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Who are the top MLB players of the 1920s? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Joe Sewell: arguably the best shortstop of the decade with 44.1 WAR, Sewell hit .300+ in nine of 10 seasons (batting .299 the other year) with three consecutive top-five MVP finishes and a World Series championship with the Cleveland Indians.
9. Grover Cleveland Alexander: even in his late 30s and early 40s, Alexander remained a highly productive pitcher in the 1920s, winning 20+ games and leading the league in WHIP 3x apiece while generating 47.7 WAR for the decade, in the process earning the Pitching Triple Crown in 1920 and a World Series title in 1926.
8. George Sisler: the record-holder for hits in a season (257) for 84 years, Sisler hit .407 during his record-setting 1920 season and followed up in his 1922 MVP season with a .420 batting average and 246 hits; though he missed the entire 1923 season for health issues and slowed down later in the decade, he still put up 30.8 WAR during the decade while hitting well above .300 with two batting titles and five 200-hit seasons.
7. Frankie Frisch: perhaps overshadowed by some of the other great players of his era, Frisch was the second-best second baseman of the decade (after Rogers Hornsby, whom he was later traded for) and racked up 54.1 WAR while hitting .300+ 9x and leading the league in stolen bases 2x.
6. Tris Speaker: baseball’s all-time doubles leader (792), Speaker retired in 1928 at age 40, but nevertheless compiled 51.4 WAR for the 1920s – he hit .300+ in every season except for his last, led the league in doubles for four straight years, drove in the most runs in the league in 1923, and also was considered the top center fielder of his time.
5. Harry Heilmann: a career .342 hitter, Heilmann won four batting titles with the Detroit Tigers (hitting .390+ each time, including a career-best .403 in 1923) and finished top-five for MVP in five consecutive seasons during the 1920s (56.8 WAR).
4. Dazzy Vance: though he essentially did not become a full-time major league player until age 31 in 1922, Vance went on to pace the league in strikeouts for seven consecutive years, also leading the league in wins and ERA 2x each and winning the 1924 MVP award and Pitching Triple Crown for a total of 50.1 WAR.
3. Lou Gehrig: known as the “Iron Horse” for playing in 2,130 consecutive games with the New York Yankees, Gehrig was arguably the greatest run producer in baseball history – starting his MLB career (and streak) in 1925, he had four straight years during the decade with 100+ runs batted in, leading the league in the category in back-to-back years, and also winning the World Series in both 1927 and 1928 and the MVP in 1927 (39.3 WAR).
2. Rogers Hornsby: one of the greatest pure hitters in baseball history, Hornsby is second all-time only to Ty Cobb with a career .358 batting average – during the 1920s, he paced the league in hits, accumulated 93.2 WAR, and won seven batting titles (including a post-1900 NL-best .424 batting average in 1924) with two Triple Crowns, an MVP award, and a World Series title
1. Babe Ruth: arguably the greatest baseball player ever and one of the original five Hall of Fame inductees, Ruth had perhaps the most dominant decade in baseball history with 102.3 WAR in the 1920s – the league leader in most offensive categories (home runs, runs batted in, runs, walks, slugging percentage, OPS, etc.), he set a slew of hitting records, including a then-single-season mark for home runs (60), while guiding the Yankees to three World Series titles.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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