I think so, maybe similar in style to Ichiro Suzuki, except playing a different position. Everything he did in the field was smooth, it was elegant and it was a joy to watch. Collins was not implicated in the controversy, but the scandal gutted the team. That wasn't very nice of me to say, I like Jeter, offensively speaking. In 20 World Series contests, he batted .321 with a .375 OBP. Bottm line: Freddy Sanchez overcame physical adversity to become a professional athlete, having been born with a pigeon-toed left foot and a club right foot. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. He wasn't a failure offensively, but he was the next best thing. Bottom line: Kudos to a player who never exactly excelled in the major leagues, but crafted a 15-year career with six different teams, playing both second base and shortstop. Philadelphia Phillies (1896-1900), Philadelphia A's ('01-02, '15-16), Cleveland Bronchos ('02), Cleveland Naps ('03-14), Honors The Tigers popped Jung with the 12th pick in last July's draft by way of Texas Tech. He also won an MVP with the Cards in 1931 and made it to three all-star games after the inaugural game in 1933. Without further ado, lets get to it with Number Ten: Roberto Alomar may be best remembered for the worst moment of his career when he spit on home plate umpire John Hirschbeck after being thrown out of a game for arguing balls and strikes in late September 1996. Collins was a member of the legendary Connie Macks Athletics until 1915. Pirates top 5 >, Reds: Joe Morgan, 1972-79Key fact: His 98.9 career WAR is second all-time at second base (behind only Rogers Hornsby)When Morgan was acquired from the Astros after the 1971 season in an eight-player trade, it gave the Big Red Machine the extra gear it needed to create a true dynasty. Playing for the Rockies from 2012 to 2018, he was a three-time Gold Glove winner (2014, 2017 and 2018), and was an All-Star pick in 2015 and 2017 but not in 2016, when he wound up as the NL batting champion. Bottom line: Remember when Tom Herr hit a walk-off grand slam in 1987 that led St. Louis past the New York Mets? More important than his stellar defense, though, was his ability at the plate. .358/.434/.577, OPS -- 1.010, Hits -- 2,930, HRs -- 301, RBIs -- 1,584, His hitting stats are undeniable, even coming in a high-scoring era. Anyway, most of you know that Bill James pretty much invented the Win Shares system, which so many take as gospel. In 2006, Ellis broke the AL single-season record for fielding percentage (.9968) though oddly, he did not win the Gold Glove Award that year. He ranks ninth on Fangraphs WAR for all offensive players and 12th on Baseball-Reference. He was the AL second baseman in the first six All-Star Games, when he was already in his 30s. Getty Images. His long career puts him high in the record books among second basemen. Alomars post-season totals are impressive: a .313 batting average, four HRs, 33 RBI, 32 runs, and 20 SBs in 58 games. On top of his defense, Frisch was fast as lightning, leading the league in SBs three times. But he was immediately fired, beaten over the head with wiffle ball bats and called names because of it. He remained with the club from 1902-14, and not only was he one of the biggest stars of his time, but his name still lives on in the Indians record book. Baseball Best MLB Defensive Players of All Time By Paul Ladewski, updated on March 11, 2020 Old-Time Baseball Photos / Facebook TTO has done more to hurt defense than Daniel Murphy ever could on his worst day. -- Schoenfield, Teams They are both missing that third part of the equation that so many respected historians like (Length of Career). Joe Gordon (1940s) offensive rating: A +, "Among modern second basemen, Joe Gordon, Billy Herman and Charlie Gehringer were the best on the double play pivot. + - Indicates Hall of Famer. 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. Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Miami Marlins, New Yor Yankees. When Fletcher was playing for the Texas Rangers, and former President George W. Bush was the owner, Bush named his dog Spot Fetcher, in recognition of Fletcher. Fox, who was the 1959 AL MVP, had his No. 1. How We Ranked Baseballs Greatest Players. The 2007 AL Rookie of the Year has been a significant contributor to the modern-day success of the Red Sox. New York Yankees (2005-13), Seattle Mariners ('14-present), Honors He recorded a 20-20 (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases) in 2014. Dozier started his career with the Twins in 2012, was an All-Star in 2015 and won a Gold Glove Award in 2017. Career Fld% Leaders:1.Placido Polanco/.9834/, 2.Mike Lowell/.9743/, 3. He won an MVP in 1949. 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. Vidro ranks among the top 10 in franchise history in doubles (third), hits (sixth), runs (seventh), RBIs (seventh), homers (ninth) and walks (ninth). Some will balk at Canos inclusion on the list, given his two suspensions for PED use. After losing the 1914 World Series, Mack broke up the As and sold Collins to the White Sox for $50k. Collins returned to the As for his final four seasons and retired in 1930 at the age of 43. In 1949, seven years after he played his last game, Gehringer was elected to the Hall of Fame. Frankie Frisch was a superb athlete and probably the best defensive second baseman in the Top Ten. And hes been to the All-Star Game four times. Alomar was decorated with many honors during his career, including 12 all-star selections, four silver sluggers, and ten gold gloves. 10. Jody Reed (1990s) offensive rating: C -. 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. He had a resurgent 2020 back in New York before missing all of 2021 due to his second positive test. Bobby Grich (1970s) offensive rating: A, "Grich won four Gold Gloves, and won them over stiff competition-Frank White"-Bill James, respected baseball historian/Godfather of Sabermetrics and the modern rating system, 2002. You can find both and tons of other great content in the We Love Baseballsection. Hi Nels. As is always the case, we tried to balance the rankings between longevity and dominance to get a good cross-section. -- Tristan Cockcroft, ESPN.com senior writer, Honors Either way, Grich, Childs and Richardson are the three best second basemen in the history of MLB that are not in the Hall of Fame, with arguments from Davey Lopes (1970s) and Tom Daly. Whites No. 1. I got sidetracked there. However, we also adjust for era, integration and level of competition, and missed playing time due to factors beyond the control of the player. 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. Grich played the final 10 years of his career with the Angels after spending seven seasons with the Orioles, as the Long Beach, Calif., native signed as a free agent with the Halos before the 77 season. Padres top 5 >, Rockies: DJ LeMahieu, 2012-18Key facts: He was a two-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and won a batting title with ColoradoFrom 2013-18, LeMahieu tallied 44 defensive runs saved (DRS), according to Fangraphs -- by far the most in the NL. Polanco was named the 2006 ALCS MVP while playing for the Detroit Tigers. Ultimately, however, Pedroias body of work was just enough to put him a hair above Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr as the best to ever play second base for the Red Sox. San Diego Padres (1988-90), Toronto Blue Jays ('91-95), Baltimore Orioles ('96-98), Cleveland Indians ('99-2001), New York Mets ('02-03), Chicago White Sox ('03-04), Arizona Diamondbacks ('04), Honors He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he won a World Series in 2010. After that season, he was traded to the Mets. After release from Dodgers, what's next for Trevor Bauer? It just wasn't his forte, well below average, offensively. Rockies top 5 >. Yet he remained an offensive force. I suppose that makes him one of the 10 best overall second basemen in the history of MLB. .300/.371/.443, OPS -- .814, Hits -- 2,724, HRs -- 210, RBIs -- 1,134, It took Pat Gillick about only three hours -- not even enough time to write up a press release -- to trade for Alomar, who became the cornerstone of the Blue Jays' back-to-back World Series champs in 1992-93. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only, and fans were able to participate in Twitter polls to vote for their favorites. Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. 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. Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst was great after being acquired midway through the 1957 world championship season, but he began being worn down by tuberculosis the next year. Joe Morgan had a few brief stints with the Houston Colt 45s before latching on with the now Astros in 1965. Would his game translate to 2016? Once established, the Tigers wouldnt have to look for a second baseman until 1942. Grich was a great offensive second baseman, an "A" offensively. In the field, he's smooth and effortless with a strong arm. 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. Herr played on three World Series teams and won with the Cardinals in 1982. Bottom line: The Cubs picked up DJ LeMahieu in the second round of the 2009 draft, but he shined in the major leagues after being traded to Colorado. 20 is one of three retired numbers in Royals history. Nicknamed "The Frenchman," Nap Lajoie was one of the best hitters and second basemen of the early part of the 20th century. Morgan made his first of ten all-star teams the following season, but it wasnt until he was traded to the Reds in 1971 that his career really took off. Teams: Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals. The loss in 1919 became known as the Black Sox Scandal when it was later revealed that several players conspired to throw the World Series. "Based on the distance that there was away from the goal line, I knew they were in sneak formation," Wilson said . He pretty much got the job done offensively, too. The 10-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner remains the only player in Major League history to hit a walk-off home run in Game 7 of the World Series, which he did to lead the Bucs past the Yankees in 1960. In 1991 he was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 90.5% of the vote. In 1937, when he won the batting title, Gehringer was also the AL MVP after hitting .371/.458/.520. 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