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Who are the top second basemen in MLB history? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Frankie Frisch: perhaps overshadowed by some of the other great players of his era, Frisch hit .316 for his career with 2,880 total hits while leading the league in stolen bases 3x; he won the 1931 NL MVP and was also part of the first three All-Star Games.
9. Roberto Alomar: coming from a family of baseball players (father Sandy and brother Sandy Jr. were also major leaguers), Alomar was a 12x All-Star who accumulated 2,700+ career hits and won more Gold Gloves (10x) than any other second baseman in MLB history.
8. Ryne Sandberg: a rare blend of power and speed at the second base position, Sandberg was a 10x All-Star and 9x Gold Glover who won the 1984 NL MVP and finished his career with 282 home runs and 344 stolen bases.
7. Jackie Robinson: in addition to being a pioneer who broke baseball’s color barrier, Robinson was also an excellent player in his own right; during his decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he was NL Rookie of the Year, a 6x All-Star, and NL MVP in 1949.
6. Charlie Gehringer: playing his entire career with the Detroit Tigers, Gehringer made the first six All-Star Games and accumulated close to 3,000 career hits while winning the AL batting title and MVP with a career-high .371 batting average in 1937.
5. Rod Carew: a 7x batting champion and 1977 AL MVP, Carew hit .300+ 15x in his career and made 18 All-Star teams to retire as the all-time hits leader among Latin American players (since surpassed by Adrian Beltre).
4. Joe Morgan: the engine of Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” offense of the 1970s, Morgan was a 10x All-Star and 5x Gold Glover who won back-to-back MVP awards in 1975 and 1976 while also leading the Reds to World Series titles both years.
3. Nap Lajoie: one of the superstars of baseball’s dead-ball era, Lajoie was a career .338 hitter who accumulated 3,243 total hits; moreover, he won three batting titles and his .426 batting average in his 1901 Triple Crown season remains the highest single-season mark in AL history.
2. Eddie Collins: the leader in career hits among second basemen (3,315), Collins was only the sixth player in MLB history to reach 3,000 career hits; he also led the AL in stolen bases 4x and was MVP in 1914 while winning four World Series titles with the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox.
1. 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, winning seven batting titles (including a post-1900 NL-best .424 batting average in 1924) with two Triple Crowns and two MVP awards.
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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