The Mount Rushmore of Sports – Baseball

Candidates for the mountain (alphabetical order): Henry Aaron, Lefty Grove, Greg Maddux, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Honus Wagner

You may notice that this list is composed mostly of players that completed their careers 50+ years ago. This is due to the following: 1) Until the mid 1950s at least, baseball was the sport in the US. The vast majority of the best professional athletes played baseball in those days since it was the dominant American sport. So you have to give weight to that. Conversely, I will give added weight to football and basketball players who have played from the 1970s on, 2) I just can’t include players who have either admitted to or have been credibly accused of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). This takes Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens out of the discussion. Greg Maddux, to my knowledge, has not been accused of using PEDs, 3) I haven’t followed baseball closely for at least 15 years, thus, if there are any recent players who should be considered, I suppose I don’t know enough about them. And I am limiting my selections to players who have either retired or are nearing the end of their careers (thus no Shohei Ohtani yet). I also want to give credit to the ESPN website, from which I got almost all of the stats. Now on to the selections:

Henry Aaron: As most of you know, he retired as the all-time home run leader (and still is considered to be by many since only Barry Bonds has hit more). But he also scored over 2000 runs, hit over 600 doubles, had a .305 lifetime batting average and a .375 on base percentage, and was a good outfielder. In addition, he never had a bad year until he was 40. He was also a credit to the game. Pretty deserving I would say.

Lefty Grove: Although I disagree with the premise that pitching more important than offense, I felt that there are pitchers that have had enough of an impact to be considered among the greatest players ever. And it is my opinion that Lefty Grove was probably the greatest pitcher ever. He won 300 games in the majors, including 7 straight seasons of 20 or more games. And he won 30 games once and 24 or more 5 other times. He led the AL in ERA 9 times, including at ages 38 and 39 pitching as a lefthander in Fenway Park. All this work was accomplished in hitters’ parks (Philadelphia and Boston). And he didn’t get to begin his major league career until he was 25 because he was the property of the Baltimore Orioles, one of the best minor league teams of all-time (minor league teams were independent at that stage), and a team that likely could have competed at the major league level. In the 5 years he pitched in Baltimore, he was 108-36. Had he gotten to the majors at age 22, he likely would have won over 350 games. Wow.

Greg Maddux: A modern-day pitcher, and an amazing one at that. His yearly win totals don’t look as impressive as some of the older pitchers, but this is because he pitched mostly in a 5-man rotation. And because he didn’t pitch 300 innings per year, he was an outstanding pitcher for almost 20 years. He won 20 games only twice, but he won 19 games 4 times (including 19-2 in 1995), 18 twice, and 15 or more an incredible 17 years straight. Again, he pitched in the 2 best hitters’ parks for most of his career (Chicago and Atlanta). With 355 wins, his place among the greatest ever is obvious.

Willie Mays: Arguably the most complete baseball player ever. He was terrific at everything. He hit for average and for power, stole bases, and was a great centerfielder with an excellent arm. Many people know that Willie hit 660 home runs, but most forget that he missed 1952 and 53 due to military service. If he had played during those years and hit 55 home runs, he would have been the first to break Babe Ruth’s record. Given that in 1951, his rookie year, he hit 20 home runs in 121 games, and in 1954 he hit 41 home runs, I think it is certainly not a stretch that he would have hit at least 55 taters in those 2 intervening years. Sadly, he won only 2 MVP awards; he probably should have won 5 or 6. ‘Nuff said.

Jackie Robinson: This one may be a bit of a surprise to some, but there is a reason his number is posted on every stadium wall and a stamp was made in his honor. He was a great player in general; someone who won Rookie of the Year and MVP and led his team to 6 World series and 1 World Championship. But, in my opinion, there is no athlete that had to perform under more difficult conditions and more pressure than did Jackie (carrying an entire race on his shoulders). Very, very few human beings could have put up with the abuse and racism that he did, and not only did he survive, but he thrived. Another thing many don’t realize is that as a second baseman, his defensive stats are among the best ever. He didn’t get to play in the majors until he was 28, and he still managed to hit .313 with an on-base percentage of .410. A great ballplayer and a remarkable human being.

Babe Ruth: Although many still regard Ruth as the greatest player ever, in some ways, I think he is actually underrated. Casual baseball fans think of Ruth as a big guy who did nothing but swing for the fences. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. For one thing, he originally was a pitcher and a damn good one. He won 18, 23, and 24 games in his first 3 full seasons before they started to wean him off of the mound to concentrate on batting. This may have been a mistake. Imagine if either the Red Sox or Yankees moved Ruth to first base and let him start 20 games a year throughout the 1920s. Maybe he would have hit a few fewer homers (although he hit quite well when he was a pitcher), but he could have easily hit 600 homers and won over 200 games as a pitcher. He could have been Ohtani 100 years before Ohtani. Also, Babe was a trailblazer in that he was the first player to concentrate on home runs. When he hit 54 dingers in 1920, the first year of the modern baseball, that was more than any other team hit. Think about that. Oh, and he also had a career batting average of .342 and an on-base percentage of ,474. The only knock is that he played a segregated game, but that wasn’t his fault, and he dominated unlike any other player.

Ted Williams: He has a credible case as the greatest hitter ever (maybe even over The Babe). His career BA and OBA are actually a smidge higher than Ruth’s (.344 and .482, respectively). And as great as his numbers were, he missed 3 prime years (ages 25 – 27) serving our country during WWII. If he had played those years, he would have hit over 600 homers. It’s true that he didn’t pay too much attention to fielding, and he was a grouch, but he hit .388 at age 38 and led the league in BA and OBA at age 39. His personality and lack of postseason appearances hold him back a bit, but he most definitely is in the conversation for the mountain.

Honus Wagner: He played in the deadball era, so his power numbers don’t compare to the other players, but he was as dominant, relative to his league, as anyone who ever played. He hit 643 doubles and 252 triples, excellent totals even for the era. He was also considered to be the best defensive shortstop in baseball during most of his career. His 1908 season, where he led the league in batting, on-base percentage, slugging percentage (all by wide margins), doubles, triples, stolen bases, and RBIs, is probably one of the 3 greatest seasons ever, and he had others that were nearly as good. He is somewhat forgotten because he played so long ago, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is one of the 5 best players that ever played.

My one regret in compiling this list is that I didn’t include anyone who played all or almost all of his career in the Negro leagues. Based on what I do know, it would be totally reasonable to nominate Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, or Satchel Paige as candidates for the mountain. Bill James had Charleston and Gibson in his Top 10 of all-time in the 2001 version of his Historical Abstract, and I respect his opinion immensely, but due to my lack of knowledge, it would have kind of been a guess from my perspective.

#Mt. Rushmore

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