Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Counts
Phil, here's James' list. He didn't include active players. If he did, A-Rod and Jeter would obviously be high on the list ...
1. Honus Wagner
2. Arky Vaughan
3. Cal Ripken
4. Robin Yount
5. Ernie Banks
6. Barry Larkin
7. Ozzie Smith
8. Joe Cronin
9. Alan Trammell
10. Pee Wee Reese
Also, Larkin's various injuries, and the time he lost as a result, often come up in Hall of Fame discussions. I did a quick survey, and for what it's worth, he played more games at shortstop in his career than roughly half the shortstops in the Hall of Fame ...
How many Gold Glove shortstops can you name with a ton of steals, an MVP award, a World Series ring and a .370 career on-base average? If they gave out Gold Gloves in 1910, certainly Honus Wagner would quailify, but who else?
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That list goes to strengthen my argument that before Larkin's time, SS was just a defensive position, since 7 of Bill James' top 10 SS are "modern" SS.
There's some great names there, but that has to be "the weakest" Top 10 list for any position in the Hall of Fame. Just an indication of what the position used to be.