Baseball is a unique sport when compared to the other major sports. No one would dare say Wilt Chamberlain or Johnny Unitas is the greatest player ever in their respective sport, but we’re pushing nearly an entire century since Babe Ruth last suited up, and he’s still the consensus best player of all-time.
Ruth was part of the original 1936 Hall of Fame class that saw five members elected. There are now 235 such major league players, and I attempted to rank all of them in reverse order. Making the Hall is an incredible accomplishment by itself, and it’s better to be the worst player in Cooperstown than not be in at all. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t undeserving players.
Pre-sabermetrics, voters often looked at simple numbers like home runs and wins. Now we’re blessed with in-depth websites that tell you everything from launch angle to batting average on balls in play (BABIP) to average spin rate on a curveball.
I looked at both traditional stats and sabermetrics, along with awards, impact on championship teams, and positional value, while also doing my best to factor in unquantifiable intangibles – how did peers around the league view said player?
While I have no doubt that Negro League players like Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Oscar Charleston would have excelled in the major leagues, I did not include them in this ranking. I also did not factor in pioneers/executives, managers, or umpires.
A few statistics explained:
WAR: Wins Above Replacement; a measure of the amount of wins a player contributes to his team in a given season compared to that of a player that could be called up from Triple-A; this factors in batting, fielding, baserunning, and positional value; 60 WAR is traditionally the benchmark for a HOF player
WAA: Wins Above Average; a measure of the amount of wins a player contributes to his team in a given season compared to that of an average major league player; a player can have a positive WAR and a negative WAA
JAWS: an invention by Jay Jaffe that combines a player’s career WAR with his WAR from his seven peak years and averages them out
OPS+: a player’s on-base percentage + slugging percentage combined and then compared to the league at the time; an average mark is 100 while 110 is considered to be 10 percent above average and 90 is 10 percent below average
ERA+: a pitcher’s ERA when compared to the league at the time; an average mark is 100 while 110 is considered to be 10 percent above average and 90 is 10 percent below average
Click here to read Part I (players ranked #235-201).
The Rankings: #200-151
200. Edd Roush, LF, 1913-1931
Stats: .323/.369/.446, 68 HR, 981 RBI, 126 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 45.3 WAR, 20.9 WAA, 38.4 JAWS, 3.73 WAR/162
Edd Roush might be the least-known player in the Hall of Fame. Or at least since the modern era, which is usually considered to be post-1900. And how many times do you think people misspelled Edd?
Roush was a fine player, winning two batting titles and finishing with a .323 career mark, including a ridiculous .339 average over the 10 years from 1917 through 1926. He was fast (182 triples, 30 inside-the-park home runs, 268 steals) and was regarded as having one of the strongest arms of any outfielder in the 1920s. After a long wait on the BBWAA, Roush was voted in via the Veterans Committee.
199. Dizzy Dean, SP, 1930-1947
Stats: 150-83, 3.02 ERA, 1,967.1 IP, 1,163 K, 1.206 WHIP, 131 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 46.2 WAR, 29.3 WAA, 45.1 JAWS
For a six-year period, Dizzy Dean was so dominant that it makes up for him ranking dead-last among Hall of Fame starting pitchers in both starts (230) and innings pitched (1,967.1). Dean won the 1934 NL MVP, and finished second in two other seasons. He led the league in strikeouts four straight years, and he’s still the last NL pitcher to win 30 games in a year.
Dizzy and his brother Paul came as close to singlehandedly leading a franchise to a championship as you’ll ever see. In 1934, Dizzy won 30 games, Paul won 19, and they combined for all four of the World Series victories – with Dizzy throwing a complete game shutout in Game 7.
It’s hard to believe how much Dean was able to accomplish in a career that never saw him win a single game after age 30. With a few more healthy seasons, he’d rank in the top half of this list.
198. Joe Tinker, SS, 1902-1916
Stats: .262/.308/.353, 31 HR, 785 RBI, 96 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 53.1 WAR, 30.4 WAA, 43.1 JAWS, 4.76 WAR/162
Let’s look at Joe Tinker’s offensive rank out of every Hall of Fame position player. He’s eighth-worst in batting average, second-worst in on-base percentage, and tied-sixth worst in slugging percentage. Only 12 players hit fewer home runs. And Tinker was just a .235 career hitter in four World Series.
What Tinker had going for him was his defense. He was an amazing shortstop, rating as the best overall defensive player in the major leagues in five different seasons. If you go strictly by defensive WAR, Tinker is the fifth-best player in the history of baseball, even ahead of notables like Luis Aparicio, Rabbit Maranville, and Omar Vizquel.
He’s also the lead player in the famous Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance poem, so his inclusion in the Hall of Fame shouldn’t have surprised anyone.
197. Johnny Evers, 2B, 1902-1929
Stats: .270/.356/.334, 12 HR, 536 RBI, 106 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 47.7 WAR, 24.2 WAA, 40.5 JAWS, 4.33 WAR/162
I have Johnny Evers rated ahead of his longtime double play partner Joe Tinker for several reasons:
1) Evers won an MVP award, and even though he batted just .279 with one home run, sportswriters back then frequently voted for middle infielders from pennant-winning teams.
2) Evers was a better offensive player. He has the worst home run rate (.007) of any Hall of Fame position player, but he drew a ton of walks, ran well, and never struck out.
3) Evers led two different teams to World Series championships (the 1907-’08 Chicago Cubs and the 1914 Boston Braves), and he batted .316 in his postseason career.
Evers was also a defensive whiz at a middle infield position (like Tinker), and led his teams (Cubs/Braves) to the World Series on five occasions. An underwhelming HOFer but not in the bottom 20.
196. Phil Rizzuto, SS, 1941-1956
Stats: .273/.351/.355, 38 HR, 563 RBI, 93 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 40.8 WAR, 21.0 WAA, 37.3 JAWS, 3.98 WAR/162
If you go by Wins Above Replacement, Phil Rizzuto actually deserves his MVP award in 1950, although a .324 batting average with seven home runs (and great defense) is pretty underwhelming compared to the numbers Mickey Mantle would put up in the next decade.
Even with Rizzuto’s MVP campaign, he still finished with just 40.8 WAR (although it’s worth mentioning that he lost three key seasons while in the navy). His .355 slugging percentage is the eighth-lowest ever for a Hall of Famer. With all due respect to The Scooter, if he didn’t go on to have a 40-year career as the Yankees’ announcer, he probably wouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame. After all, neither Willie Randolph nor Thurman Munson made it and they were Yankees players with similar numbers and success.
195. Dave Bancroft, SS, 1915-1930
Stats: .279/.355/.358, 32 HR, 591 RBI, 98 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 48.6 WAR, 23.2 WAA, 42.4 JAWS, 4.12 WAR/162
If you looked at Dave Bancroft’s statistics on the surface, you’d never guess that he was a Hall of Famer. He was a career .279 hitter with a career OPS+ of 98 and once went three full seasons without hitting a home run, although Bancroft did draw a ton of walks before it was recognized as a vital offensive statistic.
By virtue of being a good-fielding shortstop, he rates fairly well in sabermetrics (both WAR and WAA). He led the New York Giants to three straight World Series appearances and a pair of titles before he was traded to the Boston Braves. Still, Bancroft wouldn’t have made the Hall of Fame without the Veterans Committee to put him in.
194. Harry Hooper, RF, 1909-1925
Stats: .281/.368/.387, 75 HR, 816 RBI, 114 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 53.4 WAR, 15.5 WAA, 41.8 JAWS, 3.75 WAR/162
Harry Hooper has to be one of the least-known members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, even though he was a teammate of Babe Ruth’s, a member of the Million Dollar Outfield, and led the Red Sox to four World Series championships in a seven-year period.
Hooper was a solid .281/.368/.387 hitter who had good speed (160 triples and 375 stolen bases) and played excellent defense in right field. His credentials don’t scream Hall of Famer when compared to the other players in Cooperstown, but you can do worse.
193. Luis Aparicio, SS, 1956-1973
Stats: .262/.311/.343, 83 HR, 791 RBI, 82 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 55.8 WAR, 20.5 WAA, 19.5 JAWS, 3.48 WAR/162
Luis Aparicio’s induction is a win for standout defensive players everywhere. To call Aparicio a light-hitting shortstop is an understatement – his 82 career OPS+ is tied with Rabbit Maranville for the lowest of any Hall of Famer ever. But until Ozzie Smith came along, Aparicio was the absolute gold standard for the way the position of shortstop should be played.
Aparicio retired as baseball’s all-time leader in both games played, assists, and double plays as a shortstop, winning nine Gold Gloves. He couldn’t hit but still led the league in steals each of his first nine years and finished with 506 in his career. Perhaps the most amazing Aparicio stat is that he never played a single inning in the field at any position other than shortstop.
192. Rollie Fingers, RP, 1968-1985
Stats: 114-118, 341 SV, 2.90 ERA, 1,701.1 IP, 1,299 K, 1.156 WHIP, 120 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 25.6 WAR, 7.6 WAA, 22.2 JAWS
Rollie Fingers may be the most decorated relief pitcher in baseball history, and that list includes Mariano Rivera. Fingers won a league MVP, a Cy Young award, played an integral part in baseball’s only non-New York Yankees three-peat ever, and even won World Series MVP once. And interestingly enough, he’s probably more known for his handlebar mustache than what he did on the field.
Fingers helped revolutionize the closer position, setting a trend later followed by Rivera and John Smoltz in becoming a failed starter-turned-closer. He held the career record in saves when he retired (341). Fingers wasn’t just a one-inning closer either; he holds the all-time record with 135 multi-inning saves. In his World Series career, he threw an absurd amount of innings (33.1), appearing in 16 of a possible 19 games and fashioning a 1.35 ERA.
Fingers’ career ERA+ of 120 is lower than you’d expect (24th among 30 closers with at least 300+ saves). But keep in mind that he wasn’t used in nearly as much of a specialized role as modern closers are. Arguably Fingers’ most impressive statistic is his percentage of career saves that were clean saves (entering the ninth inning with no one on or out) – Fingers is at 15 percent, the lowest of any Hall of Fame closer. What does that mean? Simply put, his managers trusted him.
191. Trevor Hoffman, RP, 1993-2010
Stats: 61-75, 601 SV, 2.87 ERA, 1,089.1 IP, 1,133 K, 1.059 WHIP, 141 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 28.0 WAR, 13.6 WAA, 23.7 JAWS
Being a relief pitcher often means you take an unconventional route. Mariano Rivera was a failed starter. Dennis Eckersley was a starter-turned-reliever. But Trevor Hoffman may have the most unique path, going from a failed minor league shortstop to one of the all-time great closers.
Hoffman broke in with the inaugural Florida Marlins team, was traded for Gary Sheffield, and then racked up an absurd 15 seasons of 30+ saves and nine of 40+, each of which still stands as MLB records. When he retired, no one had surpassed his 601 saves; now, only Mariano Rivera has done so. Hoffman never won a Cy Young but finished second twice. Most impressively, he did all this without possessing a strong fastball, instead relying on one of the best changeups ever.
190. Max Carey, CF, 1910-1929
Stats: .285/.361/.386, 70 HR, 802 RBI, 108 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 54.0 WAR, 21.1 WAA, 43.5 JAWS, 3.53 WAR/162
It’s kind of surprising that a .285 hitter with no power made the Hall of Fame, although of course, Max Carey was a Veterans Committee addition. Carey had longevity on his side, suiting up for 20 seasons and over 10,000 plate appearances. Still, when he retired, there had been 13 players with as many as 10,000 plate appearances, and Carey ranked second-last among them in OPS (.747) and WAR (54.0).
Stealing bases was Carey’s specialty, as he led the league in swipes 10 times and finished with 738 of them. He was a very similar player to Lou Brock, although with better defensive metrics at a tougher position.
189. Sam Rice, RF, 1915-1934
Stats: .322/.374/.427, 34 HR, 1,077 RBI, 112 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 52.7 WAR, 15.7 WAA, 41.7 JAWS, 3.55 WAR/162
I often wonder if Sam Rice laid awake at night lamenting the fact that he retired just 13 hits short of 3,000. Or that he missed 500 doubles by two. What sounds better, the immortal 2,987/498 club or the legendary 3,000/500 club?
Rice’s .322 career batting average is the 45th best total ever, propped up by individual seasons of .350, .349, .338, .337, and .334. He hit a ton of triples but very few home runs, as was the custom for 1920s players not named Babe Ruth or Rogers Hornsby, and that led to a 112 career OPS+ that trails less-than-Hall of Fame-caliber players in Darren Daulton, Matthew Joyce, Brad Hawpe, and Russell Branyan.
188. Chuck Klein, RF, 1928-1944
Stats: .320/.379/.543, 300 HR, 1,201 RBI, 137 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 43.6 WAR, 20.5 WAA, 40.2 JAWS, 4.03 WAR/162
In his first six years in the league, Chuck Klein literally looked as if he could be the next Babe Ruth. He was a .359/.412/.632 hitter who led the NL in home runs and total bases four times each, won a Triple Crown, and set a single-season record with 44 assists in right field.
The problem is that Klein didn’t do much after those first six years. He managed just 10.9 WAR for his remaining 11 years and if you go by Wins Above Average, which factors in positional value, Klein was actually a below-average player (-0.8 WAA). And his lifetime home/road splits are impossible to ignore, particularly his .395 batting average in the cozy confines of the Baker Bowl.
187. Jim Rice, LF, 1974-1989
Stats: .298/.352/.502, 382 HR, 1,451 RBI, 128 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 47.7 WAR, 18.9 WAA, 42.1 JAWS, 3.70 WAR/162
The more invested this community gets into the analytical and sabermetrics era, the smarter Hall of Fame voters have gotten. Save for the Harold Baines fiasco, it’s safe to say nothing will ever happen again like the 1970s Veteran Committee barrage of New York Giants players. So it’s rather surprising that Jim Rice made it in 2009, 20 years after he finished playing and after having gotten as little as 29.4 percent of the votes just a decade earlier.
What Rice had going for him was 16 years in the same city, nearly 400 home runs, an MVP award, and three seasons leading the league in homers. Still, he had no speed, didn’t walk, and cost his team more runs via double plays (42) than any player who ever played the game. When compared to other Hall of Famers, he’s low in WAR, WAA, and WAR/162, and had no milestone stats (500 home runs or 3,000 hits).
186. Nellie Fox, 2B, 1947-1965
Stats: .288/.348/.363, 35 HR, 790 RBI, 93 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 49.0 WAR, 18.3 WAA, 42.9 JAWS, 3.35 WAR/162
One of the most incredible Nellie Fox stats is his yearly strikeout totals. Over a 15-year period from 1950-1964, Fox struck out between 11 and 18 times every single year. That’s a remarkable stretch of consistency. Fox struck out fewer times in over 10,000 plate appearances (216) than Mark Reynolds did in one season (223).
The problem with Fox is that he was a singles hitter with absolutely no power. He batted .288 across two decades but hit just 35 home runs, resulting in a 93 OPS+. If you factor in his baserunning skills and ability to avoid double plays, he still cost his team runs at the plate over his career (-18 offensive runs). He was a great defender and even won an MVP award in 1959 but still, Fox is more in the Aparicio/Maranville/Schoendienst realm of players than the upper-tier of Hall of Fame players.
185. Waite Hoyt, SP, 1918-1938
Stats: 237-182, 3.59 ERA, 3,762.1 IP, 1,206 K, 1.340 WHIP, 112 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 52.3 WAR, 17.1 WAA, 43.6 JAWS
The 1927 Yankees are arguably the most dominant baseball team of all-time, so being the ace of that team stands out in the minds of Hall of Fame voters. Waite Hoyt won 22 games in 1927, 23 in 1928, and was second among all AL pitchers in the 1920s with 161. In the ’27-’28 World Series in which the Yankees swept both, Hoyt was the winning pitcher in three of the eight contests.
Hoyt’s 112 career ERA+ was much more in line with Tommy John, Orel Hershiser, or Jered Weaver than Bob Gibson or Pedro Martinez. Hoyt was just a good, solid pitcher for two decades who benefited from pitching on the Yankees.
184. Earle Combs, CF, 1924-1935
Stats: .325/.397/.462, 58 HR, 633 RBI, 125 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 42.5 WAR, 19.6 WAA, 38.5 JAWS, 4.73 WAR/162
Those 1927 Yankees addressed above? It was Earle Combs – not Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig – who led the team (and the league) with hits. Combs was a fantastic top-of-the-lineup hitter (.325 career batting average) who set the tone for Ruth and Gehrig to inflict damage on opposing pitchers.
The biggest factor holding him back from ranking higher on this list is career length; his 5,746 at-bats are fewer than all but 18 players in the Hall of Fame and many of them were catchers (Ray Schalk/Buck Ewing), players whose careers were shortened due to segregation (Jackie Robinson/Larry Doby), or Veterans Committee mistakes (Chick Hafey/Ross Youngs).
183. Jim O’Rourke, LF, 1872-1904
Stats: .310/.352/.422, 62 HR, 1,208 RBI, 134 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 52.1 WAR, 21.8 WAA, 37.7 JAWS, 4.22 WAR/162
One of the coolest facts about Jim O’Rourke: Not only did he bat .287 in 1893 at age 43, but he came back to play a game (and collect a hit) in 1904 at age 53 – and then he caught a full minor-league game in 1912 when he was 60 years old.
Major League Baseball had only been around for about 20 years when O’Rourke retired, and at that point, only Cap Anson was ahead of O’Rourke in games played, hits, doubles, and total bases. It’s a little tough to compare O’Rourke to modern players like Cal Ripken, Jr. and Alan Trammell, but when you compare O’Rourke to players from his era, his 134 OPS+ is pretty solid.
He technically played every position in the field and batted .306 in two postseason series. Jay Jaffe’s book, The Cooperstown Casebook, says O’Rourke was elected more for his fame than his greatness, and that’s probably accurate.
182. Joe Sewell, SS, 1920-1933
Stats: .312/.391/.413, 49 HR, 1,054 RBI, 108 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 53.7 WAR, 23.1 WAA, 45.6 JAWS, 4.57 WAR/162
Baseball needs more players like Joe Sewell, who was really, really good at not striking out.
For his entire career, he whiffed just 114 times – in over 8,300 plate appearances, which comes out to 1.3 percent of the time. On multiple occasions, he struck out four times… all year. He once went over 100 games in a row without a strikeout.
At the plate, Sewell was a .312 hitter with limited power, so he actually only registered as eight percent above league average in terms of OPS+. Sewell was a great player but compares more to someone like Jim Fregosi (a definite non-HOFer) than someone like Joe Cronin or Barry Larkin. It took the VC to get Sewell in.
181. Ernie Lombardi, C, 1931-1947
Stats: .306/.358/.460, 190 HR, 990 RBI, 126 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 46.8 WAR, 25.4 WAA, 37.9 JAWS, 4.09 WAR/162
Ernie Lombardi is quite possibly the most interesting man in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Bill James says he was the slowest ballplayer ever, and while we don’t have 40-yard dash times for every player ever, the fact that all four infielders supposedly played in the outfield when Lombardi batted tells you what you need to know.
Lombardi grounded into a double play more frequently (every 25.3 at-bats) than every other player in baseball history, he stole just eight bases in 1,853 games, and he was literally too slow to field bunts from his catcher position.
But unbelievably, he still batted .306 for his career and actually won two batting titles. He won an MVP award. And he had exceptional bat control, almost never striking out. If he played today, there would be daily gifs floating around the internet of his speed (or lack thereof), but he was safe playing back in the 1930s and ‘40s. He’s probably a top-15 catcher ever.
180. Kiki Cuyler, RF, 1921-1938
Stats: .321/.386/.474, 128 HR, 1,065 RBI, 125 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 46.7 WAR, 21.2 WAA, 40.8 JAWS, 4.03 WAR/162
Kiki Cuyler got a late start to his major league career, as he didn’t become a full-time player until he was in his age-26 season. Still, he hit over .350 four times in his first seven years and finished at .321 in 8,100 plate appearances, still one of the 40 highest career averages in MLB history.
Cuyler is a borderline Hall of Famer whose career numbers best compare to Edd Roush, Heinie Manush, or Enos Slaughter. It took some time and a little help from the Veterans Committee, but Cuyler eventually went from 2.5 percent of the votes to gaining the 75 percent needed for enshrinement.
179. Hugh Duffy, CF, 1888-1906
Stats: .326/.386/.451, 106 HR, 1,302 RBI, 123 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 43.1 WAR, 18.0 WAA, 37.0 JAWS, 4.02 WAR/162
Just on the surface, Hugh Duffy’s 1894 season is one of the most incredible you’ll ever find. He batted .440 with 160 runs scored and 145 RBIs in just 125 games – but when you look closer, you see that the entire National League batted .309 that year.
Duffy was really only a starter for about 10 seasons, although he batted .326 during that span with a pretty good 123 OPS+. If they had given out Gold Gloves back then, he probably would have won a couple for his work in left field (based on what we can see from modern defensive sabermetrics). Duffy also batted a ridiculous .462 in his lone playoff series. He was a great hitter who just didn’t play that long; he’s only 21st among 19th century position players in WAR, largely because he was effectively done as a player by age 31.
178. Tony Perez, 1B, 1964-1986
Stats: .279/.341/.463, 379 HR, 1,652 RBI, 122 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 54.0 WAR, 18.0 WAA, 45.3 JAWS, 3.15 WAR/162
Hall of Fame voters love power-hitting first basemen and that’s what finally got Tony Perez in after 14 years on the ballot. He hit 379 home runs and drove in 1,652 runs, and that RBI total is the 32nd-best total of all-time. Over a 14-year span from 1967-1980, Perez led the major leagues in runs batted in, and he did it as a power hitter on the famed Big Red Machine.
Perez never led the league in a single offensive category except for times grounded into a double play in 1980. He was a free swinger and had a poor walk rate. Per his Baseball Reference page, his most comparables in terms of career values are Harold Baines and Dave Parker. It’s not one of the Hall’s worst picks, but Perez’s numbers just don’t stack up to many of the other HOF first basemen like Willie McCovey, Harmon Killebrew, and Jim Thome.
177. Tony Lazzeri, 2B, 1926-1939
Stats: .292/.380/.467, 178 HR, 1,194 RBI, 121 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 50.0 WAR, 23.6 WAA, 42.6 JAWS, 4.66 WAR/162
Timing is everything, and three seasons into his career, Tony Lazzeri had played in the World Series three times, been a part of two championship teams, and earned recognition as a key contributor for the Murderers’ Row. And it wasn’t as if Lazzeri was just along for the ride; he batted .302 during that span and earned MVP votes every year.
Thanks to playing with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (and then Joe DiMaggio), Lazzeri was never better than the third-best player on the Yankees, but those three are all top-tier Hall of Famers Lazzeri’s career was shorter compared to others on this list but he was above-average both offensively and defensively, played a key position, and helped the Yankees win five World Series.
176. Bid McPhee, 2B, 1882-1899
Stats: .272/.355/.373, 53 HR, 1,072 RBI, 107 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 52.5 WAR, 25.0 WAA, 41.0 JAWS, 3.98 WAR/162
Despite the fact that he played nearly 20 years for the same ballclub, you don’t see too many young fans in Cincinnati wearing Bid McPhee jerseys. Maybe it’s because he’s only the second-best second baseman to ever play for the Reds. Or maybe it’s because he played most of his career before Babe Ruth was even born and then it inexplicably took him over a century to get elected to the Hall of Fame.
McPhee literally played without a glove for the first 12 years of his career, so when you take that into context, all of a sudden, his 50 errors a season isn’t that bad. He actually rates as one of the greatest defensive players in baseball history by Baseball Reference’s fielding metrics.
Before you scoff at that, realize 1) he’s being compared to his contemporaries who also made 50 errors a season and 2) McPhee had exceptional range at second base and got to a lot of balls that lesser fielders wouldn’t have.
175. Orlando Cepeda, 1B, 1958-1974
Stats: .297/.350/.499, 379 HR, 1,365 RBI, 133 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 50.2 WAR, 18.2 WAA, 18.2 JAWS, 3.83 WAR/162
Orlando Cepeda has a lot of positives going for him – he hit close to 400 home runs during the prime of the pitching era, won an MVP award, and played well enough to keep future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey in the minor leagues for a few years.
The sabermetrics though view him as relatively underwhelming when compared to his Hall of Fame peers; the average HOF position player registered 62.9 WAR and 30.6 WAA; Cepeda is at 50.2 and 18.2, and that’s largely because he struggled to come back to full strength following a 1965 knee injury. Hitting was never a problem for Cepeda, but he’s one of just five Hall of Famers to rate as below average in the other four components of calculating Wins Above Average (baserunning, DPs, fielding, and positional value).
174. Enos Slaughter, RF, 1938-1959
Stats: .300/.382/.453, 169 HR, 1,304 RBI, 124 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 55.3 WAR, 22.5 WAA, 45.3 JAWS, 3.76 WAR/162
If you’re a baseball historian, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Enos Slaughter because of his mad dash to score the game-winning run for the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1946 World Series.
Despite missing three prime years due to WWII, Slaughter was a .300 career hitter who probably would have pushed for 3,000 hits if he hadn’t missed time due to military service. He played in five World Series, winning four of them. It took the VC to put Slaughter in the HOF, but factoring in the three years he missed and he’s a deserving-enough candidate.
173. Eppa Rixey, SP, 1912-1933
Stats: 266-251, 3.15 ERA, 4,494.2 IP, 1,350 K, 1.215 WHIP, 115 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 55.9 WAR, 20.6 WAA, 45.0 JAWS
No starting pitcher in the Hall of Fame has a worse career winning percentage than Eppa Rixey. His .515 mark was largely a product of pitching for the porous Philadelphia Phillies for the first decade of his career; he was 87-103 with them (.458) and 179-148 (.547) with the Cincinnati Reds.
Rixey had such a low strikeout total (2.7 K/9) that he only topped 5.0 WAR in three separate seasons, and two-thirds of his career Wins Above Average value is derived from a five-year span. He’s in more for longevity and the Veterans Committee than anything else.
172. Sam Thompson, RF, 1885-1906
Stats: .331/.384/.505, 126 HR, 1,308 RBI, 147 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 44.4 WAR, 22.6 WAA, 38.9 JAWS, 5.10 WAR/162
There are two legitimate things you can hold against Sam Thompson: 1) His career was much shorter than the average Hall of Famer and 2) Everyone had standout offensive numbers back in the 1890s. I mean, Thompson played on the 1894 Philadelphia Phillies, a club that batted .350 as a team.
Even so, Thompson still managed to stand out among his peers. He batted .415 in 1894. He hit .370 four times, led the league in home runs and slugging percentage twice, and finished with a career 147 OPS+. That’s a higher mark than Alex Rodriguez or Ken Griffey, Jr., so short career or not, that’s ridiculous offensive production in any era.
171. Mickey Welch, SP, 1880-1892
Stats: 307-210, 2.71 ERA, 4,802 IP, 1,850 K, 1.226 WHIP, 113 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 62.3 WAR, 22.6 WAA, 58.2 JAWS
One of the most incredible aspects of the era in which Mickey Welch pitched – as a rookie, he won 34 games, completed all 64 of his starts, pitched 574 innings with a 2.54 ERA, and actually had a below-average ERA when adjusted to the league and ballpark factors. Welch was used primarily in the two-man pitching staff eras, so he averaged a ridiculous 434 innings for the decade of the 1880s.
Welch was the third pitcher to win 300 games. His control was a problem for the bulk of his career, as he led the league in walks three times and threw 274 wild pitches (third-most ever). He also struck out a ton of batters for the time and still holds the single-game record by having started a game with nine consecutive strikeouts. It took Welch until 30 years after he died but he was a Veterans Committee vote-in in 1973.
170. Earl Averill, CF, 1929-1941
Stats: .318/.395/.534, 238 HR, 1,164 RBI, 133 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 48.0 WAR, 22.8 WAA, 42.7 JAWS, 4.66 WAR/162
How ridiculous was the American League in 1930? Half of the 24 players to accumulate at least 600 plate appearances that year eventually made the Hall of Fame. So while a .339 batting average for Earl Averill looked pretty good on the surface, you have to remember the era-adjusted statistics.
That’s what ultimately keeps Averill from ranking higher on the list; he batted .323/.399/.542 over his first decade in the major leagues and then was essentially done as a productive player by year 11.
169. Joe Kelley, 1B, 1891-1908
Stats: .317/.402/.451, 65 HR, 1,194 RBI, 134 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 50.7 WAR, 23.2 WAA, 22.8 JAWS, 4.43 WAR/162
Joe Kelley has to be one of the five least-known players in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He played over half of his career in the pre-historic 19th century. He didn’t hit home runs. And he holds no major records.
That doesn’t mean he couldn’t play. He batted .317 in his career and before anyone recognized that walks were good, Kelley picked up a ton of them, which gives him a .402 lifetime on-base percentage. He hit close to 200 triples, stole over 400 bases, and played a little of everywhere in the field.
168. Frank Chance, 1B, 1898-1914
Stats: .296/.394/.394, 20 HR, 596 RBI, 135 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 45.6 WAR, 28.2 WAA, 26.2 JAWS, 5.74 WAR/162
Frank Chance was by far the best hitter of the legendary Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance combination, although it’s represented more in his ability to reach base than his home run total. Chance’s solid walk rate and exceptional HBP rate led to a near-.400 career on-base percentage.
Chance was also the player-manager of the 1906-’08 Chicago Cubs that won three consecutive NL pennants and a pair of World Series. And fittingly, he/Tinker/Evers all made the Hall of Fame together in the same year. The biggest attribute holding Chance back is simply the length of his playing career; his 4,299 at-bats is the second-lowest total of any HOF position player.
167. Bill Terry, 1B, 1923-1936
Stats: .341/.393/.506, 154 HR, 1,078 RBI, 136 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 54.2 WAR, 31.8 WAA, 47.7 JAWS, 5.10 WAR/162
Bill Terry played for the 1920s New York Giants, so the Veterans Committee probably would have voted him in to Cooperstown even without his lifetime .341 batting average. But Terry could hit as well as anyone in the game. He averaged over 200 hits for a nine-year period, setting a National League record with 254 in 1930. His .401 batting average that year makes him the last NL player to date to eclipse the .400 mark.
If Terry had played for longer, he might rank higher, but he started his career playing semipro ball and was then blocked by George Kelly in New York.
166. Willie Keeler, RF, 1892-1910
Stats: .341/.388/.415, 33 HR, 810 RBI, 127 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 54.1 WAR, 20.8 WAA, 45.1 JAWS, 4.13 WAR/162
You’ll never again find a hitter like Wee Willie Keeler. He was a 5’4” pint-sized magician at the plate who slapped the ball all over the field and famously said to “hit ‘em where they ain’t.” Keeler was basically a more extreme version of Ichiro but 100 years earlier; Keeler strung together eight consecutive 200-hit seasons, during which he batted .379 and struck out 47 total times in over 5,000 plate appearances.
Keeler’s batting eye was unparalleled, although he had absolutely no power and no plate discipline. His extra-base hit percentage is lower than any other player in the Hall of Fame, his strikeout rate is the second-lowest, and his walk rate is the ninth-lowest. Basically, he was a really, really good singles hitter who stole bases as well. That’s valuable but it also can only take you so far.
165. King Kelly, RF, 1878-1893
Stats: .307/.368/.438, 69 HR, 950 RBI, 138 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 47.0 WAR, 25.7 WAA, 39.3 JAWS, 5.23 WAR/162
King Kelly is one of only eight Hall of Fame position players to play the entirety of his major league career before 1900, but he may have been the most innovative of all of them. He played every position in the field and served as player-manager on three occasions. He helped to popularize the hit-and-run and hook slide. He was the first player to sign autographs. He was the first player to publish an autobiography. And he may or may not have been the subject of the famous Casey at the Bat poem.
As a player, Kelly won two batting titles and led the league in runs scored three straight seasons. It was a little easier to score runs back in the day when there was only one umpire and players could cut bases to score. Still, Kelly retired with a 138 OPS+, which is better than about three-quarters of all Hall of Famers.
164. Bobby Doerr, 2B, 1937-1951
Stats: .288/.362/.461, 223 HR, 1,247 RBI, 115 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 51.2 WAR, 27.0 WAA, 43.9 JAWS, 4.45 WAR/162
As a teammate of Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr was always overshadowed during his 15-year career. He wasn’t even the best second baseman in his own division, thanks to Joe Gordon.
But Doerr was a .288 hitter who averaged 20/100 per year and played good defense at second base. He never won an MVP award but earned votes every year and batted .409 in his lone World Series appearance.
163. Billy Herman, 2B, 1931-1947
Stats: .304/.367/.407, 47 HR, 839 RBI, 112 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 54.8 WAR, 26.6 WAA, 45.1 JAWS, 4.62 WAR/162
Solid, consistent production across 15 seasons was Billy Herman’s defining trait and puts him in the top 15 or so second baseman ever. Herman was a .304 career hitter who reached the .330 mark on four occasions, and he’s the only player ever with multiple seasons of 57+ doubles. His limited power caps his OPS+ at 112, which might not have been enough to get him in the Hall of Fame without his defense.
In the field, Herman led the NL in putouts at second base seven times, range factor/game and double plays four times each, and assists three times. He made too many errors but still got to enough ground balls to record a career defensive runs saved of 55 above average.
162. Vic Willis, SP, 1898-1910
Stats: 249-205, 2.63 ERA, 3,996 IP, 1,651 K, 1.209 WHIP, 118 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 63.2 WAR, 30.8 WAA, 56.3 JAWS
Vic Willis is your unofficial cutoff, meaning I believe the top 162 of the 235 players in the Hall of Fame deserve to be in the Hall of Fame (plus a few relievers because relievers have to be viewed differently). Another way of saying that would be that nearly one-third of all Hall of Famers shouldn’t be in.
Here’s proof that Vic Willis pitched in a different era: He averaged over 300 innings (and nearly 20 wins) per season for his entire 13-year career. Willis holds one of the more dubious records in modern baseball history, losing 29 games in 1905 (and 54 over a two-year span).
But for the duration of his career from 1898-1910, Willis was topped by only Cy Young and Christy Mathewson in WAR, averaging over 5 WAR per year. He led the league in ERA once, threw a no-hitter, and played a major role for a World Series champion.
161. George Sisler, 1B, 1915-1930
Stats: .340/.379/.468, 102 HR, 1,178 RBI, 125 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 57.1 WAR, 22.5 WAA, 50.6 JAWS, 4.26 WAR/162
George Sisler actually started his career as a pitcher, accumulating a 2.35 ERA and 2.5 WAR over 24 appearances on the mound before he transitioned to first base and dominated the 1920s. He hit .400 twice, topping out at .420, put together a 41-game hitting streak, and set a single-season record for hits (257) that stood for over 80 years. And his lifetime .340 average is still the 11th-highest mark of any player who debuted after 1900.
The problem with Sisler was that he didn’t walk and had only decent power, so his percentages weren’t what you’d expect. His .379 on-base percentage is actually less than Zeke Bonura, J.D. Drew, or Gene Tenace, none of whom will close make the Hall of Fame. Bill James once called Sisler the most overrated player in baseball history, citing a hollow batting average and subpar defensive metrics. Sisler wasn’t as good as his .340 batting average, but he’s a respectable Hall of Famer.
160. Kirby Puckett, CF, 1984-1995
Stats: .318/.360/.477, 207 HR, 1,085 RBI, 124 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 51.1 WAR, 25.7 WAA, 44.4 JAWS, 4.64 WAR/162
Kirby Puckett was an icon in Minnesota during his playing days. He earned MVP votes nine times in 12 seasons, won a bunch of Gold Gloves in center field, and led the Twins to two World Series titles. He led the AL in hits four times and retired with a .318 batting average, the highest by an American League right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio.
There were some deficiencies in Puckett’s game, particularly his plate discipline. His 5.75 percent walk rate is one of the lowest of any Hall of Famer, which limits his OPS+ to 124. And his defensive grades certainly don’t suggest that he should have won six Gold Gloves. Still, if you don’t penalize Puckett for factors beyond his control (glaucoma), his 51.1 WAR through 12 seasons checks out pretty well.
159. Larry Doby, CF, 1947-1959
Stats: .283/.386/.490, 253 HR, 970 RBI, 140 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 49.6 WAR, 30.6 WAA, 44.6 JAWS, 5.24 WAR/162
Larry Doby’s greatest claim to fame is being the first black ballplayer in the American League (and second in the major leagues after Jackie Robinson). But he was a Hall of Fame talent with or without the road he paved for others after him.
From a sabermetrics standpoint, Doby was worth over 250 runs above average as a hitter, and he also drew positive marks as a baserunner, defender, and at avoiding double plays. In the history of the game, Doby is one of only 11 Hall of Famers to accomplish that. He also led the AL in home runs twice, doing so at a time when Mickey Mantle and Ted Williams were still active and star players.
158. Richie Ashburn, CF, 1948-1962
Stats: .308/.396/.382, 29 HR, 586 RBI, 111 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 63.9 WAR, 28.7 WAA, 54.2 JAWS, 4.73 WAR/162
Richie Ashburn was primarily a 1950s player whose game was a throwback to the way it was played in the late 19th century. Ashburn hit a ton of singles, walked a lot, stole bases, and had virtually no power.
His career home run rate of 0.011 is the second-lowest of any player whose career began in the last 100 years, but he’s in the Hall of Fame because of his .308 lifetime batting average, two batting titles, and six times leading the NL in batting average and on-base percentage.
Ashburn was also one of the better defensive center fielders in history. His skillset was strong, and it’s a shame he had to go out as the lone .300 hitter on a 40-120 ballclub.
157. Buck Ewing, C, 1880-1897
Stats: .303/.351/.456, 71 HR, 883 RBI, 129 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 48.0 WAR, 28.5 WAA, 39.2 JAWS, 5.88 WAR/162
The Society for American Baseball Research once named Buck Ewing as one of the top five 19th century players ever. Cap Anson/Dan Brouthers/Ed Delahanty/Roger Connor/Billy Hamilton are probably at least as good and you could make a strong case for Jim O’Rourke/King Kelly/Jack Glasscock/Sam Thompson and some others.
Still, Ewing was the best catcher the game had seen until Gabby Hartnett came along. Ewing batted .303, hit a ridiculous amount of triples (178), and played very good defense behind the plate. His career average of 5.88 WAR/162 is still the best of any Hall of Fame catcher.
156. Whitey Ford, SP, 1950-1967
Stats: 236-106, 2.75 ERA, 3,170.1 IP, 1,956 K, 1.215 WHIP, 133 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 57.0 WAR, 32.0 WAA, 45.8 JAWS
If you take all the pitchers with 200+ decisions who debuted after 1900, Whitey Ford is first in winning percentage (.690). Three times he led the league in winning percentage. He was 25-4 in 1961, winning the AL Cy Young award. And he helped the Yankees to a ridiculous 11 pennants, six championships, and was awarded the ’61 World Series MVP award. And at one point, he threw 33 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in the World Series.
It’s just longevity that keeps Ford from ranking higher on this list; only 14 starting pitchers in the Hall have thrown fewer innings than Ford.
155. Ralph Kiner, LF, 1946-1955
Stats: .279/.398/.548, 369 HR, 1,015 RBI, 149 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 49.4 WAR, 25.7 WAA, 47.9 JAWS, 5.44 WAR/162
Ralph Kiner is essentially a shortened-career version of Harmon Killebrew/Willie McCovey/Jim Thome. He was a three true outcomes player in the finest way. Kiner led the league in home runs in each of his first seven seasons. He has the eighth-best walk rate of any Hall of Famer. He actually didn’t strike out nearly as much as you’d think for a player with such power, which is also a testament to Kiner’s skills.
The most surprising aspect of his career is that he was completely finished as a player at age 32; he suffered a back injury and had to hang it up after just 10 seasons. Kiner didn’t field well in left field, ran poorly, and never reached the postseason. He started at just 1.1% on the HOF ballot but climbed to 75% by year 15.
154. Elmer Flick, RF, 1898-1910
Stats: .313/.389/.445, 48 HR, 756 RBI, 149 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 53.2 WAR, 29.8 WAA, 47.3 JAWS, 5.81 WAR/162
Not to be confused with the cartoon character Elmer Fudd, Elmer Flick is in the running for the least-known position player in the Hall of Fame (I mean, what can you tell me about Elmer Flick for real?). He started his career in the 19th century. He played before there were MVP awards. He never played in a World Series. He didn’t hit home runs either.
But he could flat out hit. He was a .313 career hitter who hit a ton of triples and retired with a 149 OPS+. That’s a higher mark than over half of the members of the 500-home run club. Flick had to retire after 1910 due to stomach issues that caused his weight to drop to 130 pounds.
153. Joe McGinnity, SP, 1899-1908
Stats: 246-142, 2.66 ERA, 3,441.1 IP, 1,068 K, 1.188 WHIP, 121 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 59.0 WAR, 29.9 WAA, 56,6 JAWS
There’s a reason they called Joe McGinnity the “Iron Man.” He routinely started both games of a doubleheader. He holds the modern record with 434 innings in a season. And he led the NL in games six times in his 10 years in the big leagues.
McGinnity was always the second fiddle to Christy Mathewson on the early New York Giants, but all but a few pitchers in the history of the game would been their team’s No. 2 with Mathewson on the team. McGinnity
152. Joe Medwick, LF, 1932-1948
Stats: .324/.362/.505, 205 HR, 1,383 RBI, 134 OPS+
Sabermetrics: 55.6 WAR, 28.2 WAA, 27.3 JAWS, 4.54 WAR/162
For a player who had his last productive year at age 32, Joe Medwick sure packed a lot into a Hall of Fame career. He won an NL MVP award, led the league in doubles, RBIs, and total bases three times each, and he’s still the last National League player to date to win the Triple Crown. Interestingly enough, no HOF position player has ever hit doubles at a more frequent rate than Medwick (6.6% of PA).
Medwick rates well with the glove as well as his stunning offensive numbers. He doesn’t have the career length of most players on this list but his peak was every bit as good as the majority.
151. Goose Gossage, RP, 1972-1994
Stats: 124-107, 310 SV, 3.01 ERA, 1,809.1IP, 1,502 K, 1.232 WHIP, 126 ERA+
Sabermetrics: 41.2 WAR, 15.8 WAA, 36.4 JAWS
It’s commonplace in today’s game for a manager to turn to the bullpen as early as the sixth inning. There are seventh inning guys, lefty specialists, setup men, long relievers, and traditional closers. In Goose Gossage’s day, he did all of that. He was a fireballing closer who actually registered more multi-inning saves in his career than one-inning saves.
Gossage’s 1975 season is still the greatest in baseball history by a relief pitcher in terms of WAR (8.2); he had a 1.84 ERA, a league-leading 26 saves, and an absurd 141.2 innings in 62 relief appearances. Three times in his career he led the AL in saves, four times he finished top five in the Cy Young award voting, and he had a 2.63 career World Series ERA.
The knock on Gossage is his high blown save total – his 112 are the most in baseball history. Then again, you typically don’t get to 112 blown saves without being a great closer. Cy Young is the game’s career leader in losses. Reggie Jackson struck out the most times. Switching sports, Brett Favre threw the most interceptions and the late Kobe Bryant missed the most shots. All are in or will be in their respective sport’s Hall of Fame. If you put Gossage in a traditional one inning relief pitcher role, those blown saves assuredly go way down. With what he did accomplish, Gossage is the second-best reliever ever.
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