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Best Baseball Players Ever

Image above: Tag play at the base. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

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Best Baseball Players of All-Time

1871-2015 (Regular Season).

Both Batting and Pitching.



Rk Name Last HOF PEVA
Bat
PEVA
Pitch
PEVA
Total
Yrs. PEVA
PerYr
Career
Hits
HR RBI Ave. W L SV ERA
81 Kevin Brown NO 0 263.325 263.325 19 13.859 64 2 29 0.129 211 144 0 3.28
82 Mark McGwire NO 261.187 0 261.187 16 16.324 1626 583 1414 0.263
83 Willie McCovey HOFP 261.038 0 261.038 22 11.865 2211 521 1555 0.270
84 Rafael Palmeiro NO 260.423 0 260.423 20 13.021 3020 569 1835 0.288
85 Ron Santo HOFP 259.712 0 259.712 15 17.314 2254 342 1331 0.277
86 Derek Jeter NYE 259.537 0 259.537 20 12.977 3465 260 1311 0.310
86 Jim Thome NYE 257.863 0 257.863 22 11.721 2328 612 1699 0.276
87 Johnny Bench HOFP 256.662 0 256.662 17 15.098 2048 389 1376 0.367
88 Mike Piazza NO 255.854 0 255.854 16 15.991 2127 427 1335 0.308
89 Fred Clarke HOFP 255.011 0 255.011 21 12.143 2678 67 1015 0.312
91 Duke Snider HOFP 253.177 0 253.177 18 14.065 2116 407 1333 0.295
92 Yogi Berra HOFP 251.624 0 251.624 19 13.243 2150 358 1430 0.285
93 Fergie Jenkins HOFP 0.271 250.554 250.825 19 13.201 148 13 85 0.165 284 226 7 3.34
94 Harry Heilmann HOFP 249.516 0 249.516 17 14.677 2660 183 1537 0.342
95 Bob Feller HOFP 0.268 246.330 246.598 18 13.700 193 8 99 0.151 266 162 21 3.25
96 Mariano Rivera NYE 0 245.654 245.654 19 12.940 0 0 1 0.000 82 60 652 2.21
97 George Davis HOFP 245.441 0 245.441 20 12.272 2665 73 1440 0.295 0 1 1 15.75
98 Paul Waner HOFP 242.638 0 242.638 20 12.132 3152 113 1309 0.333
99 Paul Molitor HOFP 242.403 0 242.403 21 11.543 3319 234 1307 0.306
100 Sherry Magee NO 242.236 0 242.236 16 15.140 2169 83 1176 0.291


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Babe Ruth, like no other player in history, combined the ability to hit and pitch at a maximum level. In his early career with the Boston Red Sox, Ruth was a premier pitcher, winning 23 games in 1916 at the age of 21. His Earned Run Average that year was 1.75 over 323.7 innings pitched. But Ruth was not a one year wonder, winning 24 games the next year with a 2.01 ERA. Even though it may seem so today, the era that Ruth pitched in really was not a hybrid era. That time had predominantly passed. In pre-1900 baseball leagues, it was commonplace for a player to both pitch and play a position on those days when he didn't take the mound. See the statistics for someone like Al Spalding for the example of a hybrid pitcher and batter who did both at Hall of Fame levels, but by the time of Ruth and his exploits, it was rare.

Want more detail, check out the Stat Geek Baseball, the Best Ever Book excerpts by clicking any of the Top Five players in baseball history.

Notes: Photo Credits: Babe Ruth, Eddie Collins, Frank Baker, Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander, and Tris Speaker (Library of Congress).

Note: Age = Player age at the End of the Calendar Year. PEVA-B = PEVA Batting Player Rating. Note: HOF (Hall of Fame), HOFP - Hall of Fame Player. NYE - Not Yet Eligible. NO - Eligible, Not Elected.

PEVA-P for player with higher batting total only includes PEVA above minimum value for pitching, i.e. the additional value for the pitcher per season. PEVA-B for players with higher pitching total only includes PEVA above minimum value for batting, i.e. the additional value for the batter per season.

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  • What is PEVA?

    PEVA is the acronym for Stat Geek Baseball's New Player Rating value. This grade is given to each player and pitcher each season, rating their performance on a peer to peer review. Six components for pitchers and batters are melded together into the PEVA Rating, which ranges each year from 0.200 to 64.000. For more information on PEVA and the other new Stat Geek Baseball Stats, see our Definitions page. PEVA ratings are available for every pitcher and hitter in baseball history.

    PEVA Scale

    64.000 - Maximum
    32.000 - Cy Young/MVP Candidate
    20.000 - All League
    15.000 - All-Star Level
    10.000 - Very Good
    3.500 - Average
    0.200 - Minimum

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