What are my predictions?
Before starting, I figured that we would see
The usual suspects
(in no particular order):
- Ty Cobb – Highest Lifetime Batting Average
- Babe Ruth – The quintessential Power Hitter against whom all are measured
- Ted Williams – Possibly the best “Eye” in history
- Lou Gehrig – The Original Ironman and often in the shadow of The Babe
- Willie Mays – The Say Hey Kid had a fabulous combination of power, speed, and longevity
- Mickey Mantle – Also, speed, power, and spectacular long-distance clouts
- Hank Aaron – Unmatched in power, consistency, and longevity
- Barry Bonds – The all-time leader in home runs
- Tris Speaker – The Gray Eagle is still the all-time leader in doubles
- Honus Wagner – The Flying Dutchman was considered the greatest at the turn of the century
- Jimmie Foxx – Double XX had years of great power
- Mel Ott – Got started young and finished in the Top 10 all-time in homers
- Stan Musial – Stan the Man was a steady, perennial all-star
- Carl Yastrzemski – Yaz was a contemporary great
- Eddie Collins – Almost as good a hitter as Cobb and a great fielding second baseman to boot
- Nap Lajoie – It was said that Lajoie with Cobb’s speed might hit .500!
- Frank Robinson – A contemporary superstar
- Joe Jackson – Shoulda, woulda, coulda
- Cap Anson – The first superstar
- Joe DiMaggio – The Yankee Clipper and 3-time MVP lost 3 peak years to WWII
Along with some newer folks:
- Rickey Henderson – Arguably the greatest leadoff hitter of all time
- Eddie Murray – Arguably the greatest switch hitter of all time
- Albert Pujols – Better than Gehrig?
- Miguel Cabrera – The last Triple Crown winner and maybe the next 3000 hit, 500 homer man
- Derek Jeter – 6th all-time in hits
- Alex Rodriguez – 3000 hits, almost 700 homers… jeez
- Ken Griffey Jr.– Had a 10-year string where his hit 400 dingers
- Rod Carew – No one hit like him in the 70s
- Mike Schmidt – Redefined what was expected at third base
- Ichiro Suzuki – Combined with his Japanese League stats, well over 4,000 hits, including a season-record 262
And with some young upstarts:
- Mike Trout – as of this writing, has never finished below 4th in MVP voting
- Troy Tulowitzki – While in Colorado, he was spectacular
- Andrew McCutchen – He’s tailed off some but was solid through 2015
- Josh Donaldson – MVP in 2015
- Jacoby Ellsbury – Pretty solid before the injuries
And Some folks whose playing talents I have often not fully appreciated:
- Wade Boggs – Knew how to hit and could take a walk
- Pete Rose – Well, 4,256 hits… nuff, said
- Reggie Jackson – Mr. October hit a lot of home runs when it wasn’t that easy to do so
- Cal Ripken Jr.– Hits, homers, and always in the lineup
- Robin Yount – 2-time MVP and over 3,000 hits
And some guys who I thought might be surprises:
- Kenny Lofton – How is he not in the Hall of Fame?
- Tim Raines – He could hit and steal bases like nobody’s business
- Lou Brock – He stole bases when nobody else did
- Eddie Matthews – Overshadowed by Hammerin’ Hank
- Roberto Clemente – No decline phase
For a total of 45. I am very curious as to how it will all play out. Please join me for the fun.