$Unique_ID{BAS00020} $Pretitle{} $Title{The 100 Greatest Players: Introduction} $Subtitle{} $Author{ Gershman, Michael} $Subject{100 Greatest Players hundred best infielders outfielders first second third base left right center field shortstop shortstops pitcher pitchers catcher catchers} $Log{} Total Baseball: The Players The 100 Greatest Players: Introduction Michael Gershman Picking baseball's hundred greatest players looks easy, which is why it's been tried more often than a Cub fan's patience. But in fact it requires the hand of a sculptor, the eye of an eagle, the nose of a sommelier, and the sensitivity of a redistricted Congressman up for reelection. Lacking these attributes, brass will suffice. Part of the problem revolves around packing a hundred great players into just nine positions. It is easy to be blinded by power and pick just fireballing pitchers or slugging left fielders. Balance requires a different approach, with proper attention paid to fielding, baserunning, longevity, and other factors unrelated solely to batting or pitching statistics. Accordingly, after poring over the contents of this volume, I have selected the players I considered the best: * eight at each corner position (first and third base, left and right field); * ten at each interior position (catcher, second base, shortstop, and center field); * four who logged quality time in both infield and outfield (like Pete Rose); * twenty-four pitchers (with representation for relievers). One of the problems with this approach is that the eleventh best shortstop may very well be a better all-around ballplayer than the eighth best left fielder. Nevertheless, drawing the line--and thus obtaining focus--is what this exercise is all about. The great ones are easy to identify; the problem comes in separating the near great from the very good. Some of the players who didn't make the list were very good indeed--Johnny Mize, Pee Wee Reese, Early Wynn, and more. It was tempting to pick a hundred Hall of Famers and let it go at that. But such a procedure would necessarily exclude players of today who are sure bets to make the Hall--such as Carlton Fisk, Nolan Ryan, and Ryne Sandberg. A second problem with an all-Hall top hundred is that I have the advantage of the records in this book, which are seemingly unfamiliar to those on the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee who place a Pop Haines in Cooperstown while keeping a Bid McPhee out, or those writers who persist in their snubs of Bill Mazeroski and Ron Santo. Some members of the Baseball Hall of Fame are merely famous for being famous--like Candy Cummings, who may have invented the curveball--or famous for being pulled into the Hall by their more illustrious teammates, like the infield of the New York Giants of the 1920s. Such Hall of Famers are easy enough to exclude from any list of the top 100 baseball figures. But if fame alone is not enough to make the cut, how about great stats? While statistics are the lifeblood of Total Baseball, numbers can never adequately reflect the accomplishments of the game's pioneers, white or black. Dan Brouthers was the greatest offensive force in the game before 1900. His numbers would probably be very different if he were beamed down to play today, but then again he would not be playing the game of yesterday, and it could be said that he would not even be Dan Brouthers anymore. It is safe to assume, I believe, that while an average player of a century ago probably could not play in the 1990s, a star of an earlier period would be a star today. And as for Negro League baseball, statistics--even the scattered and fragmentary numbers unearthed by the Society for American Baseball Research--can only hint at the greatness of an Oscar Charleston or a Pop Lloyd. Such men were excluded during their active careers; they cannot be excluded here. Having delivered the requisite caveats, it is now time to deliver the goods. I have tried to go beyond the stats and convey in each of these profiles a sense of the man, the era in which he performed, and why he deserves to be included in a list more elite than the roll call of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Humorist Robert Benchley once said of baseball that "one of the chief duties of the fan is to engage in arguments with the man behind him. This department of the game has been allowed to run down fearfully." I hope this top hundred list stimulates a whole new bunch of arguments. First Base (8) Second Base (10) Shortstop (10) -------------- ---------------- -------------- Anson, Cap Collins, Eddie Aparicio, Luis Brouthers, Dan Evers, Johnny Appling, Luke Foxx, Jimmie Frisch, Frankie Banks, Ernie Gehrig, Lou Gehringer, Charlie Cronin, Joe Greenberg, Hank Hornsby, Rogers Lloyd, John Henry Killebrew, Harmon Lajoie, Nap Maranville, Rabbit McCovey, Willie Mazeroski, Bill Ripken, Cal Sisler, George McPhee, Bid Smith, Ozzie Morgan, Joe Vaughan, Arky Sandberg, Ryne Wagner, Honus Third Base (8) Left Field (8) Center Field (10) -------------- -------------- ----------------- Baker, Home Run Brock, Lou Ashburn, Richie Boggs, Wade Henderson, Rickey Charleston, Oscar Brett, George Jackson, Joe Cobb, Ty Mathews, Eddie Kiner, Ralph DiMaggio, Joe Robinson, Brooks Musial, Stan Hamilton, Billy Santo, Ron Simmons, Al Mantle, Mickey Schmidt, Mike Stargell, Willie Mays, Willie Traynor, Pie Williams, Ted Murphy, Dale Snider, Duke Speaker, Tris Right Field (8) Utility (4) Catchers (10) --------------- ----------- ------------- Aaron, Hank Bell, Cool Papa Bench, Johnny Clemente, Roberto Robinson, Jackie Berra, Yogi Jackson, Reggie Rose, Pete Campanella, Roy Kaline, Al Yount, Robin Carter, Gary Robinson, Frank Cochrane, Mickey Ruth, Babe Dickey, Bill Thompson, Sam Ewing, Buck Winfield, Dave Fisk, Carlton Gibson, Josh Hartnett, Gabby Pitchers (24) -------------------------------------- Alexander, Grover Koufax, Sandy Brown, Mordecai Mathewson, Christy Carlton, Steve Nichols, Kid Clemens, Roger Paige, Satchel Feller, Bob Palmer, Jim Fingers, Rollie Rusie, Amos Ford, Whitey Ryan, Nolan Gibson, Bob Seaver, Tom Grove, Lefty Spahn, Warren Hubbell, Carl Walsh, Ed Keefe, Tim Wilhelm, Hoyt Johnson, Walter Young, Cy