Top 5 Baseball Players at Each Position

So, before bed one night a few weeks ago, I was watching the Best *Dang* Sports Show on FoxSports. They had a special concerning the all time baseball team – 10 players, the best at their position in the history of the game. Their panel consisted of Harold Reynolds, former ESPN analyst and current mlb.com contributor; Ken Rosenthal, a sports writer; and Rollie Fingers, a Hall of Fame pitcher with a massive handlebar mustache. BDSS came up with four nominees at each position (including relief pitcher), the panel discussed their opinions, and at the end of the show, the all time team was revealed.

I love these kind of discussions, I really do. I’ll admit, I’m a total baseball junkie. I once watched the White Sox and the Orioles because it was on TV. I actually know what a WHIP is and how to figure out an ERA. I do fantasy baseball – always placing Pujols as my #1 pick, regardless of what the “experts” say, and often trading for him when I don’t draft him. We can talk all day about baseball. I absolutely love it.

So let me begin by expressing my utter contempt for the lineup that they put forth. First of all, here’s the lineup (no particular batting order, just by position)
SP – Roger Clemens
RP – Mariano Rivera
C – Johnny Bench
1B – Lou Gehrig
2B – Joe Morgan
3B – Mike Schmidt
SS – Alex Rodriguez
LF – Barry Bonds
CF – Willie Mays
RF – Hank Aaron

You’ll notice that there are some pretty major ommissions on this list. It was very interesting to me that when asked about the best baseball player of all time, the panelists to a man said “Babe Ruth.” Certainly, the Bambino belongs in any sort of argument of the kind, but he didn’t even make it on the starting roster!

As these type of discussions often do, I got to thinking about who I would place on the best team of all time. It is not easy, but that’s why it is so fun! Below I will list (in my opinion) the top 5 players of all time at a given position, and I will place them in the order that I would rank them.

My criteria:

1) They have to be in the Hall of Fame. I don’t care how good a modern day player is, they are not in the Hall of Fame. Until they are elected into the Hall of Fame, they cannot be a part of this discussion.

2) They have to have good numbers. I’m not going to put somebody on this list simply because of their reputation. Unfortunately, what we tend to look at are offensive numbers, but we cannot forget that defense is a key part of the game as well. Outstanding defenders with poor offensive numbers will be on this list solely because of their defense, but they will not be at the top of the list. As I write this, wearing an Ozzie Smith jersey, I know full well that this means one of my favorite players will not be at the top of his position, even though he is hands-down the best defender that I’ve ever seen.

3) World Series championships do not matter nearly as much. Great players play on bad teams. Winning a World Series is a team effort, not the effort of a single individual.

4) The Hall of Fame lists the particular position as their primary position.

SP: Walter Johnson; Christy Mathewson; Grover Alexander; Bob Gibson; Sandy Koufax
I know what some of you are thinking right now. “Where in the world is Cy Young? The award that goes to the best pitcher in each league every year is named after him. He is the all time wins leader in baseball history!” He also has more losses than anyone else in the history of the game. He is one of two players in history to allow more than 2000 earned runs. He doesn’t even crack the top 15 in strikeouts with Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine breathing down his neck (200 K’s away). Koufax was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history. I almost left him off of this list, but then I looked at the final 8 years of his career, and they were absolutely phenomenal. Besides, he has one of the highest winning percentages in baseball history.

RP: Dennis Eckersley; Rollie Fingers; Goose Gossage; Bruce Sutter
What? No fifth person? Yeah, this is all of the relievers in the Hall of Fame right now. Look for Lee Smith, Trevor Hoffman, and Mariano Rivera to be added to the discussion in years to come.

C: Yogi Berra; Carlton Fisk; Johnny Bench; Gary Carter; Josh Gibson*
Okay, so maybe there is one person who is getting on this list because of reputation. It was said that Josh Gibson hit over 800 HR’s in his career in the Negro League. Some referred to him as the Black Babe Ruth. Others referred to Ruth as the White Josh Gibson. But he is in the Hall of Fame!

1B: Lou Gehrig; Jimmie Foxx; Eddie Murray; Willie McCovey; Johnny Mize
Gehrig is a bit of a no-brainer on this one. Perhaps what would be most surprising to most people though, is that Gehrig is #4 in this group as far as HR’s are concerned.

2B: Rogers Hornsby; Nap Lajoie; Joe Morgan; Rod Carew; Jackie Robinson
This was probably the hardest position. Somebody good was going to get left off. I almost left Jackie Robinson off because he really didn’t play all that long in the first place, but he so significantly changed the game of baseball that there is no way I could, in good conscience, leave him off of this list. Besides, Sandberg played for the Cubbies… And who is Nap Lojoie? Look him up on mlb.com and you’ll see why he is so far up this list. His numbers are incredible.

3B: Mike Schmidt; George Brett; Brooks Robinson; Wade Boggs; Eddie Mathews
Surprisingly, this is not a very deep position at the HoF. Schmidt is the closest to the total package that you’ll find at 3B in baseball history. He was a good defender and a superb hitter. Brett hit over .300 for his career. Robinson’s offensive numbers are what primarily kept him out of the #2 spot. They really weren’t all that good – just average. Boggs has an amazing career batting average, but is not a very powerful hitter. Mathews, well, he is #2 on this list for career HR’s.

SS: Cal Ripken Jr.; Honus Wagner; Ozzie Smith; Robin Yount; Ernie Banks
This was another tough choice. Ripken, however, revolutionized the position and paved the way for good hitting SS in major league baseball. While the Wizard’s offensive numbers are decent, he is hands-down the best defender in the history of the infield, not just at the SS position. The last position came down to Reese and Rizzuto, and Reese just blew away the Scooter. Then I thought about my criteria once again. Ernie Banks actually played more games at 1B than SS, but the HoF lists SS as his primary position. I put him at the bottom of the list more on a technicality than anything else.

LF: Stan Musial; Ted Williams; Carl Yastrzemski; Lou Brock; Joe Medwick
That’s right. I have three Cardinals on this list. Musial was simply “The Man”. I can hear the outrage on the part of some people that would put the Splendid Splinter ahead of the Man, but take a look at the numbers. Sure, Williams had a .344 BA compared to Musial’s .333, but Musial had nearly 1000 more hits than Williams. When he retired, only Ty Cobb had more hits. He has since been passed by a couple of no-names… Aaron and Rose. And Medwick? Well, he was the last NL player to hit for the Triple Crown... in 1942 (I think it was '42).

CF: Willie Mays; Mickey Mantle; Ty Cobb; Joe DiMaggio; Duke Snider
In my opinion, Willie Mays is quite possibly the best player in baseball history. An excellent defender and an outstanding hitter. Mantle, if he had actually taken care of himself, could have taken that honor away from Mays, but alas, he did not.

RF: Babe Ruth; Hank Aaron; Frank Robinson; Roberto Clemente; Dave Winfield
How can you argue that Hammerin’ Hank is better than Babe? Sure, Aaron had 900+ more hits, but this was also in 700+ more games. Ruth’s lifetime average is .342, while Hank’s is .305. I actually was going to put Aaron ahead of Ruth until I really looked at the numbers. Ruth had just 50 fewer strikeouts than Aaron, but he also had 600 more walks. Ruth was so far above every one else in his era that it is just ridiculous. Imagine what his numbers would have looked like if he had someone else pushing him competively every year.

One closing remark: Even though I hate the DH, and find it to be an abomination from the pits of somebody’s arms, Paul Molitor is #1 on the DH list. Mostly because he is the only one in the HoF whose primary position is listed as DH.

Well, there you have it. How does yours look?