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July 10, 2011

Thoma: A short list of the best shortstops

By Edward Thoma Free Press Staff Writer

— Derek Jeter passed the 3,000 hit milestone on Saturday, an accomplishment that prompts the question: Where does he rank among the all-time shortstops?

My subjective (but I dare say well-informed) Top 10 is based on the following criteria:

• What they did as shortstops that counts most. Robin Yount and Ernie Banks were great, but each spent much of their career at other positions because their bodies broke down. Alex Rodriguez was moved prematurely for other reasons. And Honus Wagner — nobody else played other positions early in his career and shortstop late, but that was a matter of his bosses being unable to see past his body type.

• I am quite certain that baseball today is played at a higher level than it was 20 years ago, and the game 20 years ago was played at a higher level than it was 20 years before that. My list is, therefore, heavy with players of my lifetime.

• The only part of the order I’m adamant about is the top man. Bill James said years ago there is a wider gulf between whoever is the No. 2 shortstop and the No. 1 man than there is between No. 2 and No. 30, and I agree. On with the countdown:

10) John Henry Lloyd. Long acclaimed the greatest shortstop of the Negro Leagues, he’ll stand here as a reminder that for generations the major leagues denied themselves the talents of the dark skinned. How to accurately rate Pop Lloyd — or Willie “Devil” Wells or “King Richard” Lundy — against the guys who got to play in the majors is beyond me. Lloyd was great, probably better than this ranking says. Trust me.

9) Alan Trammell. Unjustly ignored by the Hall of Fame voters, but a fine player for a long time.

8) Ernie Banks. Two MVPs as a power-hitting shortstop in the late 50s. Not a prime defensive player, and played more games at first base in his career.

7) Robin Yount. Moved to center because of a shoulder injury, won his second MVP as a center fielder.

6) Barry Larkin. Like Jeter, a great all-round talent. Unlike Jeter, had a lot of injuries. Missed election to the Hall of Fame last winter, will be voted in during the next go-around.

5) Ozzie Smith. His durability puts him ahead of Larkin in my book. No power, but a good top-of-the-order hitter anyway, and of course a legend with the glove.  

4) Cal Ripken. A big man, a power threat, and, of course, the most durable shortstop ever.

3) Alex Rodriguez. He would have moved off of shortstop sooner or later anyway because of the leg problems but shifted at age 28, in the prime of his career. Had the Yankees kept him at short when they acquired him before the 2004 season, he’d rank ahead of Jeter.

2) Derek Jeter. He has become a flash point between two conflicting views of the game. Sabermetricians decry his defense, traditionalists rave about his glove. Both arguments are justified. He never had much range, and has almost none now that he’s in his late 30s, but his game sense and dependability remain superb. He and Smith are the only men on this list who were never used as middle-of-the-order hitters.

1) Honus Wagner. The Flying Dutchman had a chest like a block of Kasota stone perched on legs that looked like a pair of parenthesis, and scoop-shovel hands. It was said he flung the infield dirt at the first baseman, leaving him to pick the ball out of the flying gravel. And hit? The man held almost all significant National League records until Stan Musial came along.

Wagner played a century ago. Nobody since has dominated the position the way he did. Probably no one ever will.



Edward Thoma is a Free Press staff writer. He is at 344-6377 or at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. He also has a baseball blog.

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