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1993-12-21
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$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