Related:Worst MLB Defensive Players l Greatest Baseball Players. Just imagine if he hadn't lost three prime years to serve in World War II. Yes, his legacy is deservedly controversial, but Ted Williams wasn't close to the all-around player that Bonds was. 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. Hernandez also delivered the iconic Seinfeld line I am Keith Hernandez, perhaps making up for him missing out on Cooperstown. Thats right more than Ozzie Smith even. He also knew how to play the Green Monster pretty well. The teams are set for action with an 8 p.m. tipoff on SEC Network. 5. He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in '16 and remains active with the organization. "The Great One" would be the first player who we would pay to watch play defense. The best outfielder of the 1980s decade combined excellent range and a bazooka arm that rivaled the best ever (read: Roberto Clemente). Bonds spent the final 15 seasons of his career with the Giants, hitting .312/.477/.666 with 586 home runs 1,440 RBIs over 1,976 games. Top 15 Worst Defensive Players in Baseball Today - TheSportster "Pops," of course. The Best Defensive Midfielders of All Time - 90min Who is the best right fielders of all time? Explained by Sharing Culture 1. He was an especially strong presence in Seattle's lineup from 2004-08, batting .291/.354/.477 with 113 home runs and 489 RBIs in 755 games. -- Kahrl, Teams The Missouri men's basketball team is set for its final true road game of the 2022-23 season with a contest at LSU on Wednesday. Photo credit (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) 10. 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. Gil McDougald's fielding percentage and Range Factor per nine innings exceeded the league average at each of three positions. Before developing into the most prolific home run hitter of all time, Barry Bonds was an outfielder with amazing range. 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. COLUMBUS - Scoring lulls hindered Shelbyville all season. CAREER = career war. No Gavin Lux -- big problem. The calmness with. For some, a great grab is when a fielder reaches over the wall or does an acrobatic move. Ichiro Suzuki Ichiro was the 2001 MVP, an All-Star 10 times, a Gold Glove winner 10 times, the winner of three Silver Slugger awards, and a batting title winner twice. Because range was a valuable commodity at spacious Tiger Stadium, Al Kaline spent nearly 20 percent of his time in center field. Forgot how much ground he covered in his pre-roids days, didnt you? He also helped the Red Sox to their first world series title in 86 years. 1. The 18 greates Coaches in College Football History. Willie Mays was involved in perhaps the most iconic play in baseball history which has been dubbed The Catch, when he ran down a Vic Wertz blast in the 1954 World Series. His 27.4 bWAR is the most among all Indians left fielders and the 23rd highest in franchise history. -- Lauber, Pops hit 475 home runs but as produtive as he was, Pops was known for his team leadership. The top 100 will roll out next week. "The Curacao Kid" ranks second in Total Zone Runs (253) in baseball history. He was a six-time All-Star and won two Gold Gloves as a member of the White Sox, topping .300 in six seasons. 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 Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists. Before Barry Bonds became a controversial, divisive figure, before he was conserving energy in left field, he was a tremendously talented five-tool player. Kante is a winner / Sebastian Frej/MB Media/GettyImages. Williams ended his MLB career with 426 homers, 434 doubles, 2,711 hits and a .290/.361/.492 slash line. Keith Hernandez was welcomed into Americas living rooms on Seinfeld after a solid Major League career with three teams. March 03, 2023 9:51 AM. 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. Part of the reason Rose would eventually break Ty Cobb's hit record was because of his incredible durability and longevity. Padres top 5 >, Rockies: Matt Holliday (2004-08, 18)Key fact: Led NL in average (.340), RBIs (137), hits (216) and total bases (386) in 2007Rockies fans will argue until the end of time that Holliday's 2007 performance -- a .340/.405/.607 slash line with 46 home runs and league-leading totals in hits (216), doubles (50) and total bases (386) -- should have netted him the NL MVP Award. Lets also not forget how the "Little General" revolutionized the position with his hinged glove and one-handed technique. All-time, I would say that you would find a consensus of 6 right fielders that stand above the crowd by most opinions - Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mel Ott, Roberto Clemente, and Al Kaline.Of those 6, 4 (Aaron, Robinson, Clemente, and Kaline) debuted in the mid-1950's and . Jim Kaat is regarded as one of the greatest fielding pitchers of all time. 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? Quick and agile Ichiro could get to balls and set-up as quickly as anyone. The Tigers have won their last two games . These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only, and fans were able to participate in Twitter polls to vote for their favorites. Greatest Catches in Baseball History | Stadium Talk As central midfielders often go across boundaries, with mobility and passing ability, they are often referred to as deep-lying midfielders, play-makers, box-to-box midfielders, or holding midfielders. Being shutout for nearly five minutes to start the third quarter Friday once again put the Golden Bears in chase mode. Richards made a different kind of impact in left. He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 by the Veterans Committee. Other career achievements include over 351 OBP, 440 OPS, and 215 hits. -- 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. We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. 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,. Often the accounts of their plays were passed on in daily summaries of the games, while others were lost to the ages. N'Golo Kante. Best left fielders in A's history - mlb.com Known for his intensity, he won two batting titles while hitting .334 in his career and drove in 100-plus runs his first 11 seasons. He led second basemen in assists eight times and putouts five times. In 1966, the National League All-Star team fielded a lineup with arguably the greatest outfield ever to appear in a baseball game: Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Hank Aaron. Cubs top 5 >, Key fact: Is only player ever to have at least a share of the league lead in home runs seven years in a row, Simply put, Kiner is one of the greatest sluggers in the Pirates long history. -- Christina Kahrl, ESPN.com baseball writer, Honors Pudge was named as an All-Star fourteen times and earned thirteen Gold Glove Awards. 3. Fielding errors were a rarity in the careers of these players. But at his peak, he was excellent, a guy who could get on base, would play wherever his team needed him (he was a regular second base, left field, right field, third base and first base) and rarely missed a game. 18-time All-Star ('63, '65-79, '82-83), All-Star Game MVP ('70), MVP (1967), Triple Crown ('67), seven Gold Gloves ('63, '65, '67-69, '71, '77), Hall of Fame ('89), Career stats "The Say Hey Kid.". He led the league in putouts from a right fielder and fielding percentage five times. 16 Reasons why Lebron is greater than Jordan. As opposed to the puss arm who couldnt throw out Sid Bream with the 1992 NLCS on the line. Richie Ashburn played the majority of his career before they awarded Gold Glove awards for elite fielders. Without the award, the evidence for Ashburns defensive greatness relies on his defensive statistics, which were virtually unparalleled during his 15-year career. -- Schoenfield, Charlie Hustle played at least 500 games games in five positions, but he was always best at the plate. He won the 2021 Champions League and Club World Cup with Chelsea and the 2020 Euros with Italy. Without that, he'd be far beyond 500 career home runs, and get far more credit on this list. They are without question among the greatest baseball players of all time, contributing to their respective teams while carving out their own Major League Baseball legacy. Bell also ranks fifth in Range Factor per nine innings (3.18) overall. .298/.444/.607, OPS -- 1.051, Hits -- 2,935; HRs -- 762 (all-time leader), RBIs -- 1,996; BBs -- 2,558 (all-time leader); IBBs -- 688 (all-time leader), He is, after Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, the greatest hitter ever. He could have won two more Gold Gloves if they had been awarded, in which case he would rank second in American League history. Although he played only 1,027 games during his nine-year career, Greer ranks 10th in franchise history with 1,166 hits. Who is the best left fielder in MLB? The 7 Best Left Fielders in MLB Right Now - beIN SPORTS USA Yet its hard to deny Johnny Bench's combination of strength, athleticism, smarts and leadership behind the plate. Career Leaders & Records for Defensive WAR - Baseball-Reference.com And runs, are the most important stat in baseball. Top 100 Left Fielders of All-Time - Baseball Egg Nationals top 5 >, Key fact: Hit .331/.445/.507 with 110 runs and 123 RBIs in 1910, Were considering Modern Era players (1900 and later), so Hall of Famers Ed Delahanty and Billy Hamilton aren't included in these rankings. Greg Maddux is widely considered to be the greatest fielding pitcher of all-time. Overall, Holliday had a .319 average with 130 homers over six seasons with the Rockies. 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 . Nine AL Silver Sluggers (1995, '99-06), 12-time AL All-Star ('95, '98-08), World Series MVP (2004), Career stats 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. Yaz had better range than many center fielders and a stronger arm than some right fielders. If only the world had seen more of Jackson, whose association with the Black Sox scandal cut short his career at age 32. Yelich had -6 defensive runs saved in his first season as a primary left fielder in 2020, though that's far from the biggest concern of the Brewers. All told, Anderson appeared in 623 games in left over his 14 seasons in Baltimore, good for second in franchise history. "Campy" had no weaknesses other than the assorted hurts that went with the position. Quarterback Kirk Cousins and tight end Jordan Reed are dominating defenses.Their dominance keyed the 38-24 road win over the Philadelphia Eagles that . AJ Pollock, Los Angeles Dodgers. (Insider), Teams He won eleven Gold Glove Awards and was named 1979 NL MVP. -- Lauber, His 1967 season goes down as one of the best ever: He won the Triple Crown, hitting .326/.418/.622 with 44 home runs in a pitcher's era, but most famously carried the Impossible Dream Red Sox to the pennant, hitting .417 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs in September. Unique lists featuring pop culture, entertainment and crazy facts. Ken Griffey Jr. 5. Now guess whos second to Robinson in career Total Zone Runs at the position. 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. How great does a career .228 hitter have to be to play regularly for 10 seasons? Who are the best MLB center fielders of all time? He was inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 as a first ballot member. That's short for Three True Outcomes, also known as walks, strikeouts and home runs. Bench was named to fourteen All-Star Games and earned ten Gold Glove Awards in his seventeen seasons in the majors. Seven-time MVP (1990, '92-93, 2001-04), 14-time All-Star ('90, '92-98, '00-04, '07), eight Gold Gloves ('90-94, '96-98), 12 Silver Sluggers ('90-94, '96-97, '00-04), Career stats The Washington Redskins, 2015 NFC East division champions, are ready for the playoffs. 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. Top 10 Defensive Ends of All Time! | NFL Highlights - YouTube Anyone who believes this guy was one-dimensional doesnt know Michael Jack Schmidt. Gordons 98 outfield assists are tied for the most in MLB since 2010. 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 Teams: Chicago White Sox (2000-11), Miami Marlins (2012), Toronto Blue Jays (2013-15). FOR ST. LOUIS: 1,298 games (1,133 starts in CF) CARDINALS STATS:.280 BA, .739 OPS, 80 HR . We've already tackled catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen and shortstops. During his time with the ballclub, Keller was a five-time All-Star, four-time World Series. New York Mets: Five best left fielders all-time in franchise history A weak hitter with a great glove (see Gregor Blanco) will not play left on the prototypical good team. 2 -- Philadelphia A's (1929-30), Career stats Phillies top 5 >, Key facts: Won the 2007 Rookie of the Year Award and the 2011 NL MVP Award, From a statistical standpoint, only two players have generated more value to the Brewers than Braun, and both (Robin Yount and Paul Molitor) are in the Hall of Fame. Mariners top 5 > Rangers: Rusty Greer (1994-2002) 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. Teams: New York/San Francisco Giants (1951-52, 1954-1972), New York Mets (1972-73). He was the ultimate glue guy, a personal favorite of manager Casey Stengel for good reason. -- Kahrl, Teams Baseball's Best @ 150, The Book That Counts Down the Best Players, Pitchers, And Fielders in Baseball History at the 150th Anniversary of the Major Leagues (1871-2020). And Bill White almost certainly would have one more (1956) if the award had been in existence. Dont bet on it. Join the discussion by using the #MLBRank hashtag, and follow along @BBTN and on Facebook. That leaves half or just under half from his long peak (seven best seasons), short peak (three best seasons), and prime (five best consecutive seasons). The Best Players of the Last 50 Years - Part IX - Right Fielders -- Lauber, Was he one of the best pure hitters ever? -- Kahrl, Who's the greatest left fielder of all-time? Ranking the 9 greatest left fielders in MLB history - Audacy Big numbers? By the way, he ranked among the top five in assists in 15 consecutive seasons, five of them as the league leader, and his pickoff move was just plain filthy. .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. 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. This guy didnt hit enough to play regularly (career .642 OPS), but some team always wanted Rey Sanchez. .279/.401/.419, OPS -- .820, Hits -- 3,055, HRs -- 297, RBIs -- 1,115, Runs -- 2,295 (all-time leader), SB -- 1,406 (all-time leader), "Rickey being Rickey" was a sight to behold. Matthews, too, was primarily a good hitter. Sometimes, it's a combination of all of the above. And none led the league in Total Zone Runs more times (eight). 9. Midfielders may play an exclusively right back role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. 100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time - The Baseball Scholar Over on Ranker, football fans have cast their votes to list the greatest defender of all-time, with over 135,000 votes cast. Bill Mazeroski became a baseball icon when he hit the first World Series winning walk off home run in history. The best center fielder since Willie Mays combined great instincts, a quick first step and precise routes to the ball. 17 Reasons why Jordan is greater than Lebron. Ted Williams - Boston Red Sox (1939-1942; 1946-1960) D-backs top 5 >, Key fact: Is the Dodgers franchise leader in hits, doubles, triples and total bases, Wheat was a rookie more than 110 years ago, and hes still the Dodgers franchise leader in career hits (2,804), doubles (464), triples (171) and total bases (4,003). Brooks was a two time World Series Champion and was named World Series MVP in 1970. -- Kahrl, We're counting down the greatest players in baseball history. Gold Glove Awards: 7 (1963, 1965, 1967-69, 1971, 1977). After winning the National League MVP in 2018 and finishing runner-up in 2019, Yelich slashed just . Best MLB Defensive Players of All Time | Stadium Talk 2 -- Pittsburgh (1971, '79), Career stats For true seamheads, this was absolutely rotten news. " It has been 56 since he last played; nobody has passed him yet (although Barry Bonds came close).