Questionable Hall-of-Famer Ross Youngs, whose career was cut short by Bright’s Disease, is our top seed. He is joined by fellow New York Giant Sam Mertes and a trio of Cincinnati Reds: Ken Griffey Sr, Pat Duncan, and Tommy Harper, as well as Denny Lyons, Taffy Wright, and Bill Buckner.
![Ross-Youngs-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Ross-Youngs-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Ross Youngs
Full Name: Royce Middlebrook Youngs
Nicknames: Pep
![Denny-Lyons-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Denny-Lyons-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Denny Lyons
Full Name: Dennis Patrick Aloysius Lyons
Nicknames: None
![Sam-Mertes-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Sam-Mertes-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Sam Mertes
Full Name: Samuel Blair Mertes
Nicknames: Sandow, Mertes the Spiker
![Ken-Griffey-Sr-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Ken-Griffey-Sr-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Ken Griffey Sr.
Full Name: George Kenneth Griffey
Nicknames: None
![Pat-Duncan-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Pat-Duncan-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Pat Duncan
Full Name: Louis Baird Duncan
Nicknames: He was Irish and it was the 19-teens, so he got “Pat.” It could have just as easily been “Paddy” or “Mick.”
![Taffy-Wright-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Taffy-Wright-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Taffy Wright
Full Name: Taft Shedron Wright
Nicknames: William Howard Taft was president when he was born
![Tommy-Harper-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Tommy-Harper-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Tommy Harper
Full Name: Tommy Harper
Nicknames: Tailwind
![Bill-Buckner-Card Baseballs Greatest Player Playoff](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Bill-Buckner-Card-214x300.png)
Played as: Bill Buckner
Full Name: William Joseph Buckner
Nicknames: Billy Buck
The Results
![](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-27-at-5.51.04-PM.png)
As if in response to the Hall-of-Fame question, Ross Youngs delivered, finishing a healthy 10 games ahead of second place Denny Lyons. Mertes and Wright join them in Round 5 while Griffey, Harper, Duncan, and Buckner try their luck in the Round 4 second chance/elimination round.
![](https://baseballsgreatestplayerplayoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Screen-Shot-2021-04-27-at-5.51.37-PM-1024x668.png)
Season Highlights
- The top batter was Ross Youngs7 with a healthy .339 average.
- Not a lot of power this season with Lyons6 and Harper 4 tying for the league lead with a paltry 16 HRs.
- Sam Mertes6 had a 20-game hitting streak.
- Pedro Martinez4 tossed 10 shutouts and had a 1.73 ERA for the Ross Youngs team.
- Denny Lyons9 hit for the cycle and had 8 RBIsĀ in a 16-4 rout of Taffy Wright.
- No-Hitters
None. But there were 4 one-hitters, three of them tossed by Pedro Martinez4.