit
Maranville
302
206
230
24.
Bert
Campaneris
280
210
228
25.
Maury
Wills
253
218
227
And here are four other shortstops who are in the Hall of Fame but
who did not make it into the top 25.
Joe
Tinker
258
211
223
Phil
Rizzuto
231
218
221
Luis
Aparicio
293
193
218
Travis
Jackson
211
191
196
You will note that there are eleven shortstops in the Hall of Fame
who do not have HOF numbers according to NEWS
monitor. That is by far the most at any
position. But, once again, I
have to point out that I am not saying that these players should not be in
the Hall. There may be other
considerations (besides their playing numbers) that would qualify them for
the honor. Surely Ozzie Smith,
considered by most observers as the best fielding shortstop of all time,
deserves his spot in the Hall.
Derek Jeter is the only active player on this
list. With a NEWS score of 264
at the end of 2006, I would expect that he will easily pass the 280 benchmark
before he is through and should be an easy choice for the
Hall. Miguel Tejada is not included
at all because he had not completed ten “full” seasons through
2006. But he is another active
player with the potential to put up HOF numbers before he is
through.
There were three shortstops on the 2007 BBWAA ballot for the Hall of
Fame. Dave Concepcion (see below),
who did not make our top 25, got 13.6% of the
vote. Alan Trammell got
13.4%. And Tony Fernandez got
only four votes for less than 1% (he will not be on the ballot
again). It does not appear that
any of the three has a real chance of election.
Dave
Concepcion
269
205
221
There were also three shortstops on the 2007 Veteran’s Committee
ballot. Maury Wills got 40.2%
of the vote – a respectable
showing. But given the recent
lack of selections by the VC, it does not look as if he will make
it. Cecil Travis and Marty Marion
(see below) did not come close to our top 25 but were also on the
ballot. They got 14.6% and 13.4%,
respectively, and appear to have no chance of being elected to the
Hall.
CWS
CV
NEWS
Cecil
Travis
169
167
168
Marty
Marion
177
164
167
Can anyone give me a logical reason why Travis and Marion should be
on the VC ballot and not Bill Dahlen – one of the top ten shortstops
of the century? Who is making
up these ballots, anyway?
The Catchers with Hall of Fame Numbers
There are only six
20th century catchers who have HOF numbers according to the NEWS
monitor. That is the smallest
number at any position. Here
are those six players.
CWS
CV
NEWS
1. Yogi
Berra
(1946-1965)
375
276
301
2, Johnny
Bench
(1967-1983)
356
277
297
3. Mike
Piazza
(1992-
)
320
273
285
4. Gary
Carter
(1974-1992)
337
263
282
8. Mickey
Cochrane
(1925-1937)
275
250
256
9. Bill
Dickey
(1928-1946)
314
235
255
Yogi Berra edges out Johnny Bench as the best catcher of the
20th century. And
Mike Piazza and Gary Carter join them as the only catchers to have a NEWS
score of 280 or better. Mickey
Cochran and Bill Dickey also have HOF numbers by virtue of having a score
of 255 with less than 1800 games played.
Five of these six players are already in the Hall of
Fame. And Piazza should join
them as soon as he is eligible since he is generally considered to be the
best hitting catcher of all time.
The top four catchers all played the bulk of their careers during the
second half of the century while the last two played prior to
1950.
The Other Catchers in the
Top 25
Here are the other nineteen catchers who made it into the top 25 catchers
of the 20th century.
5.
Carlton
Fisk
368
240
272
6. Joe
Torre
315
244
262
7. Ted
Simmons
315
240
259
10. Gabby
Hartnett
325
229
253
11. Ivan
Rodriguez
296
225
243
13.
Gene
Tenace
231
206
212
14.
Lance
Parrish
248
194
208
15. Roy
Campanella
207
207
207
16.
Thurman
Munson
206
204
205
17. Roger
Bresnahan
231
191
201
18.
Jorge
Posada
197
197
197
19. Jason
Kendall
202
193
195
20.
Darrell
Porter
222
181
191
21.
Wally
Schang
245
172
190
22.
Elston
Howard
203
174
181
23. Ernie
Lombardi
218
167
180
24. Javy Lopez 194 171 177
25.
Jim
Sundberg
200
166
175
There are two catchers in the Hall of Fame who did not make it into
the list of the top 25 catchers.
Ray
Schalk
191
167
173
As you can see,
there are seven catchers in the Hall who do not have HOF numbers according
to the NEWS monitor. Carlton
Fisk came close to the 280 benchmark.
And there are many fans who would argue that Roy Campanella should
definitely be in the Hall since he missed many years in his prime due to
baseball’s color barrier.
There are four active
players on this list. But Ivan
Rodriguez appears to be the only one who seems to have a chance to reach
280 NEWS with a few more really good
seasons. But it does appear
to be a difficult task.
There were no catchers
on the 2007 BBWAA ballot for the Hall.
And only one, Thurman Munson, on the 2007 Veteran’s Committee
ballot. Munson got only 6 votes
(7.3%) and appears to have no chance of being elected.
