Leo's Post War Top 100

Chipper Jones 3B 1993-2012 8 Time All Star, MVP Baseball Hall of Fame Personal note, almost never have I done a full 180 on a player like I did with Chipper Jones. I knew he was the top prospect in baseball after being the #1 pick in the 90 draft and I flat out didn't like him or his name or his Braves teams for the first half of his career at least. Then he was still there, and still awesome, and by the time he retired I realized I was watching a legend. He has the most RBI of any third baseman that's ever played the game.  As switch hitters go, he has the second most RBI (to Eddie Murray) and is the only switch hitter ever with a .300 average, a .400 OBP, and a .500 slugging percentage.  He was named to 8 All Star teams, hit .300 10 times, hit 30 or more homers 6 times, and 6 times finished in the top 10 in MVP voting (winning once). He was a member of the 1995 World Champions.  He was a team guy to the point that despite being a third baseman h...

Manny Ramirez OF 1993-2011 12 Time All Star 500 Home Run Club, Batting Champion I've been watching baseball since 1990 and I've seen everybody since then with my own eyes. I've 2 GREAT in capital letter right handed hitters in that time: Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols (who we'll get to). Beethoven looked at a piano and saw music, Renoir looked at a canvas and saw great art...Manny saw the ball and hit the ball, as well as any righty ever.  There are only 9 men in the 500 Home Run Club with a .300 average, and only 6: Williams, Manny, Pujols, Aaron, Mays, and Thomas played after World War 2. People go caught up in the Manny being Manny stuff, the vanishing into the wall at Fenway, the cutting off throws from centerfield, but from the time he entered the league in Cleveland through his career in Boston, he was as dangerous a hitter as you would encounter.  He was named to 12 all star teams, won a batting title, won a home run crown, and had 29 ...

Ivan Rodriguez C 1991-2011 14 Time All Star, 13 Time Gold Glove Winner] Baseball Hall of Fame The finest offensive catcher of all time and finest defensive catcher of his era. Ivan Rodriguez was built to play behind the plate. He was named to 14 All Star teams, tallied 13 gold gloves and had 2844 hits over his career (as well as 311 home runs.) He spent the bulk of his career in Texas, but also played well in Detroit, Houston, Washington, New York and lead the Florida Marlins to the 2003 World Series title. One of 5 Puerto Rican players in the Hall of Fame he is a legend in his nation and ours. He was elected to Cooperstown on his first ballot in 2017 Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Baseball Coach and amateur baseball arguer. If you wanna know how this list came together check here  criteria . He thinks that George Brett winning batting titles in 3 decades is pretty awesome. 

Al Kaline OF 1953-1974 18 Time All Star, 10 Time Gold Glove Winner Baseball Hall of Fame Al Kaline made his major league debut a few weeks after his high school graduation. He patrolled right field for the Tigers for the next 20 or so years and put together one of the greatest careers the game has seen, never wearing any uniform other than that of the Detroit Tigers. He won the batting title in 1955 at age 20, still the youngest American Leaguer to do so. The consistency with which he played is staggering he hit .300 nine times. His play in right field earned him 10 Gold Gloves, He was named to 18 All Star teams, Playing the bulk of his career in the 50s and 60s when only 1 team per league went to the postseason (and to be real it was usually the Yankees) Kaline had limited chances to shine in the postseason however in the 1968 World Series he hit .379 with 2 homers as the Tigers downed the Cardinals in his lone trip to the series. He retired with 399 home runs, pre...

Jim Thome 1B/3B 1991-2012 5 Time All Star, 600 Home Run Club Baseball Hall of Fame When you're 8 and you check the box scores of a bad team every morning over a bowl of the most sugary cereal your parents will let you get away with, anything different jumps out. In late 1991 I started to notice a Thome at third base for my Indians. I assumed it was pronounced tha-ome like rhymed with Rome. It wasn't until the following year I found out the proper pronunciation and laid eyes on Jim Thome.  The man has the 8th most home runs in baseball history...8th. He has 612 of them. He's a lifetime .278 hitter and he blossomed into a super star as the Indians were becoming relevant in the mid 90s. He's 86th all time in WAR and 17th in On Base Plus Slugging if you like new numbers. He's 7th in walks and yes 2nd in strikeouts. He is the all time leader in walk off home runs with 13.  He played on 5 All Star teams, was snubbed a few more, and was universally b...

Roy Campanella C 1948-1957 8 Time All Star, 3 Time MVP Baseball Hall of Fame We have to use some common sense here. His career numbers while impressive are a little light, but you have to remember he lost NINE years on the front of his career playing in the Negro Leagues and the Mexican League another year in the minors while Jackie Robinson was breaking the color barrier, and then had his career ended at 35 by a car accident. Considering what he did in the 10 years he got in the show, he's one of the greatest catchers and players that ever lived.  He made 8 all star teams in 10 years. Won 3 MVP awards including in 1955 when the Dodgers finally cashed in a title ending the "wait til next year" era. His 41 homers in 1953 held as a catcher record until 1996. Roy Campenella was in the discussion for the best player in the National League for almost his entire career, and he is one of the most decorated catchers to ever play the game. The staggering...

Pedro Martinez P 1992-2009 3 Time Cy Young, 8 Time All Star Baseball Hall of Fame Pedro Martinez had a very good career, but for 7 years from 1997-2003 inclusive he put together a run as good as anyone ever He won 3 Cy Youngs in that stretch, finished as the runner up twice and posted a 118-36 record with 2.20 ERA and five ERA titles. Those years alone would put him on the risk He is the only pitcher in history with 3000 strikeouts in less than 3000 innings. His career ERA is 2.93 despite pitching in the most offensive minded era in the history of the game. I may have docked him a spot or two for throwing octogenarian Don Zimmer to the ground. He helped the Boston Red Sox to the 2004 World Series which was their first in 86 years. His starts were events in Boston and the Boston Globe would run his game stories in Spanish as well as English (a feat in a generally pretty racist city).  He is 55th all time in WAR and 17th in WAR for pitchers. He is 13th on the a...

Tom Glavine P 1987-2008 2 Time Cy Young Winner, 10 Time All Star Baseball Hall of Fame Only teammate Greg Maddux won more games in the 1990s than Tom Glavine. The best lefty in the national league for about a 10 year stretch- Tom Glavine won 20 games 5 times. He tallied 2 Cy Young awards and pitched the Braves to the 1995 World Championship he went 2-0 in that World Series and won the Series MVP against my beloved Indians...I'm not bitter. It's cliched to call a guy a winner, but it applies here. He's 21 first all time in wins, and if you use the advanced WAR stat he is 62nd all time and 28th for pitchers. In addition to his 2 Cy Youngs he finished in the top 4 another 4 times.  He was an excellent hitting pitcher, winning 4 Silver Slugger Awards hitting as high as .289 in 1996. His longevity is also impressive. he is 12th all time on the Games Started list and he holds the all time record for most starts 682 without making a single appearance in re...

Ichiro Suzuki OF 2001-2019 10 Time All Star, 10 Gold Gloves MVP, Rookie of the Year This list is the 100 best MLB players after World War 2, if it were the 100 best baseball players, Ichiro is top 10, maybe 5. He spent NINE standout seasons in Japan before he got the major leagues, tearing up what is generally considered the second best league on the planet. He was 27 by the time he got here and still racked up 3000 hits, 10 all star appearances, 10 gold gloves, and 2 batting titles. He is a .311 career hitter and set an MLB single season record for hits with 262 in 2004. He was a phenomenal right fielder with an absolutely electric arm. He ran well and hit for high average. He only hit 117 MLB home runs but there are many tales of him sending balls to the upper deck in batting practice, he valued his approach in games and got on base like few in history. He had 10 straight seasons with 200 hits.  There had been Japanese players in the bigs before, Hideo No...

Robin Roberts P 1948-1966 7 Time All Star Baseball Hall of Fame We're pretty deep in forgotten legends territory here. Robin Roberts almost never gets placed among the best pitchers of the second half of the 20th Century, but he should. He won 20 games 6 straight times from 1950-1955. Lead the league in starts 6 times, in complete games 5 times, in wins 4 times, in innings pitched 5 times, and in strikeouts twice. In the days when the writers only voted for 1 Cy Young candidate a year he never won one, but he was in the top 10 for the MVP 5 times in 6 years.  Robin Roberts started 12 straight opening days for the Phillies which is a record for consecutive opening day starts on the mound for a single team.  Considering he went to Michigan State on a basketball scholarship and only started playing baseball there his second year, it's a pretty good little career.  He is #50 all time in WAR and among the top 50 all time in Wins 286 (28th), Innings...

Roberto Alomar 2B 1988-2004 12 Time All Star, 10 Time Gold Glove Baseball Hall of Fame When you're a kid and have tribal sports loyalties you make insane claims. I argued for a while that Michael Jordan wasn't the best player in the NBA in the early 90s. Not a take that has aged well. As an Indians fan I was always pretty sure Carlos Baerga was just as good or better than Roberto Alomar...he wasn't. Roberto Alomar was the best second baseman in baseball from the time he entered the league to almost the time he exited (wore down a little at the end), his career .300 average and 2,724 hits attest to this. A switch hitting offense force, Alomar played a beautiful second base, earning 10 Gold Gloves.  He came up in San Diego and played 3 very good seasons there at ages 20, 21, and 22, The came a blockbuster trade Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez to San Diego, Robbie Alomar and Joe Carter to Toronto. It seemed somewhat reasonable at the time, but seeing as ...

Brooks Robinson 3B 1955-1977 18 Time All Star, 16 Time Gold Glove, MVP   Baseball Hall of Fame With a name like Brooks Robinson you're halfway to being a legend. Brooks took care of the other half by being the most dominant defensive force to ever play third base as demonstrated by his 16 Gold Gloves and his highlight reel from the 70 World Series alone. He played 23 seasons, all in Baltimore which is tired with Carl Yastrzemski for the most with a single team. Nicknamed the Human Vacuum Cleaner for his exploits with his glove, he was no slouch with the bat either. He's top 50 in hits all time with 2,848 and 12th all time in sacrifice flies.  He won the MVP award in 1964, won World Series in 1966 and 1970 (he was the MVP of the 1970 World Series). His performance in the 1970 World Series prompted Pete Rose of the opposing to Reds to say of Robinson: "He belongs in a higher league". If you're into advanced metrics he's 68th all time i...

Juan Marichal P 1960-1975 10 Time All Star Baseball Hall of Fame The 60s are considered a golden age for baseball, no man won more games in the 1960s than Juan Marichal. With a high legkick and a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio Juan Marichal was a top of the rotation starter for the Giants for over a decade. He has a career 2.89 ERA which is good for 8th among Post WW2 qualifying starters.  He won 20 games 6 times. Pitched the Giants to the 62 pennant but was largely overshadowed by the Dodgers and namely Sandy Koufax. He's the second winningest pitcher ever from the Dominican Republic (second to the ageless Bartolo Colon). On July 2 1963 Marichal was responsible for half of what many consider the greatest game ever pitched as he and Warren Spahn both threw 15 scoreless innings Marichal threw a 16th before Willie Mays homered off Spahn in the bottom of the 16th. Also the game only lasted 4 hours and 10 minutes, quicker than your average current day Red Sox-Ya...

Wade Boggs 3B 1982-1999 12 Time All Star, 5 Time Batting Champion Baseball Hall of Fame Wade Boggs has a lifetime .328 average. That's the highest of anyone alive with over 4000 at bats. The best hitter in the American League in the 1980s and early 90s.  He won 5 batting titles (including 4 straight) and he lead the league in doubles twice. He had a phenomenal batting eye and lead the league in OBP 6 times.  There are only 4 players post World War 2 with 3000 hits and less than 160 home runs (Lou Brock, Tony Gwynn, Rod Carew).  After spending the bulk of his career in Boston he headed for New York in 1993 and put together 4 more All Star seasons down there, including winning the 1996 World Series his lone ring.  He got his 3000th hit playing for Tampa Bay and retired shortly there after. He is 43rd all time in WAR, and 25th all time in OBP. He is also 23rd all time in doubles and 26th in walks. He played the 5th most games at third base o...

John Smoltz P 1988-2009 8 Time All Star, Cy Young Baseball Hall of Fame A versatile and talented pitcher. John Smoltz is the only man in history with 200 wins and 150 saves. A Cy Young winning starter, Smoltz took a late career sabbatical to the bullpen, then returned to post a few more outstanding years as a starter.  A key member of the Braves teams that won 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005-John Smoltz was one of the best postseason performers of his or any era. He posted 15-4 record with a 2.67 ERA and 4 saves. In the weird stat department he's the all time leader in postseason history in stolen bases by a pitcher with 3. He is a member of the 3000 strikeout club and is currently 17th all time. he's 84th on the all time saves list despite only closing for all of 3 seasons and part of a 4th.  John Smoltz took the ball and good things happened. He was inducted to Cooperstown in 2015. Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Base...

Frank Thomas 1B/DH 1990-2008 5 Time All Star, 2 Time MVP Baseball Hall of Fame "The Big Hurt" - I was probably 10 or so hanging around the little league field and the older kids were talking baseball, and Frank Thomas came up and one of them said "oh, Frank Thomas, he can MASH". It was the first time I heard the term and I always associated it with him. His first 7 full seasons are up there with anyone ever.  In that span he was an All Star 5 times, and MVP twice, finished top 10 for the MVP the other 5 years, hit .330 and averaged 36 homers and 118 RBI a year. His OPS for those 7 years is a staggering 1.056. The rest of his career didn't live up to that all time legend start, but it was still very good with multiple 40 home run, 100 RBI and 100 walk seasons.  The combination of power and average was truly special, when you added in his ability to get on base he was truly elite. His .300 average and 500 home runs puts him in a post war...

Derek Jeter SS 1995-2014 14 Time All Star, 5 World Series Rings Baseball Hall of Fame Derek Jeter broke into the league when I was 11 and in my second year of little league. He retired as I was starting my first year as a head college coach. I grew all the way up watching Derek Jeter. It's a popular narrative now that Jeter was overrated, and he happened to play on good teams etc etc. Anyone who wants to advance that narrative can navigate to the top right of the screen and click that little X and piss off out of here. Derek Jeter was the truth. He was named to 14 All Star teams. Won 5 Gold Gloves, was named the Rookie of the Year. He was top 10 in MVP voting 8 times.  158 Games played, 111 runs, 200 hits, a .308 average, 20 home runs, 61 RBI and 18 stolen bases...that's a pretty good season right? Those are Jeter's career post season totals. He played a full seasons worth of post season games and with the lights on that bright...he put up those numbers...

Ferguson Jenkins P 1965-1983 Cy Young, 7 Time 20 Game Winner Baseball Hall of Fame We did it, we found the most underappreciated pitcher on the list! Fergie Jenkins won 20 games 7 times, won a Cy Young and was named to only 3 All Star teams...That doesn't exactly add up Maybe it was pitching his entire career without reaching the post season, but that wasn't for lack of trying. He came up in Philly (signed out of Canada by legendary scout Tony Lucadello) before becoming a mainstay with the Cubs. He posted 20 wins in 6 straight seasons with the Cubbies from 1967-1972 including his 1971 Cy Young season.  He headed off to Texas where he had 2 excellent seasons and won 20 again in 1974. He had the bad luck of being in Boston in 76 and 77 after their trip to the 75 World Series and before their 1978 pennant  with the Yankees. He was traded back to Texas and finished his career back in Chicago. We lead the league in wins twice, complete games 4 times. As fo...

Barry Larkin SS 1986-2004 12 Time All Star, MVP Baseball Hall of Fame Hometown boy made good and played his whole career in his home city? Check. World Series champ? Check. Best shortstop in the National League for virtually his entire career? Check.  Barry Larkin arrived in the Reds infield after spending only 177 games in the minors. He was a mainstay at short for the Reds He was first shortstop to ever hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bags in the same season. Larkin battled injuries the second half of his career so his career totals are a little more light, but his 12 All Star teams and 3 gold gloves coupled with 9 Silver Slugger awards show he was a truly elite shorstop for his entire career. In 1990 he lead the Reds to their first World Series title since 1976 and their last to date,. He had a career .338 postseason average and if you're into advanced metrics he checks in at 98th all time in WAR. Barry Larkin was one of the best players of the 90s and is alre...

Reggie Jackson OF 1967-1997 14 Time All Star, MVP Baseball Hall of Fame "Mr. October" c'mon, name a cooler nickname. I'll wait. Reggie Jackson won 5 titles, and his indelible moment in a career of cool stuff was hitting 3 home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. A legitimate 5 tool players when he came up with the A's, Jackson would eventually become a feared slugger in the mold of today's hit it out or strike out type guys. He did however hit them out 563 times and lead the league in homers on 4 occasions. He hit 18 Home Runs in postseason play (A's, Yankees, Angels) and has 5 rings to show for it.  He is currently 14th on the all time home run list, 27th in extra base hits, and #81 all time in WAR. He is 26th in career RBIs and still the all time leader in strikeouts. He was also the first major leaguer to go over 100 home runs for 3 different ball clubs. Mr October was appointment viewing, taking big hacks, fighting w...

Whitey Ford  P 1950, 1953-1967 10 Time All Star, Cy Young Baseball Hall of Fame Whitey Ford was a winner. He played on 6 World Series Champions and his winning percentage of .690 is the highest of any pitcher with at least 300 decisions in baseball history. His career numbers are a little muted by losing 2 years to the Korean War on the front end of his career, and by Casey Stengel's bizarre habit of holding him for the Tigers, Indians, and White Sox (at that point the toughest teams in the league). It wasn't until Ralph Houk became manager that Whitey got to just take his turn in the rotation every 4th day.  His 2.75 ERA is good for second among pitchers in the live ball era. His post season ERA was 2.71. He was named to 10 All Star teams and lead the league in wins 3 times, ERA twice, and shutouts twice.  One of the best lefties to ever do it, Whitey Ford helped make the Yankees of the 50s and early 60s one of the most dominant groups baseball h...

Eddie Murray 1B 1977-1997 8 Time All Star, Rookie of the Year BasebalL Hall of Fame Switch hitting is insanely impressive to me, being able to function in the major leagues from both sides of the plate is an outrageous skill. Few did it better than Eddie Murray. Murray was a high school teammate of previous top 100 guy Ozzie Smith...they were probably pretty good.  An 8 time All Star he finished in the top 5 in MVP voting 6 times. He is one of only 6 men with 500 homers and 3000 hits (Pujols, Aaron, Mays, Rodriguez, Palmeiro)  Eddie got the job done. He was lifetime .399 hitter with the bases loaded and is 4th all time in grand slams. He also is baseball's all time leader in Sac Flies. He is 27th on the all time homer list, 13th on the all time hits list, and 21st all time in Extra base hits. He also won 3 gold gloves for his work around first base and was a member of the 1983 World Champion Orioles. Modern stat guru Bill James (who I can take or le...

Lou Brock OF 1961-1979 6 Time All Star, 3000 Hits Baseball Hall of Fame Before Raines and Rickey, there was Lou. An absolute havoc causer at the top of the Cardinals lineup. The man stole 938 bases, good for the all time record until Rickey came along and a number that will never be sniffed as long as the game is played the way it is currently played. He started his career in Chicago with the Cubs before being part of one of the most sided trades in history as the Cardinals acquired him for Ernie Broglio. He lead the league in steals a whopping 8 times. He played for 2 world championship teams and boasted a .391 career world series average (highest ever of anyone over 20 games). He was named to 6 All Star teams and is largely forgotten today with the premium paid (both currently and historically) on power.  He is a member of the 3,000 hits club and has a .291 lifetime average.  Lou Brock could change a game with his wheels. He was elected to the H...

Willie McCovey 1B/OF 1959-1980 6 Time All Star, MVP Baseball Hall of Fame Willie McCovey burst onto the scene in 1959 winning the Rookie of the Year in only 52 games He would play 21 more seasons in the MLB and hit home runs in 4 decades.  McCovey topped 30 home runs 7 times and 40 twice. He hit .270 for his career but a few late career brutal years really dipped that total.  In his peak he was one of the most feared sluggers in the league, He was named to 6 all star teams and at the time of his retirement was second only to Babe Ruth in career home runs by a lefty handed hitter. "Stretch" had a career .310 post season average- He is currently 20th on the all time home run list with 521. He is 5th all time in intentional walks. He lead the league in homers 3 times, RBIs another 2 and was one of the most feared bats of his era. In 1986 he was elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot.  Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Baseb...

Willie Stargell 1B/OF 1962-1982 7 Time All Star, MVP Baseball Hall of Fame "Pops" was one of the most feared sluggers in the National League for almost 2 decades. He lead the Pirates to a title in 1979 and had a ring from 1971 as well. He is still to date the only man to win the MVP, NLCS MVP and WS MVP in the same season (1979). Spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, hitting tape measure home runs and being beloved around the league. Joe Morgan once said "When I played there were 600 baseball players and 599 loved Willie Stargell".  He began his career as an outfielder before getting significantly larger and moving to first.  He clubbed 475 career home runs and was a lifetime .282 hitter. He ranks 32nd in career home runs and 11th in career hit by pitches.  Willie Stargell was inducted to Cooperstown in 1988. Anthony Leonelli is a 37 year old College Baseball Coach and amateur baseball arguer. If you wanna know how this list ...