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One-team wonders

Ripken joins several exclusive clubs with hit No. 3,000

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Posted: Monday April 17, 2000 12:00 AM

Rare Bird: Cal Ripken is one of seven players with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Doug Pensinger/Allsport

By Lee Sinins, special to CNNSI.com

Cal Ripken's 3,000th hit, delivered Saturday night in Minnesota, is merely one more milestone in an outstanding Hall of Fame career. By collecting his 3,000th hit in an Orioles uniform, Ripken joins Stan Musial and Carl Yastrzemski as the only players to collect 3,000 hits and 400 home runs exclusively for one team. While his Iron Man streak of 2,632 consecutive games played will be his legacy, Ripken ranks among the top 20 all-time in games played, at-bats, doubles and total bases.

What else can you say about Cal Ripken? He's already a member of the All-Century Team. Let's take it a step further and place Ripken on an All-Star team of legends who spent their entire careers with one team. We're playing Cal at shortstop even though he hasn't appeared there since 1997. I think 2,302 games at short is enough to qualify on any team. Here's a look at Ripken's teammates:

First Base -- Lou Gehrig, New York Yankees (1923-1939)
Gehrig's accomplishments put him so far ahead of the competition that there can not be a serious debate as to who was the greatest first baseman of all-time. Among his numerous accomplishments were seven years with 150+ RBI, five years with 40+ homers and a 1.080 OPS (on base percentage + slugging percentage). Only his untimely illness prevented him from setting the career RBI record.

Second Base -- Charlie Gehringer, Detroit Tigers (1924-1942)
It is a shame that a player as great as Gehringer never gets the credit that he is due. Gehringer's resume features a .404 lifetime OBP with nine years over .400, a .320 lifetime batting average, a dozen years with 100+ runs and seven years with at least 200 hits.

Third Base -- Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Philles (1972-1989)
With 548 home runs, eight home run titles, three MVP awards and 10 Gold Gloves to his credit, Schmidt proved he was the greatest third baseman who ever lived. While he only hit higher than .300 once in his career, his excellent patience at the plate helped him lead the league in on-base percentage three times.

Outfield -- Ted Williams, Boston Red Sox (1939-1960)
The last man to hit .400 is arguably the greatest hitter who ever lived. The Splendid Splinter stands alone among all the left fielders who ever put on a major league uniform. Williams' career .483 OBA is a major league record while his .634 SLG and 1.116 OPS are second only to Babe Ruth.

Outfield -- Stan Musial, St. Louis Cardinals (1941-1963)
Musial is another player who unfortunately never gets the recognition he deserves. However, no lack of appreciation for his record can tarnish his standing as both the greatest left handed hitter and greatest left fielder in National League history. Musial's career totals of 3,630 hits and 1,951 RBI are records for players who spent their whole career with the same team and the three-time MVP had an incredible total of 14 years with a .400+ OBA.

Outfield -- Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees (1951-1968)
Mantle's greatness is best summed up with a few sabermetric statistics. Mantle's .830 career offensive winning percentage is second to Ruth in Yankees history, edging out Lou Gehrig and he had a comfortable lead over Joe DiMaggio. Mantle had eight years with a 1.000+ OPS and his advantage over DiMaggio in the vital OBA department (.423-.398) more than makes up for DiMaggio's .325-.298 lead in batting average.

Catcher -- Bill Dickey, New York Yankees (1928-1946)
It's hard to dismiss Johnny Bench, but the numbers don't lie. Dickey was not only comfortably ahead in OBA (.382-.342) but also beat him in SLG (.486-.476) to give him a commanding edge in OPS (.868-.817). While Bench had a reputation for defensive greatness, Dickey also was known for defensive excellence and was a crucial part of Bronx Bombers teams that won eight pennants and seven World Championships.

RHP -- Walter Johnson, Washington Senators (1907-1927)
With 417 career wins, 110 shutouts, a 2.17 lifetime ERA, a dozen 20+ win seasons and two years with 30+ wins, Johnson may have been the greatest pitcher of the 20th century.

LHP -- Whitey Ford, New York Yankees (1950-1967)
Ford's .690 career winning percentage is a major league record and his 2.74 ERA is the major league record for starters since the end of the Dead Ball era. Ford was one of only six Hall of Famers who had a career ERA at least a full run below the league average during his career.

Lee Sinins writes daily around the majors reports in addition to maintaining Baseball Immortals, an alternate Hall of Fame at http://www.baseballimmortals.net

 

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