Greatest Righthanded Hitters Ever

[Baldkin]

With Manny hitting his 500th, some friends and I got into the discussion of the best RH hitters of all time. Position being irrelevant.

 

We started naming off guys from the past at first: (Aaron, Mays, DiMaggio, etc), and then jumped to the present. We started talking about how we might be seeing 4 or 5 of the top 10 best RH hitters ever playing today.

 

ARod, Pujols, Manny, Frank Thomas, Gary Sheffield. Maybe I'm crazy.

 

Anyway, I wanted to post this, to try to stir up a discussion.

 

Who are the greatest? Give a personal top-5!

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow! To try to pare that down to 5... nearly impossible. I can't do it, personally, even though that's a total cop-out. For reference's sake, here are the career OPS leaders (.900 or higher) for RH batters:

 

1.045 - Albert Pujols

1.038 - Jimmie Foxx

1.017 - Hank Greenburg

1.010 - Rogers Hornsby

.999 - Manny Ramirez

.982 - Mark McGwire

.979 - Frank Thomas

.977 - Joe DiMaggio

.966 - Alex Rodriguez

.963 - Vlad Guerrero

.948 - Jeff Bagwell

.946 - Ralph Kiner

.941 - Willie Mays

.940 - Hack Wilson

.933 - Albert Belle

.933 - Edgar Martinez

.930 - Harry Heilmann

.929 - Hank Aaron

.926 - Frank Robinson

.922 - Mike Piazza

.922 - Miguel Cabrera

.917 - Ed Delahanty

.915 - Al Simmons

.915 - Gary Sheffield

.912 - Dick Allen

.908 - Mike Schmidt

.904 - Juan Gonzalez

 

 

Just thought it'd be a decent starting reference.

 

 

EDIT: It's scary to see how great Pujols is. Incredible. He's a total throwback in the sense that he draws a lot of BBs while K'ing ridiculously infrequently. There really aren't many hitters like him in the history of baseball, let alone his contemporaries. Pujols is one of those guys that would have been a star in any era. Gotta love that.

[valpocrewsader]

I imagine Rogers Hornsby has to be part of the conversation.....

[BrewCrewForever]

1.045 - Albert Pujols

1.038 - Jimmie Foxx

1.017 - Hank Greenburg

1.010 - Rogers Hornsby

.999 - Manny Ramirez

 

All the guys on that OPS list are great and have great OPS's, but the above guys OPS numbers are just sick. I would say those 5 with Aaron and A-Rod thrown in would be my list. I know that is 7.

[TooLiveBrew]

No kidding. Three to five seasons like that can help get you to Cooperstown... those are career #'s! Makes your eyes bug out, doesn't it?

[BrewCrewForever]

No kidding. Three to five seasons like that can help get you to Cooperstown... those are career #'s! Makes your eyes bug out, doesn't it?

I think that a career over .800 OPS is awesome. But when you are in the mid to high .900 or like a few of those guys in the 1.000 that is just wrong and not fair.

[valpocrewsader]

And Hornsby played a bit of his career in the dead ball era, dragging down his total numbers a bit.

[sbrylski]

And Hornsby played a bit of his career in the dead ball era, dragging down his total numbers a bit.

So his OPS+ is actually the highest of all RHB:

Player (age) Adjusted OPS+ Bats

Rogers Hornsby+ 175 R

Albert Pujols (28) 169 R

Jimmie Foxx+ 163 R

Pete Browning 162 R

Mark McGwire 162 R

Dave Orr 161 R

Hank Greenberg+ 158 R

Frank Thomas (40) 157 R

Dick Allen 156 R

Willie Mays+ 156 R

Hank Aaron+ 155 R

Joe DiMaggio+ 155 R

Manny Ramirez (36) 154 R

Frank Robinson+ 154 R

Ed Delahanty+ 152 R

Gavvy Cravath 151 R

Charley Jones 150 R

Nap Lajoie+ 150 R

Honus Wagner+ 150 R

Jeff Bagwell 149 R

 

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

This kind of shows how much harder it is to put up huge numbers as a RH as opposed to a LH. We need more people to be left handed!

[berniebrewer4life]

I think Hornsby gets my vote as best ever, followed by Foxx, Greenberg, Pujols and Mays. Man, that was really, really hard to do.

[Weirdos19]

What kills me is that Ramirez is a first ballot HOF according to ESPN and Frank Thomas is debatable whether he's Hall worthy or not.

 

Look where Thomas is in this thread, without the Monster to bang balls off of late in his career. I think he should get more votes than Manny.

 

And, any list of the top 10 right handed hitters of all time that doesn't have Hornsby, Williams, DiMaggio, Mays, Aaron, and Frank Robinson is no list at all.

 

And actually, a list of OPS+ should have percentages above average OPS. +150 OPS in 1950 is more impressive than it is now.

[TooLiveBrew]

How about the switch-hitters?

 

.982 - Lance Berkman (149 OPS+)

.977 - Mickey Mantle (172)

.955 - Chipper Jones (145)

.902 - Mark Teixeira (129)

.860 - Jorge Posada (124)

.858 - Bernie Williams (125)

.855 - Reggie Smith (137)

.852 - Ripper Collins (126)

.849 - Carlos Beltran (116)

.840 - Roy Cullenbine (1938-'47 -- 132 OPS+)

 

OPS +

132 Ken Singleton

129 Eddie Murray

124 Bobby Bonilla

123 Tim Raines

[danzig6767]

I obviously wasn't around to see the old timers on the list, but of hitters that i've been around to watch in my life, Bonds and Pujols are probably the only guys i'd rather have hitting 3rd or 4th in my lineup than Manny Ramirez. Besides Manny being the hitting machine that he is, i also greatly enjoy him being the wacky character that he is.

 

Baseball is very conservative and pretty much goes out of it's way to suppress individualism and players showing personality, i love that Manny is a great player and also is entertaining beyond just outstanding production. To bad for me that he has to play on the Boston Red Sox, the team i hate most after the Cubs.

[alwz4gbp]

Could we pare this down to the best Right handed hitters that most of us have seen?

 

My top 5 in no particular order

 

Manny (tops right now)

A-rod (will dwarf anything Manny does)

Molitor (still has a faster bat than most of the guys today)

Pujols (even with what hes done already, still a work in progress)

Edgar Martinez (dude was a pure hitter with a different batting stance everytime he came to the plate depending on who was pitching)

 

Let the verbal thrashing begin!!!!!!!

[alwz4gbp]

I obviously wasn't around to see the old timers on the list, but of hitters that i've been around to watch in my life, Bonds and Pujols are probably the only guys i'd rather have hitting 3rd or 4th in my lineup than Manny Ramirez. Besides Manny being the hitting machine that he is, i also greatly enjoy him being the wacky character that he is.

 

Baseball is very conservative and pretty much goes out of it's way to suppress individualism and players showing personality, i love that Manny is a great player and also is entertaining beyond just outstanding production. To bad for me that he has to play on the Boston Red Sox, the team i hate most after the Cubs.

Danzig, I too enjoy watching Manny being Manny. I don't like how he sometimes just says "screw it, I'm not playing" but I do enjoy his individualism. Hes frustrating to watch from a baseball fans standpoint but if I were a Sox fan, I'd love him.

[jhart05]

1. Hank Aaron

2. Paul Molitor

3+. Everyone else

 

 

 

P.S.

 

Yes I'm biased.

[TooLiveBrew]

Pujols (even with what hes done already, still a work in progress)

 

Care to elaborate? Imho Pujols is as close to a perfectly polished hitter as you could imagine. Is this just because he's 'young' still?

[jhart05]

What kills me is that Ramirez is a first ballot HOF according to ESPN and Frank Thomas is debatable whether he's Hall worthy or not.

 

Look where Thomas is in this thread, without the Monster to bang balls off of late in his career. I think he should get more votes than Manny.

 

And, any list of the top 10 right handed hitters of all time that doesn't have Hornsby, Williams, DiMaggio, Mays, Aaron, and Frank Robinson is no list at all.

 

And actually, a list of OPS+ should have percentages above average OPS. +150 OPS in 1950 is more impressive than it is now.

 

I'm not trying to be an ass, but I'm wondering what Williams you're talking about here.

 

 

[SoCalBrewfan]

I'm not trying to be an ass, but I'm wondering what Williams you're talking about here.

 

Ted batting the other way might well still be in the top 10. That or a fan of Gerald "Ice" Williams with no sense of proportion. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

And actually, a list of OPS+ should have percentages above average OPS. +150 OPS in 1950 is more impressive than it is now.

 

OPS+ of 150 means 150% of league average, not 150 points above league average...if league average is 700, an OPS+ of 150 would mean 1.5 * 700 = 1050...so it should be roughly able to compare across eras.

[Baldkin]

How about the switch-hitters?

OPS +

132 Ken Singleton

129 Eddie Murray

124 Bobby Bonilla

123 Tim Raines

I'd have to say, for an 8 year period, Roberto Alomar was as good as anyone in baseball.

And wow... this thread kind of blew up.

 

The best RH hitter I ever saw, was Frank Thomas, in the 90's. His 1994 was, perhaps, one of the best single seasons ever, but it was strike shortened sadly.

[RU Rah Rah]

OPS be damned! The answer is Dave Kingman!

[T B0NE 10]

Wow! To try to pare that down to 5... nearly impossible. I can't do it, personally, even though that's a total cop-out. For reference's sake, here are the career OPS leaders (.900 or higher) for RH batters:

 

1.045 - Albert Pujols *?

1.038 - Jimmie Foxx

1.017 - Hank Greenburg

1.010 - Rogers Hornsby

.999 - Manny Ramirez ?

.982 - Mark McGwire *

.979 - Frank Thomas *

.977 - Joe DiMaggio

.966 - Alex Rodriguez *probably IMO

.963 - Vlad Guerrero

.948 - Jeff Bagwell *

.946 - Ralph Kiner

.941 - Willie Mays

.940 - Hack Wilson

.933 - Albert Belle

.933 - Edgar Martinez *

.930 - Harry Heilmann

.929 - Hank Aaron

.926 - Frank Robinson

.922 - Mike Piazza *

.922 - Miguel Cabrera

.917 - Ed Delahanty

.915 - Al Simmons

.915 - Gary Sheffield *

.912 - Dick Allen

.908 - Mike Schmidt

.904 - Juan Gonzalez *

I dont want to start this into a big steroid witch hunt but the way steroids influenced the game is shown pretty well I think by these stats. I put an asterisk to people i believe used steroids.

*? for Pujols I kinda believe he used him, but I dont tihink he does anymore and he is still great

? for Manny, I dont think he did but I wouldnt be too surprised if he did

 

[sveumrules]

frank thomas roiding but not joey belle? interesting there...

if i had to take five of these guys i'd go with hornsby, joe d, mays, aaron and robinson.

a rod, manny and pujols could easily knock some of those guys out of the top 5 by the time their careers are over, though.

[T B0NE 10]

frank thomas roiding but not joey belle? interesting there...

if i had to take five of these guys i'd go with hornsby, joe d, mays, aaron and robinson.

a rod, manny and pujols could easily knock some of those guys out of the top 5 by the time their careers are over, though.

I don't know or remember Belle enough to accuse http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Vlad Geurero is another one that wouldnt surprise me if they roided but hes just amazing by hitting those bouncers for home runs so i give him the benefit of the doubt http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

[TooLiveBrew]

I dont want to start this into a big steroid witch hunt but the way steroids influenced the game is shown pretty well I think by these stats.

 

I agree. Sbrylski's post on OPS+ is a much more way to compare across eras. He thought it out better than I did. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif