Here are my top 500 players of all time. I actually came up
with 478 players, so I took the liberty of adding in the top 22
Japanese Leagues Players from Jim's all time rankings. I don't know
anything about Japanese baseball, but I figured rather than add in
the next 22 MLB players, I'll represent the best of Japan and trust
Jim's work to be fairly accurate. Negro Leaguers are also included,
as are some active players.
These players were chosen and ranked
based on my interpretation of their career and peak stats, along
with anecdotal evidence from their eras. Players are given some
credit for time missed due to military service. I know very
little about Japanese players, but I included some of them based
on this site:
http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/analysisjalbright01.html
Negro Leaguers are also included, as are some active
players.The players are not ranked in precise order. Instead I
have four different tiers of players, and they are listed
alphabetically by position within each tier.
FIRST TIER (85 Players)
C - (9) - Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roy
Campanella, Gary Carter, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Buck Ewing,
Josh Gibson, Mike Piazza
1B - (12) - Cap Anson, Jeff Bagwell, Dan Brouthers, Miguel Cabrera,
Roger Connor, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Johnny Mize,
Stan Musial, Albert Pujols, Mule Suttles
2B - (6) - Eddie Collins, Charlie Gehringer, Rogers Hornsby, Nap
Lajoie, Joe Morgan, Jackie Robinson
SS - (8) - Luke Appling, George Davis, Pop Lloyd, Cal Ripken Jr.,
Alex Rodriguez, Arky Vaughan, Honus Wagner, Robin Yount
3B - (6) - Home Run Baker, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Chipper Jones,
Eddie Mathews, Mike Schmidt
LF - (7) - Barry Bonds, Ed Delahanty, Rickey Henderson, Shoeless Joe
Jackson, Al Simmons, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski
CF - (8) - Oscar Charleston, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Ken Griffey Jr.,
Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Tris Speaker, Turkey Stearnes
RF - (8) - Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Sam Crawford, Reggie
Jackson, Al Kaline, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Babe Ruth
SP - (20) - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Steve Carlton, Roger
Clemens, Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Randy
Johnson, Walter Johnson, Tim Keefe, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez,
Christy Mathewson, Kid Nichols, Satchel Paige, Eddie Plank, Tom
Seaver, Warren Spahn, Smokey Joe Williams, Cy Young
RP - (1) - Mariano Rivera
SECOND TIER (113 Players)
C - (6) - Carlton Fisk, Gabby Hartnett,,
Katsuya Nomura, Buster Posey, Ivan Rodriguez, Louis Santop
1B - (10) - Dick Allen, Keith Hernandez, Harmon Killebrew, Buck
Leonard, Willie McCovey, Mark McGwire, Eddie Murray, Sadaharu Oh,
Rafael Palmeiro, Jim Thome
2B - (8) - Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Robinson Cano, Rod Carew,
Frankie Frisch, Joe Gordon, Bobby Grich, Ryne Sandberg
SS - (10) - Ernie Banks. Lou Boudreau, Joe Cronin, Bill Dahlen, Jack
Glasscock, Hughie Jennings, Derek Jeter, Barry Larkin, Ozzie Smith,
Willie Wells
3B - (10) - Adrian Beltre, Ken Boyer, Jimmy Collins, John McGraw,
Shigeo Nagashima, Graig Nettles, Brooks Robinson, Scott Rolen, Ron
Santo, Jud Wilson
LF - (12) - Jesse Burkett, Fred Clarke, Goose Goslin, Isao Harimoto,
Joe Medwick, Minnie Minoso, Tim Raines, Manny Ramirez, Pete Rose,
Willie Stargell, Zack Wheat, Billy Williams
CF - (11) - Cool Papa Bell, Carlos Beltran, Pete Browning, Larry
Doby, Hugh Duffy, Jim Edmonds, George Gore, Billy Hamilton, Duke
Snider, Cristobal Torriente, Mike Trout
RF - (8) - Bobby Bonds, Tony Gwynn, Harry Heilmann, King Kelly, Sam
Thompson, Larry Walker, Paul Waner, Dave Winfield
DH - (4) - Edgar Martinez, Paul Molitor, David Ortiz, Frank Thomas
SP - (29) - Bert Blyleven, Three Finger Brown, John Clarkson, Leon
Day, Dizzy Dean, Martin Dihigo, Don Drysdale, Whitey Ford, Tom
Glavine, Roy Halladay, Fergie Jenkins, Clayton Kershaw, Sandy
Koufax, Ted Lyons, Juan Marichal, Mike Mussina, Hal Newhouser, Phil
Niekro, Jim Palmer, Gaylor Perry, Old Hoss Radbourn, Robin Roberts,
Amos Rusie, Nolan Ryan, Curt Schilling, John Smoltz, Dazzy Vance,
Rube Waddell, Ed Walsh
RP - (5) - Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Trevor
Hoffman, Hoyt Wilhelm
THIRD TIER (170 Players)
C - (12) - Charlie Bennett, Roger Besnahan,
Bill Freehan, Elston Howard, Ernie Lombardi, Biz Mackey, Joe Mauer,
Thurman Munson, Wally Schang, Ted Simmons, Gene Tenace, Joe Torre
1B - (11) - Jake Beckley, Norm Cash, Orlando Cepada, Will Clark,
Todd Helton, Fred McGriff, Hiromitsu Ochiai, John Olerud, Tony
Perez, George Sisler, Bill Terry
2B - (16) - Ross Barnes, Cupid Childs, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Evers,
Nellie Fox, Billy Herman, Jeff Kent, Ian Kinsler, Tony Lazzeri, Bid
McPhee, Bill Monroe, Dustin Pedroia, Willie Randolph, Hardy
Richardson, Chase Utley, Lou Whitaker
SS - (12) - Luis Aparicio, Herman Long, Dick Lundy, Pee Wee Reese,
Phil Rizzuto, Joe Sewell, Vern Stephens, Joe Tinker, Alan Trammell,
Bobby Wallace, John Ward, George Wright
3B - (16) - Sal Bando, Buddy Bell, Ron Cey, Ray Dandridge, Bob
Elliott, Darrell Evans, Heinie Groh, Stan Hack, Bill Joyce, Evan
Longoria, Denny Lyons, Al Rosen, Ezra Sutton, Pie Traynor, Deacon
White, David Wright
LF - (12) - Albert Belle, George Burns, Indian Bob Johnson, Long
Charley Jones, Charlie Keller, Joe Kelley, Ralph Kiner, Sherry
Magee, Tip O'Neill, Jim O'Rourke, Jimmy Sheckard, Harry Stovey
CF - (18) - Richie Ashburn, Earl Averill, Wally Berger, Max Carey,
Cesar Cedeno, Willie Davis, Paul Hines, Andruw Jones, Kenny Lofton,
Dale Murphy, Spotswood Poles, Kirby Puckett, Edd Roush, Curt Welch,
Bernie Williams, Hack Wilson, Jim Wynn, Kazuhiro Yamauchi
RF - (19) -
Bobby Abreu, Andre Dawson, Dwight Evans, Elmer Flick, Vladimir
Guerrero, Fielder Jones, Willie Keeler, Chuck Klein, Roger Maris,
Tony Oliva, Dave Parker, Gary Sheffield, Ken Singleton, Enos
Slaughter, Reggie Smith, Sammy Sosa, Ichiro Suzuki, Mike Tiernan,
Koji Yamamoto
DH - (2) - Jason Giambi, Hal McRae
SP - (50) - Chief Bender, Tommy Bridges, Kevin Brown, Mark Buehrle,
Charlie Buffinton, Jim Bunning, Madison Bumgarner, Bob Caruthers,
Eddie Cicotte, David Cone, Stan Coveleski, Red Faber, Wes Ferrell,
Willie Foster, Pud Galvin, Clark Griffith, Mel Harder, Felix
Hernandez, Tim Hudson, Kazuhisa Inao, Tommy John, Addie Joss,
Masaichi Kaneda, Bob Lemon, Jon Lester, Carl Mays, Jim McCormick,
Joe McGinnity, Tony Mullane, Andy Pettitte, Billy Pierce, Dick
Redding, Rick Reuschel, Bullet Joe Rogan, Red Ruffing, Bret
Saberhagen, Johan Santana, Urban Shocker, Al Spalding, Victor
Starffin, Dave Stieb, Don Sutton, Luis Tiant, Justin Verlander,
Bucky Walters, Lon Warneke, Mickey Welch, Vic Willis, Smokey Joe
Wood, Early Wynn
RP - (2) - Lee Smith, Billy Wagner
FOURTH TIER (132 Players)
C - (6) - Jason Kendall, Cal McVey, Yadier
Molina, Darrell Porter, Bruce Petway, Jorge Posada,
1B - (10) - Frank Chance, Carlos Delgado, Kihachi Enomoto, Mark
Grace, Gil Hodges, Tetsuharu Kawakami, Don Mattingly, Ben Taylor,
Mark Teixeira, Joey Votto
2B - (11) - Newt Allen, Larry Doyle, Home Run Johnson, Chuck
Knoblauch, Davey Lopes, Gil McDougald, Buddy Myer, Tony Phillips,
George Scales, Red Schoendienst, Ben Zobrist
SS - (11) - Dave Bancroft, Bert Campaneris, Art Fletcher, Jim
Fregosi, Rabbit Maranville, Dobie Moore, Jimmy Rollins, Miguel
Tejada, Yasumitsu Toyoda, Troy Tulowitzki, Artie Wilson
3B - (10) - Lave Cross, Josh Donaldson, Fumio Fujimura, Toby Harrah,
Judy Johnson, Sachio Kinugasa, Tommy Leach, Levi Meyerle, Robin
Ventura, Matt Williams
LF - (13) - Lance Berkman, Lou Brock, Jose Cruz, Masahiro Doi, Brian
Giles, Luis Gonzalez, Pete Hill, Frank Howard, Heinie Manush, Hideki
Matsui, Jim Rice, Bobby Veach, Roy White
CF - (16) - Brett Butler, Earle Combs, Johnny Damon, Yutaka
Fukumoto, Torii Hunter, Chet Lemon, Fred Lynn, Andrew McCutchen,
Alejandro Olms, Amos Otis, Lip Pike, Vada Pinson, Jimmy Ryan, Roy
Thomas, George Van Haltren, Willie Wilson
RF - (7) - Jose Bautista, Jack Clark, Rocky Colavito, Kiki Cuyler,
Harry Hooper, Sam Rice, Rusty Staub
DH - (2) - Brian Downing, Hiromitsu Kadota
SP - (41) - Babe Adams, Kevin Appier, Akira Bessho, Ted
Breitenstein, Chet Brewer, Ray Brown, Charlie Bufinton, Andy Cooper,
Wilbur Cooper, Chuck Finley, Dwight Gooden, Zack Greinke, Burleigh
Grimes, Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, Cole Hamels, Orel Hershiser, Waite
Hoyt, Larry Jackson, Jim Kaat, Jerry Koosman, Mark Langston, Mickey
Lolich, Dennis Martinez, Bobby Mathews, Jose Mendez, Jamie Moyer,
Jiro Noguchi, Al Orth, Jack Powell, Jack Quinn, Eppa Rixey, Kenny
Rogers, Eddie Rommell, CC Sabathia, Hilton Smith, Frank Tanana,
Dizzy Trout, George Uhle, Tadashi Wakabayashi, David Wells, Wilbur
Wood
RP - (4) - John Franco, Tom Henke, Firpo Marberry, Joe Nathan