The 20 Greatest Athletes of all Time Mariners top 5 > Rangers: Rusty Greer (1994-2002) But they still have some very meaningful football left to play on Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefsand next week when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit FirstEnergy Stadium.If theTennessee Titanssomehow win their next two games, two losses by the Browns would secure them the No. He led third basemen in assists seven times, double plays turned six times, total zone runs seven times, and range factor four times. Greg Maddux is widely considered to be the greatest fielding pitcher of all-time. Who's the greatest left fielder of all-time? He also won the 1986 NL batting title, earned a Silver Slugger Award that year and was named to seven consecutive All-Star teams. He spent the majority of his career with the Texas Rangers among other teams, but a one year stint with the Florida Marlins earned him a World Series title in 2003. -- Schoenfield, The last player to hit .400, Teddy Ballgame batted .334 with 521 home runs despite missing five seasons while serving in two wars And when he homered in his last at-bat, there went the greatest hitter who ever lived. .282/.360/.529, OPS -- .889, Hits -- 2,232, HRs -- 475, RBIs -- 1,540, The most feared slugger on the "We Are Family" Pirates? 2021 Statistics: . Pudge was named as an All-Star fourteen times and earned thirteen Gold Glove Awards. Teams: Los Angeles-California Angeles (1964-69), Chicago White Sox (6970) Kansas City Royals (1971-72). For others, it's the situation. Mike Schmidt is the only third baseman among the top 10 in Gold Gloves (second), Range Factor per nine innings (seventh) and Total Zone Runs (ninth). .312/.411/.585, OPS -- .996, Hits -- 2,574, HRs -- 555, RBIs -- 1,831, Charlie Manuel often says that to know Manny is to understand him. Barry Bonds is Major League Baseball's all-time home run leader and the only player to win more than three MVP awards he ended up with seven but is that enough to declare the infamous,. We feel its important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. -- Schoenfield, He's known primarily for taking money to throw the 1919 World Series but Jackson hit an astounding .356 for his career and batted .382 with a dozen home runs his final season. But despite sitting out those two seasons, he still easily ranks first among Braves left fielders in bWAR. His untimely death while on a humanitarian aid trip to Nicaragua came after a baseball career during which his feats on the baseball diamond matched up to his generosity off of it. He split time between left field and first base while in Queens . Raines Sr. belongs in the Hall of Fame. Here's a list of my top ten defensive left fielders, these guy's all had speed, a powerful arm & knew how to read the ball both off the bat & off the wall. Teams: Cleveland Indians (1972-78), Texas Rangers (1979-85, 1989), Cincinnati Reds (1985-88), Houston Astros (1988). Lets also not forget how the "Little General" revolutionized the position with his hinged glove and one-handed technique. The sixtime All-Star was a two time batting champ, but his fielding statistics were truly special. The Big Puma ranks fourth in franchise history in games played; second in homers (326); third in runs scored (1,008), RBIs (1,090), doubles (375) and extra-base hits (727); and fifth in total hits (1,548). Just imagine if he hadn't lost three prime years to serve in World War II. The Argentine midfielder was capable of carrying on his own the . I explained my methodology here, and weve previously looked at catchers, first-, second and third basemen, and shortstops. The top 100 will roll out next week. Just three Marlins left-handed hitters have topped 30 home runs in a season -- Floyd in 2001, Carlos Delgado in '05 (33) and Mike Jacobs in '08 (32). Worthy of this list as well as the Hall of Fame. .285/.379/.462, OPS -- .841, Hits -- 3,419, HRs -- 452, RBIs -- 1,844, Say what you want about his 3,419 hits or his 452 home runs. 1. Pittsburgh Pirates (1986-92), San Francisco Giants ('93-2007), Honors Although he played only 1,027 games during his nine-year career, Greer ranks 10th in franchise history with 1,166 hits. ALL-TIME #MLBRANK, Top 100: 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | 10-1, Insider analysis: 100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1, Top 10s: LHP | RHP | C | SS | 3B | 2B | 1B | LF | CF | RF, My Top 10: Kurkjian | Stark | Olney | Crasnick | Schoenfield, Stark: The perception of greatness in the Top 100, Szymborski: Who's in the future 100? Teams: Chicago White Sox (2000-11), Miami Marlins (2012), Toronto Blue Jays (2013-15). Yaz led all outfielders in assists seven times, total zone runs four times, and putouts as a left fielder four times. Now heres the stat that you never hear: Over 12 seasons, Maz played 1,722 complete games (86 percent), the kind of durability (overuse?) Matthews, too, was primarily a good hitter. Despite these statistical shortcomings, we do know that he finished first among shortstops in fielding percentage four times, had the best range factor for shortstops four times, and led shortstops in putouts twice. -- Schoenfield, It isn't easy taking the place of Ted Williams, but Yaz did a pretty good job, winning three batting titles and making 18 All-Star teams. Rangers top 5 >, Braves: Rico Carty (1963-72)Key fact: Ranks first among Braves left fielders in bWAR (23.2)Nearly 50 years after Carty played his final game for Atlanta, theres still reason to wonder how great his career might have been had he not missed 1968 with tuberculosis and '71 with a fractured right knee cap. Dangerous on the basepaths, Raines led Major League Baseball in stolen bases in 1981 and 84. Note: All stats are through the 2019 MLB season. The Washington Redskins, 2015 NFC East division champions, are ready for the playoffs. Garvey was as an All-Star for the NL in eight straight seasons and while with the Dodgers would win four pennants and a World Series in 1981. He made up for a relatively weak throwing arm with a very quick release and a patented spin move down the left field line to hold runners to a single. Yaz won the Triple Crown and AL MVP in 1967. He also ranks among the top 100 in career Total Zone Runs at second base (28th), shortstop (99th) and all positions (100th). Before Barry Bonds became a controversial, divisive figure, before he was conserving energy in left field, he was a tremendously talented five-tool player. When he was the runner-up for the AL MVP Award in 1995, he led the AL with 121 runs scored and 126 RBIs and led the Majors with 50 homers, 52 doubles and a .690 slugging percentage. -- Kahrl, Teams Key fact: Bell was the first Blue Jays player to win the AL MVP Award (1987), Bell starred for the Blue Jays through the mid- and late 1980s, earning the first MVP Award in club history in 1987. Al Kaline spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers, which earned him the nickname Mr. Tiger. -- Caple, Still judged for his inclusion in the Black Sox scandal, and still condemned for it. Bobby Knoop and Bill Mazeroski are the only second basemen to lead the league in Total Zone Runs, Range Factor per nine innings and double plays turned as many as four times each. The only 3 left fielders with 4 or more Gold Gloves are Barry Bonds (8), Alex Gordon (7, so far), and Yastrzemski (7). He led the American League in fielding percentage as a second basemen four times, assists twice, and committed the fewest errors as a second baseman twice. -- Lauber, In one sense, the hits record made him overrated -- his career OPS+ is the same as Justin Upton or Ken Griffey SENIOR -- and he hung on way too long when he was no longer productive. He played nearly 1,500 games in the field with nine different teams. Regarded as the one of the best defensive right fielders of all time thanks to a legendary arm that helped him win 12 Gold Gloves, Clemente was a notorious bad-ball hitter who hit .312 lifetime . NAME. We'll run you through the top 50 below, with the likes of Javier . Giants top 5 >, Padres: Gene Richards (1977-83)Key fact: Ranks among Padres' top five in average, hits, runs, triples, steals and position-player WARHistorically, the Padres outfield thump has come from right field. -- Kahrl, Teams His 27.4 bWAR is the most among all Indians left fielders and the 23rd highest in franchise history. Yaz had better range than many center fielders and a stronger arm than some right fielders. Fielding errors were a rarity in the careers of these players. Quick and agile Ichiro could get to balls and set-up as quickly as anyone. As opposed to the puss arm who couldnt throw out Sid Bream with the 1992 NLCS on the line. He led all outfielders in putouts nine times, range factor per game ten times, and assists three times. His great first step, speed and knowledge of the tendencies of his own teams pitchers and opposing hitters allowed him to get to everything hit his way. (2:29), All-Time #MLBRank: The 10 greatest left fielders, The greatest lineups ever? We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. Honors And he pulled it off in only eight seasons as a regular. He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 as a first ballot member. -- Kahrl, Teams Baseball has had some amazing glove stories. Cardinals top 5 >, Key fact: Had 4,262 total bases with Cubs, second to only Ernie Banks in club history, There is no debate over who should be the Cubs No. Big personalities? -- Caple, Barry Bonds the young player was the game's greatest in his day; Barry Bonds the older man was the most feared slugger ever. Here are some other contenders. Get Jay Jaffe's book The Cooperstown Casebook where he outlines who should and shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame based on his JAWS metric used here.. He posted a .609 OBP one year. Red Sox top 5 >, Key fact: Career 152 OPS+ ranks 27th all time, Though overshadowed somewhat on rosters packed with Hall of Fame talent, Keller was a feared slugger and solid fielder on three Yankees championship clubs (1939, 41 and 43), compiling an eye-popping career OPS+ of 152 that ranks 27th all-time. Statistic Description: Defensive Wins Above Replacement for position players A defensive measure of wins above replacement, but given only the defensive stats of the player and his position adjustment. To create our list, an ESPN expert panel voted on thousands of head-to-head matchups of 162 players, based on both peak performance and career value. The four time All-Star has played his entire career with the Colorado Rockies where he has won two Gold Glove Awards and three Fielding Bible Awards. The. How Many Good Giants Were Good Prospects? The adequate fielding was a bonus. His arrival helped turn a 90-loss team into a 103-win team. 10. Cleveland Indians (1993-2000), Boston Red Sox ('01-08), Los Angeles Dodgers ('08-10), Chicago White Sox ('10), Tampa Bay Rays ('11), Honors This is a good formation. Ben Zobrist also spent time at shortstop and right field in his career. Age During 2022 Season: 34. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate. Willie Mays Mickey Mantle Ty Cobb Ken Griffey Jr. Joe DiMaggio Mike Trout 1. Jesse Barfield ranks 16th in Total Zone Runs at any position. Orioles top 5 >, Key fact: Had four All-Star selections with Rays, the most in franchise history, In his nine seasons with Tampa Bay, Crawford displayed the athleticism and talent that made him a coveted three-sport athlete and a highly regarded prospect. The adequate fielding was a bonus. Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) is another modern metric that considers multiple factors to determine how many runs the player saved through his direct defensive contributions. He is the all-time leader in defensive games and putouts among catchers. 'The Progress & Freedom Fou For most of his career, Ozzie Smith was the premier defensive shortstop in baseball. Bench was named to fourteen All-Star Games and earned ten Gold Glove Awards in his seventeen seasons in the majors. OK, weve got your crazy right here. Without that, he'd be far beyond 500 career home runs, and get far more credit on this list. Simmons remains the A's all-time leader in batting average (.356), RBIs (1,179), total bases (2,998) and extra-base hits (655). Astros top 5 >, Athletics: Rickey Henderson (1979-84, '89-93, '94-95, '98), Key fact: 72.7 bWAR is highest of any position player in As history, Widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter ever, Henderson had four separate stints with the A's and is the franchise's all-time leader in position-player bWAR (72.7), runs (1,270), walks (1,227) and stolen bases (867). And time ran out on their season. Yaz excelled at playing balls off of Fenways Green Monster and for his efforts has had his #8 retired by the Boston Red Sox. Others are not included in those categories, but excelled in the defensive aspects of the game to such an extent that their inclusion was necessary. The son of an amateur catcher could single-handedly shut down run games. I dont think you can be any better a hitter than Ryan Braun. Brewers top 5 >, While Stan Musial played all over the outfield and could be included at any of the three positions, were going to rank him with the right fielders in a few weeks. The calmness with. Honus Wagner is known as one of the greatest players of all time, but unfortunately he played in an era before advanced defensive statistics. Moore was installed as the Giants' leadoff hitter by Bill Terry in one of his first acts after taking over for John McGraw in 1932. No player did so at a higher rate in the free-agent era. It doesnt make sense, in our opinion, for most of the great baseball players to have played prior to World War II, when MLB was segregated. Teams: St. Louis Cardinals (1974-83), New York Mets (1983-89), Cleveland Indians (1990). 7 Cubs pitchers combine for no-hitter vs Machado, Padres, Jays 'playing it safe' after Guerrero tweaks knee, Top moments from Brady, Manning, Jordan and other athletes hosting 'Saturday Night Live', Fantasy baseball rankings, projections, strategy and cheat sheets, PitchCom-tipping: Loud device leaks Twins calls, Eflin's first start after $40M deal impresses Rays, Rangers' Leclerc to miss WBC with neck injury, Rockies' Rodgers may need surgery, '23 at risk, Rojas to withdraw from WBC, stay with Dodgers. A seven-time NL MVP, 14-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, Bonds holds Major League Baseballs all-time records for home runs (762) and walks (2,558) and is the only player to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases. N'Golo Kante. He notched an impressive 283 wins and 2,461 strikeouts in his career along with a career ERA of 3.45. Twins top 5 >, White Sox: Minnie Minoso (1951-57, '60-61, '64, '76, '80), Key fact: First black player in franchise history, Minoso debuted for the White Sox on May 1, 1951, hitting a home run on the first pitch he saw against the Yankees, and was a beloved staple of the organization long after he retired. Bottom line: Roberto Alomar and his record 10 Gold Gloves originally were in this spot, but this Royals lifer got the final nod because of his impressive career metrics. For this calculation, we use a replacement level on defense is the league average. A career .300 hitter with over 2,700 hits, he matches his prowess at the plate with solid defensive play in the middle infield. Want a crazy stat? In 16 years with the Cardinals, he stole 888 bases, hit .297 and accumulated 41.8 bWAR. 100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time May 15, 2019 4 Comments Updated 12/29/2022 Major League Baseball as we know it, that is two leagues American and National, playing by the same rules with the champion from each squaring off against the other for baseball supremacy was born in 1901. Truth is, few ever played the field with more flair and confidence. Gil McDougald's fielding percentage and Range Factor per nine innings exceeded the league average at each of three positions. Subjectively, I would go with Yaz as the best defensive left fielder of all time. The unquestioned best leadoff hitter of all time. Bottom line: His dWar number is skewed by misspent time in center field. Tigers top 5 >, Key fact: His 132 wRC+ is the highest among primary left fielders in club history, In five seasons with the Twins, Mack provided an effective and consistent combination of power, average, on-base ability and speed while playing all three outfield spots, good for a .309/.375/.479 slash line with 67 homers, 119 doubles, 24 triples and 71 stolen bases and a 17.9 fWAR in Minnesota. He won an NL batting title in 1918 en route to a career batting average of .317. More so than any position I've reviewed so far, the right fielders are affected by the 1970 timeline cutoff. At the age of 29, Troy Tulowitzkistill has a long MLB career ahead of him. He is considered to be one of the greatest five tool players of all time. Left field has been the position of some of baseball's greatest players, including Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Carl Yastrzemski, and Frank Robinson, and was one of the primary positions on a . Ibanez leads all Mariners left fielders and ranks among the franchise's overall top 10 in games (1,110), hits (1,077), homers (156), doubles (216), extra-base hits (392), RBIs (612), runs (540), walks (367) and slugging percentage (.466). "Charlie Hustle" was durable and one of baseball's greatest hitters. Montreal Expos (1979-90, 2001), Chicago White Sox ('91-95), New York Yankees ('96-98), Oakland A's ('99), Baltimore Orioles ('01), Florida Marlins ('02), Honors Here is the No. Yaz's greatest achievement might have been succeeding Ted Williams in left field at Fenway Park in 1961 and playing at a Hall-of-Fame level for the next 23 years. In the 2019 season, 35 percent of all plate appearances ended in one of the three, a recent trend that meant even fewer balls in the field of play, which meant fewer chances for a highlight-reel play that could make the hairs on our arms stand at attention. Big numbers? Pirates top 5 >, Key fact: Had 39.5 bWAR with Reds (16th in franchise history), After hitting .306/.364/.530 with 29 homers and a league-leading 121 RBIs in 1976, the second of Cincinnati's consecutive World Series title seasons, Foster enjoyed his best season in 77. 1. Baseball Best MLB Defensive Players of All Time By Paul Ladewski, updated on December 5, 2022 Old-Time Baseball Photos / Facebook TTO has done more to hurt defense than Daniel Murphy ever could on his worst day. He could beat you with a walk, two stolen bases and a sacrifice fly or with a towering home run. Brooks Robinson's 16 Gold Gloves are the most for a non-pitcher in MLB history. Gordons 98 outfield assists are tied for the most in MLB since 2010. He did not have the career of his father, but who did? Thats short for Three True Outcomes, also known as walks, strikeouts and home runs. Best Midfielders of All Time Andres Iniesta Xavi Lothar Matthaus Andrea Pirlo - One of the Best Midfielders of all Time Ryan Giggs Steven Gerrard Michael Laudrup (DEN) Paul Scholes - A Great Central Midfielder Didi Frank Lampard Joshua Kimmich - A Popular Name Among the Best Defensive Midfielders Diego Maradona - All-Time Best Midfielder Mays is the all-time career leaders in putouts by an outfielder and games played by a center fielder. Photo credit (Getty Images) 2. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. Winner of the World Cup, UEFA Champions League, multiple Serie A titles and domestic cups, Andrea Pirlo is one of the most decorated midfielders in European football history. 9. Rookie of the Year (1963), 17-time All-Star ('65, '67-71, '73-82, '85), MVP ('73), World Series MVP ('75), two Gold Gloves ('69, '70), Silver Slugger ('81), Championships His best work was done in the outfield where he earned seven Gold Glove Awards. Jonty Rhodes features at number one on our list of "Best fielders in world cricket." He was described by Ricky Ponting as "The best defensive fielder of all-time." This probably had some truth to it, because he could stop runs inside the 30-yard circle, like no other fielders could. During an era with a plethora of talent at the shortstop position, Omar Vizquel was the best defensive player of them all. Yes, his legacy is deservedly controversial, but Ted Williams wasn't close to the all-around player that Bonds was. -- Caple, When you look at combined value metrics like WAR or Jay Jaffe's JAWS, it might surprise you to find that after LF's all-time trinity of Williams, Bonds and Henderson, Yaz is the guy who doesn't quite rise to their level, but is far better than everyone else on this list. Teams: Baltimore Orioles (1965-81), Los Angeles Dodgers (1982). 5) Dave Kingman. Other career achievements include over 351 OBP, 440 OPS, and 215 hits. Frank White also is 10th in double plays turned. He became the first Tiger to earn a $100,000 salary. To put it simply, Royals coach Rusty Kuntz said, he is the gold standard of left fielders in baseball. Royals top 5 >, Key facts: Four-time All-Star; led 1968 World Series champion Tigers in average, homers and OPS, This is the only position where the Tigers don't have a Hall of Famer to consider, and it makes for an interesting debate. His defensive skills were so highly regarded that his glove was known as the place where triples go to die. The three-time World Series champion was named MVP in 1912 and won the batting title in 1916. #Brazil squad prior a World Cup Qualifier in 1969: #CarlosAlbertoTorres #Joel #Flix # . Over his 11 seasons in Cincinnati, Foster went to five All-Star Games and was the team's biggest power threat during the Big Red Machine years. During his Hall of Fame career, Kaline received 10 Gold Glove awards for his work in Right and Center field. See, the career leader in Total Zone Runs at the position had a certain mystique about him, an unmatched flair and grace and passion that set him apart from the rest. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists. Teams: New York/San Francisco Giants (1951-52, 1954-1972), New York Mets (1972-73). His pitching credentials are some of the greatest of his era with 355 career wins, a 3.16 career ERA, and 3,371 career strikeouts. "Mad Dog" dominated the Gold Glove Award for not one but two decades. Teams Seven-time All-Star ('64-66, '71-73, '78), World Series MVP (1979), MVP ('79), Hall of Fame ('88), Championships Brock was at his best in October, hitting .391 -- second only to Pepper Martin (.418) in franchise history -- with 34 hits in 21 World Series games. Three-time AL All-Star (1933-35), Hall of Fame ('53), Championships Williams ended his MLB career with 426 homers, 434 doubles, 2,711 hits and a .290/.361/.492 slash line. Who are the best MLB center fielders of all time? The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases. It's been a rollercoaster couple of years for N'Golo Kante at Chelsea, but there's no disputing that he's back to his very . that almost certainly lessened his performance. AJ Pollock is one of the best left fielders in baseball right now. (Bonds routinely sat in on the pitchers pre-game meeting where they discussed how they were going to pitch to that days opponents.) TTO has done more to hurt defense than Daniel Murphy ever could on his worst day. After winning the National League MVP in 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2019, Yelich slashed just .