Nolan Arenado /.9718/, 5. The fact is, if I did a cross section of the 100 most respected baseball histoians in the United States, I can almost guarantee you that Mazeroski would show up as the best defensive second baseman in the history of MLB. He was ever so slightly below average. However, that same year, Lind committed a fielding error in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the NLCS that led to a come-from-behind win for the Atlanta Braves. He ranks first in stolen bases; second in games played, plate appearances, triples, and runs; third in batting average; and sixth in RBI. He didnt play much during his final five seasons with the St. Louis Browns, but he still hit over .300 four times. Bottom line: In 2012, Darwin Barney won the Gold Glove Award the first by a Chicago Cubs second baseman since Ryne Sandberg won nine in a row (1983-91). 42. His 2003 and 04 seasons are the most prolific for any second baseman in franchise history. And he did most of it under the most trying of circumstances. 11-20: Here is a list of 10 other second basemen that were in serious contention of taking this 10th spot away from Frisch. He bounced back and forth between playing shortstop and second base throughout his MLB career. Hornsby got a taste of the show in 1915 and was a regular with the Cardinals the following season. The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases. McPhee also recorded 529 putouts in 1886, a Major League record which still stands; no one else is within 40 putouts"-Bill James, respected baseball historian/Godfather of Sabermetrics and the modern rating system, 2002. Bottom line: Joe Panik was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2011 and didnt get called up until the 2014 season. Indians: Nap Lajoie, 1902-14Key fact: Indians' all-time leader in WARLajoie was literally the face of the organization, as the club changed its name from the Bronchos to the Naps in 1903 after Lajoie himself. Frank White was not only the best second baseman in Royals history, he is one of the greatest defensive second baseman in baseball history. It's why he's a top tier Hall of Famer at the position. He was traded to the San Francisco Giants, where he won a World Series in 2010. -- Schoenfield, Teams A two-time Gold Glove winner best known for his defense, Kolten Wong quietly put together the best offensive season of his career in 2022. In fact, other than the pitcher, catcher and shortstop positions, it is probably the most important defensive position on the field. He was also a great World Series performer, winning four titles and hitting .328 in 34 career games. Matt Chapman /.9737/, 4. Rod Carew 5. He was, by far and away, the best defensive second baseman from the 1920s. The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes. I was surprised Ryno didnt make it too. Teams: Colorado Rockies, Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers. Bill Mazeroski (1960s) offensive rating: C -. Bottom line: Jose Oquendo primarily played second base and shortstop, but made at least one appearance at every position during his major league career. He wasn't a failure offensively, but he was certainly below average, unfortunately. We feel its important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. Bottom line: Jamey Carroll played second base, shortstop and third base during a dozen years in the bigs. Your email address will not be published. Unfortunately for Carew, he wouldnt find much post-season success in Anaheim either. By that time, Carew had shifted to first base, where he would remain for the second half of his career. Three years later, he became the first American League second baseman to hit 40 homers in a season, finishing with 42 overall. He'll be . Morgan made his first of ten all-star teams the following season, but it wasnt until he was traded to the Reds in 1971 that his career really took off. Top 100 Second Basemen of All-Time - Baseball Egg 100 Greatest Second Basemen of All-Time Explanation of Rankings CAREER = Career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) adjusted for era. Baseball Best MLB Defensive Players of All Time By Paul Ladewski, updated on March 11, 2020 Old-Time Baseball Photos / Facebook TTO has done more to hurt defense than Daniel Murphy ever could on his worst day. He could run, hit, hit for power, and play stellar defense. 300 games).Its not easy to strongly argue who has been the Braves' best second baseman of all-time. If youre interested in any of the other positions weve covered to date, you can find them and a lot of other great content in the archive. He also won the NL batting title in '16, hitting .348 with a .911 OPS. In 1990, Oquendo recorded just three errors while playing in 150 games. 1. Hometown fans wildly threw their giveaway seat cushions on the field in celebration. Former Yankees captains on what awaits Aaron Judge, Angelos says Orioles staying put, scolds reporter, Sources: Cubs, 1B Mancini agree on 2-year deal, Padres give 16-year-old catching prospect $5.6M, Jays bullpen coach Buschmann stepping down, Alonso: Mets on the brink of something special, Cubs to honor Sandberg, who sees issue for Sosa. He was a World Champion and the NL MVP in both seasons. Bottom line: A three-time All-Star, Ben Zobrist is a well-rounded utility player. Bottom line: He played second base, shortstop and third base during a 16-year career that saw him net three Gold Glove Awards (2007, 2009 and 2011). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Phillies top 5 >, Brewers: Jim Gantner, 1976-92Key fact: No. Bottom line: Mark Ellis made the bigs in 2002, but missed the entire 2004 season after a preseason shoulder injury. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Cano won five silver sluggers and went to eight all-star games altogether, and even chipped in a couple of gold gloves. Neither of them had short careers, but they didn't have long ones either. And boy could he play defense. Why Jeff Kent belongs in the Hall. 3. Thursday brings the Top 10 infielders by position of all time, followed by pitchers and catchers on Friday. The most decorated second baseman of all-time, Sandberg has won more Silver Slugger Awards (7) than anyone at the position to date, beginning with his 1984 NL MVP-winning campaign in which he hit . Oh, and he could hit, too, as his .316/.369/.432 slash line illustrates. Philadelphia A's (1906-14, '27-30), Chicago White Sox ('15-26), Championships Eddie Collins debuted with the As just five seasons after Nap LaJoies jump. A player with no weakness in his game. 1 -- St. Louis Cardinals (1926), Career stats If you want to know how bad things got, over Kilian's first nine starts in Iowa, he went 2-0 with a 2.06 ERA. He was a three-time All-Star, won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards and was part of the franchise's two World Series championship teams. Somehow, a quiet top-tier Hall-of-Fame second baseman because he was Ted Williams' teammate in Boston. The next four seasons were magical for Morgan, especially 1975 and 1976. After retiring, he became a minor league coach and worked his way up to be first-base coach for the Phillies in 2015. Frisch went to four more World Series with St. Louis, this time coming out on top in the latter two. Twins top 5 >, White Sox: Nellie Fox, 1950-63Key fact: Won 1959 AL MVP AwardA strong and accurate case could be made for Fox or Eddie Collins as the top White Sox second baseman, and while Collins overall numbers are a little better, its Fox who gets the nod for having made a greater impact on the franchise overall. In 1996, Morandini excelled in the field, participating in 87 double plays while making just six errors good for a .990 fielding percentage. The first is Bobby Grich. Bottom line: Brandon Phillips was an All-Star three times, and over a long major league career, he won four Gold Glove Awards and one Silver Slugger Award. Teams: Boston Red Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants. Do you want big names? Ozzie Albies might soon be considered the franchises best. -- Scott Lauber, ESPN.com Red Sox reporter, Second basemen aren't supposed to be great. And in 2019, he won his first World Series ring, with the Nationals. 8. In 2008, he was the AL MVP and won the Silver Slugger Award. 1. History unblurred. Also in 2001, Counsell was named the MVP of the NLCS. Here we go. I will list them in order, from oldest to newest: Fred Dunlap (1880s), Nap Lajoie (1900s), Lonny Frey (1940s), Eddie Mayo (1940s), Gil McDougald (1950s), Jackie Robinson (1950s), Red Schoendienst (1950s), Fernando Vina (1990s), Craig Counsell (2000s)and Pokey Reese (2000s), 9. Philadelphia Phillies (1981), Chicago Cubs ('82-94, '96-97), Honors -- Tristan Cockcroft, ESPN.com senior writer, Honors But he was immediately fired, beaten over the head with wiffle ball bats and called names because of it. Give me a break, he has so damn many of them now, who can keep them all straight? The other two are Cupid Childs (1890s) and Hardy Richardson (1880s). Teams: Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs. Let's begin with the long ball. Alomar was decorated with many honors during his career, including 12 all-star selections, four silver sluggers, and ten gold gloves. The Little General retired in 1984 with a career OBP of .392. Following his MLB career, Dauer spent 19 seasons as a pro coach and won the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros as a first-base coach. His long career puts him high in the record books among second basemen. He was the AL second baseman in the first six All-Star Games, when he was already in his 30s. Big numbers? My candidates for the best defensive right fielder of all time are: Roberto Clemente (12 gold gloves) Dwight Evans (8 gold gloves) Al Kaline (10 gold gloves) Ichiro Suzuki (10 gold gloves) Larry Walker (7 gold gloves) Dave Winfield (7 gold gloves) Mookie Betts (5 gold gloves) Jason Heyward (5 gold gloves) Jesse Barfield (2 gold gloves, cannon arm) -- Rob Peterson, ESPN.com senior MLB editor, Teams What MLB insiders are saying about Shohei Ohtani, Sources: Mets, OF Pham agree to 1-yr, $6M deal, Reports: Brewers ink ex-Marlins IF/OF Anderson, Deal merges Ripken, Cooperstown youth baseball, Sources: Red Sox, Duvall agree to 1-yr., $7M deal, A's formally welcome ex-Japanese star Fujinami, Mets GM: Lineup deep even after losing Correa, Thomas, Pirates star and original Met, dies at 93, Who will get traded? He currently writes for FantasyPros and Pitcher List and will vehemently defend the validity of the Dodgers' 60-game season championship. 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