This is the eighth in a series of articles dealing with baseball's greatest players, position by position, culminating in an overall list of the greatest ever. For the most part, they will be top-ten type lists -- though they may be shorter (if there aren't enough "great" players) or longer (if there is a logjam of "great" players). I will say if the player is in the Hall of Fame, list any major awards the player won and provide their key stats. All stats and awards were obtained from Baseball Reference. A couple of notes about the stats -- they will include their total offensive numbers, not just stats for their main position (for example, Yogi Berra's stats include his batting stats when he played left field and first base); any stats in italics mean they were the leader in that category out of the players in the list and players will be listed for the position they are most known for (for example, Pete Rose played the most games in the outfield as a whole, but he played the most games there in left , so he will be included there, however, Ernie Banks, though he played the most games at first, is recognized as a shortstop because that is where he had his best seasons). At the end, I will then describe any reasoning behind my choices regarding their actual ranking.
Only two caveats to my lists:
- The players have to actually be retired. They cannot be unsigned players who haven't officially retired yet (i.e. Pedro, Bonds, Clemens etc).
- Sorry, but no Negro League players will be on these lists unless they had long-term MLB service (any records or stats from the Negro Leagues are "questionable" at best due to the record keeping: i.e. Josh Gibson's HR totals).
We've covered the greatest catchers, the greatest first basemen, the greatest second basemen, the greatest shortstops, the greatest third basemen, the greatest left fielders and the greatest center fielders; now it's the right fielders' turn. Here's the rankings:
- Babe Ruth: HOF, 1 MVP (and 1 other top-5 finish), 2 time All-Star, 2503 games, .342 batting average, .474 OBP, .690 Slugging %, 714 HRs, 2217 RBIs, 2873 Hits, 2062 BBs and 1330 Ks.
- Hank Aaron: HOF, 1 MVP (and 7 other top-5 finishes), 21 time All-Star, 3 Gold Gloves, 3298 games, .305 batting average, .374 OBP, .555 Slugging %, 755 HRs, 2297 RBIs, 3771 Hits, 1402 BBs and 1383 Ks.
- Roberto Clemente: HOF, 1 MVP (and 3 other top-5 finishes), 12 time All-Star, 12 Gold Gloves, 2433 games, .317 batting average, .359 OBP, .475 Slugging %, 240 HRs, 1305 RBIs, 3000 Hits, 621 BBs and 1230 Ks.
- Frank Robinson: HOF, 2 MVPs (and 4 other top-5 finishes), 1 ROY, 1 AL Batting Triple Crown, 12 time All-Star, 1 Gold Glove, 2808 games, .294 batting average, .389 OBP, .537 Slugging %, 586 HRs, 1812 RBIs, 2943 Hits, 1420 BBs and 1532 Ks.
Do you wish to see who else made the list or the reasoning behind the rankings? Then click here!
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Comments (28) Add A Comment
1-4 are where they should be. Nice list.....
Darth Maim
Total Comments (1045)
thanks
3 and 4 were very close
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
This list is pretty much a slam dunk, I cant see people having any issues
yankee3971
Total Comments (1166)
Clemente over Robinson could be a discussion
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
It would depend on how much you valued a "more complete" player over a primarily offensive weapon (not that FR was a liability in the field mind you).
The Palin…
Total Comments (397)
that was the key factor in me ranking Clemente higher
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
Im a little surprised Reggie made it but overall not a bad list at all
Chosen1
Somewhere, US
Total Comments (4217)
was that sarcastic?
he had a great arm (but not accurate), hit for power and hit big on the big stage. Why wouldn't he have made it?
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
You're right. 3 & 4 are VERY close.
Good list......
TenRingsSTL
Total Comments (4772)
I think id put both ott and robinson over clemente, being one who favors offense mcuh more than arm strength... Ott has 100 points of OPS on clemente, and robinson was also very good defensively, and leads him by 90 OPS points and 350 homers..
giftedkid527
Jacksonville , FL
Total Comments (1775)
But for the fact that almost no one living remembers seeing Mel Ott, he would be in the top 4. His stats are more impressive than Frank Robinson.
smart alec
Total Comments (835)
The only thing Reggie did better than Tony Gwynn was hit for power. Gwynn was a gold glover, Reggie was a liability in right field.
smart alec
Total Comments (835)
well after a brief glimpse in to your logic when you posted in my throwdown on pitchers I am really curious about one thing
whats the logic behind no mention at all for Sam Crawford?
Chosen1
Somewhere, US
Total Comments (4217)
didn't even think about Crawford...looking at his stats now, he would be a Honorable Mention
low OBP and Slugging compared to the others on this list...a ton of triples though.
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
low obp?
Crawford- 362
Murray- 359
Jackson- 356
Crawford beats them both in
avg
obp
ops+
steals
triples
runs over 162 game average beats them both
rbis over 162 games ties Jackson and Murray beats him
He also was a pretty good power hitter for the dead ball era
Chosen1
Somewhere, US
Total Comments (4217)
true
however, his avg and OBP for his time period are low (when you had other hitters routinely in batting 340 with higher OBPs
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
and my research this morning into crawford was just cursory
enough to say he would get at least an honorable mention
if I had the time, I would do a stat by stat comparison to see if he deserved to be ranked, just don't have the time right now
but thanks for bringing him up.
i knew there'd be guys I'd leave off here and there
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
and Chosen, What's Murray got to do with it? If you mean Eddie Murray, he's a 1B
rstowe
Newport News , VA
Total Comments (61320)
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