The 25 Shortstops With the Best Careers

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

For a shortstop, a NEWS score of 250 is required to say that he has obvious HOF numbers.  There are seventeen shortstops who posted these numbers.  The only other position that has more players with HOF numbers is left field (with eighteen).

Please keep in mind that a player may not have obvious HOF numbersbut 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 Shortstops with Hall of Fame Numbers (NEWS = 250)

As the numbers indicate, Honus Wagneris in a league of his own as far as shortstops are concerned.  If Alex Rodriguezcontinues to play at the rate that he has so far in his career, there is a slight possibility that he might challenge Honus as the #1 shortstop of all time – although that is a real longshot.

Twelve of these seventeen shortstops are in the Hall of Fame.  And ARod and Derek Jetershould be first round choices when they become eligible.  I also think that Barry Larkinwill be elected by the writers within his first few years of eligibility.

Bill Dahlenhas been overlooked for years.  He was not even on the ballot for the Veteran’s Committee in 2007.  You will notice that he has 394 career win shares and every player with 400 is in the Hall of Fame.  Happily, those who chose the “Pre-1943” candidates for the Veterans ballot in 2008 recognized his accomplishments and have included him.  Hopefully, he will be elected this year.

That would leave only Alan Trammellas a retired shortstop with HOF numbers but with very little chance of being elected to the Hall any time soon.  He was still on the BBWAA ballot in 2007 but he got only 18% of the vote – so, his chances do not look good.

It is interesting to note the balance in era of these players.  Eight of these seventeen outstanding shortstops played the bulk of their careers before 1950 and eight played during the second half of the century – while Pee Wee Reese essentially straddled the mid-century mark.

The Other Shortstops in the Top 25

Here are the other eight players who ranked among the top 25 shortstops of the century in terms of career value.

Three of these players are already in the Hall of Fame: Joe Sewell, Dave Bancroftand Rabbit Maranville.

Tony Fernandezwas on the 2007 BBWAA ballot but got only 1% of the vote so he will not appear there again.  Dave Concepcionwas on the 2008 BBWAA ballot and got 16% of the vote but his numbers are not as good as Fernandez.

It does not appear that either of these players has any real chance of election to the Hall.

There were also three shortstops on the 2007 Veteran’s Committee ballot.  Maury Willsgot 40.2% of the vote – a respectable showing.  He is also on the “After-1943” Veterans Committee ballot for 2008 – but his numbers do not really merit serious consideration.

Cecil Travisand Marty Marion(see below) did not come close to our top 25 but were also on the 2007 Veterans ballot.  They got 14.6% and 13.4%, respectively, and appear to have no chance of being elected to the Hall.

Finally, here are four other shortstops who are in the Hall of Fame but who did not make it into the top 25.

Whether any of these four shortstops really belongs in the Hall of Fame is, of course, a matter of continuing debate among fans of the game.

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