20 Best MLB Players to Suit Up on Both Sides of a Major Rivalry

While it is easy to say that every game is as important as the last, there is no question that players and fans alike look forward to playing some opponents just a bit more than others. Throughout sports, there are a number of great rivalries, and baseball is no different.

Some rivalries have been brought about by two teams peaking in the same era, such as the Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Yankees, while others are geographic such as Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox.

Trumping them all though, three rivalries have stood the test of time in the MLB and they rank among the best rivalries in all of sports:

Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers vs. New York/San Francisco Giants

Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees

So here is a look at the 20 best players to play on both sides of those rivalries, players who turned the tables on the best rivalries in baseball history.

Gary Gaetti

St. Louis Cardinals (1996-1998)

Chicago Cubs (1998-1999)

Gaetti had already racked up a career line of .254 BA, 292 HR, 1075 RBI when he signed with the Cardinals prior to the 1996 season at the age of 37.

He was still a solid hitter even then, as the put together a .274 BA, 23 HR, 80 RBI line in his first season with the Cardinals. However, his numbers dropped the following season and when they didn't get better in 1998, he was released on Aug. 14.

Five days later, the Cubs signed him and made him their everyday third baseman as they chased a wild card berth. He responded with a .320 BA, 8 HR, 27 RBI line in just 128 at bats. He dropped off the next season, and retired one season later, but he played a big part in the Cubs' first playoff trip in eight years.

Reggie Smith

Los Angeles Dodgers (1976-1981)

San Francisco Giants (1982)

Smith spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Red Sox and then the Cardinals before being traded to the Dodgers midway through the 1976 season after he got off to a slow start with a line of .218 BA, 8 HR, 23 RBI through 170 at bats.

However, he picked it up after the trade and the following two seasons, he finished fourth in NL MVP voting both seasons while averaging 30 home runs and 90 RBI.

During the 1981 season, Smith jumped into the stands and fought a Giants fan who threw a batting helmet at him during a game at Candlestick Park.

Despite that, he was signed with the Giants as a free agent that coming offseason. However, his career was wrapping up and he would play just one season in San Francisco before retiring.

Elston Howard

New York Yankees (1955-1967)

Boston Red Sox (1967-1968)

Howard began his career as a left fielder for the Yankees until moving behind the plate in the 1958 season as Yogi Berra was wrapping up his Hall of Fame career.

By the 1960s, he was one of the top backstops in the entire league, and in 1963 he took home the AL MVP and Gold Glove.

He was with the Yankees for 12 full seasons before being dealt to the rival Red Sox in August 1967. However, at that point he had little left offensively and he was released the following season and subsequently, he retired.

Jim Edmonds

St. Louis Cardinals (2000-2007)

Chicago Cubs (2008)

Edmonds started his career with the Angels, and followed that up with a fantastic eight-year stretch with the Cardinals in which he hit .285 BA, 241 HR, 713 RBI.

After a down 2007 season, the 38-year-old Edmonds was dealt to the Padres for current third baseman David Freese. He struggled mightily in 26 games in San Diego, though, as he hit just .178 over 90 at bats, enough to get him released.

Five days after he was cut, and the Cubs signed Edmonds for what amounted to $300,000 for the rest of the year. He went on to hit .256 BA, 19 HR, 49 RBI in a platoon role as he helped the Cubs make the playoffs.

Freddie Fitzsimmons

New York Giants (1925-1937)

Brooklyn Dodgers (1937-1943)

Fitzsimmons broke into the league with the Giants in 1925, and from 1926-1934, he won at least 14 games in all but one season, as he piled up 148 wins and a 3.55 ERA over that span.

He was limited in the next two seasons before being traded to the Dodgers for Tom Baker in June 1937. Despite the fact that he was 35 years old at the time, he still had plenty left moving forward with the Dodgers.

In 1940, at the age of 38, he had a phenomenal season going 16-2 with a 2.81 ERA to lead the league in winning percentage and finish fifth in MVP voting. He made it three more seasons, but never again matched those sort of numbers.

Jeff Kent

San Francisco Giants (1997-2002)

Los Angeles Dodgers (2005-2008)

The all-time leader for home runs by a second baseman, Kent began his career as a solid offensive producer, but his career really took off when came over to the Giants in the trade that sent Matt Williams to the Indians.

In his six seasons with the Giants, Kent averaged a line of .297 BA, 29 HR, 115 RBI as he finished in the top ten in MVP voting four times and took the award home in 2000.

After two years with the Astros, Kent signed on with the Dodgers to close out his career and continued to produce above-average numbers at the position through his final season.

Lee Smith

Chicago Cubs (1980-1987)

Boston Red Sox (1988-1990)

St. Louis Cardinals (1990-1993)

New York Yankees (1993)

Smith managed to bridge the gap between not one, but two of the major baseball rivalries and he did it all in the first 14 years of his 18-year career.

A second-round pick in 1975 by the Cubs, Smith saved 180 games in his eight seasons with the team. He was then traded to the Red Sox prior to the 1988 season.

After two successful seasons in Boston, Smith was dealt to the Cardinals early in the 1990 season and in three seasons with the team, he saved at least 40 games each year. Finally, he was dealt to the Yankees at the deadline in 1993.

He played four more seasons with four different teams to close out his career, but he played the majority of his career involved in one fantastic rivalry or another.

Waite Hoyt

New York Giants (1918, 1932)

Boston Red Sox (1919-1920)

New York Yankees (1921-1930)

Brooklyn Dodgers (1932, 1937-1938)

Signed by the Giants as a 15-year-old phenom, Hoyt appeared in just one game with the Giants before heading to the Red Sox. After two seasons bouncing between the bullpen and the rotation, he was traded to the Yankees in an eight-player deal prior to the 1921 season.

As a 21-year-old in his first season with the Yankees, Hoyt won 19 games and that would begin a stretch of eight seasons in which he won at least 15 games seven times as he perhaps the most consistent pitcher of the great 1920s Yankees.

He went on to pitch 21 years, finishing out his career with the Dodgers at the age of 38. He won 237 games in his career and he was a solid reliever aside from his time in the rotation.

Orel Hershiser

Los Angeles Dodgers (1983-1994, 2000)

San Francisco Giants (1998)

Hershiser broke into the league with the Dodgers in 1983, and he pitched the first 12 seasons of his career with them, piling up 134 wins and a 3.00 ERA in the process. He won the NL Cy Young in 1988 in one of the more dominant pitching seasons in recent years.

After a three-year stint with the Indians, he signed on as a free agent with the Giants prior to the 1998 season where he went 11-10 with a 4.41 ERA at the age of 39.

He retired two years later in 2000 as he went out as a member of the Dodgers, albeit on a low note as he was released after 10 appearances and a 13.14 ERA. Still, his 204 career wins are impressive.

Dennis Eckersley

Chicago Cubs (1984-1986)

St. Louis Cardinals (1996-1997)

After accumulating 124 wins over nine and a half seasons with the Indians and Red Sox, Eckersley was traded to the Cubs midway through the 1984 season. The move was largely overshadowed by the acquisition of Rick Sutcliffe, but he went 10-8 with a 3.03 ERA in 24 starts to help the team make the postseason.

He spent two more average seasons with the Cubs before he was traded to the Athletics, where he would enjoy a career renaissance at the age of 32.

Converted to a closer, Eck saved 320 games in nine seasons with Oakland before joining the Cardinals as a 41-year-old. He still had plenty left as he tallied 66 saves in his two seasons with the team before closing out his career with the Red Sox the following year.

Johnny Damon

Boston Red Sox (2002-2005)

New York Yankees (2006-2009)

After six solid years with the Royals to open his career, and one year in Oakland, the Red Sox picked up Damon prior to the 2002 season and he became the face of their team as he was a big reason for the team's turnaround as they made the playoffs in 2003 and then finally broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004.

However, for as much as he meant to the Red Sox, he was just as quick to turn around and sign with the Yankees when he hit free agency, as he cut his hair and joined the other side of the rivalry.

He spent four seasons with each team, and if he can play a few more seasons and reach the 3,000 hit mark (2,714 as of yesterday), it will be interesting to see with which team he enters the Hall of Fame.

Luis Tiant

Boston Red Sox (1971-1978)

New York Yankees (1979-1980)

After breaking into the league with 82 wins in his first seven seasons pitching for the Indians and Twins, Tiant joined the Red Sox as a free agent in May 1971.

After an uneventful first season in Boston, Tiant led the AL with a 1.91 ERA the following season and he went on to win 122 games and post a 3.36 ERA in eight seasons with the team.

Then at 38 years old he was signed by the Yankees in 1979 where he was still a solid pitcher, but far from the dominant force he was as a member of the Red Sox.

Lou Brock

Chicago Cubs (1961-1964)

St. Louis Cardinals (1964-1979)

In two full seasons with the Cubs, Brock showed flashes of his talent, with 40 steals over that span. However, he hit just .260 and struck out much more than you would like out of a leadoff hitter.

Midway through the 1964 season he was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Ernie Broglio. Brock's career took off immediately, as he went on to a Hall of Fame career, while Broglio was out of baseball two years later.

Red Ruffing

Boston Red Sox (1924-1930)

New York Yankees (1930-1942, 1945-1946)

Ruffing broke into the league as a 19-year-old with the Red Sox back in 1924, and heading into the 1930 season, he had a terrible career record of 39-93 and an ERA of 4.57 to boot.

Midway through the 1930 season, he was traded from to the Yankees for Cedric Durst and $50,000, and he went 15-5 down the stretch in 25 starts following the trade.

He would then average 17 wins per season from 1931-1942, and after missing the 1943 and 1944 season, he returned at the age of 40 to pitch two more effective seasons with the team before wrapping up his career one year later with the White Sox.

Wade Boggs

Boston Red Sox (1982-1992)

New York Yankees (1993-1997)

Boggs began his career with the Red Sox, playing 11 seasons and winning five batting titles in the process. In total he tallied 2,098 hits during his time in Boston with a batting average of .338.

However, after making just three playoff appearances in those 11 seasons, he jumped ship and joined the Yankees as a free agent prior to the 1993 season.

While it was a move that was frowned upon by many, Boggs got what he wanted out of it when the Yankees won the World Series in 1996 and he got the first and only ring of his career.

Duke Snider

Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1947-1962)

San Francisco Giants (1964)

One of the most productive outfielders in baseball history, Snider put together a line of .300 BA, 389 HR, 1271 RBI in 16 seasons with the Dodgers to open his career. He made seven All-Star appearances and finished in the top ten of MVP voting six times.

Following the 1962 season, he was sold to the New York Mets, where he had a good following of fans who were there for the Brooklyn Dodgers before they moved to Los Angeles.

However, after just one season with the Mets, he asked to be moved to a contender, and he was sold to the Giants, where he hit just .210 in his one season with the team before retiring.

Juan Marichal

San Francisco Giants (1960-1973)

Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1975)

One of the best pitchers in an era loaded with amazing starting pitching, Marichal won 238 games in 14 seasons as a member of the Giants, including 20 wins on six different occasions.

He played a bigger role in fueling his rivalry than many others on this list, as he will be remembered for an incident in 1965 when he attacked Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro with a bat after the catcher's return throws came a little close to his head.

Wouldn't you know it, though, just one season after leaving the Giants for the Red Sox, he signed with those very same Dodgers that he hated so much. He made just two starts with the team, giving up nine runs in six innings before retiring.

Rogers Hornsby

St. Louis Cardinals (1915-1926, 1933)

Chicago Cubs (1929-1932)

Considered by most to be the best second baseman of all time, Hornsby started his career with the Cardinals as a 19-year old. From 1920-1925, he won the batting title each season as he hit over .400 three times in the process.

Prior to the 1927 season, he was traded to the Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring, and two years later, he joined the Cubs.

In is first season in Chicago, he hit .380 BA, 39 HR, 149 RBI and won the NL MVP, but the would be the only season he played a full slate as a member of the Cubs.

Roger Clemens

Boston Red Sox (1984-1996)

New York Yankees (1999-2003, 2007)

When Clemens first broke into the league in 1984 at the age of 21, Clemens was stellar right off the bat and two years later in 1986, he put together a phenomenal season when he had a line of 24-4, 2.48 ERA, 238 Ks and took home the AL MVP and AL Cy Young.

That would be the first of three Cy Young awards he won with the team, as he tallied 192 wins and a 3.06 ERA in his 13 years with the team before joining the Blue Jays.

After back-to-back Cy Young awards in Toronto, he was traded to the Yankees for David Wells and he went on to win another 83 games in six seasons in the Bronx.

Say what you will about his career as it has been tainted by his PED use, but it is nearly impossible to ignore as he won 354 games and seven Cy Young awards in 24 seasons.

Babe Ruth

Boston Red Sox (1914-1919)

New York Yankees (1920-1934)

It was the off-season following the 1919 baseball season, and the Red Sox had a full-blown superstar on their hands in Babe Ruth. Formerly a pitcher who could really hit, Ruth was now an outfielder who occasionally pitched, and he was putting up numbers that no one had ever seen before.

With a batting line of .322 BA, 29 HR and 114 RBI, and a pitching record of 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA over 133.1 innings, it was a season for the ages.

Whether it was Ruth asking for his salary to be doubled to $20,000, or whether the stories that Red Sox owner Harry Frazee was trying to finance a theatrical production were in fact true, for one reason or another Ruth was put on the trade block.

The White Sox offered up $60,000 and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson for Ruth, but Frazee declined and instead took the Yankees' deal and the full $100,000 that he was seeking.

Thus, the Curse of the Bambino was born, as the Red Sox would go without a World Series until 2004. Meanwhile, the Yankees became baseball's most revered franchise and piled up titles with Ruth leading the way as he went down as the best player in baseball history.