Baseball historians- Greatest MLB player that no one remembers,(think before opening)

Journeyman · Sep 24, 2006

Tris Speaker-

I'm sure most who have ever stumbled upon a baseball history book have heard of the name as it is an unusual old baseball name, just like some of the other all timers, like Cy, Tyrus, Babe, Ducky, Honus, Rogers (what were their mothers thinking)
:icon_conf

'Tris' IMO is the best of the players never ever mentioned....he was the greatest fielding centerfielder of his time, ammassing 449 career outfield assists, a pretty staggering number when you think about it....he was known for playing a very shallow centerfield , he started his career in Boston and even played a couple years with Babe Ruth before moving on to the Indians.

Speaker's career avg of .345 ranks just ahead of Babe and Ted Williams for 5th place, his 222 triples rank 6th all time , and he holds the major league record with 792 career doubles...Speaker also stole 432 bases...

The most staggering of all his stats just might be his strikeout to walk ratio...he walked 1381 times and only struckout 214 times! A better ratio than the immortal Ty Cobb (1249 BB -349 K) who is genrally remembered as the ultimate contact hitter.

I am convinced Tris Speaker is the greatest baseball player who gets the least amount of recognition in baseball history.

:suomi:

Journeyman

Arodd · Sep 24, 2006

how bout Rogers Hornsby?

Only known really for having the NL career mark for single season batting average at .424, but won 7 batting titles in his career (six in a row!), career average of .359, the highest ever in the National League.

2-time MVP and 2-time Triple Crown winner as well.

primetime21+ · Sep 24, 2006

Only 1 MVP for speaker is a little bit of a blemish.

RobFunk · Sep 24, 2006

Dsethi said:
how bout Rogers Hornsby?

Only known really for having the NL career mark for single season batting average at .424, but won 7 batting titles in his career (six in a row!), career average of .359, the highest ever in the National League.

2-time MVP and 2-time Triple Crown winner as well.

He also let Tom Hanks know that there was no crying in baseball.

Journeyman · Sep 24, 2006

primetime21 said:
Only 1 MVP for speaker is a little bit of a blemish.

Well he played in the era where the American league was dominated with immortal players ...also remember the award wasn't officially given til 1931.

There have been three different "official" most valuable player awards in Major League Baseball since 1911; the Chalmer's Award (1911-1914), the League Award (1922-1929), and this is the third, and currently awarded, version simply referred to as the Most Valuable Player Award.

So summing it up, in some of his best years there was NO award given...probably another reason why he's lesser remembered.

:icon_conf

mind boggling career numbers...

VIEJODINOSAUR · Sep 24, 2006

I'm voting for Josh Gibson....they say he hit more home runs than Ruth.

VIEJODINOSAUR · Sep 24, 2006

And yes, I know he never got to the show....

Journeyman · Sep 24, 2006

VIEJO DINOSAUR said:
I'm voting for Josh Gibson....they say he hit more home runs than Ruth.

good choice,,, even Josh Gibson is much more known than Speaker...not even close.

Journeyman · Sep 24, 2006

they had such great names back then...Cool Papa, Josh, Sachel, Mordecai lol.

forgot to list his 3500+ base hits.

paftraft · Sep 25, 2006

Here you go Riggs Stephenson - the others mentioned are in the hall of fame-
Stephenson has the 2nd highest lifetime average of anyone not in the Hall of Fame - Joe Sewall & Stephenson were a double play combo at Univ. of Alabama - Sewall is in the Hall of Fame. Stephenson lifetime average was .336
2nd choice Lefty O'Doul- a picher till his late 20's O'doul hit .398 for the Phillies and .383 the next year. Lefty had 254 hits in one season and was on the first team ever with 3 30 homer players on same team. He, Chuck Klein & the first baseman Don Hurst
3rd choice Junior Stephens his 159 RBI's in 1949 was more than any player for over 40 years.

Degenerate · Sep 25, 2006

Agree about Speaker. Was reading about him just the other day in the fine book, "Red Sox Century."

bulldog77 · Sep 25, 2006

Sam Crawford. Lifetime .309 hitter and all-time triples leader with 309. 12 inside the park hrs in one season.

Journeyman · Sep 25, 2006

paftraft said:
Here you go Riggs Stephenson - the others mentioned are in the hall of fame-
Stephenson has the 2nd highest lifetime average of anyone not in the Hall of Fame - Joe Sewall & Stephenson were a double play combo at Univ. of Alabama - Sewall is in the Hall of Fame. Stephenson lifetime average was .336
2nd choice Lefty O'Doul- a picher till his late 20's O'doul hit .398 for the Phillies and .383 the next year. Lefty had 254 hits in one season and was on the first team ever with 3 30 homer players on same team. He, Chuck Klein & the first baseman Don Hurst
3rd choice Junior Stephens his 159 RBI's in 1949 was more than any player for over 40 years.

good info, thanks :103631605

Sugarbear · Sep 25, 2006

Dale Murphy.

Fishhead · Sep 25, 2006

Riggs Stephenson

5teamparlay · Aug 22, 2012

I've heard ALL of these before..

This was brought up by another poster today;

Arky Vaughn

Vaughan is the 26th greatest non-pitcher in major league history, according to win shares.

Never heard the name...

paftraft · Aug 22, 2012

Of all the Hall of Famers or soon to be H of F players Arky Vaughn gets less recognition as a great player than anyone else. Speaker gets plenty of credit as one of the 5 greatest player of his era along with Cobb, Jackson, Wagner and Sisler.
Another mentioned Hornsby isn't disrespected he's considered the best right handed hitter of all time.

Arky Vaughn is regarded always as one of the 10 greatest SS of all time, but should in the top 2. In the ESPN baseball encyclopedia 6 years he was voted in the top 5 NL players combining offense & defence abilities. In 34, 35, 38 & 1941 he was 1st. In 1935 he hit .385 an NL Record, had a OBP of .491 which never will be matched by a SS, and overlooked though he was not known for HR's broke the Pirate HR record with 19 while stiking out only 18 times. Forbes Field was cavernous in those days.

Perhaps he's looked over because he never played in the World Series. He retired after a Durocher's fight with Bobo Newsome in the clubhouse. After the fight, Vaughan handed Durocher his rolled up jersey and told him to shove it up his...well to shove into a place that would be impossible. This led to a battle in the clubhouse, and while it is unsure what exactly happened down there, we know that Vaughan retired for three years after the skirmish with his manager. He was only 31 years old!

Arky Vaughn died at the age of 40 when in a storm he fishing boat capsized and he tried to save a friend who couldn't swim, neither made it to shore. Jeter will be & Ripken was still accumulating stats at that age!

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