Top 100 ballplayers of alltime! (imo)

[bodiaz]

45. Roberto Clemente, RF Pittsburgh

career 240 HR, 1305 RBI, .317 avg.

1966 NL MVP with 29 HR, 119 RBI, .317 avg. and 11 triples
4503 putouts as a RF is 1st All Time
Won 4 batting titles in his career ('61,'64,'65,'67)
His 3000 career hits, and 166 triples both rank 27th All Time
15 time All Star, 12 time Gold Glove winner

 

[markakis8]

you should put an updated list in the first post of this thread as you go along

 

[bodiaz]

you should put an updated list in the first post of this thread as you go along[/quot

Not a bad idea, but I really want people to read the info on each player, that was really the whole point in doing the thread. I ffel alot of the younger fans need to know how great some of these older players were. Sorry for the inconvience.

 

[bodiaz]

44. Mel Ott, OF New York (NL)

career 511 HR, 1860 RBI, .304 avg

1708 career walks is 8th All Time
1860 RBI is 11th All Time
Best season was probably 1934 when he hit 35 HR, 135 RBI, and a .326 avg
Led the league in HR and walks 6 times each
His 511 HR are 23rd All Time

 

[bodiaz]

43. Napoleon Lajoie, 2B Cleveland

career 82 HR, 1599 RBI, .338 avg.


Won 5 AL batting titles in his career

Had one of the best season of All Time in 1901 Leading the league in runs (145), hits (232), doubles (48), HR (14), RBI (125), avg. (.426, highest of All Time), OBP(.463), slg (.643), OPS (1.106), and total bases (350)

His 3242 career hits is 13th All Time

His 657 career doubles is 7th All Time

.338 career avg. is 20th All Time

 

[bodiaz]

42. Oscar Charleston, OF ***** Leagues

Oscar McKinley Charleston (October 14, 1896 - October 5, 1954) was an American center fielder and manager in baseball's ***** Leagues from 1915 to 1945.

Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Charleston joined the Army at 15 and served in the Philippines. After returning to the United States, he immediately began his baseball career with the Indianapolis ABC's in 1915. He served as a player and/or manager for the ABCs, Chicago American Giants, Lincoln Stars, St. Louis Giants, Harrisburg Giants, Philadelphia Hilldales, Homestead Grays, and Pittsburgh Crawfords.

An intense, focused, and intelligent man, Charleston was among the most renowned players of his time, a tremendous power and contact hitter and one of the finest defensive center fielders of all-time. His career batting average was .348,[1] and he regularly finished among league leaders in both home runs and stolen bases. He was also known for his combative nature, getting into many brawls, including at least one memorable fight with an array of Cuban soldiers.

In 1932, Charleston became player-manager of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and presided over what some baseball historians consider the best ***** League team ever. His roster included Hall of Famers Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige, and Judy Johnson. The team went 99-36, and Charleston himself batted .363.

In addition to his tremendous play in the ***** Leagues, Charleston excelled in exhibition play against all-white major league teams, batting .318 with 11 home runs in 53 games. Contemporary observers compared his play to that of Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth. [2] Some baseball historians consider him one of the greatest players in history.[3] He died at age 57 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Charleston was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976. In 1999, he was ranked #67 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, one of five players so honored who played all or most of their careers in pre-1947 black leagues. He was also nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Baseball writer Bill James, in his The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, ranked Charleston as the fourth-best player of all-time

 

[bodiaz]

41. Ken Griffey Jr., OF, Seattle

career 630 HR, 1836 RBI, .284 avg (active)

1997 AL MVP with 56 HR, 147 RBI, .304 avg
Won all 10 Gold Gloves in the 90's
13 time All Star, 10 time Gold Glove, 7 time Silver Slugger
His 630 career HR ranks 5th All Time
HIs 5271 total bases ranks 12th All Time

 

[donrusscrusademan]

41. Ken Griffey Jr., OF, Seattle

career 630 HR, 1836 RBI, .284 avg (active)

1997 AL MVP with 56 HR, 147 RBI, .304 avg
Won all 10 Gold Gloves in the 90's
13 time All Star, 10 time Gold Glove, 7 time Silver Slugger
His 630 career HR ranks 5th All Time
HIs 5271 total bases ranks 12th All Time

someones going to attack you on this pick lol :lol:

 

[bodiaz]

40. Cy Young, Pitcher Cleveland/Boston

career 511 Wins, 316 losses, 2.63 ERA

All Time leader in wins, losses, gs, cg, ip, hits, and earned runs
Won 30+ games 5 times in his career
His best season may have been 1892 when he had 36 wins, 12 losses, 1.93 ERA, 9 shutouts and a WHIP of 1.062

Had 40+ CG in a season 9 times
Threw 400+ innings 5 times

 

[bodiaz]

41. Ken Griffey Jr., OF, Seattle

career 630 HR, 1836 RBI, .284 avg (active)

1997 AL MVP with 56 HR, 147 RBI, .304 avg
Won all 10 Gold Gloves in the 90's
13 time All Star, 10 time Gold Glove, 7 time Silver Slugger
His 630 career HR ranks 5th All Time
HIs 5271 total bases ranks 12th All Time

someones going to attack you on this pick lol :lol:

Please explain?

 

[bodiaz]

39. Rube Foster, Pitcher ***** Leagues

Andrew "Rube" Foster (September 17, 1879 - December 9, 1930) was an American baseball player, manager, and pioneer executive in the ***** Leagues. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Foster, cosidered by historians to have been perhaps the best African-American pitcher of the 1900s, also founded and managed the Chicago American Giants, one of the most successful black baseball teams of the pre-integration era. Most notably, he organized the ***** National League, the first long-lasting professional league for African-American ballplayers, which operated from 1920 to 1931.

Foster adopted his longtime nickname, "Rube", as his official middle name later in life.


Early years
Foster was born in Calvert, Texas[1] on September 17, 1879. His father, also named Andrew, was a reverend and elder of the local American Methodist Episcopal Church.[2] Foster started his professional career with the Waco Yellow Jackets, an independent black team, in 1897. Over the next few years he gradually built up a reputation among white and black fans alike, until he was signed by Frank Leland's Chicago Union Giants, a team in the top ranks of black baseball, in 1902. After a slump, he was released, and signed with a white semipro team based in Otsego, Michigan - Bardeen's Otsego Independents. According to Phil Dixon's American Baseball Chronicles: Great Teams, The 1905 Philadelphia Giants, Volume III "In completing the summer of 1902 with Otsego’s multi-ethnic team––the only multi-race team he would ever regularity perform––Foster is reported to have pitched twelve games. He finished with a documented record of eight wins and four loses along with eighty-two documented strikeouts. Ironically, strikeout totals for five games which he appeared were not recorded. If found the totals would likely show that Foster struck out more than one-hundred batters for Otsego. In the seven games where details exist, Foster average eleven strikeouts per outing." Toward the end of the season he joined the Cuban X-Giants of Philadelphia, perhaps the best team in black baseball. The 1903 season saw Foster establish himself as the X-Giants' pitching star. In a post-season series for the eastern black championship, the X-Giants defeated Sol White's Philadelphia Giants five games to two, with Foster himself winning four games.

Now a star, Foster jumped to the Philadelphia Giants in the off-season. Legend has it that John McGraw, manager of the New York Giants, hired Foster to teach the young Christy Mathewson the "fadeaway," or screwball, though historians have cast this story in doubt. During the 1904 season, Foster won 20 games against all competition (including two no-hitters) and lost six. In a rematch with Foster's old team, the Cuban X-Giants, he won two games and batted .400 in leading the Philadelphia Giants to the black championship. According to legend, Foster appropriated the nickname "Rube" for himself after defeating star Philadelphia Athletics left-hander Rube Waddell 5 to 2 in a postseason exhibition game; however, a newspaper story in the Trenton (NJ) Times from July 26, 1904 referred to Foster as "Rube", indicating that he acquired his nickname earlier and from some other source than the meeting with Waddell.

In 1905, Foster (by his own account several years later) compiled a fantastic record of 51-4, though recent research has confirmed only a 25-3 record. He led the Giants to another championship series victory, this time over the Brooklyn Royal Giants. The Philadelphia Telegraph wrote that "Foster has never been equalled in a pitcher's box." The following season, the Philadelphia Giants helped form the International League of Independent Professional Ball Players, composed of both all-black and all-white teams in the Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, areas. The Giants won the pennant.

Leland Giants
In 1907, Foster's manager Sol White published his Official Baseball Guide: History of Colored Baseball, with Foster contributing an article on "How to Pitch." However, before the season began, he and several other stars (including, most importantly, the outfielder Pete Hill) left the Philadelphia Giants for the Chicago Leland Giants, with Foster named playing manager. Under his leadership, the Lelands won 110 games (including 48 straight) and lost only ten, and took the Chicago City League pennant. The following season the Lelands tied a national championship series with the Philadelphia Giants, each team winning three games.

Foster suffered a broken leg in July, 1909, but rushed himself back into the lineup in time for an October exhibition series against the Chicago Cubs. Foster, pitching the second game, squandered a 5-2 lead in the ninth inning, then lost the game on a controversial play when a Cubs runner stole home while Foster was arguing with the umpire. The Lelands lost the series, three games to nothing. The Lelands also lost the unofficial western black championship to the St. Paul Colored Gophers.

In 1910, Foster wrested legal control of the team from its founder, Frank Leland. He proceeded to put together the team he later considered his finest. He signed John Henry Lloyd away from the Philadelphia Giants; along with Hill, second baseman Grant Johnson, catcher Bruce Petway, and pitchers Frank Wickware and Pat Dougherty, Lloyd sparked the Lelands to a 123-6 record (with Foster himself contributing a 13-2 record on the mound).

Chicago American Giants
The following season Foster established a partnership with John Schorling, the son-in-law of Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey. The White Sox had just moved into Comiskey Park, and Schorling arranged for Foster's team to use the vacated South Side Park, at 39th and Wentworth. Settling into their new home (now called Schorling's Park), the Lelands became the Chicago American Giants. For the next four seasons, the American Giants claimed the western black baseball championship, though they lost a 1913 series to the Lincoln Giants for the national championship.

By 1915 Foster's first serious rival in the midwest had emerged: C. I. Taylor's Indianapolis ABCs, who claimed the western championship after defeating the American Giants four games to none in July. One of the victories was a forfeit called after a brawl between the two teams broke out. After the series, Foster and Taylor engaged in a public dispute about that game and the championship. In 1916, both teams again claimed the western title. The continued wrangling led to calls for a black baseball league to be formed, but Foster, Taylor, and the other major clubs in the midwest were unable to come to any agreement.

By this time, Foster was pitching very little, compiling only a 2-2 record in 1915. His last recorded outing on the mound was in 1917; from this time he became purely a bench manager. As a manager and team owner, Foster was a disciplinarian. He asserted control over every aspect of the game, and set a high standard for personal conduct, appearance, and professionalism among his players. Given Schorling Park's huge dimensions, Foster developed a style of play that emphasized speed, bunting, place hitting, power pitching, and defense. He was also considered a great teacher, and many of his players themselves eventually became managers, including Pete Hill, Bruce Petway, Bingo DeMoss, Dave Malarcher, Sam Crawford, Poindexter Williams, and many others.

In 1919, Foster helped Tenny Blount finance a new club in Detroit, the Stars. He also transferred several of his veteran players there, including Hill, who was to manage the new team, and Petway. He may have been preparing the way for the formation, the following year, of the ***** National League (NNL).

***** National League
In 1920, Foster, Taylor, and the owners of six other midwestern clubs met in the spring to form a professional baseball circuit for African-American teams. Foster, as president, controlled league operations, while remaining owner and manager of the American Giants. He was periodically accused of favoring his own team, especially in matters of scheduling (the Giants in the early years tended to have a disproportionate number of home games) and personnel: Foster seemed able to acquire whatever talent he needed from other clubs, such as Jimmie Lyons, the Detroit Stars' best player in 1920, who was transferred to the American Giants for 1921, or Foster's own younger brother, Bill, who joined the American Giants unwillingly when Rube forced the Memphis Red Sox to give him up in 1926. His critics believed he had organized the league primarily for purposes of booking games for the American Giants. With a stable schedule and reasonably solvent opponents, Foster was able to improve receipts at the gate. It is also true that when opposing clubs lost money, he was known to help them meet payroll, sometimes out of his own pocket.

His American Giants won the new league's first three pennants, before being overtaken by the Kansas City Monarchs in 1923. In the same year the Hilldale Club and Bacharach Giants, the most important eastern clubs, pulled out of an agreement with the NNL and founded their own league, the Eastern Colored League (ECL). The ECL raided the older circuit for players, Foster's own ace pitcher Dave Brown among them. Eventually the two leagues reached an agreement to respect one another's contracts, and to play a world series.

 

[bodiaz]

38. Ernie Banks, SS-1B Chicago (NL)

career 512 HR, 1636 RBI, .274 avg.

1958 NL MVP with 47 HR, 129 RBI, .313 avg., and .614 slg %
1959 NL MVP with 45 HR, 143 RBI, .304 avg, and 20 Intentional BB
14 time All Star, also won a Gold Glove at SS in 1960
198 career IBB is 14th All Time
512 HR is 21st All Time

 

[bodiaz]

37. Yogi Berra, Catcher New York (AL)

career 358 HR, 1430 RBI, .285 avg.

1951 AL MVP with 27 HR, 88 RBI, .294 avg.
1954 AL MVP with 22 HR, 125 RBI, .307 avg.
1955 AL MVP with 27 HR, 108 RBI, .272 avg.
10 World Series champion rings as a player, 3 more as a coach
18 time All Star

 

[bodiaz]

36. Cal Ripken, SS Baltimore

career 431 HR, 1695 RBI, .276 avg.

Played in 2632 consecutive games, 1st All Time
1983 AL MVP with 27 HR, 102 RBI, .318 avg., and 121 Runs scored
1991 AL MVP with 34 HR, 114 RBI, .323 avg., and 368 total bases
1982 AL ROY with 28 HR, 93 RBI, .264 avg.
19 time All Star, 8 time Silver Slugger, 2 time Gold Glove

 

[jbone17]

Wait, so 39 is a tie? You have Foster, then Ernie Banks. Shouldn't Banks be 38, Berra 37, and Ripken 36?

 

[bodiaz]

Wait, so 39 is a tie? You have Foster, then Ernie Banks. Shouldn't Banks be 38, Berra 37, and Ripken 36?

Fixed it, thanks.

 

[jbone17]

Wait, so 39 is a tie? You have Foster, then Ernie Banks. Shouldn't Banks be 38, Berra 37, and Ripken 36?

Fixed it, thanks.

No prob. I like your list so far.

 

[bodiaz]

35. Nolan Ryan, Pitcher California/Houston

career 324 wins, 292 losses, 3.19 ERA

All Time strikeout king with 5714
7 No hitters ranks 1st All Time
324 career wins ranks 14th All Time
5386 innings pitched ranks 5th All Time
61 shutouts ranks 7th All Time

 

[bodiaz]

34. Warren Spahn, Pitcher Milwaukee

career 363 wins, 245 losses, 3.09 ERA

363 wins is 6th All Time
1957 Cy Young winner with 21 wins, 11 losses, 2.69 ERA and 18 complete games
Won 20+ games 13 times, and led the league 8 times
17 time All Star
63 shutouts is 6th All Time

 

[bodiaz]

33. Pop Llyod, Shortstop, ***** Leagues

John Henry "Pop" Lloyd (April 25, 1884 - March 19, 1964) was an American baseball player and manager in the ***** Leagues. He is generally considered the greatest shortstop in ***** League history, and both Babe Ruth and Ted Harlow, a noted sportswriter, reportedly believed Lloyd to be the greatest baseball player ever.

He was a heavy hitter, usually batting cleanup during his prime, but also knew how to play "inside baseball," and was an expert place-hitter and bunter. Lloyd was also a renowned shortstop, ranked by most experts as second only to Dick Lundy among black shortstops before integration, and was referred to as the "Black Wagner," a reference to Pittsburgh Pirates Hall-of-Famer Honus Wagner. (On Lloyd, Wagner said "It's an honor to be compared to him." Known for his gentlemanly conduct, Lloyd was probably the most sought-after African-American player of his generation. "Wherever the money was, that's where I was," he once said. His career record bears this out, showing him constantly moving from team to team.




[edit] Biography
Born in Palatka, Florida, Lloyd began his professional baseball career in 1905, playing catcher for the Acmes of Macon, Georgia. He played second base with the Cuban X Giants of Philadelphia in 1906. The following season, Sol White signed him for the X Giants' arch rivals, the Philadelphia Giants, and moved him to shortstop, where he would remain through the bulk of his career. In 1910, Lloyd accepted Rube Foster's invitation to join the Chicago Leland Giants, where he anchored a team that Foster described as the greatest of all time. He rejoined White on the newly-organized Lincoln Giants in 1911, batting .475 against all competition. Lloyd took over as player manager for 1912 and 1913, and in the latter year the Lincolns defeated the Chicago American Giants in a playoff series to become the undisputed champions of black baseball.

In 1914, Lloyd travelled west again to play for the American Giants. He split the 1915 season between the New York-based Lincoln Stars and the American Giants, then spent all of 1916 and 1917 with Foster's team. In 1918, Lloyd served as player manager of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, leaving the club early to work for the Army Quartermaster Depot in Chicago. 1919 saw him join the Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, then 1920 found him back with the Royal Giants.

In 1921, he was hired to organize a new team in Foster's young ***** National League. Lloyd's Columbus Buckeyes were not a notable success, however, on the field or in the box office, finishing seventh in a field of eight, and folded upon season's end. The following year found Lloyd back in the east managing the Bacharach Giants, who had moved to New York City.

When the Eastern Colored League was formed in 1923, Ed Bolden hired Lloyd to manage the Hilldale Club. Lloyd brought home the first ECL pennant by a wide margin, guiding Hilldale to a 32-17 league record. He did not, however, get along with Bolden, and was suspended in early September and fired at the end of the season.[5]1924 saw Lloyd return to the Bacharachs, now based again in Atlantic City. With the brilliant young shortstop Dick Lundy on the roster, the 40-year-old Lloyd moved himself to second base. He hit .444 to win the 1924 ECL batting title, at one point reeling off 11 straight base hits. The Bacharachs, however, were merely average under Lloyd during his two years there, finishing fourth both seasons (with records of 30-29 and 26-27).

The Lincoln Giants, who had finished in last place in 1925, hired Lloyd to manage them for 1926. They improved to fifth (19-22), then played 1927 and most of 1928 as an independent club. It was during the latter season that Lloyd moved himself to first base, while enjoying a fine season at the plate, batting .402 against top black clubs. In 1929, the Lincolns compiled the second-best overall record (40-26) in the American ***** League. Lloyd finished up his career managing the Bacharach Giants in 1931-32, and upon his retirement settled permanently in Atlantic City.

Lloyd played extensively in Cuba, beginning with a 1907 visit to Havana by the Philadelphia Giants. Altogether he spent twelve seasons in the Cuban League from 1908/09 to 1930, batting .329 for his career, and playing on three championship teams (Habana in 1912 and Almendares in 1924/25 and 1925/26). In Cuba he was called La Cuchara, "The Spoon," either due to his practice of scooping up ground balls, or because of his prominent chin.

According to the historian John Holway, Lloyd batted .337 (970 hits in 2881 at bats) in the ***** Leagues. According to a recent study sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame that covers the organized (post-1920) ***** leagues, Lloyd batted .343 with a .450 slugging percentage.[6]

Lloyd was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.