The Best 11 Second Basemen of All Time

I was going to move rationally around the diamond in my "greatest ten of all time" series, but I got frustrated with first base, and then with third, so I'll get to those later. For now, I have decided to focus on second.

Just off the top of my head, I will be considering, in no particular order, the following second basemen—accompanied by their career WARP (Wins Above Replacement Player):

Rod Carew (117), Eddie Collins (220), Bobby Doerr (113), Johnny Evers (113), Nellie Fox (95), Bobby Grich (113), Lou Whitaker (112), Bobby Lowe (91), Charlie Gehringer (155), Rogers Hornsby (201), Nap  Lajoie (223), Bill Mazeroski(93), Joe Morgan (174), Jackie Robinson (89), Ryne Sandberg (118), Roberto Alomar (111), Craig Biggio (113), and Joe Gordon (84).

Several names immediately jump out as being far and away superior to the rest of the pack. The big pre-war three—Collins, Hornsby, and Lajoie—are all certainly in, as are Joe Morgan, Charlie Gehringer, and Jackie Robinson.

The justification for Robinson (who does in fact have the second lowest WARP of the group) is a no-brainer. Often lost in the shuffle of Jackie's more publicized role in baseball history is this—he was a truly sensational baseball player. Had he been white, Jackie Robinson absolutely, without question, would still have had a Hall of Fame career.

Normally, I don't like to give players credit for things they did not actually do. This is why I do not like to hear: "Tony Oliva would be in the Hall if it weren't for his bad knees, Mattingly would have been the best 1st baseman of the 1980's if it weren't for his bad back..."

This is crap. Oliva did have bad knees, and Mattingly did have a bad back. I imagine there are dozens upon dozens of players who would be in the HOF if it were not for some injury or mishap.

There are two exceptions to this rule that I find reasonable, racism and war. In the case of war, we can use Ted Williams as our example. Williams was the game's best hitter immediately before going to war, and the game's best hitter immediately following his return. It only stands to reason that he was also the game's best hitter in the intervening years, even if he wasn't on the field.

As for race: Jackie Robinson was 28 when he made his major league debut. The average major league quality player reaches their peak somewhere between the ages of 25-29. It is therefore, reasonable to assume that Jackie lost what would have been, at a minimum, two or three peak seasons, as well as several of a near-peak level.

When we imagine Jackie putting up these numbers, it is important to remember that he was, in fact, playing in a high quality league at this time. He put up numbers—just not numbers that we can see.

What follows is a rough imagining of what sort of career line Jackie might have put up, had he reached the majors at 22, when most of our HOF second basemen were already playing regularly.

H-2530, D-485, T-90, HR-244, R-1578, RBI-1223, SB-328, BB-1233 .311/.409/.474/.885

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