I look for a lot of different things in a first baseman. For me, they should be one of the most complete players in the team. That’s my criteria for the position and I’ve judged these players on a lot of different stats.
1. Bill Terry
He hit .401. This New York Giants first baseman had a career batting average of .341. He won a championship with the Giants and his career slugging percentage was .506.
2. Dan Brothers
His lifetime average was .342 and he was hitting homers in the dead-ball era. Featured in Buffalo and Detroit, he had 41 doubles, 17 triples, just 3 home runs with 97 RBIs in one season. The following year, he completed 14 circuits! See my book, Pioneers of Baseball for more on him.
3. Albert Pujol
He is best known for playing with the Cardinals. This three-time MVP hit 679 home runs with 2,150 RBIs. Some would say he should be the best, but those older players were better hitters overall.
4. Willie McCovey
Known for his home runs in the difficult Candlestick Park. This powerful first baseman has 521 career players. Most with the San Francisco Giants. His 1,550 RBI ranks pretty high in the position he retired from.
5. Tony Perez
This guy was the guy who killed you so Johnny Bench didn’t kill you in programming the Big Red Machine. His 11 straight seasons of 90 or more RBIs were impressive for the time. His 1,652 RBI ranked 14and of all time when he retired.
6. Will Clark
Clark hit more home runs than you might think with 284 at Candlestick Park. His .303 lifetime batting average is terrific and he was intentionally walked a lot. He was a player.
seven. Fred McGriff
Nobody feared the “Crime Dog”, but he had so close to 500 homers with 493 and it got weird late in his career.
8. Keith Hernandez
This guy was a terrific clutch hitter and led two franchises to championships. Known as much for the Cardinals as the Mets, he has racked up 11 consecutive Gold Gloves and an MVP award.
9. Gil Hodges
He was one of the best first basemen of his day and he was a run producer for the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers that won it all. Hodges hit .391 in the Fall Classic for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Chicago White Sox in 1958.
ten. Adrian González
He had power, was a solid producer with a high on-base percentage. Gonzalez moved ahead Joey Votto, which was helped by Great American Ballpark for some of its power numbers, and Ryan Howard, which did not have the RBI or average.
Comments are closed.