Nap Lajoie 6. However, his biggest fight came when he jumped his contract with the Phillies to join the insurgent American League Athletics in 1901. I almost agree. He helped lead the Dodgers (the Brooklyn version) to the borough's only World Series title. Whites No. He was also a solid hitter, finishing with a .295 career batting average. Acquired in a blockbuster trade that sent the popular Matt Williams to the Indians in 1996, Kent teamed up with Barry Bonds to give the Giants their most fearsome power duo since the Willie Mays-Willie McCovey era. Bottom line: He played second base, shortstop and third base during a 16-year career that saw him net three Gold Glove Awards (2007, 2009 and 2011). Tigers top 5 >, Twins: Rod Carew, 1967-78Key fact: .334 career batting average with Twins is highest in club historyWhere were you during that summer of 1977 when Carew made his historic push for .400? I just love that old quote from Hano. Jace Jung, 2B (2023 seasonal age: 22). That's why he's a top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman, one of the 10 best ever, overall, at the position. The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases. The great Rogers Hornsby was the clear choice for the best second baseman of all time. Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins. Carew was an all-star for an incredible 18 consecutive years, starting with his rookie year in 1967. He was a World Champion and the NL MVP in both seasons. Red Sox top 5 >, Yankees: Tony Lazzeri, 1926-37Key fact: Holds AL record for most RBIs in a single game (11 -- May 24, 1936)Inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame posthumously in 1991, Lazzeri was a feared clutch hitter with power who served as a key component alongside Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in the fabled Murderers Row lineups for the Yankees. He ultimately fell short and settled for .388, but theres no doubt the 18-time All-Star, seven-time batting champion, '77 AL MVP Award winner and first-ballot Hall of Famer was one of the best pure hitters in baseball history. -- Rob Peterson, ESPN.com senior MLB editor, Teams PRIME = WAR in best five consecutive seasons. The Sox made it to two World Series during that time in 1917 and 1919 winning the first one. Hornsby began player-managing in 1925 with the Cards and continued to do so throughout most of his remaining career. The top 100 will roll out next week. -- Dan Mullen, senior MLB editor, Teams Modern measures credit him with an average of 9.5 WAR per season over a five-year period. It might be the only number as big as the game itself. He was a 10-time All-Star (from 1984-93) and a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner (1983-91). His lone All-Star appearance was 1985 the year he notched 110 RBI while hitting just eight home runs. Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. By that time, Carew had shifted to first base, where he would remain for the second half of his career. 20 is one of three retired numbers in Royals history. In an era before awards, Lajoie led the league in key offensive categories several times during his 21-year career, including hits (4x), doubles (5x), RBI (3x), batting average (5x), SLG (4x), and HRs (1x). I will list them in order, from oldest to newest: Fred Dunlap (1880s), Nap Lajoie (1900s), Lonny Frey (1940s), Eddie Mayo (1940s), Gil McDougald (1950s), Jackie Robinson (1950s), Red Schoendienst (1950s), Fernando Vina (1990s), Craig Counsell (2000s)and Pokey Reese (2000s), 9. He also won rookie-of-the-year that season for the Twins. Brooks Robinson and Scott Rolen. The job description requires them to be nimble and quick in the field, with a good arm, range to pick up ground balls, and adept at turning double plays. Gehringer debuted in 1924 but wasnt a regular until 1926. Grich was a great offensive second baseman, an "A" offensively. Orioles top 5 >, Rays: Ben Zobrist, 2006-14Key fact: Two-time All-StarZobrist played all over the field during his time with the Rays, but the position he played the most was second base, so well label him as a second baseman. He was one of the most dominant second basemen of the '90s, helping the Astros win four division titles in five years (1997-99 and 2001), while also leading them to the postseason in 04 and the World Series in 05. Six-time All-Star (1933-38), MVP ('37), Hall of Fame ('49), Career stats The top second basemen make the routine look easy and the difficult look routine. .308/.356/.497, OPS -- .854, Hits -- 2,129, HRs -- 260, RBIs -- 1,041, Cano has eight .300 seasons and a ninth possibly on the way, has a good chance to top 3,000 career hits and probably will pass Jeff Kent for most home runs by a second baseman. He won the Triple Crown in 1922 and 25, won six of his seven batting titles with the Cardinals and won the first of his two MVP Awards in St. Louis. He won rings in Toronto. These are the second basemen with the best fielding percentages in major league history. Frisch was also one of the 10 best offensive secondbasemen in the history of MLB. 11-20: Here is a list of 10 other second basemen that were in serious contention of taking this 10th spot away from Frisch. Philadelphia Phillies (1896-1900), Philadelphia A's ('01-02, '15-16), Cleveland Bronchos ('02), Cleveland Naps ('03-14), Honors .285/.344/.452, OPS -- .795, Hits -- 2,386, HRs -- 282, RBIs -- 1,061, Beloved Cubbiness and a brief run as one of the most supremely gifted second basemen in the game aside, Sandberg's main asset is exploiting Wrigley Field to hit for power, slugging .491 there vs. a less-than-epic .412 everywhere else. -- Schoenfield, If Joe Morgan played today, he would be viewed as the ultimate Sabermetric player. Hell, Matt Chapman. This week, were on to the keystone as we take a look at the best second basemen of all time. Why Jeff Kent belongs in the Hall. His offensive numbers werent quite as good as Cano & Alomar, but if there was a way to quantify leadership, hed probably leap both of them! Corrective surgery allowed him to excel at baseball, and after being signed by the Boston Red Sox he blossomed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he was a three-time All-Star and won an NL batting title in 2006. Alomar won back-to-back World Series titles with Toronto in 1992 and 1993 but never made it back to the Fall Classic with the Orioles or Indians despite four playoff appearances. In summary, Max Muncy rakes, and he turns it up a notch higher come playoff time. He hit .400 three times, including .424 in 1924, and .358 lifetime. Pedroia, who has played for Boston for all of his 14 years in the big leagues, helped raise the World Series trophy in 2007 and 2013. It was in that same timeframe that the As became a dynasty, winning back-to-back World Series titles from 1910-11 and a third in 13. For his efforts, Marte finished fourth in the NL MVP race. Some will balk at Canos inclusion on the list, given his two suspensions for PED use. Teams: Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondback, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants. Hornsby's 127.1 WAR is the ninth-highest score all . Oh, Bill James and other respected historians will say there is a third part to the equation, Length of Career. In 2014, LeMahieu led the majors with 99 double plays. He moved to first base halfway through his career, but would rate higher as a second baseman. Three years later, he became the first American League second baseman to hit 40 homers in a season, finishing with 42 overall. Everything he did in the field was smooth, it was elegant and it was a joy to watch. In 20 World Series contests, he batted .321 with a .375 OBP. Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you. He played every position on the diamond before settling in at second base. Teams: St Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants. That and the trips to the World Series tip the decision in favor of Kinsler. And then there's Roberto Alomar. Fox, who was the 1959 AL MVP, had his No. It just wasn't his forte, well below average, offensively. I remember reading something that Bill James had written about Jody Reed. He's not even the best defensive 3rd baseman to play for El Toro High School's 2009 varsity baseball team. In 2007, Phillips joined the 30-30 club 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in one season. The econd base position is one of the most important defensive positions on the field. Coming back to the Cards was, you guessed it, Frankie Frisch. He's played half his innings at second base, and the rest at shortstop and various outfield positions. Either way, Bill James comes to this conclusion on Mazeroski: his 113 defensive career Win Shares is 1st all time in the history of MLB for a second baseman. Eddie Collins debuted with the As just five seasons after Nap LaJoies jump. He played in over 2,000 games. Cron somehow survived last year's trade deadline and remained in Denver. Before we get to the players, below is some background on how the list was compiled. Cano won five silver sluggers and went to eight all-star games altogether, and even chipped in a couple of gold gloves. Teams: Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals. In addition to his batting titles, Hornsby led the league in runs five times, hits/doubles/RBI four times, triples/homers twice, and OBP/SLG nine times. After one season with the Athletics, in which Lajoie dominated the league in almost every statistical category, including the Triple Crown, he moved on to Cleveland. And they can be a pitcher's best friend. He finished second in rookie-of-the-year voting that season and led the league in walks. Bottom line: A first-round draft pick in 2003 by the Toronto Blue Jays, Aaron Hill was called up in 2005. Teams: Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he won a World Series in 2010. Add in the questions about his defense, and you've got a guy that, yes, I'd include toward the bottom of this list, but only after guys like Chase Utley and Robbie Cano, never mind rating him with Alomar or Morgan. In the field, he's smooth and effortless with a strong arm. Collins was a member of the legendary Connie Macks Athletics until 1915. Zobrist was named MVP of the 2016 World Series. Alomars post-season totals are impressive: a .313 batting average, four HRs, 33 RBI, 32 runs, and 20 SBs in 58 games. Hell likely face heavy opposition when he eventually becomes eligible for Cooperstown. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants. Cano continued to hit in Seattle, but his first positive test for an illegal substance caused him to miss half of the 2018 season. Rockies top 5 >. This incident ruined fan perception of Alomar for better or for worse. Because of how different eras of baseball have been played, it's difficult to nail down the best defensive catcher of all time.
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