The 25 Second Basemen With the Best Careers

Here are the 25 second basemen who had the best careers during the 20th century (as measured by the NEWS HOF Gauge).

For a second baseman, a NEWS score of 260 is required to say that he has obvious HOF numbers.  There are thirteen second basemen who posted these numbers.  However, as I will explain below, there is one other second baseman who has HOF numbers by virtue of a short but great career.  This means that there are fourteen second basemen with HOF numbers according to the NEWS Gauge.  Keep in mind that a player may not have obvious HOF numbers but may still be a deserving Hall of Famer for other reasons.

All numbers include the 2007 season.
Bold print = Hall of Famer
Italic = active player in 2008
CWS = Career Win Shares
CV  =  Core Value (sum of win shares for 10 best seasons)
NEWS = Career Value  =  CV  +  .25(CWS – CV)

The Second Basemen with Hall of Fame Numbers (NEWS = 260)

How is it that Jackie Robinson(who did not reach the 260 benchmark) is listed as having HOF numbers?  It is because the NEWS Gauge recognizes that there are a fewposition players (very few) who had short but exceptional careers.  Consider this: there are only eleven position playersin the 20th century who achieved a NEWS score of 255 in a career of fewer than 1800 games – and every one of them is in the Hall of Fame.  The NEWS Gauge says they definitely have HOF numbers.  Jackie Robinson is one of these players.  Here are the others: Joe DiMaggio, Elmer Flick, Earl Averill, Hank Greenberg, Lou Boudreau, Larry Doby, Kirby Puckett, Bill Terry, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey.

As all fans know, Robinson’s contribution to the game in leading the integration of major league baseball in 1947 is perhaps his greatest achievement.  But it is significant to note that he is not in the Hall of Fame for this accomplishment alone.  His numbers show that he was indeed a great ballplayer and his numbers alone would justify his enshrinement at Cooperstown.

Of the fourteen second basemen with obvious HOF numbers, only nine are already in the Hall of Fame: Eddie Collins, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Morgan, Nap Lajoie, Charlie Gehringer, Ryne Sandberg, Rod Carew, Frankie Frischand Jackie Robinson.  And in my view, Roberto Alomarand Craig Biggioshould be easy choices for the Hall when they become eligible.

Jeff Kentis still active and will improve on his numbers.  But will that be enough to get him elected to the Hall when he is eligible?  We can only wait and see.

But what of Bobby Grichand Lou Whitaker?  Grich was on the HOF ballot for only one year (1992) when he received only eleven votes or 2.6%.  A similar fate befell Whitaker.  He also was on the ballot for only one year (2001) when he received fifteen votes or 2.9%.  It is difficult to understand how these two outstanding second basemen could have been treated so badly – but then Hall of Fame voting is sometimes very difficult to fathom.

Eddie Collinsand Rogers Hornsbyare easily the best second basemen to ever play the game.  Only thirteen position players in the 20th century have a NEWS score better than 400 and these two are among them.

Note that five of these fourteen second basemen played during the first half of the century and eight during the second half – with Jackie Robinson straddling the mid-century mark.

The Other Second Basemen among the Top 25

Here are the other players that I have found who are among the top 25 second basemen of the 20th century.  There is a tie among three players for 25th place so there are thirteen players on this list.

The names of Larry Doyle, Buddy Myer and Del Pratt will probably be virtually unknown to all but the most ardent of fans.  And many may question the inclusion of Chuck Knoblauch among the top 25 second basemen of the century.  But that is the beauty of this sort of research – every so often, a surprise pops up.

And here is the only second baseman who is in the Hall of Fame who did not make the list of the top 25.  Of course, there are those who consider Bill Mazeroski to be the best fielding second baseman of all time and deserving of the Hall for that reason alone.

As you can see, there are seven second basemen in the Hall of Fame who do not appear to have HOF numbers (NEWS = 260): Nellie Fox, Billy Herman, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Evers, Tony Lazzeri, Red Schoendienst and Bill Mazeroski.  Of these, both Fox (258) and Herman (257) were very close to the NEWS benchmark.

Joe Gordon was on the ballot for the 2007 Veteran’s Committee but he received only 12% of the vote.  This would usually mean that he would have virtually no chance of being elected.  However, for some reason, he is one of only ten players selected to be on the “Pre-1943” Veteran’s Committee ballot in 2009 – so, we will have to see if that will make any difference to his chances.  In any case, he does not seem to have HOF numbers.

For more information on the NEWS HOF Gauge, see BASEBALL’S BEST: The TRUE Hall of Famers on this site.