10 Greatest Players (Non-Pitchers)

1. Babe Ruth was the greatest all-around player ever to play the game. Everyone notices him for his hitting, not for his pitching. Babe Ruth is said to save baseball after the scandel with the White Sox. He helped the New York Yankees to four world championships. It was right then that he got the nickname Murderes Row. The Babe was inducted in 1936 with a .342 BA, 2,873 hits, 714 home runs, and 2,211 RBIs.
	2. Lou Gehrig is a very well known player. He was called the Iron Man with his streak of 2,130 consecutive games, a record only broken once by Cal Ripken, Jr. His farewell speech is one of the tops known speeches today. In it he said that he would leave the game he loved because of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at the age of 35. He died at the age of 37 after winning the 1927 MVP. He was inducted in 1939 with a .340 batting average, 2,721 hits, 493 home runs, and 1,990 RBIs.
3. Ty Cobb is one of the greatest pure-hitters ever to live. He was known for his great temper, outrageous statements, and his racism and bigotry. He won the Triple Crown in 1909 with a .377 BA and 107 RBIs. He had great speed with 892 career-stolen bases. Ty hit above .400 three times, and has the highest career batting average of .367, which is said never to be broken. Cobb was inducted in 1936 with a .367 BA, 4,191 hits, 892 stolen bases, and 1,961 RBIs.
	4. Joe DiMaggio was a shy man on and off the field while always avoiding public. He has one amazing record, which is a 56 game hitting streak. He won 3 MVP titles with a high of a .381 BA in one of his seasons. He was more of a contact hitter than power, but still got his home runs. His most strikeouts in a season were 39 and once he had only 13. Joe was out for three years for serving in the army. He led the Yankees to 9 world championships in his thirteen seasons. DiMaggio was inducted in 1955 with a .325 BA, 2,214 hits, 361 home runs, and 1,537 RBIs.
5. Willie Mays was an average hitter, had great power, was great around the bases, and was probably the best fielder ever to play the game. Everyone knows him for the catch he made in the1954 World Series, which most people think, was the greatest catch ever in history. Mays is number 3 on the home run list (soon to be broken by Barry Bonds) with 660 dingers and won the Gold Glove award seven times in a row (the first seven years the trophy was awarded). Willie was inducted in 1979 with a .302 BA, 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, and 523 doubles.
	6. Stan Musial was the first National League player to win three MVP awards. He was a pitcher in the minors but that ended when he injured his left shoulder diving for a ball. Stan "The Man" Musial was a spectacular triple hitter and won batting crowns from 1950 to 1952. Musial was voted the player of the decade in 1956 in the period from 1946 to 1956. Stan was inducted in 1969 with a .331 BA, 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 RBIs.
7. Roger Hornsby isn’t that well known for being one of the best baseball players ever to play the game. His achievements in batting from 1921 to 1925 may be the best ever. In that period, 2,679 at bats and about 700 games, Hornsby averaged a .402 BA. Also in that period of time he had two batting crowns. He got the reputation of being a slugger by hitting up to 42 homers a season. He did better than Ty Cobb did in this time. His fielding as a second baseman was also very amazing. Roger was inducted in 1942 with a .358 BA, 2,930 hits, 301 home runs, and 1584 RBIs.
	8. Ted Williams was an average hitter but always tried to perfect his performance at the plate. He didn’t win a lot of MVP awards because of his coldness to the media. Ted did win two Triple Crown awards and missed another by .0002. 4 times he led the league in home runs and RBIs and 9 times in slugging percentage. He won the batting crown seven times and even at the age of 38, he maintained a .388 BA. Williams said one time that he wanted to be known as the greatest hitter known in the world. He was inducted in 1960 with a .344 BA, 2,654 hits, 521 home runs, and 1,839 RBIs.
9. Mickey Mantle hit the longest ball ever to be hit in Yankee Stadium during the 1961 home run race with Roger Maris. He was best friends with other baseball legends Yogi Berra and Billy Martin. When he came up as a rookie, everyone thought that he would be the next Joe DiMaggio. He won the Triple Crown and led the league in batting many years. He was also a great fielder and won many MVPs. Mantle was forced to retire when injuries came about. He was inducted in 1974 with a .298 BA, 2,415 hits, 536 home runs, and 1,509 RBIs.
	10. Honus Wagner led the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the pennant in 1902 and that’s when they started to play him at shortstop. If there were a Gold Glove award at this time, Honus would have won it. Wagner was a league leader in every offensive department except for home runs and walks and when he retired, he had the record for most hits, runs, total bases, RBIs, and stolen bases. Wagner was inducted in 1936 with a .327 BA, 3,418 hits, 722 stolen bases, and 1,732 RBIs.