Top 100 Baseball Players / Best Teams of All Time

Top 100 Players / Best Teams of All-Time

I recently finished updating that list of the greatest players of all time. Only 25 people voted this time, but a much more knowledgeable group of people than the 47 voters from the last one, which was 4 years ago. This time each voter gave me their top 50 players of all time, ranked in order. Last time it was a top 40. I only ranked players who were listed on at least two of the voters' lists, so it came out to the top 91 players of all time, plus honorable mentions at the end.

Also included is the original project I did a couple of years ago. I got a bunch of baseball historians (47 guys in all) to each list who they felt were the top 40 best baseball players of all time. Bill James, several other respected SABR members, and various additional historians participated. The point totals were added up similar to the MVP vote, 1 point for #40, 2 pts. for #39, etc... I was looking for a top 100 players of all time list, but ended up with the top 97 players, as I did not put anybody on the final list unless they had been mentioned at least twice in the voting by the participants. Anyone who played Major League or Negro League baseball was eligible, including those who played only in the 19th Century. The results of the survey were published in a book called Diamond Chronicles, published by Stats Inc. in 1998. Included was a small paragraph that I wrote about each player as I counted down the survey results, starting at #97 and working my way to #1.

Updated: December, 2001
sample size = 25

Rank / Player	Points	Included
1. Babe Ruth	1742	25
2. Honus Wagner	1626	25
3. Willie Mays	1614	25
4. Ted Williams	1510	25
5. Ty Cobb	1491	25
6. Walter Johnson	1467	25
7. Hank Aaron	1423	25
8. Barry Bonds	1341	25
9. Tris Speaker	1291	25
10. Stan Musial	1242	25
11. Lou Gehrig	1239	25
12. Mickey Mantle	1195	25
13. Rogers Hornsby	1140	25
14. Lefty Grove	1105	25
15. Mike Schmidt	1195	25
16. Cy Young	1062	25
17. Eddie Collins	1049	25
18. Frank Robinson	959	25
19. Christy Mathewson	940	25
20. Jimmie Foxx	937	25
21. Grover Alexander	924	24
22. Joe Morgan	879	23
23. Nap Lajoie	846	24
24. Roger Clemens	841	23
25. Joe DiMaggio	841	23
26. Rickey Henderson	812	22
27. Josh Gibson	786	18
28. Mel Ott	766	23
29. Tom Seaver	722	24
30. Eddie Mathews	699	24
31. Greg Maddux	697	23
32. Oscar Charleston	663	16
33. Johnny Bench	655	24
34. Satchel Paige	624	18
35. Warren Spahn	600	24
36. George Brett	595	24
37. Yogi Berra	491	19
38. Arky Vaughan	385	17
39. Bob Feller	359	16
40. Ken Griffey, Jr.	357	15
41. Bob Gibson	347	18
42. Mike Piazza	330	17
43. Mark McGwire	322	12
44. Kid Nichols	320	14
45. Cal Ripken	292	15
46. Jackie Robinson	267	12
47. Jeff Bagwell	260	13
48. Ed Delahanty	246	11
49. Carl Yastrzemski	234	12
50. Sandy Koufax	194	8
51. Alex Rodriguez	186	9
52. Johnny Mize	185	9
53. Steve Carlton	175	9
54. Hank Greenberg	168	8
55. Pete Rose	135	6
56. Reggie Jackson	131	8
57. Charlie Gehringer	130	7
58. Pop Lloyd	129	5
59. Buck Leonard	128	5
60. Joe Jackson	125	5
61. Roberto Clemente	114	5
62. Roy Campanella	111	6
63. Randy Johnson	100	5
64. Carl Hubbell	94	5
65. Al Kaline	90	6
66. Martin Dihigo	86	2
67. Duke Snider	82	5
68. Cap Anson	82	3
69. Wade Boggs	80	5
70. Mickey Cochrane	79	4
71. Robin Yount	77	4
72. Turkey Steames	75	3
73. Tony Gwynn	70	4
74. Dan Brouthers	70	3
75. Whitey Ford	68	4
76. Eddie Murray	66	3
77. King Kelly	60	2
78. Tim Keefe	58	3
79. Bid McPhee	54	2
80. Willie McCovey	53	3
81. George Davis	51	3
82. Pedro Martinez	45	3
83. Buck Ewing	45	2
84. Smokey Joe Williams	44	3
85. Mule Suttles	39	2
85. John Clarkson	37	2
87. Frank Thomas	37	2
88. Tim Raines	35	2
89. Ozzie Smith	33	2
90. Willie Stargell	29	2
91. Roberto Alomar	28	2

Honorable Mention

Frank "Home Run" Baker
Three Finger Brown
Craig Biggio
Eddie Cicotte
Roger Connor
Joe Cronin
Ray Dandridge
Bill Dickey
Goose Goslin
Bobby Grich
Billy Hamilton
Harry Heilmann
Derek Jeter
Harmon Killebrew
Juan Marichal
Jim Palmer
Brooks Robinson
Ivan Rodriguez
Nolan Ryan
Ryne Sandberg
Al Simmons
Sammy Sosa
Ichiro Suzuki

Completed: December, 1997
sample size=47

Rank / Player	Points	Included	Included in Top 5	1-6 Inclusions
1. Babe Ruth	2342	47	47	0
2. Honus Wagner	2000	46	38	5
3. Willie Mays	1913	47	26	16
4. Ted Williams	1906	47	26	17
5. Ty Cobb	1771	46	21	14
6. Walter Johnson	1704	47	13	23
7. Lou Gehrig	1683	47	13	18
8. Hank Aaron	1640	46	14	17
9. Lefty Grove	1380	45	11	13
10. Stan Musial	1378	46	2	14
11. Mickey Mantle	1357	47	4	12
12. Mike Schmidt	1201	44	3	11
13. Tris Speaker	1183	46	3	11
14. Rogers Hornsby	1058	40	4	10
15. Christy Mathewson	990	45	0	2
16. Jimmie Foxx	955	45	0	1
17. Joe DiMaggio	831	42	1	7
18. Eddie Collins	801	41	0	1
19. Barry Bonds	790	29	1	12
20. Cy Young	769	37	0	6
21. Frank Robinson	703	42	0	0
22. Grover Alexander	697	36	1	1
23. Joe Morgan	677	40	0	1
24. Josh Gibson	671	32	2	1
25. Nap Lajoie	657	29	2	5
26. Satchel Paige	629	27	1	4
27. Warren Spahn	577	39	0	0
28. Johnny Bench	548	39	0	1
29. Tom Seaver	500	29	0	0
30. Greg Maddux	450	31	0	1
31. Eddie Mathews	425	37	0	0
32. Yogi Berra	415	29	0	1
33. Rickey Henderson	367	26	0	1
34. George Brett	356	24	0	0
35. Mel Ott	348	29	0	0
36. Frank Thomas	322	20	0	2
37. Steve Carlton	318	27	0	0
38. Ken Griffey Jr.	271	5	1	3
39. Ernie Banks	269	23	0	0
40. Sandy Koufax	238	20	0	1
41. Oscar Charleston	232	13	1	1
42. Jackie Robinson	188	16	0	0
43. Bob Gibson	185	16	0	0
44. Roger Clemens	177	19	0	0
45. Roberto Clemente	164	17	0	0
46. Pete Rose	148	10	0	1
47. Bob Feller	144	16	0	0
48. Hank Greenberg	144	14	0	0
49. Joe Jackson	139	12	0	0
50. Cal Ripken	128	14	0	0
51.Carl Yastrzemski	120	14	0	0
52. Pop Lloyd	117	6	0	1
53. Buck Leonard	112	10	0	0
54. Carl Hubbell	108	12	0	0
55. George Davis	98	10	0	0
56. Ed Delahanty	86	9	0	0
57. Mike Piazza	86	7	0	0
58. Bill Dickey	84	4	0	0
59. Roy Campanella	80	7	0	0
60. Nolan Ryan	77	10	0	0
61. Dan Brouthers	74	6	0	0
62. Charlie Gehringer	73	10	0	0
63. Al Kaline	71	7	0	0
64. Johnny Mize	60	5	0	0
65. George Sisler	56	4	0	0
66. Buck Ewing	55	6	0	0
67. Kid Nichols	46	4	0	0
68. Mark McGwire	46	3	0	0
69. Cap Anson	44	4	0	0
70. Al Simmons	43	7	0	0
71. Tim Raines	43	3	0	0
72. Dennis Eckersley	42	8	0	0
73. Willie McCovey	40	4	0	0
74. Ozzie Smith	39	7	0	0
75. Pie Traynor	38	2	0	0
76. Lou Boudreau	35	2	0	0
77. Tony Gwynn	34	4	0	0
78. Juan Marichal	33	3	0	0
79. Reggie Jackson	32	3	0	0
80. Hoyt Wilhelm	31	4	0	0
81. Martin Dihigo	28	3	0	0
82. Mickey Cochrane	27	4	0	0
83. Ralph Kiner	27	2	0	0
84.Three Finger Brown	25	3	0	0
85. Arky Vaughan	21	2	0	0
85. King Kelly	21	2	0	0
87. Harmon Killebrew	20	6	0	0
88. Ed Walsh	20	2	0	0
89. Bill Dahlen	17	2	0	0
90. Paul Waner	16	3	0	0
91. Robin Yount	15	3	0	0
92. Duke Snider	14	4	0	0
93. Eddie Murray	13	2	0	0
94. Whitey Ford	12	3	0	0
95. Brooks Robinson	10	3	0	0
96. Rollie Fingers	10	2	0	0
97. Wade Boggs	5	2	0	0

Best Teams of All-Time

I've put together a simple system to rate teams. I'm not claiming that it's mathematically sophisticated, or that it proves anything. It's simply a quick list of which teams in history come out the best. Here's the system: 5 points for each game over .500 (regular season) 1 point for each run scored above runs allowed (run differential). 20 points for each World Series game over .500. Minus 20 points for each World Series game below .500. I've checked 20th century teams. There are only 13 teams that accumulated 600 or more points with the system.

1. 1939 Yankees	796 points
2. 1927 Yankees	786 points
3. 1998 Yankees	719 points
4. 1906 Cubs	684 points
5. 1902 Pirates	670 points
6. 1932 Yankees	658 points
7. 1929 Athletics	636 points
8. 1936 Yankees	629 points
9. 1942 Cardinals	623 points
10. 1905 Giants	620 points
11. 1937 Yankees	618 points
12. 1909 Pirates	612 points
13. 1944 Cardinals	602 points

There were no adjustments made for expansion or war years, so you can draw your own conclusions. Some of the teams that people consider among the best (1961 Yankees, 1954 Indians, 1976 Reds etc.) did not have very high run differentials. The 1976 Reds only had an ERA+ of 100, meaning that their pitching was right at the league average. I think people overrate them because of their memorable everyday lineup and because they swept through the post season. Their regular season numbers are not any better than loads of teams that won pennants. Ball - Glove

Note that the Yankees placed 4 teams from the 1930's in the top 11 teams on the list. Three teams ('36, '37 & '39) from a 4 year period made the top 11. The 1938 team was not far behind either. I don't think there's any doubt that the 1936-1939 Yankees would have to be considered the greatest team of all time for any multi-year period.

If the 1906 Cubs had swept the World Series (+80) instead of losing in 6 games (-40) they would have topped the list. If there had been a World Series in 1902 and the Pirates had won in 4 or 5 games in a 7 game series, they would have ranked 3rd behind the '39 and '27 Yankees.

The 1932 Yankee team is overlooked all the time, since it came in between the two dynasties ('26-'28 and '36-'39) but they were a tremendous club. So were the 1942 Cardinals, who deserve a spot here. The 1904 Giants would have been here too, if there had been a World Series that year and if they had won it in 6 games or less..