Baseball Players / #'s: 11 - 20

                                               Baseball Players / #'s: 11 - 20

#11 Edgar Martinez – DH/3rd Base, Seattle Mariners. “Gar” takes #11 with a .312 lifetime batting average, 7 All-Star games, 5 Silver Sluggers, and 2 AL Batting Titles. People forget about Edgar but that guy could rake!

Honorable Mention: Paul Waner, Carl Hubbell, Luis Aparicio, Barry Larkin

#12 Roberto Alomar – Second Base, Toronto Blue Jays. “The Spitter” has more Gold Gloves (10) than any 2^nd basemen in history, was a 12-time All-Star, a 4 time Silver Slugger, and a 2-time World Series Champion. Roberto logged a .300 lifetime average.

Honorable Mention: Mark Langston

#13 Alex Rodriguez – 3^rd Base, New York Yankees. “A-Rod”, is perhaps most famous for his outrageous contracts but the man gets paid because he can stroke it. A-Rod is already the MLB All-Time leader for home runs (634) by a player with Hispanic descent and he is piling more on. Rodriguez resume touts a lifetime average over .300, the aforementioned 634 homers, 3 AL MVP awards, 14 All-Star games, a whopping 10 Silver Slugger awards and even 2 Gold Gloves (at SS).

Honorable Mention: Omar Visquel, Billy Wagner, Carl Crawford, Dave Concepcion.

#14 Pete Rose – OF/3^rd Base/1^st Base, Cincinnati Reds. “Charlie Hustle” has more base hits (4,256) than any other player in the history of the game. I wanted to pick Ernie Banks here really, really badly at #14 but the previous sentence would not allow me to do so. Rose also holds the MLB all-time records for at-bats and games played. A career .303 hitter, Pete won 3 Batting Titles, 2 Gold Gloves, and managed to bring home the NL MVP in 1973. Rose also won 3 World Series rings, played in 17 All-Star games and was named the Rookie of the Year way back in 1963.

Honorable Mention: Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks, Jim Rice, Gil Hodges, Larry Doby, Kent Hrbek.

#15  Thurman Munson – Catcher, New York Yankees. Thurman’s short career yielded 7 All-Star Games, 2 World series Titles, 3 Gold Gloves and the 1976 AL MVP.

Honoable Mention: Dick Allen, Carlos Beltran, Tim Hudson, Doug Drabek.

#16 Whitey Ford – Pitcher, New York Yankees. Whitey edges out Dr. K and Sweet Music by virtue of his 236 Wins, 2.75 career ERA, 6 World Series Championships, 10 All-Star Games. Ford also brought home the 1961 AL Cy Young Award and the 1961 World Series MVP.

Honorable Mention: Dwight Gooden, Frank Viola.

#17 Todd Helton – First Basemen, Colorado Rockies. A bit of a surprise here, but Helton’s numbers simply out shine the competition. The lifetime Rockie boasts a hefty .322 career average, 351 Home runs, 561 Doubles, and is the only player is MLB history to slug 35 or more doubles for 10 consecutive seasons. Helton has made 5 All-Star Game appearances, won 4 Silver Slugger Awards, snagged 3 Gold Gloves and was the 2000 NL Batting Champ.

Honorable Mention: Dizzy Dean, Lance Berkman, Mark Grace, Keith Hernandez.

#18 Moises Alou – Outfielder, Montreal Expos. A close race at #18 ends with the 6-Time All-Star and 2-Time Silver Slugger Award winner Alou. Moises hit .303 for his career, smashed 332 Home Runs, and brought home a World Series Title in 1997 with the Marlins.

Honorable Mention: Ted Kluszewski, Darryl Strawberry, Mel Harder, Andy Van Slyke.

#19 Tony Gwynn – Outfielder, San Diego Padres. “Mr. Padre” brings home the title as best #19 on the wings of his amazing 8 NL Batting Titles, .338 career batting average and 3,141 Base Hits. Gwynn was also named an All-Star 15-Times, won 7 Silver Slugger Awards, and 5 Gold Gloves.

Honorable Mention: Robin Yount, Bob Feller, Fred Lynn, Josh Beckett.

#20 Frank Robinson – Outfielder, Baltimore Orioles/Cincinnati Reds. A hotly contested battle for #20 ends with Robinson victorious over Mike Schmidt and Lou Brock. Robinson is the only player in MLB history to be named MVP of both leagues (Reds 1961, Orioles 1966). Frank swatted 586 career home runs, hit .294, and fell just short of 3,000 hits. Frank played in 15 All-Star Games, won 2 World Series Championships, a Gold Glove Award, Rookie of the Year 1956, and World Series MVP 1966. Frank was also the first African-American Manager in MLB history (Cleveland, 1975), and won the Manager of the Year Award in 1989 (Baltimore). His #20 is retired by both the Reds and the Orioles.

Honorable Mention: Mike Schmidt, Lou Brock, Pie Traynor.