Using OPS to Find Out the Top 10 Hitters of All Time
| 15
|
by user Jgov05
Most baseball fans and experts agree--there is no better statistic to determine a player's worth than OPS. The statistic combines how well you get on base with the quality of those hits that got you on-base. Though almost every all-time great possesses an excellent OPS, few have surpassed the 1.000 mark, which is considered the gold standard for an OPS. In fact, only 10 players have a career 1.0+ OPS, and four of those are active players that may surprise you. But are they really the 10 greatest hitters ever? To find out, I'll examine the 1.0 OPS players and then make a list of the top 10 hitters.
10. Manny Ramirez, 1.009: Manny has been a perennial All Star for years now, with a .314 lifetime batting average and 456 homeruns. Though he should easily get into the mid-500's by the end of his career, should he really be considered an All Time great? Probably not. Though he has been consistent, with 8 consecutive 30 homer, 100 RBI seasons, Manny isn't better than say, Ty Cobb or Stan Musial.
9. Rogers Hornsby, 1.010: This is an interesting one. While most people besides hard-core baseball fans haven’t heard of him, Hornsby was a great, great player for his time. His 300 homers may not impress by today’s standards, though they were excellent considering he played the bulk of his career in the early 1900’s. What really sets Hornsby apart is his .358 lifetime batting average, second only to Cobb. He hit over .400 twice, including a .424 season in 1924. While Babe Ruth overshadows him in that era, Hornsby is vastly underrated.
8. Hank Greenberg, 1.016: Who? Few people have heard of Greenberg, who played just 13 seasons during the 30’s and 40’s. Despite that short career, he compiled 331 homeruns and 1276 RBIs. In 1938 he hit 58/146, which at the time was one of the best non-Ruth seasons ever. Per 162 games played, Greenberg averaged 38 homers and 148 runs batted in. Should he be considered an all-time great? We’ll see…
7. Todd Helton, 1.031: The presence of Helton on a list like this is surprising. Though he'll never be considered in the same class as the others on this list, Helton has been one of the best contact hitters of this era. His .337 career batting average leads all active players. He is also an OBP machine, ranking in the top 10 ever with .433. His power, while never spectacular, is consistently above-average. But the biggest knock against Helton is his homefield, in which he hits significantly better than on the road. So while Helton probably should make the Hall of Fame, he shouldn’t be on a list like this.
6. Jimmie Foxx, 1.038: Foxx is a truly, truly remarkable hitter. His career line of .325/.428/.609 is plenty enough to make the 1.0 OPS club, and he is also in the 500 Homerun Club with 534. One of five players from the 1930’s and 40’s on this list, Foxx generated twelve consecutive seasons of 30 and 100. His 1932 campaign was one of the best ever, as Foxx recorded 58 homers, 169 RBIs, and a .364 average. His 1,922 career RBIs ranks him among the top 10 ever. Considering his consistency and top-notch stats, I can confidently say that he is one of the best to ever pick up a bat.
5. Albert Pujols, 1.049: Though Pujols has only amassed five full seasons to his credit, this ranking shouldn’t surprise anyone. He has surpassed .300, 30 and 100 in each of his seasons, and is only 15 RBIs away from making it six in a row. Also, his OPS has been above one in 5 of those 6 years (including his league-leading mark this year). Pujols is only getting better, though considering somebody that hasn’t even reached his 30th birthday for a list like this might seem questionable. Still, what he has accomplished on the field can’t be questioned, and this year he should post career highs in homeruns and RBIs.
4. Barry Bonds, 1.053: Bonds put up the four of the best ever seasons in OPS history from 2001-2004, with a 1.2+ each of those years. Despite his personal problems, he must be on this list. He has 722 career homeruns and counting despite leading in all-time walks and intentional passes. His .609 on-base percentage and 1.429 OPS in 2004 might never be equaled. Bonds is a no-brainer from a statistical perspective.
3. Lou Gehrig, 1.079: What is there to say about Gehrig, who fell a few weeks short of 500 homeruns and 2000 RBIs. Gehrig rates in the top ten in both on-base and slugging percentage, and might be the best-ever RBI man. He averaged 149 runs driven in per 162 games, and has three seasons of more than 170. You could argue that he was overly benefited by batting behind Babe Ruth, and of course that helped him, but you can’t have 13 straight 100-RBI outputs without some serious ability. Some Yankee fans even dare to suggest that Gehrig was the better hitter than Ruth.
2. Ted Williams, 1.116: Williams is one of the great hitters ever despite missing four seasons of his prime. Though his post WWII-years were marred by injury after injury, Williams still finished with 521 homers and a career .344 batting average. No player ever got on base as well as Williams, whose career OBP of .482 is better than that of many single-season leaders. No other player has had two greater seasons so far apart: his best two OPS seasons came 16 years apart.
1. Babe Ruth, 1.164: I think this guy just might be among the best ever. He owns seven of the top 15 OPS seasons ever recorded. Imagine how many more RBIs this guy would have had if he had batted behind Gehrig. Or if he had been a full-time hitter from the beginning of his career. The best ever could have been even better.
THE LIST:
In order, these are my top hitters of all time (OPS rank listed in parenthesis):
10. Hank Aaron (40): Can you say longevity?
9. Willie Mays (31): Hurt his percentages by holding on too long.
8. Joe DiMaggio (14): Short but sweet career resulted in .325 average
7. Hornsby (9): Hit .370 for six straight seasons at one point.
6. Foxx (6): An all-around great.
5. Cobb (29): The best contact hitter ever with three .400 seasons.
4. Gehrig (3): The best RBI man ever.
3. Williams (2): Could get on base almost at will.
2. Bonds (4): Just look at the stats and see if you disagree.
1. Ruth (1): No doubt about it.
Date
Mon 07/24/06, 8:33 am EST
