#14: Frank Robinson
#14: Frank Robinson
Frank Robinson has one accomplishment that no other baseball player can boast about: He is the only player in history to win MVP of both the American and National Leagues!
But wait…there’s more! Robinson was also named Rookie of the Year, was a 2x MVP, a 14x All Star, a Triple Crown Winner, a World Series MVP, a 2x World Series Winner, and currently sits tenth on the all time home run list (586), he drove in over 1,800 runs, stole 208 bases, and had just shy of 3,000 hits! He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame inn 1982 and is currently the Honorary President of the American League.
In addition, Robinson was also became the first black manager in the majors when he coached the Cleveland Indians the last two years he played. He also went on to coach the San Francisco Giants, Bsltimore Orioles and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.
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#60 – Carl Hubbell: The Giants Pitcher Known As “The Meal Ticket!”
#60 - Carl Hubbell
Nicknamed “The Meal Ticket” and “King Carl“, Hubbell was a member of the New York Giants in the National League from 1928 to 1943 and remained on the team’s payroll for the rest of his life, long after their move to San Francisco.
Twice voted the National League’s MVP, Hubbell was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947. During 1936 and 1937, Hubbell set the major league record for consecutive wins by a pitcher with 24 and is perhaps best remembered for his performance in the 1934 All-Star Game, when he struck out five of the game’s great hitters in succession with his primary pitch: the screwball.
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#61 – Roberto Clemente: The GREATEST Pittsburgh Pirate of All Time!
#61 - Roberto Clemente
Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker played 18 seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973, becoming the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be enshrined. His untimely death from a plane crach while on a Caribbean charity mission established the precedent that, as an alternative to the five-year retirement period, a player who has been deceased for at least six months is eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame. Yes…he was THAT GOOD!
Clemente was an All-Star for twelve seasons, played in fifteen All-Star Games, was the NL Most Valuable Player in 1966, the NL batting leader in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967, and a Gold Glove Award winner for twelve consecutive seasons from 1961 through 1972. His batting average was over .300 for thirteen seasons with 3,000 hits over his major league career. He also played in two World Series championships. Clemente is the first Latin American and Caribbean player to help win a World Series as a starter (1960), to receive an NL MVP Award (1966), and to receive a World Series MVP Award (1971).
He was involved in charity work in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the off-seasons, often delivering baseball equipment and food to those in need. On December 31, 1972, he died in a plane crash while en route to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38 years old.
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#62 – Adrián Beltré: The BEST Foreign-Born Batter In MLB History!
#62 - Adrián Beltré
Among foreign-born players, one name sits at the top when it comes to batting: Adrián Beltré!
What’s he done? Beltré is the fifth major leaguer to hit at least 100 home runs for three different teams, has hit at least 20 home runs in 12 different seasons, and in five seasons, he drove in at least 100 runs. In 2004, he hit a major league-leading 48 home runs while playing for the Dodgers, was the team MVP of the Red Sox in 2010, and tied the major league lead for hits in 2013 while playing for the Rangers. Beltré is the only big leaguer to hit for the cycle three times at the same stadium, Globe Life Park in Arlington. He is the sixth player with a three-home-run game in both the regular season and postseason, and just the second with both a three-home-run game and cycle in the same week. On July 30, 2017, he became the 31st player in MLB history to reach 3,000 hits and the first from the Dominican Republic.
Dimino thinks this is the man to call when a hot bat is needed and it lands him here on his Top 100!
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#63 – Carl Yastrzemski: A Boston Red Sox Lifer And the League’s Biggest GROUCH!
#63 - Carl "Yaz" Yastrzemski
There are very few “lifers” in the Major Leagues, but Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox (1961–1983) and became one of the all time “faces of the franchise.” He was primarily a left fielder, but also played 33 games as a third baseman and mostly was a first baseman and designated hitter later in his career. Yastrzemski is an 18-time All-Star, woneven Gold Gloves, is a member of the 3,000 hit club, and Yastrzemski was the first American League player in that club to also accumulate over 400 home runs. He is second on the all-time list for games played, third for total at-bats, and the Red Sox’ all-time leader in career RBIs, runs, hits, singles, doubles, total bases, games played, and is third on the team’s list for home runs behind Ted Williams and David Ortiz.
In 1967 Yastrzemski achieved a peak in his career, leading the Red Sox to the American League pennant for the first time in over two decades and was voted the 1967 American League MVP.
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Tris Speaker – “The Grey Eagle”
#64: Tris Speaker
Considered one of the best offensive and defensive center fielders in the history of Major League Baseball, Tris Speaker compiled a career batting average of .345, HIS 792 career doubles represents an MLB career record, and his 3,514 hits are fifth best all-time. Defensively, Speaker holds career records for assists, double plays, and unassisted double plays by an outfielder. His fielding glove was known as the place “where triples go to die.”
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#65: Frankie Frisch – “The Fordham Flash” Was All Abut Speed!
#65: Frankie Frisch
Frisch played baseball, football, and basketball at Fordham University (New York City) where his speed earned him the name “The Fordham Flash” which stuck with him throughout his baseball career. Frisch went directly before graduating to the Giants in 1919. He played the infield, mainly at second base, through the 1926 season and was then traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played at second and third base through the 1937 season and also managed (1933–38).
He was a switch hitter who hit for an average of .300 or more in 13 of his 19 seasons and over his entire career, was north of .300.
In addition to his solid batting average, Frisch employed his tremendous speed, leading the league in stolen bases for three seasons in 1921 (49), 1927 (48), and in 1931 (28).
He later managed the Pittsburgh Pirates (1940–46) and the Chicago Cubs (1949–51), and became a radio sports broadcaster in the 1940s and a radio and television broadcaster in New York City in the 1950s.
Frisch was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947.
#66: Reggie Jackson – Called “Mr. October” For His Amazing, Post-Season, Clutch Hitting
#66 - Reggie Jackson
Nicknamed “Mr. October” for his clutch hitting in the postseason, Reggie Jackson played for the Athletics and the Yankees helping Oakland win five consecutive AL West divisional pennants, three consecutive American League pennants and three consecutive World Series titles, from 1971 to 1975. Jackson also helped New York win four American League East divisional pennants, three American League pennants and two consecutive World Series titles, from 1977 to 1981. He also helped the California Angels win two AL West divisional pennants in 1982 and 1986.
Jackson hit 563 career home runs (He hit three consecutive home runs at Yankee Stadium in the clinching game 6 of the 1977 World Series) and was an American League (AL) All-Star for 14 seasons. He won two Silver Slugger Awards, the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award in 1973, two World Series MVP Awards, and the Babe Ruth Award in 1977. The Yankees and Athletics retired his team uniform number in 1993 and 2004.
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#67 – Al Kaline: One Of the Greatest Outfielders of All Time
#67 - Al Kaline
Nicknamed “Mr. Tiger“, Kaline played his entire 22-year baseball career with the Detroit Tigers. During that stretch, he racked up 18 All-Star Game appearances, 10 Gold Gloves, won a batting title and a World Series Title. Manager Billy Martin once said, “I have always referred to Al Kaline as ‘Mister Perfection’. He does it all – hitting, fielding, running, throwing – and he does it with that extra touch of brilliancy that marks him as a super ballplayer… Al fits in anywhere, at any position in the lineup and any spot in the batting order.
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#68 – Cy Young: Has Dimino Committed Baseball Sacrilege With This Pick?
#68 - Cy Young
Dimino placing the legendary Denton True “Cy” Young at #68 in the Top 100 seems like sacrilege. After all, Young STILL holds the major league records for most career innings pitched (7,356), most career games started (815), and most complete games (749), but he also retired with 316 losses, the most in MLB history. In addition, Cy Young’s 76 career shutouts are fourth all-time, he won at least 30 games in a season five times, with ten other seasons of 20 or more wins, he pitched three no-hitters, including the third perfect game in baseball history, first in baseball’s “modern era”. Shouldn’t that put Young in the top 20? Other sports analysts think so, but ultimately the era that Young played (1890-1911) in may be the reason for his “low” ranking on this list since Dimino has “no barometer” for him. Young played in the “old time” era of baseball where players were only part time and also held full-time jobs. In a nutshell, Dimino’s thinking Young may have faced a bunch of tomato cans that “padded his stats.”
In a different time, Cy Young might rank higher, but in this one, he’s #68!
