Top 15 Managers in MLB HISTORY...

Welcome to another Humm Baby Baseball countdown and today we’ll be countdown my top 15 Managers in MLB History. This is a very tough ranking as it’s not always clear who is most responsible for great teams – is Miller Huggins the reason the ‘27 Yankees were so good? Or maybe it had a little something to do with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig among other great players. Well, for that example, the Yankees struggled before Huggins and then struggled again after – even with Ruth and Gerhig still in the lineup. While managers can only be great if they have great ballplayers to work with, a poor manager will still lose more games than they win even with great players. Knowing how to manage a bunch of MLB players with huge personalities and egos as well as keeping a team motivated through a long grueling MLB season are as important as knowing when to pinch hit, when to make a pitching change and what order to put the lineup in. The best managers are the ones who can stick around for decades, keep the team chemistry positive, help lead their teams to multiple championships and simply bring out the best in their players. Some one who is not a natural leader probably won’t last long at being an MLB Manager. So, here we go with my Top 15 MLB managers of all time – considering their win-loss record, championships, longevity as well as what their players had to say about them. Before we get into the Top 15, here are 5 honorable mentions..

Honorable Mentions

Terry Francona

He is currently approaching 2,000 career wins as the manager of the Cleveland Guardians and has proven himself to be one of the greatest manager of all time. Tito had an average at best start to his managerial career with the Phillies but got a second opportunity with the Red Sox in 2004 and led the team to a World Series ring, breaking the Curse of the Bambino . He led the team to a 2nd World Series title in 2007 and finished his Red Sox managerial career with a 744-552 record before heading to Cleveland where he has won 4 division titles and one pennant along with three manager of the year awards.

Earl Weaver

Weaver is 6th all time with a .583 winning percentage as manager of the Baltimore Orioles for 17 seasons. He didn’t quite reach 1,500 wins much less 2,000 which is why he didn’t make the main list but Weaver was an early version of the modern day manager – he believed in pitching, defense and the three-run home run. He wasn’t as focused on small ball and his strategy paid off as Weaver led the Orioles to 4 American League pennants and a World Series Championship in 1984. And he was notorious for his epic rants and meltdowns when the umpiring was not on point.

Lou Piniella

With over 1,800 wins, Piniella definitely deserves a mention. He is a two-time manager of the year award winner and led the Mariners to a franchise record 116 win season in 2001. Sweet Lou was hired as manager of the Reds in 1990 and took them to the World Series, where they swept the A’s. He managed of 21 seasons all told with 7 playoff appearances, managing the M’s, Reds, Yankees, Devil Rays and Cubs.

Jim Leyland

Another name I just couldn’t find room for in the Top 15, Leyland is one of the few managers to win a pennant in both the N.L and A.L. - and he was the skipper for the Marlins when they won their first World Series in 1997. He led the powerful early 90’s Pirates teams to 3 straight N.L. East titles although they couldn’t get past the NLCS. He repeated that with Detroit, winning 3 straight A.L. Central titles but failed to win it all, although his Tigers did reach the World Series in 2012, but were swept by the Giants. Overall, Leyland was a tough but fair manager who won over 1,700 games along with 3 manager of the year awards.

Bill McKechnie

A former deadball era player, Bill McKenchie was one of the early great managers of the game and would’ve been close to #1 on this list 100 years ago. Known as “Deacon” for his quiet & unassuming demeanor and regular participation in the church choir, McKechnie became the first manager to win a World Series with two separate teams – the Reds and the Pirates. He is 16th all time in Wins and also led his teams to 4 pennants. He was the manager of the Boston Braves in 1935 when Babe Ruth played his final season, a terrible season all around as Ruth lasted only a month before retiring and the Braves lost 115 games. Overall, McKechnie still had a great managerial career with a .524 winning percentage.

Now, let’s get into the Top 15.

15. Bucky Harris

Bucky Harris

At the young age of 27, Bucky Harris was hired by the Senators to be a player-manager and he led the team to a World Series Championship. He picked up the nickname “The Boy Wonder.” Harris went on to manage 29 seasons, the 4th most in MLB history, wining 2,158 games along with three pennants and two World Series. He won the second title with the Yankees in 1947. He was one of the earliest managers to deploy relief pitchers on a regular basis, not expecting every starter to pitch all nine innings. He was also a great player’s manager, which likely stemmed from managing guys older than he was at the start of his managerial career. “If you can’t play for Bucky, you don’t belong in the major leagues,” said Joe DiMaggio. His won-loss percentage was just .493 and he was fired multiple times, which is normal for most long-time managers. Still, Bucky Harris had a managerial career that got him into the Hall of Fame.

14. Tommy Lasorda

Tommy Lasorda

With 1,599 wins, Tommy Lasorda didn’t quite reach 2,000 but no one can deny he is an absolute legend. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 years from 1976 to 1996, with an amazing ability to get the most of his young talent. During his tenure, nine Dodger rookies won the Rookie of the Year Award. Lasorda’s managerial career started off with back-to-back NL Championships in ‘77 and ‘78. He had a career .526 win/loss percentage, four pennants and two World Series rings – one in 1981 and the other in 1988. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a year after his retirement and in 2000 he managed the U.S. Olympic Baseball Team to a gold medal. He is in the Top 5 All-Time MLB Managers for the longest tenure with the same team – 21 years as the Dodgers manager and then went on to become Vice President of the team. All told, as a player, manager and front office executive, Lasorda spent over 70 years as a part of the Dodgers organization. According to Orel Hershiser,when playing under Lasorda “Every day was do or die. There was no small day in Tommy Lasorda’s life.”

13. Leo Durocher

One of the most larger-than-life characters in baseball history, Leo Durocher won over 2,000 games as manager of the Dodgers, Giants, Cubs and Astros. His fiery personality and banter with the umps, front office and MLB Executives led to his nickname – “The Lip.” However, despite the controversies, he knew how to manage and in 1941, he led the Dodgers to their first pennant in 21 years. Later, he left to manage the rival Giants and led them to an almost impossible 13 ½ game comeback in late 1951, leading to the famous Bobby Thomson Shot Heard ‘Round The World. Later, his Giants swept the Indians in the ‘54 World Series. He retired with the second most wins in National League managerial history. Based on the amount of years he managed, only one World Series title is a little low, but with overall winning percentage of .540 and over 2,000 wins, Durocher is definitely one of the best managers in MLB history.

Dusty Baker

12. Dusty Baker

Coming in at #11 is the great Dusty Baker, who beats out Durocher after winning his first World Series title in 2022 with the Houston Astros. Baker now has 2,149 wins - 8th all time – and also has a .540 winning percentage. He has won the Manager of the Year award three times including his debut managerial season in 1993 when he led the San Francisco Giants to 103 wins, but due to the lack of a Wild Card that year, the Giants missed out on the playoffs because the Atlanta Braves won 104. From 2008 to 2013, he managed the Reds and they made their first 3 postseason appearances since 1995. In fact, Baker took every team he managed to the postseason at least once – the Giants, Cubs, Reds, Nationals and Astros. The players he manages have only positive things to say about Baker, who will go down as one of the greatest managers ever.

Bruce Bochy

11. Bruce Bochy

Even before leading the San Francisco Giants to three World Series Rings in 5 years, Bruce Bochy was a great manager for the Padres, leading them to four division titles in 12 years, many of which he had to manage a very young team in a rebuilding process. He won over 900 games with the Padres then over 900 with the Giants, becoming the only manager to win at least 900 games with two separate teams. During the 2010, 2012 and 2014 seasons, he led the Giants to a World Series ring each run despite being underdogs in every single playoff series. This even-year streak ended in 2016 when the Giants lost to the Cubs in the NLDS. Bochy eventually retired but then returned in 2023 to manage the Texas Rangers and, as of this recording, he has led the team to a 59-42 record to lead the American League West. Bochy has 2,062 wins and counting and has improved his career win-loss percentage to .499, still just short of .500, which is the only reason he comes in this low. Based on his performance in Texas, however, he could be moving up very quickly.

Casey Stengel with some of his players

10. Casey Stengel

Coming in at #10 is the legendary Casey Stengel, who led the Yankees to the World Series 10 times in 12 years, although obviously guys like Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford may have had a little something to do with it as well. Before he took over the Yankees, Stengel managed the Brookyln Dodgers and Boston Braves, never finishing above 5th place and at the end of his career, he managed a terrible New York Mets expansion team, losing over 100 games each year. Neverthless, his time with the Yankees can’t be ignored and he led several powerhouse Yankee teams to the Fall Classic, winning an unprecedented five consecutive World Championships. In total he led the Yankees to 7 World Titles and 10 A.L. Pennants. Unfortunately, when not managing those stacked Yankee teams, he has a .397 winning percentage, which is why he comes in a little lower than you might have expected. Incredibly, his years with the Yankees still bump his overall percentage up to .508 and when combined with his colorful personality and legendary quotes, Stengel still belongs in the Top 10.

Miller Huggins

9. Miller Huggins

Huggins began his managerial career during the final four years of his playing career with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was credited with helping fix a young Rogers Hornsby’s batting stance. In 1918, he took over a struggling New York Yankees team and helped turn them into champions, leading them to three World Series rings. He was a master at the fundamentals and drilled these principals into the minds of his players. He was also instrumental in several trades and transactions that helped build the Yankee juggernauts of the 1920’s, even though many of his trades were unpopular at the time. He was a great motivator and knew how to handle big personalities. “He was the only man who knew how to keep me in line,” said Babe Ruth. He took the Yankees to the World Series in 1926, ‘27 and ‘28, winning it all in ‘27 and ‘28. He passed away before the end of the season in 1929. Even with Ruth, Gerhig, Tony Lazzeri and other greats, the Yanks finished in 3rd place in 1930. Even though he won just 1,413 games due to his death at just 51 years old, Huggins had a career .555 winning percentage with 6 pennants and 3 world titles.

8. Connie Mack

Imagine a manger from the 1960’s still managing today. That would equal 7 decades of managing Major League Baseball – something only one man has ever done. Connie Mack started out his managerial career in the 1890’s and his final season was 1950, totaling 7 separate decades. He managed for a total of 53 years, including 50 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Because of the sheer number of games he managed, Mack easily comes in at #1 all-time in wins with 3,731. The downside is he’s also #1 in loses with 3,948. Still, Mack is an all-time legend, famous for wearing his trademark business suit standing tall in the A’s dugout for 50 years. He led them through 2 dynasties which included 9 pennants and 5 World Series titles. He was also manager through a few rough patches which might have resulted in a firing had he not been a partial owner of the team. At one point, the A’s had 10 consecutive losing seasons. As a manger, he was easy-going but did demand his players follow a code of conduct, making sure his players composed themselves as professionals on and off the field and demanded that they judge others as an individuals and never on the basis of race or religion. He managed until the age of 87. Overall, Connie Mack is very hard to rank because he has a losing record but he did win his share of games and championships and is certainly #1 as far as longevity.

Joe Torre

7. Joe Torre
After an 18-year playing career that included an MVP and 252 home runs, Joe Torre went on to manage five different teams for nearly 30 years, winning a 5th best all time 2,326 games. His first managerial stint did not go too well with the Mets and after five losing seasons from ‘77 to ‘81, he was fired. Things went better in Atlanta in 1982 when he took the Braves to the playoffs for the first time since 1969. Unfortunately, after finishing in 2nd in ‘83 then 3rd in ‘84, he was fired, moving to the broadcast booth for a few years until the Cardinals hired him as manager in 1990. He never made the playoffs and was fired midway through the ‘95 seasons. It was at this point that the Yankees made the surprising choice to hire him to the dismay of most Yankee fans. He had never won a playoff game in 14 years as manager. As it turned out, he hit his stride in New York and won the Manager of the Year Award in 1996, kicking off a Yankee Dynasty that included 12 consecutive postseason berths and 4 World Series Championships in 5 years. He led the Yankees to 6 pennants in 8 years and 10 AL East Championships in 12 years. He finished his managerial career with the Dodgers, winning the N.L. West in 2 out of 3 seasons. Although it’s true he didn’t become a winning manager until he had a stacked roster, he did a great job of handling the big personalities along with the high pressure media and fans of New York.

“He’s a great manager,” said former Yankees third baseman Scott Brosius. “There is more to it than who to pitch and play. It’s managing people, the press… and Joe does that all great. Players follow the tone set by the manager, and Joe is the calming influence of this team.”

Despite his early struggles with the Mets, Braves and Cards, he finished his career with a .538 winning percentage.

Walter Alston

6. Walter Alston

He might be the only Hall of Famer who struck out in his only career MLB at bat. That’s because, of course, Walter Alston was inducted for his managing career with the The Dodgers, who had never won a World Series Championship until Alston came on board. Once the quiet and unknown Alston took over the team in 1954, improvements were immediate and in 1955, the Dodgers won it all. They returned to the Fall Classic in 1956, losing in 7 games to the Yankees. Year after year, the Dodgers brought him back on a one-year contract and he ended managing the team for 23 seasons, in both Brookyln and Los Angeles. He led the Dodgers to seven pennants and their first four World Series titles – the majority of their seven overall rings. Even after the retirement of Sandy Koufax in 1966, the Dodgers stayed competitive, wining at least 85 games in each of Alston’s final 8 seasons as manager, leaving the franchise is great shape for his replacement Tommy Lasorda. He won over 2,000 games and had an excellent .558 winning percentage. Alston had an easy-going and calm demeanor, never yelling at or embarrassing his players.

"Walt treats his players like men," said former Dodgers outfielder Dixie Walker. "If he feels a player isn't doing his best he doesn't fine him or cuss him out or sit down and talk with him. He just won't play him anymore."

The strategy seemed to pay off for Walter Alston, who was instrumental in making the Dodgers a top quality franchise they continue to be known as today.

Bobby Cox with the Blue Jays

5. Bobby Cox

Bobby Cox is one of just four MLB managers with over 2,500 wins and he was at the helm for the Atlanta Braves teams of the 90’s and 2000’s, leading them to 14 consecutive division titles. Unfortunately, they won just 1 World Series in 1995, which is why he doesn’t come in even higher. He started out as a manager in the Yankees minor league system before the Braves hired him in 1978. He made some improvements to the poor Braves teams of the late 70’s and early 80’s but was eventually fired before moving on the manage the Blue Jays, who had just finished dead last in 1981. He turned the team around, improving year after year until finishing in 1st place in 1985. He returned to the Braves as General Manager in 1986 but when no manager could get the job done on the field, he hired himself as manager in 1990 and took another last place team to the playoffs in 1991, this time all the way to the World Series, where the Braves lost in extra innings in Game 7 to the Twins in one of the greatest Fall Classics of all time. Known as a players manager, Cox treated his players with respect while instilling a winning attitude.

“He was the single greatest influence on me as a player, in terms of teaching the game, respecting the game, carrying yourself the right way on and off the field,” said former Braves pitcher Tom Glavine.

Cox also has a big league record 158 ejections, creating entertainment for the crowd while defending his players.

Sparky Andreson with the Reds

4. Sparky Anderson

Sparky Anderson managed for 26 consecutive seasons, first with the Reds from 1970 to ‘78 and then from 1979 to 1995 with the Detroit Tigers, compiling an impressive .545 winning percentage and 2,194 total wins. Before starting his managerial career in Cincinnati, the Reds were a good team, winning around 85 to 90 wins per season until Sparky arrived and immediately propelled them to a franchise record 102 wins in his first season. The Big Red Machine made the playoffs in 4 of his first 5 seasons there and won it all in ‘75 and ‘76. They re-broke that franchise record of 102 wins with 106 in 1975. In fact The Reds, who’ve been around since 1869, have won over 100 games in a season just 3 times – all 3 with Sparky as manager. He is hands down the best manager in Reds history, but was mysteriously fired after the 1978 season in which the Reds won 92 games and finished in 2nd place, just 2 ½ games out of 1st. The Tigers immediately began negotiating a deal to hire Anderson despite having already hired a new manager, Less Moss. They fired Moss 1/3rd into his first season after a deal was struck with Sparky, not for under performance but simply because they had gotten Sparky. The Tigers quickly improved as a team and won it all in 1984, which is still their most recent World Series championship. Sparky Anderson posted a winning record in 19 of his first 20 seasons as manager and other than managing some horrible 1990’s Tigers teams, his resume is absolutely stellar.

"He was great at handling great players. He knew the guys to slap and he knew the guys to kiss,' said Bill Gullickson, former Tigers pitcher.

Anderson retired after the 1995 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Tony La Russa as manager of the Oakland A’s

3. Tony La Russa

La Russa has managed an MLB team in 6 separate decades and is second all-time in wins behind Connie Mack with 2,902 wins. He won over 50% of his games with every team he’s managed – the White Sox, A’s and Cardinals and has a career .536 winning percentage with a 70-58 postseason record. He started out as a minor league manager in the White Sox system before landing the job at the big league level in 1979. From there, the White Sox slowly improved, eventually winning 99 games in 1983, winning the A.L. West. He then headed to Oakland in 1987 to try to improve another struggling team who had finished with a losing record for 7 straight years. He got them to .500 in ‘87 then a World Series in 1988. In ‘89, they won it all, sweeping the Giants in the Battle of the Bay World Series. The A’s won 3 straight A.L. Championships under La Russa, who later managed several great Cardinals teams, leading them to two World Championships – one in 2006 and another in 2011. The Cards finished in 1st place under La Russa 7 times and made the postseason 9 times. He later came out of retirement in 2021, returning to the White Sox, who finished in 1st place in the A.L. Central. Unfortunately, his last tenure with the Sox didn’t go completely smoothly and there were some controversial moments for La Russa, such as calling out his own player for hitting a home run in garbage time with a 3-0 count and a decision to intentionally walk a batter with a 1-2 count. He retired permanently following the 2022 season with 6 pennants, 3 World Series rings and despite the controversies towards the end, is one of the greatest managers in the history of the A’s, Cardinals and MLB in general.

John McGraw

2. John McGraw.

I wanted to go with the great Giants manager John Mcgraw at #1, but he fell just barely short. McGraw managed in 5 different decades and 2 different centuries, beginning his managerial career in 1899 as a 26-year old player-manager of the 19th century Baltimore Orioles franchise. He was one of the most aggressive managers of all time, with one goal in mind – winning at all costs. He loved to steal, hit and run and put the pressure on the opponent. His leadership skills were immediately evident with the Orioles and one year with the Cardinals and after his move to the Giants in 1901, he became one of the greatest managers in the game, turning the Giants into an absolute powerhouse, winning 106 games in 1904, winning the pennant but not playing the World Series because McGraw and the Giants ownership believed the A.L. to be an inferior league. After winning 105 games in 1905, McGraw and the Giants played this time against the Philadelphia Athletics, winning it 4 games to 1. He led the Giants to 3 straight pennants from 1911 to 1913, back-to-back World Series titles in ‘21 and ‘22 and a total of 10 pennants and 3 World Series Championships. McGraw is third all-time with 2,763 wins but his winning percentage of .586 is higher than both and better than any manager with over 2,500 wins. His leadership skills are undeniable and McGraw is in contention as a the greatest manager ever.

Joe McCarthy with Lou Gehrig

1. Joe McCarthy

However, I had to go with Joe McCarthy at #1. Although he comes in 9th all time with 2,125 wins, no manager could claim a better winning percentage - an incredible .615. In fact, Joe McCarthy never had a losing season in his 26-year managerial career. "Never a day went by when you didn't learn something from Joe McCarthy,” said Yankee great Joe DiMaggio. He started out as the manager of the Cubs and took them to the World Series in 1929. William Wrigley Sr., in one of the worst moves of his professional life, fired McCarthy partway through 1930, blaming him for losing the ‘29 series. In 1931, McCarthy was hired by the Yankees, who had only won 3 World Series titles despite getting Babe Ruth in 1920. Under McCarthy, the Yanks went on an absolutely incredible tear, winning eight A.L. pennants and seven World Series rings in 12 years, including four straight appearances in the Fall Classic. He used a low-key approach, rarely arguing with umpires and staying in the dugout for most of the game, even when making a pitching change. He wore no number on his jersey, but had the heart of a teacher, knew how to develop talent and how to handle big personalities like Babe Ruth, who was not a huge fan of McCarthy since the Bambino wanted to be manager. McCarthy won the Manager of the Year award the first year of its existence and went on to win two more. He finished his career managing the Red Sox to 96 wins in 1948 and 1949 before resigning midway through the 1950 season. Overall, he was a winner everywhere he went and based on the resume, the fact that he never had a losing season and has the best winning percentage with over 2,100 wins, I had to put McCarthy at #1.

Ranking ALL 28 MLB City-Connect Uniforms WORST to BEST Including PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Welcome back to the Humm Baby Baseball Channel and today we’ll be ranking all 28 of the City Connect Uniforms that have been unveiled so far from worst to best.

Wost: The Los Angeles Dodgers (Original Design)

I can hear it now – bro, that’s just cuz you’re a Giants fan. Absolutely. But, seriously, the all blue look just doesn’t do it for me; they look like pajamas on first glance. Also, the text on the cap is too much putting the entire team name on there, it doesn’t even say LA for Los Angeles. It’s cool that the front of the jersey says Los Dodgers, but overall, there’s not much unique about it – you can barely notice the spray paint effect on the sleeves and I get they didn’t wanna stray too far the classic Dodger look. Los Angeles is a city with so much going on; it’s crazy they couldn’t do a little more with their City Connects – I genuinely think these city connects are the worst to come out so far.

#28 The Detroit Tigers

At first glance, I just thought this one looked pretty ugly and reminded me of some of the wacky minor league uniforms during random promotions where they wear a wild looking uniform for one game then auction them off autographed for fans to buy. Of course, they were going to go with a motor city theme, but the tire tracks are a bit much. There’s only dark blue and black, and it could’ve used some hot orange somewhere to make it pop a little more. It just looks cringe to me as a jersey, but many of these city connects don’t have the best jerseys but the cap makes up for it. In this case, this cap literally just says “Detroit” in the most plain font available. I can’t even imagine how this got approved. I can literally make the same cap in 10 seconds on Photoshop Elements.

#27 The Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles decided to go super-simplistic with their City Connect Design and the first thing I thought of when I saw this was the old 19th century jerseys that had nothing but the city name across the chest. The Orioles City Connects do have a colorful mosaic design on the inside – you know, the part that you can’t see. There are lots of abstract explanations to explain all the meaning behind this design, but ultimately, it’s just too plain. I like the attempt to go old school style, but that’s for Turn-Back-the-Clocks games – the City Connect should represent what is exciting and vibrant about the city. I don’t hate the uniforms in isolation but as a City Connect Jersey, it falls short.

#26 The Chicago Cubs

These uniforms are somewhat similar to the Dodgers in the all blue look, but the overall look pops a little better with the navy blue and light blue contrast. It works much better than the Dodgers look. Wrigleyville across the chest is cool and the logo that symbolizes the north, south and main branches of the Chicago River. There’s representation for all the neighborhoods of the city and overall it’s a cool look but like the Orioles, a little too simple although they did more than the O’s. The cap has a simple C with a star in the middle and looks pretty cool as well. Overall, though, I don’t love these unis and they come in at #18.

#25 The St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are a very traditional team that almost didn’t even participate in the City Connect Program. Ultimately, they decided to go for it – sort of. The only real issue with this uniform is it looks like a Spring Training uniform. They stuck with the same color scheme and traditional looking logo with the birds perched on the bat, except now it says “The Lou,” a nickname for St. Louis and in the U.K… the bathroom. They did, for the first time, use red as the primary color. The STL is nothing special although it’s a decent logo for the cap. The Cardinals decided to keep things simple, and that’s okay, but for a City Connect, I’d prefer something a little more bold.

#24 The Kansas City Royals

These ones have a similar color scheme to the Cubs, dark blue against light blue – but I like the white trim and white pants to go with it better than the all blue look. The navy blue represents several teams from the past in KC – the Athletics, Moncarchs and Blue Sox among others. And the KC logo is a cool design and the number styling is a reference to the city’s art deco architecture but overall it does come across as fairly simple and plain. Obviously, that can be a good thing; you don’t want to do too much but overall, this one is so-so, just better than the Cubs.

#23 The Los Angeles Dodgers (2024 Design)

Coming up next is the Dodgers new and much improved City-Connects, which are still nothing spectacular but for me an obvious improvement. They maintain the tradition Dodger colors and feel, but use a font that pays homage to the Dodgers original stadium after the move to the west coast, L.A. Memorial Coliseum. The cap is miles better with the interlocking D and LA logos together as one, instead of putting “Los Dodgers” which looked like too many letters to be on the front of a cap. I like the number being a different shade of blue and overall, these look nice, but they’re also nothing mindblowing. But The Dodgers did well to keep it simple while improving the previous design.

#22 New York Mets

Coming in at #22 is the New York Mets, another new reveal this season, and this one took me aback a bit because it looked more like a Yankees uniform than a Mets one. Also, the amount of gray looks a little plain at first sight. However, there are some purple accents representing the 7 line that runs to City Field. I definitely expected the jerseys to say “Queens” instead of “NYC.” After checking them out in a game, though, I have to say overall these look pretty cool. There are lots of features to connect to all of New York City. The pattern of the stripes is cool and I really love the cap with the Queensboro Bridge. Maybe they could’ve used more purple or something to make them pop a little more, but they are definitely not terrible.

#21 The Los Angeles Angels

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels, who went with a surf themed look for their City Connects, which at least represents something about the city. I like the surf-style font across the front but overall, they didn’t take any huge risks. The colors are similar to their normal colors and really, it’s just Angels uniforms with a surf-style feel. The number in the diamond looks cool along with the stripes on the sleeve but overall, despite the overall clean look, nothing really pops too much so this uniform comes in at #21.

#20 Cleveland Guardians

Next up is the Cleveland Guardians, who stuck with the same color scheme for the most part. The “CLE” on the front looks pretty cool with the home plate style lettering that is also used on the name on the back. There are several little details that add an interesting touch, but don’t really effect the overall look except the sandstone pattern, which is nice. The socks have the Guardian Statues but are only visible for players who show their socks, which is not the majority. The cap looks like a normal Cleveland Guardians cap to a non-Guardians fan. If I saw it in their team store, I wouldn’t know it was anything special. Overall, this is a solid look, but it’s also too similar to their regular uniform, although it’s different enough and better than a Spring Training uniform.

#19 The Pittsburgh Pirates

So the newest City Connect uniform comes in a little low, but I really do like the look – because I like the Pirates normal uniforms. This one seems like a cool alternate uniform you might see in Spring Training. It also reminds me of the Salt Lake Bees Triple-A team. However, there is a little more to it than meets the eye; there’s a Three Rivers logo to symbolize the intersection of the three rivers – and a checkered pattern that looks pretty cool although it’s subtle. The font of the PGH across the front looks cool and is patterned after the circular grates in the pillars of the Robert Clemente Bridge. It also has a look representative of the Steel City overall. It’s not a huge departure from their normal colors and look, but overall looks pretty clean.

#18 The Milwaukee Brewers

Moving to #18, we have the Milwaukee Brewers who took a light blue look inspired by the flag of Milwaukee, the summer skies of Milwaukee along with its grilling culture and Lake Michigan.  The colors are basically the same as their normal uniform but I look like the look. The cap has the airport designation and the jersey says Brew Crew, the team’s nickname which is pretty cool although I still think every city connect should say the city name somewhere other than the cap or a nickname of the city, not the team. Overall, it’s a clean look but nothing incredibly awesome in my opinion so it comes in fairly low but not near the very bottom.

#17 The Seattle Mariners

At #17 I have the Mariners, whose City Connects seem to be getting pretty solid reception but for me, I don’t find them absolutely spectacular although they definitely look pretty cool. I don’t know the black pants completely work with the blue and yellow – the overall combo looks alright. The jersey took inspiration from or, more accurately, is the same jersey as the old Seattle Pilots with the lowercase Seattle on the front. This is cool but I didn’t think the idea of the City Connect was just to wear throwback jerseys. The trident is a cool Mariners look but again – a logo we already know. So, although this overall look is sweet; I don’t rank it too high as a City Connect because there wasn’t much original or new about it but again, it’s not a bad look overall.

#16 Minnesota Twins

This one definitely gets credit for taking a big swing, but I can’t say it’s a home run. It’s not a strikeout either, though, as it does look somewhat cool with the ripple waves and tribute to the state of Minnesota and its 10,000 lakes, which it blatantly says on the side of the cap. I think the waves could’ve been a little more subtle though. I like the yellow trim and MN logo looks pretty cool as well. The logo on the front of the cap looks pretty sick and the bottom of the brim has a depth map of Lake Minnetonka, a nice touch as well. What hurts it for me most is the blue pants; I would’ve preferred just plain white pants. Overall, this one is pretty slick though.

#15 The Washington Nationals

Coming up next is another City Connect that got a lot of praise – that of the Washington Nationals, whose City Connect uniforms focus on the cherry blossom trees of D.C. and overall look pretty good I must admit. The District of Columbia flag is on the sleeve and socks and I like the WSH graphic across the chest. I am a little surprised they didn’t go for more of a patriotic look being in the national’s capital, but they do that more so with their normal uniforms so it also makes sense that they would focus more on the city itself rather than the nation. I just think overall they look a little plain with so much gray and not much color other than the cherry blossoms, so that’s why it doesn’t get ranked a little higher but I do like them.

#14 The San Francisco Giants

I admit I was not a huge fan of these city connects at first and in fact, I still have some problems with them, but the Giants have jumped all the way up to #11 because I have grown to love seeing these jerseys. Yes, they have grown on me some and I genuinely like the orange and white no black look now, but more importantly, as a Giants fan, they seem to play great baseball in these babies and won 8 of their first 9 games in the City Connects and are currently 22-7 in them. So, it’s no surprise they’ve grown on me – they really do pop and look fantastic; they took a big risk going away from the orange and black while not going too deep into left field by bringing in a new color like green or purple or something which would have been a disaster. The fact that there’s no SF or San Francisco anywhere is weird and we get the Gatorade G instead. The fog effect is cool but there’s so much iconic about San Francisco that wasn’t incorporated so overall they were a disappointment but they’ve definitely grown on me for multiple reasons.

#13 The Atlanta Braves

Next up is the Atlanta Braves City Connects, which only get ranked this high because I love the look of the 1970’s Atlanta Braves uniforms, invoking images of Hank Aaron smashing his 715th career home run, becoming MLB’s Home Run King. The problem, of course, is that they already wear an alternate uniform that looks like this, so the City Connects definitely played it safe. It’s just an alternate style to the already alternate uniform. Still, I like how it says “The A” instead of just “A” on the front and the uniform of course pops and looks awesome, it’s just nothing entirely new. I lived in Georgia back in 2001 and 2002, when the Braves played at Turner Field and loved visiting Atlanta, with the amazing street art, the shops on Peachtree Street, and so many parks and forests around the city. I love Hammerin’ Hank and the look of these but it’s weird the Braves didn’t do much more to represent the City of Atlanta in their City Connects. I fully expected them to have a Peach color and have all sorts of references to the city, but that’s not what we got.

#12 The Boston Red Sox

Speaking of a major departure from the classic uniforms, the Boston Red Sox get the award for the biggest guts of any team by going all out in their City Connect design, becoming the first MLB team to wear a uniform with the main colors being a yellow and blue – with no red at all. Traditionalists mostly hated this uniform and I don’t absolutely love it but I gotta respect the decision to really go for it. I love the addition of the Boston Marathon bib on the sleeve, the stenciled Boston logo on the front, the contrast of the yellow, white and blue, and the bright look that no one could possibly miss. Even the casual sports fan who doesn’t watch much baseball would immediately notice these if the game was on and ask – what team is that?? They’d be shocked to find out it’s the Boston Red Sox.

#11 The Houston Astros

As a space buff myself, I love the direction the Astros took going full Space City other than the full astronaut suit which might have impeded their ability to play baseball. The sleeves have a pattern reminiscent of star charts and the font on the front is just like that of NASA, except it says SPACE CITY. The cap has an awesome logo inspired by NASA Mission Control and the Astros have the best all blue look even though I still don’t love the blue pants but here, it works much better than it does for the Dodgers or Cubs. The Astros City Connects are really awesome overall in my opinion, even though the fan reception was understandably mixed, but again, I love studying space exploration and for a short time in my childhood, I wanted to be an astronaut but sort of changed my mind after being traumatized watching the Challenger disaster live on TV.

#10 Philadelphia Phillies

Just cracking the top 10 for me is probably one of the most controversial City Connects, because the Phillies definitely went bold and different, which I have to give props for. The question is, do they work? The caps are definitely awesome and most fans seem to agree with that. As for the jerseys, I think they look incredible with the bright blue fading to black and yellow accents. The colors represent the city’s flag, and I also love the font that is similar to early historical documents from the early capital of the U.S. From the waist up, I think these look amazing, but I’m not sure about the black pants with the yellow stripe. Overall, these are pretty awesome in my opinion although Phillies fans don’t seem to love them so much from what I can tell.

#9 The Texas Rangers

One of the newer City Connects unveiled on April 21st, the day Texas won its independence from Mexico, this uniform pays homage to old baseball teams in Dallas and Fort Worth while also celebrating the bringing of Major League Baseball to Arlington. The 4-21 date is shown on the uniform, but overall, these have gotten not the best reception but I personally think they look pretty freaking awesome. I thought they were black, white and red, but it turns out the dark color is actually midnight blue, which a friend pointed out to me. Still, these are unique, I like the spur style TX, the rope braid along the pants, which are dark to contrast the light jersey - the opposite of the norm but works good here in my opinion, but again, the fans seem to hate them, so I think I’m in the minority. I liked them enough to buy the City Connect Corey Seager bobblehead and I’m hoping to buy the rest of the collection later on. I would definitely wear the cap too as frequent visitor to the state of Texas, where my family used to live before the move to California, so overall I’m a fan of these and they come in at #9.

#8 The San Diego Padres

Up next is a look I expected from the Miami Marlins, but the Marlins did them one better – literally because they’ll be next in the ranking. But as for the Padres, they probably went as radical as any team besides maybe the Red Sox with these wild uniforms that I have to admit are pretty kick-ass, highlighting the beautiful pink-and-yellow sunsets of San Diego while paying respect to the local culture of Tijuana and Baja California along with the artwork of San Diego. The color scheme does bring reminders of the old Taco Bell, the Miami Heat alternate uniform and Miami Vice, which again is why I sort of expected these for the Marlins, but these colors also fit the local culture of San Diego, and it turned out I liked the Marlins uniforms even more, but these are still really cool and the Pads come in at #8.

#7 Tampa Bay Rays

Next is another 2024 new release, the Tampa Bay Rays City Connects, which are almost everything I would’ve hoped for, especially the neon glow-in-the-dark style green highlights. The faded in the sun style texture is awesome and I love the Tampa Bay font with the flames on the front, although it does seem a little thin with its borders and since its main color is about the same color as the rest of the jersey, it doesn’t pop all that much. The number on the back has the same issue, although I might need to see them in person to know for sure. I usually don’t like colored pants, but the dark style actually looks pretty good in this case. The cap is also absolutely sick and I might order one for myself. Overall, these are fantastic, and my second favorite of the new 2024 releases.

#6 The Miami Marlins

Paying homage to the Cuban Sugar Kings – a former Reds Triple A affiliate that played in Cuba - which makes sense due to the large Cuban population of Miami – these uniforms straight up pop. The Marlins went with a bright-red pinstriped look with a light blue cap. I love the color scheme here and the vivid look overall. Social Media seemed to love these and I can’t disagree – the colors really fit the city of Miami, while keeping some of the colors of the team but changing which is the most prominent. The number pops out in white with the blue trim and these are super cool unis overall and they just make the Top 5.

#5 Toronto Blue Jays

Which leads us to my actual favorite new release, the Toronto Blue Jays City Connects, which use the all black look with red and blue highlights. With the red long sleeve shirt underneath, these things absolutely pop and look really impressive to me, reminding me of a lively lit-up city at midnight. It has a vibrant feel with the Toronto skyline across the front in blue over black just beneath the Toronto logo in red. It reflects the blue of Lake Ontario as well. The cap is fire as well, and this overall look really blew me away and I’m surprised its not getting the best reception from some of the comments I’ve seen. The black pants works in this one to complete the overall look and with the red belt and undershirt, this look is absolutely amazing. The only complaint might be that the name of the back can be hard to read at a distance and the red on Toronto could be a little more vivid to help it pop a little more, but overall I love these City Connects.

#4 The Colorado Rockies

Coming in all the way up at #4 is another hot take because I’ve seen a lot of negative reactions to the City Connects of the Colorado Rockies but I gotta be honest – I really like these uniforms even though some criticize them as looking like college or High School unis, the point of the City Connect isn’t to look like your regular everyday professional uniform – they’re supposed to be extra creative, unique and maybe a little crazy while representing the city – or in this case, the state - the team plays in. The classic green color represents the pine trees and mountains of the state with some white snow on the top of course and the colors also match the state license plate. They also went bold with their look like the Red Sox and Padres, which is appreciated. The hat and circle logo are also pretty cool with some red representing the soil and gold for the sunshine. I don’t know how I feel about the green pants but I like how it is the same color as the mountains on the jersey making them look tall and epic so overall these are pretty awesome to me and they come in very high at #4

#3 The Arizona Diamondbacks

Coming in at #3 is a City Connect that is relatively simple but somehow really works for me. A tribute to the Sonoran Desert and local Hispanic population, the Arizona Diamondbacks goldish sand colored City Connects are still one of my favorites. This one doesn’t say Phoenix or Arizona but it does have the Arizona flag on the sleeve and says Serpientes, Spanish for Snakes with the snake S along with the standard Arizona logo on the cap but over the sand color it looks really nice. The touch of the red number completes the look. When players like Zack Galen add a little more such as this snakeskin belt, I like it even more. Overall, this desert look just looks fantastic and is very representative of the state of Arizona so it gets ranked very high at #3.

#2 The Chicago White Sox

My original #1 on my first ranking was the White Sox and I still really love these City Connects although now they land at the #2 spot. I love the choice to say Southside with the Gothic font, a tribute to the architecture of Chicago. The fans seemed to love them and they sold out quickly. The uniform finds a way make a big departure from the classic uniform while being creative and different yet still maintaining the classic colors of the team. They were the first team to go away from the white pants and for them, unlike some others, that strategy completely paid off and the all black look with pinstripes looks phenomenal. Even the Nike swoosh looks cool on these because it pops with the white and gray trim. Overall, these are simply fire and I love the White Sox City Connect uniforms.

#1 The Cincinnati Reds

But coming in at #1 is the City Connect uniforms of the Cincinnati Reds – a surprising pick probably but I’ve always loved the combination of red and black, especially with black is the dominant color and that’s exactly what these uniforms bring – an all black look with red highlights and the classic C logo but revamped to represent the continuing growth and change in the city of Cincinnati. The uniform also has a patch with the city's motto "Juncta Juvant," which is Latin for "Strength in Unity," and includes a buckeye leaf as a reference to the state of Ohio. Other than that, there aren’t a ton of references to Cincinnati but I’ve never been there and not sure what Cincinnati is famous for other than producing Steven Spielberg which is greatly appreciated. So, I guess that’s a valid criticism but I think this look so awesome and there is just enough references to Cincinnati and Ohio that I still put it at #1 as my favorite City Connect Uniform.

Why The EEPHUS Pitch Is So Effective! - The HISTORY Of This Tantalizing & Ultra SLOW Pitch!!

The rainbow pitch – moon ball – parachute – skyscraper - but most famously known as the Eephus Pitch – it is a rare but effective pitch that can catch even the greatest MLB hitters off guard and make them look completely foolish. If you’ve ever played slowpitch softball, you’ve faced a similar pitch and likely weren’t overly challenged by its high arc and extremely low velocity. However, when accustomed to triple-digit blazing fastballs, 90 mile per hour changeups and devastating sliders, an unexpected 35 mile per hour blooping rainbow can be quite challenging – and even if a hitter does hit it well, they have to provide all the power.

Rip Sewell

The pitch was first popularized by Rip Sewell, who played mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 30’s and 40’s. Earlier in his career, Sewell had a wide variety of pitches he threw ¾ armslot including a sinker and sharp slider, most effective against lefties. After a hunting accident in 1941, Sewell had to alter his pitching motion. He was forced to pitch straight overhand. While working on this new motion, he began experimenting with a new pitch – a tantalizing high arcing slow ball that rises as high as 20 feet and descents over the plate on a downward slant. Sewell unveiled it during an exhibition game against Detroit Tigers hitter Dick Wakefield. According to Sewell, Wakfield “started to swing, he stopped, he started again, he stopped, and then he swung and missed it by a mile. I thought every one was going to fall off the bench; they were laughing so hard.” Sewell knew he had a found a new weapon.

Sewell had great control of the pitch but umpires had trouble with it. Umpire Lee Ballanfant said

“Now that damned blooper pitch Rip Sewell used to throw was the hardest thing to judge. You’re supposed to call the ball as it comes over the plate, but what do you do if it comes straight down? He just pushed it up there; wasn’t hard enough to break a pane of glass. It was the damnedest thing you ever saw; I missed a lot of calls. It sure looked big coming up there, and sometimes they’d pop it up because their timing was off.”

The most impressive thing about the way Sewell threw the pitch is that he used the same motion as if he were throwing his fastball. He put three fingers on the ball instead of four and let it come off his fingertips with an extremely massive amount of backspin. Sewell’s teammate Maurice Van Robays came up with the name “Eephus pitch,” and it stuck.

Although Sewell is credited with popularizing the pitch, an earlier pitcher who was known to use it was Bill Phillips, a Reds pitcher whose repertoire included the blooper ball from 1890 to 1903. Another pitcher, Bobo Newsom, one of only 29 players to play Major League Baseball during four different decades, began experimenting with the pitch and starting to throw it in games around 1945, although he mostly threw it to entertain himself and the fans. Sewell, on the other hand, used it frequently – sometimes up to 20 times during a single start.

His most famous use of the pitch came during the 1946 All Star Game. At the plate was perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, Ted Williams. Williams challenged Sewell to throw in the Eeephus pitch. Sewell obliged and Williams fouled it off. Even knowing it was coming, the best he could do – at least on the first one – is foul it off. However, Sewell motioned to Williams that he would give him one more shot at the pitch. On the second Eephus of the at bat – something Sewell would not normally do but this was an exhibition game – Ted Williams smoked one over the right field wall for a home run. It was the only home run Sewell ever game up using the Eephus Pitch.

From the 1940’s onward, the Eephus pitch became part of baseball lingo and although extremely rare, it’s always exciting to see how a hitter will handle the pitch. In the 1970’s, pitcher Steve Hamilton, a side-arming relief pitcher started to throw an occasional Eephus, which got dubbed the “Folly Floater.” In a 1970 game, he threw one to Tony Horton of the Cleveland Indians and the pitch was fouled off. Horton dared Hamilton to give him one more and Hamilton agreed. Horton still couldn’t do much with it, popping it up. He crawled back to the dugout in shame.

However, it is a pitch that must be used rarely – and it’s probably best, especially if a power hitter is at the plate, not to use it in the most critical situations. That brings us to the Bill “Spaceman” Lee, who pitched in the big leagues from 1969 to 1982 and is still pitching today at 76 years old for the famous Savannah Bananas. He had always been a finesse pitcher who induced soft contact and groundballs, but after a shoulder injury during a Red Sox-Yankees brawl in 1976, he had to rely on the slow stuff even more. He developed an Eephus pitch that had various nicknames including “Spaceball” and “Leephus” pitch. Lee was pitching during a game that can’t get more critical – Game 7 of the World Series. It was 1975 and the Red Sox had a 3-0 lead over the Reds with a runner on and Tony Perez at the plate. Lee threw his famous moon ball and it was absolutely blasted over the green monster to put the Reds within a run. Later, the Reds scored two more runs and won the game 4-3.

Another pitcher from the 70’s and early 80s, Dave LaRoche, who mostly threw a fastball and slider, would mix in a high blooper Eephus that became as La Lob. He usually found success with it but there were plenty of exceptions. It is definitely a pitch that flirts with disaster. During the 1980’s, Pascual Perez, who pitched mostly for the Braves and Expos, was known to throw an Eeephus pitch once or twice per game. It almost always caught batters by surprise, but on July 19th, 1988, Astros slugger Glenn Davis may have had the pitch in the back of his mind. When Pascual threw it to him, Davis double-clutched and blasted it out of the ballpark.

Dave LaRoche

A more recent pitcher who had his own version of the Eephus pitch was Orlando Hernandez, known as “El Duque,” who pitched from 1998 to 2007, for the Yankees, White Sox, D-Backs and Mets. He started to throw the pitch at around 50 MPH in 2002, though he had trouble getting the strike call. On August 26th, he tried the pitch against the powerful Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod took it for a ball. Then, Hernandez made a huge mistake by attempting to throw it again. Rodriguez was expecting it, waited on it and obliterated it for a tape-measure home run.

There have also been incidental incidents where the Eephus pitch was accidentally thrown. The Big Unit Randy Johnson, the hard-throwing Hall of Fame lefty, would be the last pitcher you would expect to unleash an Eephus pitch. But in July of 2008, facing San Francisco Giants outfielder Fred Lewis, Johnson was distracted by a loud horn that went off in McCovey Cove just as he was preparing to release the pitch. The result was a beautiful, high arcing Eephus pitch that dropped in for a strike.

Many knuckleballers like R.A. Dickey would inadvertently throw an occasional Eephus when their knuckler doesn’t move and dance around like its supposed to.

Bill “Spaceman” Lee

In even more recent years, seeing some version of an Eephus pitch is becoming somewhat common due to the more frequent use of position players coming in to pitch during the late innings of blowout games. The position players are likely instructed to avoid injury by not throwing too hard, not doing anything fancy and just getting the ball over the plate. The result is some of the most entertaining Eephus pitches in history, such this one by Brock Holt which was clocked at 31.1 miles per hour, the slowest pitch ever officially recorded in the pitch-tracking era. It does seem, from a fan’s perspective without digging into the advanced stats, that position players who are lobbing in slow pitches have more success than would be expected and usually complete innings without too much damage. This tells me again that hitters have trouble quickly adapting to extremely slow pitches.

Even now however, it’s not only position players who use the Eephus. Other active pitchers known to have thrown the pitch include Fernando Abad, Yu Darvish, Rich Hill, and even Clayton Kershaw.

Another occasional Eephus thrower is Zack Greinke. During a 2023 Spring Training game, Zack Greinke threw an Eephus pitch when he and his catcher were having trouble communicating pitch selection because of technical issues with the pitchcom system. Instead of letting time run out, Greinke threw an Eephus pitch, which ended up being a ball anyway. The Eephus pitch is always fun to see and you never know when one is coming. And despite a few massive bombs off it, it can be very effective. It also sets up a followup fastball which in theory would be very tough to hit due to the extreme difference in velocity.

According to sabermetrician James LeDoux, whose study on the success of the Eephus pitch I will link in the description,

batters make contact with this pitch about as often as every other pitch, making contact with the eephus just 0.33 percentage points more often than an average pitch. The quality of this contact, however, tends to be lower. Despite making contact with this slightly more often, for example, it becomes a hit almost 11% less often. Despite its slow speed, the Eeephus pitch manages to hold its own.

https://jamesrledoux.com/projects/eephus/

The study does seem to debunk the theory that fastballs thrown after an Eephus are more effective than a typical fastball. This, in my mind, would be due to the fact that an Eeephus pitch is so incredibly slow that it has no effect on a hitter’s frame of reference in terms of velocity. Nevertheless, the pitch itself has been thrown occasionally since the 1940’s and is the only pitch where the baseball fan who is watching has time to gasp, process that an Eephus pitch was thrown, wonder what is going to happen, enjoying the suspense, all as the ball makes its long journey into the sky then down towards the plate.

Ranking All 30 MLB STADIUM NAMES - From Corporate Trash to True Classics!!

Welcome to another Humm Baby Baseball ranking and today we have a slightly different list – instead of talking about players, we’re going to talk about MLB stadiums, but not necessarily the stadiums themselves, rather the name currently attached to the ballpark. There was a time when stadiums and arenas were typically named in tribute to a person, as a reference to something in the geographical area, or just something awesome and unique. Examples include Candlestick Park, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and Ebbets Field. Sadly, nowadays, the vast majority of stadiums are named after corporate sponsors. This practice became very popular after the Busch family, who owned Budweiser, offered enough money to get the Cardinals to change the name of Sportsman Park. They wanted it to be called Budweiser Stadium, but the commissioner Ford Frick wasn’t too keen on that name for obvious reasons, so they settled with Busch Stadium.

Although this practice goes back a long way, it has become the absolute norm and stadiums frequently change names as sponsors change for a variety of reasons including sometimes scandal and bankruptcy, such in the case of Enron Park, named after the disgraced company Enron. A professional team attaching themselves to a sponsor to such a degree that they give the sponsor stadium naming rights comes with risk of embarrassment, not to mention the possibility that your stadium gets a name that is absolutely terrible. Of course, not all corporate names are terrible and some have become iconic stadium names. Most of the names are not so bad, but there are definitely some exceptions. Today, we’ll be ranking all 30 MLB stadium names from worst to best. The catchier and cooler sounding name, the better. Also, if a stadium has kept the name for long enough for fans to become accustomed to it and embrace it, that helps too. So, let’s get going, starting at #30.

#30 The Chicago White Sox – Guaranteed Rate Field

I don’t care how much money a company offers, there is one thing I can guarantee – my stadium will never be called Guaranteed Rate Field. The name of this stadium went from awesome to bad to horrendous. It originally carried over the name of the legendary Comiskey Park before changing to U.S. Cellular Field. Then, in 2016, a residential mortgage company called Guaranteed Rate – not even a great name for a mortgage company in my opinion - purchased naming rights for 13 years. The new name was mocked on social media, deservedly so, and Guaranteed Rate Field is by far the worst stadium name in MLB and in the history of humanity.

#29 The Miami Marlins – LoanDepot Park

Another stadium that went from a fantastic name – Marlins Park – to a terrible one – LoneDepot Park. The stadium opened in 2012 and had so many unique elements along with a contemporary design, moving away from the retro ballpark trend. It embodied the city of Miami and was named after the team that played there – the Marlins. The name Marlins Park became associated the famous Home Run Sculpture, the South-Beach style swimming pool area, the fish aquariums behind home plate along with many other amazing elements to the ballpark like the Bobblehead Museum. That is, until Derek Jeter, who coincidentally took the first at bat and has the first hit in the stadium’s history, took over the Marlins and decided to sell naming rights. A mortgage company called LoanDepot paid out the cash and got the name – and now this amazing ballpark is called LoanDepot Park – an absolutely horrible name for a baseball stadium. And, by the way, the Home Run Sculpture and Fish Tanks have been removed.

#28 The Seattle Mariners – T-Mobile Park

Well, at least it’s not a mortgage company. Still, while I’m sure T-Mobile provides a great cell phone service, it’s not a good name for a baseball stadium. It was originally called Safeco Field, which is not much better but at least it’s the original name. But before moving to Safeco, the Mariners played in the Kingdome, named after King County. Now, that is an awesome name. But, getting back to modern times, in 2019, T-Mobile took over naming rights of Safeco Field and added their logo all over the ballpark, with colors that completely clash with that of the Seattle Mariners. Maybe by now Mariners fans are used to the new name; I’m not sure – but I know I’m not.

#27 The Milwaukee Brewers – American Family Field

While there is nothing inherently wrong with the name, to me, it just sounds stupid. At first, I thought the Brewers were just coming up with super family-friendly name after dropping naming rights with the Miller Brewing Company. In reality, it’s another sponsor – named after a company called American Family Insurance. Miller Park was a perfect name for the stadium – even though it is named after a beer company, we’re talking about Milwaukee, known for many years as the Brewing Capital of the World. Also, it’s not too unusual to find a beer or two inside an MLB stadium. Now, it has a cringe and generic sounding name from a company based in Madison, 80 miles away from Milwaukee. Which sounds cooler? “Hey guys, I’m going to Miller Park tonight to catch a game, you wanna come?” Or, “Hey guys, I’m going to American Family Field to catch a game, you wanna come?” Pass.

#26 The Atlanta Braves - Truist Park

It felt like the Braves had just recently moved into the appropriately named Turner Field when it was announced they would be moving into a new stadium in Cobb County. There was a nice opportunity to name the stadium after baseball legend Hank Aaron – maybe something simple like Aaron Park. Instead, the new stadium was called SunTrust Park, after a bank – not too terrible for a sponsorship name. However, another risk you take when naming your stadium after a sponsor is that the sponsor merges with another company and changes their name, forcing you to change the name of your stadium. That’s what happened when SunTrust merged with another company, changing their name to Truist Financial Corporation and now the stadium is called Truist Park. At least it’s short and not nearly as cringe as the previous names on the list. But, is Truist even a word?

#25 The Pittsburgh Pirates – PNC Park

While there’s nothing wrong with the name – what does it even stand for? Does any one know? I didn’t until preparing this video – it’s named after PNC Financial Services and the letters PNC came about when two companies merged – the Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation. Don’t these words really remind you of the game of baseball? Me neither. The Pirates onced played at Three Rivers Stadium, a perfect name representing the famous three rivers in Pittsburgh – the Allegheny, the Monongahela and the Ohio. Instead of naming a new stadium after the legendary Robert Clemente, it’s named after a financial company – and the name is not even a word, it’s three random letters. At least White Sox had the guts to go all out with their stupid corporate stadium name.

#24 The Toronto Blue Jays – Rogers Centre

Two things – number one, this stadium used to have one of the coolest names in baseball – the Skydome. It can’t get much better than that, but it can get worse. In 2004, Rogers Communications acquired the Skydome shortly thereafter renamed it Rogers Centre. That doesn’t even sound remotely like a baseball stadium. It sounds like a small arena or convention center at the County Fair.

#23 The Cleveland Guardians – Progressive Field

For one, although I’ve never used them, I’m not really of fan of Progressive Insurance thanks to their annoying commercials. Secondly, this name comes off as weird – you think your stadium is more progressive than the other 29 teams? Thirdly, the stadium once had an awesome name – Jacobs Field, nicknamed “The Jake.” “Hey man, let’s go to the Jake tonight, the Yankees are in town.” Now, it’s like… “Hey man, let’s go to the.. Prog.. tonight.”

#22 The Philadelphia Phillies – Citizens Bank Park

In my opinion, the word “bank” should never be a part of an MLB stadium’s name. Still, this one has a decent ring to it, although had they just called it Citizens Park, that would have been much better. The company isn’t even officially called Citizens Bank, they’re called Citizens Financial Group. Perhaps there were some negotiaions – the bank wanted “Citizens Financial Group Stadium.” The Phillies were like, “F*** that,” and they settled on “Citizens Bank Park.”

#21 The Minnesota Twins – Target Field

Unfortunately, Target is just too famous of a company to associate with anything but the company itself. There’s nothing terribly cringe about it and it’s a halfway cool sounding name, certainly better than Walmart Field or Walgreens Stadium. Target Field has a much better ring to it, which is the only thing that saves it from being much lower on this list.

#20 The Texas Rangers – Globe Life Field

This stadium proves how ridiculous naming rights are – the Rangers were playing at Globe Life Park, but because they moved to a new stadium, the name had to go with them and now their stadium is called Globe Life Field. These names have absolutely nothing to do with the team, the stadium, the geography, baseball legends, or anything of the sort. It’s all about a billionaire company – usually a bank, insurance or mortgage company, paying the team money for naming rights. All that said, this is one of the better insurance/bank/mortgage company names and I don’t totally despise it.

#19 The Houston Astros – Minute Maid Park

This one seems like it should be a lot lower, but somehow the name fits and sounds pretty cool to me, even going back to when it was first announced. This stadium’s naming rights has some history, going back to Enron Field, named after the energy company that went bankrupt in 2001 due to a massive scandal. The Astros had to pay Enron $2.1 million to get out of the deal, changing the name of the stadium to Astros Field. Of course, that wouldn’t last long and naming rights were sold to Minute Maid in 2002. Like Target Field, it’s tough to associate the term Minute Maid to anything else but, well, Minute Maid. However, I don’t completely hate this name.

#18 The San Diego Padres – Petco Park

Although I’ve sort of gotten used to this one, we’re still talking about a Major League Baseball stadium named after a pet supply store. Petco is a company local to San Diego, they work with the team and community more than other corporate sponsors, and it’s not some boring financial company, so all that helps. However, the stadium is amazing with so many unique features that to me it’s still sad they took the corporate sponsor route. And if it wasn’t to be named after something unique about it, another option would have been naming it after the great Tony Gwynn. Instead, we got Petco Park, a name I used to hate a lot more, but after almost 20 years, it’s grown on me a bit.

#17 The Detroit Tigers – Comerica Park

Yes, it’s named after bank, but for whatever reason, I don’t hate the name Comerica Park. It’s not a bank that I’m familiar with as a bank, so when I hear the name, I think of the Detroit Tigers stadium. Also, they haven’t changed the name since it opened, which helps. Of course, I’ll always miss the classic name of the old stadium – simply Tiger Stadium.

#16 The Arizona Diamondbacks – Chase Field

The name is simple and probably an improvement over Bank One Ballpark, its former name. However, it’s strictly a corporate name after the popular bank headquartered in New York. The only reason its ranked this high is because its a short, catchy and simple name – which may have been pure luck. It could have just as easily been named First Option Mortgage Stadium had First Option offered enough dough.

#15 The Colorado Rockies – Coors Field

Although I’m not an alcohol drinker myself, where you find baseball you find beer. There’s no point in denying it, so I might as well embrace the beer stadium names - it’s a lot better than the mortgage company ones. And Coors Field has always been Coors Field – as famous as the Coors name is for its beer production, I associate it more so with the high altitude field where pitchers careers go to die. That said, for a stadium in Denver, I’m not sure any name can beat Mile High Stadium.

#14 The St. Louis Cardinals – Busch Stadium

And the beer stadium names continue. This one only gets ranked higher than Coors because it has a historic name by now, even though I would’ve despised it back in 1953 when it changed to Busch from Sportsman’s Park as I mentioned earlier. Now, we’ve had three Busch Stadiums and whenever I head to St. Louis to watch a Major League Baseball game, I know I’m heading to Busch Stadium.

#13 The Cincinnati Reds – Great American Ballpark

This one is similar to but so much better than American Family Field. It does sound a bit generic but has a better ring to it. It would be even higher if it wasn’t named after an insurance company – American Financial Group which is at least based in Cincinnati. It’s a cool name, though and I like it, so I’m ranking it relatively high.

#12 The San Francisco Giants – Oracle Park

I hate to rank my favorite team’s stadium outside the top 10, but it’s not about the actual ballpark, which is my #1 in all of sports; it’s about the name – or more specifically the constant changing of the name. I grew up going to Candlestick Park, an awesome name for a ballpark named after its location at Candlestick Point. Then, that stadium changed to the God-awful 3Com Park. Then, the Giants moved to Pac Bell Park – not a great name, but I got used to it, until it changed again – to SBC Park – then AT&T Park, which is a terrible name but somehow it became awesome after 3 World Championships playing at AT&T. Then, it changed again and while Oracle Park is a cool sounding name, the company is headquartered in Austin, Texas. Still, I do like the name, it is unique and not a company as widely known as some of the others I’ve already talked about.

#11 The Los Angeles Angels – Angel Stadium of Anaheim

While you can’t go wrong by simply naming the stadium after the team, some of them have a better ring to it than others. Angel Stadium is okay, but the official name, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, reminds me of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which the team was officially called for a while. Overall, this name is good, especially when just calling it “Angel Stadium” and I applaud the Angels for not going to corporate sponsor route, but it’s not one of my favorites.

#10 The New York Mets – Citi Field

The Mets stadium was named after Citigroup, who are at least headquartered in the same city the team plays in. This name, like Chase Field, short, catchy and simple, but I also think it’s pretty cool – with the word City but spelled c-i-t-i. It’s cool sounding, there’s nothing cringe or offensive about it other than the fact that its a corporate name. The Mets get $20 million a year for the naming rights.

#9 The Oakland A’s – The Oakland Alameda County Coliseum

The A’s stadium gets ranked this high by the skin of their teeth as they only recently pulled the plug on naming rights with RingCentral. There is really one word in its long name that makes this an awesome name – the Coliseum. I’ve always thought the proper name was too long, but the nickname it inspired is awesome – simply the “Coliseum,” which is what it’s been referred to even during cringe sponsorship years.

#8 The Tampa Bay Rays – Tropicana Field

Why do I like this name so much? To me, it somehow fits this dome perfectly. It’s the only non-retractable dome left in baseball, so you always feel like you’re sitting inside a gigantic orange. The Tropicana name and logo fits everything about the stadium perfectly and at this point, I can’t imagine calling it anything else but “The Trop.”

#7 The Kansas City Royals – Kauffman Stadium

Shoutout to the Royals for not taking millions of dollars from some financial company and changing the name of their stadium, nicknamed “The K,” which was named after Ewing Kauffman, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who brought Major League Baseball back to Kansas City thirteen years after the A’s moved to Oakland. He was a major factor in the decision to build a stadium that wasn’t the boring multi-purpose type stadium that was popular at the time. Instead, he helped design a stadium that is still a gem among Major League ballparks despite being built 50 years ago. The Royals are looking to build a new ballpark by 2030, but had they built the typical cookie-cutter of the time, they would’ve left a long time ago.

#6 The Washington Nationals – Nationals Park

The Nationals did possibly the best thing – simply naming the team after the stadium. Unfortunately, they have expressed some interest in selling naming rights, so don’t be surprised if Nationals Park doesn’t stick, but for now it’s a perfect name.

#5 The Los Angeles Dodgers – Dodger Stadium

It hurts me more than it hurts you to rank Dodger Stadium so high, but let’s be honest – it’s a simple yet iconic name that flows smoothly and both the stadium and the name have stood the test of time. There have been rumors that the Dodgers will change the name and do a corporate sponsor but as of now, that hasn’t happened and hopefully it won’t. This name works so well because, just like Yankee Stadium that I’m about to talk about, you don’t have to add at s at the end like for “Angels Park” or “Nationals Park.” It’s simply “Dodger Stadium.”

#4 The New York Yankees – Yankee Stadium

One of the most iconic stadium names of all time – simply Yankee Stadium. Of course, the current stadium isn’t the original Yankee Stadium, but they did the right thing in my opinion by simply carrying over the name. For distinction, it can be referred to as “the New Yankee Stadium.” Still, the name is perfect and can never be changed. It is a reminder of all the greats who played at Yankee Stadium – from Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to Joltin’ Joe to Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter, who I trashed earlier in this video.

#3 The Chicago Cubs – Wrigley Field

One of the most iconic stadium names in the world does sound like a corporate name – Wrigley Chewing Gum, right? - but William Wrigley was not only the owner of the gum company, but was also owner of the Chicago Cubs. The stadium, formerly known as Weeghman Park then Cubs Park, was renamed Wrigley Field in 1927. Sure, at the time the owner named the stadium after himself and his gum company, but since then, the Chicago Cubs ownership have actually resisted giving into corporate naming rights, preferring to maintain the classic name Wrigley Field . There’s also the fear that Cubs fans will riot and perhaps cause World War III if they were to change the name.

#2 The Baltimore Orioles – Oriole Park at Camden Yards

Most fans simply call it “Camden Yards,” and that is an absolutely awesome name. They probably couldn’t just officially call it that because Camden Yards is more than just the stadium, but the name “Camden Yards” sounds so much cooler than simply Oriole Park, which would have been great but not too original. When trying to do both, it becomes a little long but still sounds kick-ass – Oriole Park at Camden Yards. And the name fits the scenery perfect. This is definitely one of my favorite stadium names in all of baseball and it comes in at #2.

#1 The Boston Red Sox – Fenway Park

Can it get more simple and historic than “Fenway Park.” While it is true the stadium was named by the Red Sox owner at the time, John I. Taylor, who owned Fenway Realty Company. But at least he wasn’t dumb enough to call it “Fenway Realty Park.” Also, the stadium is in a neighborhood called Fenway-Kenmore and Taylor claimed that was why he called it Fenway Park. Does it really matter at this point? Taylor purchased and developed the land, helping to create the most historic baseball stadium still standing. The name is absolutely perfect and has been the same for 111 years. It couldn’t be any simpler and is synonomous with baseball – no one thinks of anything but baseball when they hear the name Fenway Park. Since Fenway Park has never been called anything else, has such historic value and technically is not a sponsored name, regardless of Taylor’s original intentions behind it, I have to put at #1 in my list of the MLB stadium names worst to best.

Let me know your thoughts on my list and remember, to steal a quote from one of my favorite movie reviewers Sean Chandler, it’s not the right list, it’s just my list.

The Top 25 Most UNDER-RATED Players In Modern MLB HISTORY...

Over 20,000 people have put on a uniform in order to participate as a baseball player in a Major League Baseball game. Most of them played a few games at the highest level but never put together a long and successful career. Their names are mostly forgotten by even the most hardcore baseball fans. However, there are a select few other Major League players who went on to become absolute superstars with names that are instantly recognizable to nearly any baseball fan. Many of these legends went on be immortalized in the Hall of Fame. Then, somewhere in the middle is a group of players who did excel at the game for a long period of time, while helping their team win games like few others could, but for whatever reason, they never got the credit they deserved – these are players who were snubbed for awards and All Star Games. They were oftentimes as good or even better than the big stars, but their names never received that type of recognition from the fans. You probably won’t find any of these guys on the cover of a baseball video game, but they were all outstanding players who deserved much more recognition than they received. These are my Top 25 underrated MLB players of the modern era. There are also dozens of under-rated players from the early days of baseball such as Art Fletcher and Ross Barnes, but I’ll save them for another video. This list will include players who made their debuts in 1950 or later. Keep in mind this is not a ranking from worst player to best player, it is a ranking that compares how good the player was to how much appreciation they have received in terms of awards, All Star selections, Hall of fame support and hype with the fans. For instance, Andruw Jones was better than many players on this list, but although he is a major Hall of Fame snub, he did earn 10 Gold Gloves and 5 All Star selections, so he didn’t quite make the list. So, with that said, let’s get into it.

Bobby Bonds

#25 Bobby Bonds

Bobby Bonds was one of the greatest power-speed combo players in the history of the game and is one of only 8 players in the 300-300 club – 300 careers homers and 300 career steals. Although he did strike out a lot, he could also work a walk and retired with a .355 on-base-percentage. He hit 30 homers and stole 30 bases in a season 5 times and is the only player to do it in each league. He also played elite defense, but spent many years in the shadow of the great Willie Mays. Bonds made only 3 All Star Games, and receives even less credit for his great career now because of his son Barry who was somehow even better.

#24 Steve Finley

As a San Francisco Giants fan, when I think of Steven Finley, I think of the 2004 walk off grand slam to clinch the division for the Dodgers and the 2006 season when he would constantly pop out to kill a rally for the Giants. In other words, I don’t have too many fond memories of the man, but I was surprised to see his name as one of the 8 on the 300-300 club list along with not only Bobby Bonds, but also Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, A-Rod, Carlos Beltran, Andre Dawson and Reggie Sanders. During the late 90’s and early 2000’s, he was an absolute machine, crushing home runs and stealing bases while playing elite defense. He retired with over 2,500 hits and 300 home runs yet only made two All Star Teams and received .7% of the vote on the Hall of Fame ballot.

#23 Doug DeCinces

A lot of current baseball fans have likely never even heard of Doug DeCinces, but for about a decade, he was a reliable power hitter for the Orioles and Angels, hitting between 16-30 home runs nearly every year. In 1982 he finished 3rd for the MVP after smashing 30 homers with 97 RBIs and a .301 average but was left off the All Star Team. He also hit one of the most dramatic home runs in Baltimore Oriole history in 1982, officially kicking off “Oriole Magic.” DeCinces only made one All Star Team and although he certainly did not have a Hall of Fame career, he did come close to 250 home runs and had a much better career that most fans remember.

#22 Ron Fairly

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Ron Fairly call Giants games on the radio in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but looking at his playing career, he may have been a better player than broadcaster. Fairly played for 21 years and did just about everything – no pun intended – fairly well. He got worked walks, kept a decent batting average, hit about 13-19 homers a year, while playing excellent defense. In the ‘65 World Series, he hit .379 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs, helping the Dodgers win it all. In his career, he had 1,913 hits and over 1,000 walks with 215 homers and 3 World Series rings. Unfortunately, he only made 2 All Star Teams and his name doesn’t really jump off the page as a great MLB player.

#21 Frank White

Another player who might be remembered more for his broadcasting career than his playing career – Frank White had an incredible glove and could fly on the basepaths while swinging a solid bat. He did win 8 Gold Gloves and made five All Star Games but has received little Hall of Fame support and feels underappreciated. By the mid-80’s, White had developed some pop as well, crushing 22 home runs in back to back seasons and was also clutch in the big moments, winning the 1980 ALCS MVP, crushing a home run in the ‘85 World Series and even hitting a deciding home run in the 1986 All Star Game. He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1995 but received just 3.8% of the vote in his only year on the National Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot.

#20 Steve Rogers

Although he did make 5 All Star Teams, Steve Rogers is name largely forgotten since his retirement after 1985, possibly due to a relatively short 13 year career and a mediocre 158-152 record. However, many of those losses came in stellar starts where Rogers received almost no run support as a pitcher for the Expos in the mid-70’s. For example, in 1976, he went 7-17, leading the league in losses despite a 3.21 ERA. His team had the lowest batting average, fewest hits and fewest runs in the league. When the offense improved as the 1980’s approached, his record improved and in 1982, he went 19-8 with a league-leading 2.4 ERA and would’ve won the Cy Young if not for the incredible 23-win season by Steve Carlton. He has the most wins in Montreal Expos history and catcher Gary Carter once said Rogers has the best stuff he’d ever seen.

#19 Kenny Lofton

Kenny Lofton comes in somewhat low on this list because he was a popular player who made 6 All Star Teams and won 4 Gold Gloves. However, he only received 3.2% of the vote on the Hall of Fame ballot, falling off in his first year despite having over 2,400 career hits and 600 stolen bases. On the JAWS ranking for center-fielders which measures Hall-of-Fame worthiness, Lofton is 10th All-Time and ranked above several Hall of Famers. He simply helped his teams win ballgames by getting on base and wreaking havoc on the basepaths while playing elite defense for 17 years. Even in his final MLB season in 2007, he hit .296 with 23 steals and a .367 on-base-percentage. His career on-base-percentage of .372 is better than George Brett and Paul Molitor. Yet he never really gets credit for how good he was.

Jose Cardenal

#18 Jose Cardenal

A member of the Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame, Jose Cardenal collected over 1,900 hits, 300 steals and hit over .290 in 6 separate full seasons, retiring with a .333 on-base-percentage and a 20.7 WAR. Yet, he never won a single award or made a single All Star Team. In 1973, he was hitting .318 with 104 hits, and 53 RBIs at the break, but was not selected to the All Star Team. He tied with Pete Rose with a .317 batting average in 1975 but was snubbed that year as well. Although he was a fan favorite in Chicago, Cardenal was never really recognized for how good he was, possibly because he was overhyped as the next Willie Mays after hitting .312 with 36 bombs with the Giants Double-A team in 1963. He never worked out in San Francisco but still went on to have a great career and although he may not be Hall of Fame worthy, Cardenal was a lot better than he gets credit for.

#17 Brian Giles

During the late 90’s and early 2000’s when Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and others were putting up video game numbers, another player was quietly smashing well over 30 home runs every year with an average over .300 – his name was Brian Giles and from 1999 to 2002 he averaged 37 homers a year. He also knew how to work walks and routinely had an on-base-percentage well above .400 every year. If a player had that four year stretch today, he would become one of the games biggest superstars. Instead, Giles went practically unnoticed. In 1999, for instance, he smashed 39 home runs with a .315 average and 115 RBIs. There are many seasons in which that would make him the frontrunner for the MVP. In 1999, however, he finished 19th in the MVP voting. An even crazier fact is that Mark McGwire smashed 65 home runs that year – and finished 5th. Giles played for 15 years and retired with a .400 on-base-percentage and 287 home runs. He made just 2 All Star teams.

#16 Tim Salmon

There was no way I could leave the biggest All Star snub in MLB history off this under-rated list. Tim Salmon was a name known by most MLB fans and did carry some star power, but somehow never made an All Star team. Salmon was a Rookie of the Year who had a 14-year career which included 5 30+ home run seasons and 8 years with a batting average over .280. In 1995, he hit .330 with 34 homers and 105 RBIs. His .884 career OPS puts him in excellent company and he is surrounded by Hall of Famers on the all-time list. The only reason he is this low on the under-rated list is because I believe the general baseball fandom appreciated his worth and he is an All-time Angels legend, but since he was never given the chance to shine at the mid-summer classic, I have to include him on this list.

Jimmy Wynn

#15 Jimmy Wynn

During the 60’s and 70’s, there were few players who could steal bases, hit for power and get on base like Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon. He brought a ton of power to his 5’10” frame and smashed 291 career homers including 37 in 1967 and one of the most famous tape-measure shots of all time with this bomb that he sent out of Crosley Field onto the freeway. However, he could also work a walk like no one else and held the MLB record for walks in a season until Barry Bonds came along. He set that record in 1969 and also smashed 33 homers but was left off the All Star Team. His career 55.7 WAR puts him above Hank Greenberg, David Ortiz and Fred McGriff. Yet, on the Hall of Fame Ballot, Jimmy Wynn unbelievably received zero votes. As the voters usually do, they simply looked at the name and left his box unchecked instead of doing the slightest bit of research.

Bobby Grich

#14 Bobby Grich

Coming up next is a vastly underrated player who is only ranked this low because he did make 6 All Star Teams and won 4 Gold Gloves. However, when comparing Grich to other second basemen, he appears to be one of the greatest of all time and gets nowhere close to that type of respect. On The JAWS list for second baseman, he comes in at #8, above Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Jackie Robinson and Craig Biggio. How is that possible? Two reasons – his ability to work a walk and his elite defense. Although he did have power, Grich only hit more than 20 home runs twice, which prevented him from entering into superstardom. However, he worked at least 75 walks 9 times in his career and retired with a .371 on-base percentage. On defense, he was probably the best in the game for a 5 year period. If you believe Jeff Kent should be in the Hall, Bobby Grich is certainly deserving as well as he had an even better OPS+ and was certainly better defensively. Grich had a 71 career WAR compared to Kent’s 55. While I believe both should be in the Hall, Kent seems to get much more support. Therefore, Bobby Grich makes today’s list as one of the most underrated MLB players of the modern era.

Graig Nettles

#13 Graig Nettles

While the outspoken and charismatic Reggie Jackson got most of the credit for being the power-hitter of the late 1970’s New York Yankees, the quiet and unassuming Graig Nettles was also smashing quite a few home runs while playing elite defense. In fact, he led the league with 32 bombs in 1976. Without him, the Yankees likely would not have made it to 3 World Series in the late 70’s and early 80’s, especially in ‘81 when he hit .500 in the ALCS, taking home MVP honors. He hit at least 20 home runs 11 times during his 22-year big league career. As a big fan of underappreciated players like Nettles, even I was shocked to see that he finished his career just 10 home runs short of 400. Also, if it weren’t for Buddy Bell and Brooks Robinson, Nettles would have won much more than 2 Gold Gloves. He fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after receiving less than 5% of the vote.

Carlos Delgado

#12 Carlos Delgado

Coming up next is another massive powerhitter completely swallowed by the steroid era. It is easy to forget how good Delgado was – he came just 27 home runs short of the magic 500. In the year 2000, he somehow smashed 57 home runs with a .334 batting average and 1.134 OPS yet finished 4th for the MVP. Somehow, he only made two All Star Teams during his career. In 1998, he had 17 homers with a .308 average at the break and was left off the All Star roster. Despite the lack of All Star appearances, Delgado had a clear cut Hall of Fame career in my opinion yet received a mere 3.8% of the vote due partially to the ridiculous 10-player maximum that the writers are allowed to vote for. This rule means by definition if 11 deserving players happen to be eligible for the ballot during the same year, as a voter you are forced to leave one off. Even today, Delgado doesn’t get much Hall of Fame support and is one of the most underrated players of all time.

#11 Tommy Herr

Up next is a player who has never received full appreciation for his abilities, even going back to the draft when his name was never called. He ended up signing as an undrafted free agent with the Cardinals and became one of their most consistent players. His best season came in 1985 when he drove in 110 runs with a .302 average. He also stole 31 bases, being thrown out only 3 times. Herr retired with the best fielding percentage in the history of MLB for second basemen, yet he never won a single Gold Glove. He retired with over 1,400 hits, a .347 on-base percentage and just one All Star selection.

#10 Bobby Abreu

Another player better than most remember is Bobby Abreu, who may have not had the appearance of a superstar but did all the little things right – and some big things, as he smashed 288 career homers including 31 in 2001. Other than the long ball, Abreu compiled 2,470 hits and 1,476 walks. He had an incredibly impressive career .395 on-base-percentage, better than many Hall of Famers including Honus Wagner and Vlad Guerrero. The closer Abreu’s career is studied, the more he looks like he belongs in the Hall of Fame – he could do it all including steal bases, which he did 400 times in his career. He also played elite defense despite winning just one Gold Glove. He was underappreciated during his career, making only two All Star Teams, and so far has been underappreciated on the Hall of Fame ballot, receiving just 15.4% of the vote in 2023, although to be fair the voters from 15 years ago likely would not have voted for some one like Abreu at all.

Rusty Staub

#9 Rusty Staub

Although he made 6 All Star Teams, Rusty Staub still makes the Top 10 as he has never gotten the appreciation he deserves, except perhaps in Montreal and New York where he was a fan favorite. Staub was one of the hardest working players of all time and despite not being the most naturally talented player, he learned to work the count like few others, get on base consistently and help his team win games. His power came along in his 7th year in the big leagues when he smashed 29 home runs in ‘69 then 30 in 1970. Although he crushed 292 career bombs, his most impressive number might be the number of times he reached base in his career – an insane 4,050 times, more than even Tony Gwynn. Despite this incredible career, he fell off the Hall of Fame ballot for not reaching the 5% minimum after 7 years on the ballot.

#8 Toby Harrah

A mostly forgotten player of the 70’s and 80’s, Toby Harrah could do it all – at least at certain points in his career. He came up as a player without much power who could work a walk like no one else, but eventually decided to start going for the fences and smashed 27 bombs in 1977 while still leading the league with 109 walks. He was also good for around 20 stolen bases a year for most of his career until he slowed down in the 80’s. He did lots of the little things right to help his team win ballgames but was never really recognized as a big time superstar. Still, he retired with an 51.4 WAR, much better than most fans would expect out of Toby Harrah, if they had even heard of him in the first place. He retired with less than 50 hits shy of 2,000 and had 195 career bombs.

Brett Butler

#7 Brett Butler

Coming in at #7 is one of my favorite players during the late 80’s, the speedy Brett Butler. He is so underrated than when I google his name, all I get is this girl. (Oh yeah yeah yea yea, the actress). Although he wasn’t a power hitter and never close to a big star, Butler is the guy who gets rallies started and the guy who scores the run when you need it. He had a great eye at the plate, could work a walk or even bunt for a hit in order to get on base. Once on base, he was an instant threat to run and retired with 558 steals, 25th on the all-time list. He covered a ton of ground in centerfield, making all the routine plays and many spectacular ones as well. He hit at least .300 5 times in his career yet made only a single All Star Game and has never been appreciated for how good he was. He retired with an impressive 2,375 hits in his career but received only two votes on the Hall of Fame ballot.

#6 John Olerud

Whenever I think of John Olerud, I remember the one defensive player who always wore a helmet on the field. I had no idea why at that time, but it turns out he had surgery in college for a brain aneurysm, which explains the helmet. Aside from the helmet, however, Olerud was quietly a fantastic player for about 15 years. He ended his career with over 2,200 hits, 500 doubles and 255 homers. He was an elite defensive first baseman and also got on base like nearly no one else, finishing his career with an on-base-percentage just under .400. Because he was not a huge power hitter, he was even more overshadowed than Carlos Delgado during the steroid era. However, he did hit at least 20 homers 5 times and retired with an impressive 58.2 WAR, better than many Hall of Famers including Willie Stargell. Most baseball fans may have had no idea just how good Olerud was and before doing the research, I was one of them, despite being a fan during his era.

Willie Davis

#5 Willie Davis

Moving into the top 5, we have Willie Davis, a long-time Los Angeles Dodger whose prime came right in the middle of the pitcher’s era of the 60’s. He was so under-rated after retirement that despite collecting over 2,500 hits over a 17 year career, he was not deemed good enough to even appear on the a Hall of Fame Ballot. Imagine having almost 3,000 career hits in the Major Leagues and not even getting your name on the ballot. Aside from the hits, Davis was an elite defender and one of the fastest runners in the game, leading the league in triples twice and stealing 398 career bases. He took home three gold gloves, helped the Dodgers win two World Series and stayed healthy throughout most of his career, nearly always playing in at least 140 games. Despite all of that, Davis got zero Hall of Fame support, not even appearing on the ballot and to this day, is underappreciated.

Jose Cruz

#4 Jose Cruz

Up next is a man named Jose Cruz, who had to hit for years at the pitcher friendly Astrodome. He was underrated even during his playing days, possibly because he was a late bloomer who had a few sub-par years in St. Louis. However, by the 80’s, Cruz was a tough out, especially on the road, and did it for many years. In 1983, he led the league in hits. Cruz hit at least .300 6 times and hit so well for so long that he accumulated 2,251 hits in his career with a .284 batting average and .354 on-base-percentage. He was also a solid defender despite winning zero gold gloves. His 54.3 career WAR is higher than several Hall of Famers including Orlando Cepeda and Jim Rice. Had he played in a more hitter-friendly ballpark, there’s no telling what kind of numbers Cruz could have put up.

#3 Willie Randolph

Although he may not come to mind as one of the all-time Yankee greats, Willie Randolph comes in 10th on the All-Time WAR list for time spent with the New York Yankees, above A-Rod, Thurman Munson, Andy Pettite and Bernie Williams. All 9 above him are in the Hall of Fame. Randolph had an incredible knack for getting on base, combined with speed and elite defense. Among second basemen, he has the 5th highest defensive WAR of all time, but never won a Gold Glove – as Frank White and Lou Whitaker routinely won them during Randolph’s prime. In 1980, he drew a league-leading 119 walks and had an on-base-percentage of .427. Randolph retired with 2,210 hits and an incredibly impressive .373 on-base-percentage, one point higher than Kenny Lofton’s. Randolph’s career WAR is tied with Hall-of-Famer Duke Snider and better than Willie McCovey’s and Jackie Robinson’s. Yet, on the Hall of Fame ballot, Randolph got an incredibly disrespectful 1.1% of the vote.

#2 Tony Phillips

Is it possible to play 18 years in the big leagues, collect 2,000 hits, be one of the best defenders at your position and not win a single award? Tony Phillips proves that the answer is yes. One of the best players to never make an All Star Team, Tony Phillips was one of the most versatile players in the league, with the ability to play elite defense almost anywhere on the field. He also had speed and knew how to work a walk – a skillset that seems made for a list like this. He even hit 160 career home runs including 27 in 1995. Despite all he did to help his team win games, Phillips was underrated during and after his career, never receiving a single award of any kind. Since he never won a gold glove or even made an All Star Team, it’s no surprise that he got almost no support on the Hall of Fame Ballot – just one brave voter decided to check the box next to Tony Phillip’s name.

Darrell Evans

#1 Darrell Evans

Coming in as my #1 underrated player of all time is going to be Darrell Evans, who had an extraordinary 21-year career, bringing massive power and elite defense to the field every day. He won zero Gold Gloves – which can be attributed to playing in the same league at the same time as Mike Schmidt. And, no surprise, he also had a great eye and worked a ton of walks. The difference with Evans as opposed to some one of the players on this list is, he worked walks and hit for massive power, smashing 414 career homers. He has a 58.7 career WAR, a .361 on-base-percentage and averaged 25 homers and 20 doubles throughout his entire career. Somehow, despite all this, he made just two All Star Teams and got kicked off the Hall of Fame Ballot after one year. This makes no sense and in my mind, makes Darrell Evans the #1 underrated player in the history of the game.

And that does it for this week’s countdown; I hope you all enjoyed it; I put a lot of time, thought and effort into this one. I understand there are dozens of other criminally underrated players – I considered hundreds of other players, and even started this as a Top 10 but couldn’t bear to leave off some of these names so it ended up as a Top 25. Comment down below if you can think of other players who should have made or been considered for this list.

The Top 15 MLB UNDRAFTED Free Agents of All Time

Since the inception of the MLB Draft, there have been many great players not considered to be very big prospects who were taken extremely low yet went on to have elite MLB careers. Players not taken in the first few rounds generally have a much tougher path to the big leagues and have to really impress in the Minor Leagues. Nevertheless, there have been some players such as Mike Piazza, who was taken as the 1,390th overall pick, who overcame being picked low in the draft and went on to become Hall of Famers. Still, there are many other players who have to take an even tougher path to baseball’s highest level – and for these players, the odds of even making it the big leagues – much less becoming an impact player - are even longer. These are players who were never drafted at all, despite being available in an MLB Draft. These players have to somehow get the attention of an MLB team with the help of an agent or by playing in the independent leagues, hoping to get signed as an undrafted free agent, giving them an opportunity to play in an affiliated minor league system. Even if this happens, the undrafted free agent is rarely considered anything more than a roster filler in the minors. They have to play extremely well in order to get the attention of the big league front office and finally be considered a realistic prospect.

Today, we will be ranking the Top 15 Best MLB Undrafted Free Agents of all time – these players were able to play well enough in the minors to get an opportunity in the big leagues and they took full advantage of it. As a side note, only players who were eligible for the first year MLB draft and were not drafted will be included – so this list will not include players such as Larry Walker and Edgar Martinez, who were signed as international free agents and were not eligible for the draft. Also, players were were drafted after High School but did not sign in order to go college, then later went undrafted after college are eligible for this list. So, let’s get into it, starting with 5 honorable mentions:

Honorable Mentions:

Kirby Yates – an active relief pitcher who led the National League with 41 saves in 2019

Kevin Millar – a 2004 World Series Champion with the Red Sox who hit 170 career home runs

Jim Leyrtiz – a two-time World Series champ with the Yankees who had an 11-year big league career

Dan Gladden – who won two rings with the Twins and retired with over 1,200 hits

Ken Hill – one of the best pitchers in the game for the Expos during the strike-shortened 1994 season

Now, let’s get into the Top 15

#15 Bernard Gilkey – OF (21.6 WAR)

First up is a classic name from the St. Louis Cardinals lineup of the early 90’s, Bernard Gilkey. Gilkey graduated from University City High School in 1984 but went completely undrafted. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cardinals and displayed amazing speed with a solid bat that only improved as he moved up through the minors. He stole 56 bases in Single A in ‘88 and another 53 in Double A in ‘89, leading the league. After 6 long years in the Minors, Gilkey was promoted and by 1991, was in the Opening Day lineup. He consistently hit around .300 for St. Louis until he was traded to the Mets, where in 1996 he had his best year, driving in 117 runs with a .317 batting average and 30 home runs. Unfortunately, he was snubbed from the ‘96 All Star Team. He finished his career with a .275 average and 118 homers.

#14 Esteban Loaiza – P (22.7 WAR)

Up next is a 14-year big league pitcher who started the 2003 All-Star Game – Esteban Loaiza. Loaiza was ready to enter professional baseball after a stellar High School career at Mar Vista High, but sadly went completely undrafted. Later, he was able to sign with the Pirates and entered their Minor League system in 1991, going 5-1 with a 2.26 ERA in Rookie Ball. He continued to impress as he moved up through the minors and in 1995, he made the team out of Spring Training and was put into the starting rotation. Loaiza was a serviceable big league arm for years with the Pirates, Rangers and Blue Jays until everything clicked in 2003 with the White Sox, when he went 21-9 with a 2.9 ERA and league-leading 207 strikeouts. He finished second in the Cy Young voting to Roy Halladay and started the All Star Game. He made a second All Star team in 2004, although he never repeated that amazing 2003 season.

#13 John Montefusco – P (19.9 WAR)

John “The Count” of Montefusco was a staple in the San Francisco Giants rotation during the 1970’s. He attended Brookdale Community College and went completely undrafted in 1972. Fortunately, he was able to sign a contract with the Giants and dazzled in the minor leagues, going 9-2 with a 2.17 ERA and a 9.5 per 9 strikeout ratio. He made his big league debut in 1974 and became a regular by ‘75, when he won the Rookie of the Year award and finished 4th in the Cy Young voting. In 1976, he threw a no-hitter against the Braves, which was the last Giants no-hitter up until 2009 when Jonathan Sanchez finally threw another one. Montefusco later pitched for the Braves, Padres and Yankees, finishing his career with a 90-83 record.

#12 Tommy Herr – 2B (23.6 WAR)

Next up is Tommy Herr, a fan favorite for many years in St. Louis who played in three separate World Series for St. Louis, helping them win one in 1982. He attended the University of Delaware and went undrafted in 1974. Luckily, he caught on with the Cardinals, signing for a $10,000 bonus, and began his Minor League career ‘75. He showed an amazing ability to hit for average and get on base while playing nearly flawless defense. In 1977, he led his Single A league with 156 hits and he also stole an incredible 50 bases. In 1979, he made his big league debut and by the 1980’s, became a regular in the lineup. His best season came in 1985 when he made the All Star Team and drove in 110 runs with a .302 average. He also stole 31 bases, being thrown out only 3 times. Herr retired with the best fielding percentage in the history of MLB for second basemen despite never winning a Gold Glove.

#11 Mike Bordick – IF (26.8 WAR)

A familiar name to Oakland A’s fans of the early 90’s, Mike Bordick played college ball at the University of Maine but no team picked his name during the 1985 MLB Draft. He went on to play in the Cap Cod League, where A’s scout J.P. Ricciardi, who went on to become the Blue Jays GM and now works in the Giants front office, noticed Bordick and signed him to play in the A’s organization. Although his stats were nothing spectacular, he showed incredible work ethic and knew how to work the count and get on base. He worked his way up through the minors and made his MLB debut in 1990. By ‘92, he was an everyday player and hit .300 with 151 hits and 40 walks. By 2000, he developed some power, crushing 20 home runs for the Mets and Orioles and making the All Star Team. He finished his career with an impressive 26.8 WAR.

#10 Danny Darwin – P (39.8 WAR)

Coming in at #10 is Danny Darwin, a starting pitcher and reliever who had a 21-year big league career. He pitched at Grayson County College in Texas and was completely overlooked in the draft. In May of 1976, he signed with the Rangers and quickly impressed in the Minors, going 13-4 with a 2.51 ERA in 1977. He was promoted to Triple A in 1978 and showed amazing strikeout ability, earning a call-up to the big leagues. He had his first full MLB season in 1980 and impressed, going 13-4 with a 2.63 ERA. From there, Darwin would become a solid MLB arm for two decades, as a reliever and starter, pitching for 8 separate teams. In 1990 with the Astros, he led the league with a 2.21 ERA. He pitched for the Giants from 1997 to 1998, retiring with nearly 2,000 career strikeouts and an extremely impressive 39.8 WAR.

#9 Tom Candiotti – P (41.4 WAR)

Up next is the Candy Man, Tom Candiotti, a knuckleballer who had a 16-year big league career. He pitched out of St. Mary’s College of California for four years, but was never drafted. He was able to catch on with an independent league team in British Columbia, Canada called the Victoria Mussels after attending a try-out in 1979. With no place to live, no money, and no car, Candiotti went 5-1 for the Mussels, sometimes sleeping on the field in a sleeping bag after the game. He pitched well enough to be sold to the Kansas City Royals, but later ended up in the Brewers organization. He pitched well in the minors but had a major setback when he underwent Tommy John Surgery. Candiotti came back strong, however and threw a shutout during his initial call-up to the big leagues in 1983. As a knuckler, he had great stamina and later with the Indians in 1986, led the league with 17 complete games. Candiotti was also a mainstay in the Dodgers rotation for several years in the 90’s. He retired with a 151-164 record and over 1,700 strikeouts.

#8 Larry Bowa – SS (22.8 WAR)

Up next is a player who many now know as an MLB coach and Manager – Larry Bowa. Long before his managerial career, Bowa was a High School kid who tried out for the baseball team and was cut – every single year. Fortunately, he continued to practice and did make his college team at Sacramento City College. He became a strong player there and a scout from the Phillies went to check him out, but he was ejected early in the game for arguing with the umpire. The kid definitely had a future as a manager. As it turned out, no team drafted him. However, the Phillies continued to keep an eye on him as he played in a winter league, showing signs of defensive brilliance and a strong bat. He was eventually offered a contract that included a $2,000 bonus. It turned out to be a wise decision as Bowa hit well in the minors and went on to have an incredible rookie year for the Phillies in 1970. He finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting and went on to make 5 All Star teams and take home 2 Gold Gloves. He hit .316 in the 1980 World Series, helping bring a ring to Philadelphia. He later went on to win the Manager of the Year Award for the Phillies in 2001.

#7 Kevin Mitchell – OF (29.2 WAR)

Coming in appropriately at #7 is my favorite player growing up in the late 80’s, Kevin Mitchell, who blasted 234 career home runs and also made one of the most famous catches in MLB history with this barehanded snag. Long before that, Mitchell’s parents separated when he was two years old. He was raised by his grandmother in a rough neighborhood where he sometimes ran with the wrong crowds, getting involved in gang activity. He struggled in school and never even played High School baseball, but did have a talent for the game thanks largely to his grandma encouraging him to practice baseball, even though he preferred football and boxing. In 1980, a friend of Mitchell’s took him to an open New York Mets tryout and Mitchell displayed incredible power, impressing the scouts, who signed him to a contract for $600 a month to enter into their minor league system. He immediately stood out, hitting .335 with 7 homers in Rookie Ball. Step by step, he ascended through the system and made it to the Major Leagues by 1984. In 1986, his pinch-hit single kept the Mets alive in the World Series and was allowed them to make one of the most dramatic comebacks in baseball history. However, he became an absolute superstar later with the San Francisco Giants, crushing 47 home runs in 1989 and taking home the N.L MVP and a Silver Slugger Award. Mitchell’s career was not always smooth sailing and there are some wild stories about some of his off-the-field antics, but for being an undrafted free agent, he had an incredible career, crushing 234 career homers with a .284 batting average.

#6 Brian Downing – C/OF (51.5 WAR)

Brian Downing, who played Major League Baseball for 20 years and collected over 2,000 hits, was not only an undrafted free agent, but was also cut from his High School teams multiple times. He attended Cyprus College after graduating High School and decided to try out for baseball, but only made the team as the official bullpen catcher. Most people would have given up on their baseball career by this point, but Downing decided to make one last effort and attended a Chicago White Sox open try-out in 1969 and fortunately for Downing, a scout named Bill Lentini saw some potential and offered him a contract. Downing was solid in the minors, hitting .278 with 15 homers in Double A. He made it to the big leagues by 1973, and despite a slow start in MLB, he eventually became a regular in the lineup. During the 1977-78 offseason, he was traded to the Angels and found his comfort zone there. Downing crushed 28 home runs in 1978 and was eventually moved from catcher to outfield. He hit at least 19 home runs for 7 straight seasons and became a fan favorite in Anaheim. He retired with 275 homers and one All Star selection. He also worked an impressive 1,197 walks in his career, giving him a .370 career on-base-percentage. His 51.5 WAR is better than Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett and Orlando Cepeda.

#5 Bobby Bonilla – 3B/OF (30.2 WAR)

An absolute superstar from the late 80’s and early 90’s, Bobby Bonilla is another player who was incredibly never drafted. He did play baseball in High School and graduated in 1981, but went unselected in the draft. He decided to pursue a degree in Computer Science but happened to attend a baseball camp where he was spotted by Pirates scout and future GM Syd Thrift. He played well in the Minors for several years but had a major injury setback with a broken leg, then was claimed in the Rule 5 Draft by the White Sox before he could make his big league debut. The White Sox promoted him in 1986 and he hit .269 with a couple homers before the Pirates reacquired him. In 1987, he showed real promise by hitting .300 with 15 homers. Then, in 1988, everything came together as Bonilla crushed 24 homers with 100 runs driven in. From there, he made 4 consecutive All Star Teams and finished 2nd for the MVP in 1990 with 32 bombs and 120 RBIs. Later, he made two more All Star Teams with the Mets and hit .297 with the Marlins in 1997, helping them win their first World Series. He may be best known now for Bobby Bonilla Day, the annual day when the Mets have to pay Bonilla over a million dollars as part of his 2000 deferred salary – a payment that will continue until 2035.

#4 Dan Quisenberry – P (24.6 WAR)

For a few years, Dan Quisenberry was by far the best relief pitcher in all of baseball. He was encouraged by his stepfather to play the game and was a solid arm in High School, but was not a serious prospect. Later, he was the team’s MVP at Orange Coast College before transferring to La Verne, a Division III baseball program. Quisenberry’s name was never called at the MLB Draft, but he was able to sign with the Royals as an undrafted free agent and absolutely dazzled in the minors, with an even 1 ERA in in 1976. In Double A in 1977, he had a 1.34 ERA in 33 appearances. He had fantastic control and great stuff but could not overpower hitters, and it showed in Triple A when his ERA shot up to 3.6. Royals manager Jim Frey suggested he learn to pitch submarine style in order to keep hitters off balance. This worked wonders for Quisenberry, who quickly mastered the new style and in his first full MLB season in 1980, led the league with 33 saves. In ‘81, he had a 1.73 ERA, kicking off 7 consecutive seasons with an ERA under 3. He led the league in saves for four straight seasons, maxing out at 45, an MLB record, in 1983. He won the Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year award 5 times, finishing in the Top 5 for the Cy Young each of those seasons. His reign of complete domination ended around 1985, but he was still solid for several years out of the Royals bullpen. He ended up in St. Louis, where he had a nice year in 1989 with a 2.64 ERA in 63 appearances. He ended his career with 244 saves, and many fans believe he deserves to be enshrined in Cooperstown.

#3 Frank White – IF (34.8 WAR)

Coming in at #3 is another Kansas City Royals legend, who had an elite glove and also collected over 2,000 MLB hits. His name is Frank White and at one time he was a community college baseball player with no expectations of playing beyond college. That’s when the Royals created Royals Academy, a concept where strong and powerful athletes would be trained to become elite baseball players. Unfortunately, the Academy only produced three big-league players, but Frank White was one of them – the others being U.L. Washington and former Rangers manager Ron Washington. After White entered the Royals system, it was obvious he had big talent – his glove was incredible, he could fly on the basepaths and his offensive stats were respectable. He made his big league debut in 1973 and it took a few years for Royals fans to warm up to him but by 1976, he was a regular. He won his first of 8 Gold Gloves in 1977 and made his first of five All Star Games in ‘78. By the mid-80’s, White had developed some pop as well, crushing 22 home runs in back to back seasons. He was also clutch in the big moments, winning the 1980 ALCS MVP, crushing a home run in the ‘85 World Series and even hitting a deciding home run in the 1986 All Star Game. He was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1995 and is also heavily supported as a potential candidate for the Basebal Hall of Fame.

#2 Toby Harrah – IF (51.4 WAR)

One of the most underrated players of all time, Toby Harrah comes in at #2 on my list of the best undrafted free agents in MLB history. Although his name doesn’t pop off the page like that of some of the previous mentioned players, you might be surprised at how good this guy was. He was scouted as a High School prospect but went undrafted and entered into the workforce, getting a job at a factory. When Phillies scout Tony Lucadello found out that no one had drafted Harrah and that he was not playing college ball, he got in touch with him and signed him to play in the Phillies organization. He was later claimed by the Washington Senators, who promoted him in for a cup of coffee in 1969, then a full-time role in 1971. Harrah had not shown much power at this point, but he knew how to work a walk like nobody else, did not strike out much, had great speed, and would be a front office analytical dream come true this day in age. Even then, his value was clear and the Senators made him an everyday player. In 1972, the team moved to Arlington, becoming the Texas Rangers and Harrah made his first All Star Team. In 1974, he decided to try to hit for more power and crushed 21 bombs. In ‘75, he hit 20 more while hitting .293 with a .403 on-base-percentage and 23 stolen bases. Harrah had also vastly improved his defense – he was near-elite in almost every aspect of the game at this point. This type of production continued year after year, with perhaps his best season in 1977 when he hit 27 homers and led the league with 109 walks. Harrah was never a massive superstar, but he did everything right to help his team throughout a 17-year career. He retired as a 4-time All Star with a career 51.4 WAR, which is better than several Hall of Famers including Ralph Kiner, Jim Rice and Ted Simmons and the best of any one on this list. The JAWS ranking has him as the 28th greatest third baseman in MLB history. He was also the last player to bat for the Washington Senators, one half of the only duo to hit back to back inside the park homers, and once played every inning of a doubleheader at shortstop and never handled the ball once. He also hit one of three grand slams in a game for the Rangers, becoming the first team to ever do so. On top of being an amazing MLB talent, he is the answer to several trivia questions.

#1 Bruce Sutter – P (24.1 WAR)

Although it was tempting to put Harrah as my #1 overall pick, there was just no way I could put any one else other than the only undrafted free agent who was also a Hall of Famer as my #1 – and that would be of course Bruce Sutter, who finished his career with exactly 300 saves. Sutter was drafted after High School by the Senators in the 21st round, but did not sign and attended college at Old Dominion. From there, he was never drafted and ended up dropping out and playing in some semi-pro league. Chicago Cubs scout Ralph DiLullo noticed Sutter and signed him to play pro ball. This was just the first time Sutter’s career would be revived after being nearly dead in the water. He only pitched in a couple games in the minors when a pinched nerve required surgery. Then, in 1973 in A Ball, he had a 4.13 ERA, giving up 94 hits in 85 innings. The Cubs were considering releasing Sutter, but a minor league instructor named Fred Martin convinced them to let him teach Sutter a new pitch first. He taught Sutter the same pitch he taught Mike Krukow – the split-fingered baseball. It wasn’t a pitch that worked for every one, but Sutter’s hands were perfect for it and in 1974 , he used to dominate minor league batters to the tune of 1.38 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 64 innings. In 1976, he began the year in Triple-A but was quickly promoted and had a 2.7 ERA in his rookie MLB season. This was only the beginning. In 1977, he became the closer and had 31 saves with a 1.34 ERA, making the All Star team and garnering Cy Young votes. He became an MLB superstar, making the All Star team nearly every year. In 1979, he had a monster season, tying an NL record with 37 saves while taking home the Cy Young Award. He would later tie Dan Quisenberry’s MLB record of 45 saves in 1984. He led the league in saves 5 times, won 4 Rolaids Relief Awards, made 6 All Star teams and was eventually honored with induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the first pitcher who never started a game to become a Hall of Famer.

10 ELITE MLB Players SNUBBED From HALL OF FAME - Including NEW SNUB CARLOS BELTRAN!! SNUBBED Part 3

Welcome to another edition of MLB Hall of Fame SNUBS and today, we’ll be ranking #30-#21 along with some updates to the previous 2 videos which will be linked at the end of this one so you can check out my TOP 20 SNUBS of all time. Before getting into the main list, there have been some fortunate updates to my Top 10 list.

In the recent 2023 Hall of Fame election, my #6 snub of all time was finally elected to the Hall of Fame and it’s the great Scott Rolen, who was an elite player on both sides of the ball. Rolen was a Rookie of the Year winner who ended his career with 8 Gold Glove Awards. Based on defense alone, he would be a Hall of Fame candidate, but when you take into account his amazing bat and the fact that he averaged 28 home runs a year for 8 straight seasons and drove in over 100 runs 5 times, it’s a shoe-in for me. Scott Rolen absolutely deserves enshrinement in Cooperstown and I’m very happy to remove him from my snubs list as he gets the plaque that he deserves.

The second update of course is the man who was my #1 snub of all time, the Crime Dog, Fred McGriff, who was elected by the Contemporary Era Committee after somehow being snubbed on the ballot for 15 years. In my opinion, the fact that this happened will be a black eye for the writer’s association for as long as they continue to be the sole voters on the traditional Hall of the Fame ballot. Fred McGriff, of course, came within 7 home runs of 500 and had he hit those measly 7 more homers, he would have probably been in a long time ago. McGriff was an elite hitter and excellent defender for over a decade averaging 30 home runs a year for an astonishing 16 years. Congratulations to both Fred McGriff and Scott Rolen for being elected into the Hall of Fame, better late than never.

New Snubs: Carlos Beltran, Ross Barnes

To replace McGriff and Rolen in the Top 10, I’m going to start with a brand new snub and that snub is Carlos Beltran, who made the Hall of Fame ballot this year and received only 46.5% of the vote. Beltran was similar to Scott Rolen in that he was a Rookie of the Year winner who was an elite defender and hitter, but Beltran had an even longer career, accumulating 435 home runs and 2,725 hits. He was a 9-time All Star, 3-time Gold Glover, 2-time Silver Slugger and drove in over 100 runs 8 times. It is certainly worth pointing out that Beltran lost many votes due to his involvement in the 2017 Houston Astros cheating scandal. He was a 40-year old player at the time in the last year of his career, so whatever cheating took place certainly didn’t change the fact that he had a Hall of Fame career. Will the voters seriously keep him out? He not only had a Hall of Fame career but also won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2013 for his humanitarian work off the field. He apologized for his involvement and took responsibility. Meanwhile, 2017 Astros manager A.J. Hinch and bench coach Alex Cora are continuing their managerial careers elsewhere without issue. Also, as a final point, sign-stealing has been part of the game forever and even though the Astros clearly took it too far, Beltran was far from the only one involved and to keep him out of the Hall of Fame for this one blemish on his otherwise stellar resume, in my opinion, is ridiculous. Carlos Beltran is my newest Top 10 Hall of Fame snub of all time, along with a player from the 19th century named Ross Barnes, who not only hit the first home run in MLB history but absolutely dominated the game during the early years of professional baseball.

For more info on Barnes, check out my video on him above. So, now that my Top 10 remains complete, let’s move on to 10 more snubs, #30 through 21. Keep in mind these snubs are understandably mostly borderline cases, but in my opinion all 10 should eventually be enshrined and I’ll explain why.. here we go...

#30 David Cone

Although most baseball fans remember David Cone as being an excellent pitcher, his name may not jump out as an obvious Hall of Famer. When digging a bit deeper though, I believe he has an excellent case. He had a 17-year that included five All-Star appearances, five World Series rings and even a Cy Young Award in 1992. Cone is 27th All-Time in career strikeouts with 2,668. His career WAR of 26.3 beats out many Hall of Fame starters including Don Drysdale and Whitey Ford. When examining his placement on the JAWS ranking, which evaluates Hall of Fame worthiness, Cone finds himself dropped in the middle of a massive list of Hall of Famers. Notice how Cone is mixed in with names like Juan Marichal and Bob Feller among others. He only had 194 career wins, but when considering everything else, does that warrant him falling off the ballot during his first year of eligibility? Cone also finished in the Top 6 for the Cy Young 5 times and his best year was a year he didn’t even win it, 1988, when he went 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA. Without the Cy Young, he is definitely a boderline case, but when you add that into the mix, it puts it over the top for me – David Cone should have a plaque.

#29 Jack Glasscock

He was the best shorstop of an entire century – ableit the 19th century. Called “The King of Shortstops,” deadball superstar Jack Glasscock had a 17-year career in which he collected over 2,000 hits. At that time, 2,000 career hits was no small feat as he was only the 6th player of all time to do it. However, his strongest asset was his defense. Glasscock led the National League in fielding percentage seven times and assists 6 times. When he retired in 1895, he had the Major League record for games played, putouts, assists, double plays and fielding percentage. Had the Hall of Fame existed at the time, he was have been a first ballot no brainer Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, by the time the Hall of Fame did exist, he was overshadowed by the greats of the 20th century and only received 2.6% of the vote in his one and only year on the ballot in 1936. Since then, he has only been forgotten even more, due largely to the fact that most of the teams he played for no longer exist – such as the Indianapolis Hoosiers and Louisville Colonels. He did, however, play two years for the New York Giants, including the outstanding 1890 season in which he led the league in hits and won the batting title with a .336 average. Despite the fact that his overall numbers may not be Hall of Fame worth by today’s standards, because he stood out above his peers as one of the best in the game for well over a decade, even if it was in the 19th century, Jack Glasscock deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

#28 Luis Tiant

Coming up next is Luis Tiant, a pitcher who was on the ballot for 15 years and was never elected. He was also snubbed on 3 ballots for the Veteran’s Committee. Today he is 82 years old and still with us, so I’m hopeful he will be able to enjoy the moment when he is elected. And why should he be elected? How about a 19 year career in which he won at least 20 games 4 times, finished in the Top 6 for the Cy Young 3 times and had 2 ERA titles. He had 2,416 strikeouts, more than Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Jim Palmer. In the postseason, Tiant went 3-0 with 2.86 ERA in 4 starts. He had all these accomplishments despite playing a large portion of his career at hitter friendly Fenway Park. He also pitched for the offensively light Cleveland Indians for the first 6 years of his career, and the lack of run support killed his record. For example, he went 12-11 in 1966 despite a 2.79 ERA. Five of his 12 wins that year were via the shutout. In 1968, he went 21-6 with an ERA of 1.6 Unfortunately, he only made 3 All Star Teams, but was certainly snubbed there. In 1973, for instance, he won 20 games – and had 12 at the All Star Break but did not make the All Star Team. All told, he won 229 games with a 3.3 ERA and an incredibly impressive 187 complete games. He is also one of two pitchers with two streaks of 40+ scoreless innings. The other is the great Walter Johnson.

#27 Tommy John

How could a player who had a Hall of Fame career who also has one of the most famous names in baseball history be left on the outside looking in? Even if we ignore the massive impact Tommy John had on the game by becoming the first player to make a successful comeback to the game after successful ligament replacement surgery, his career itself warrants induction. John pitched for an incredibly impressive 26 years. Aside from his incredible longevity, he won 288 career games – 12 shy of 300 – and won at least 20 games in 3 separate seasons. Although he never won a Cy Young Award, he certainly could have as he finished in the Top 10 four times, which includes two times when he was the runner-up. The only reason I have Tommy John ranked this low on my overall list of snubs is because he was only great for about a 4-year window and for most of his career was just good or average. Still, I consider longevity an important factor and considering he pitched for 26 years, his 3.34 ERA is impressive. When you combine his career numbers with the fact that he made an extraordinary comeback through a groundbreaking surgery that bears his name and continues to help hundreds of pitchers continue their careers despite experiencing what used to be career-ending injuries, it’s a shame that Tommy John isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise – the player with the most hits is not in, the player with the most home runs is not in and the player with the most famous name of all – also not in.

#26 Orel Hershiser

Up next is a player whose shelves are filled with so many awards, if you visited his home, you would just assume he’s a Hall of Famer. His name is Orel Hershiser and just to run through those awards before getting into his stats, he has a Cy Young Award, Major League Player of the Year Award, Silver Slugger, ALCS MVP, NLCS MVP, World Series MVP, and a Gold Glove Award. Add all that to a World Series Ring and 3 All Star Appearances. He was one of if not the best pitcher in the game during the late 80’s. At one point in 1988, he threw a record 59 consecutive scoreless innings. Although his career slowed down after the 80’s, he continued to be a dominant postseason pitcher and pitched well for both the Indians and Mets as well, retiring with a 2.59 ERA in 22 postseason games. Although his best regular season years were certainly with the Dodgers, especially the insane 1988 Cy Young season in which he went 23-8 with a 2.26 ERA, he was still good from 1995 to 1997 with Cleveland, when he went 45-21. His accomplishments and awards alone merit induction despite only winning 204 career games, which is partially due to poor run support. He did have a relatively high ERA as well at 3.48, but it has been proven you can get in with an ERA in 3’s – Jack Morris was recently inducted and he had a 3.9 career ERA. Bottom line, when you do what Hershiser did at his best then go on to win over 200 games while continuing to pitch well when it counts, you deserve a plaque in my opinion.

#25 Albert Belle

Next up is a player known more his insane temper and toxic relationship with the media than his talent on the field. This unfortunately may have kept him out of Cooperstown. After all, it’s the baseball writers who vote. Albert Belle got only 7% of the vote on his first ballot. The next year, he dropped to around 3% and fell off the ballot. He only played for 12 years but was an absolute machine during most of it, driving in over 100 runs 9 consecutive times. That includes the strike-shortened 1994 when he smashed 36 home runs in just 101 games. Belle finished in the Top 3 for MVP 3 times and in the Top 10 5 times, although he never won the award. He easily could have and should have in 1995 when he crushed a league leading 50 homers with 126 RBIs. He had a slugging percentage of .690 and an OPS over 1.000 and led his team to an easy division title. He also hit .317 that year but lost the MVP to Mo Vaughn, who hit an even .300 with 39 home runs. Belle was better in nearly every category but Vaughn took home the MVP. Belle did win the Player of the Year Award. In his career, he was a 5-time All Star and 5-time Silver Slugger as well and is the only player to ever hit 50 homers and 50 doubles in the same season. Unfortunately, he had to retire early due to a degenerative back condition, but he still managed 381 home runs, over 1200 RBIs and a .295 batting average. His career OPS of .933 is just 7 points below one Willie Mays and is better than Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols and Ken Griffey Jr. among many other greats of the game. To me, the only possible excuse to keep him out is his lack of longevity, but when you’re as good as he was, 12 years in more than enough.

#24 Carlos Delgado

Next up on the Hall of Fame snubs list is the great Carlos Delgado, who is slightly higher than Belle because he had a longer career at 17 years, allowing him to hit 473 homers – just 27 shy of 500. Aside from that, he also had a season where he could have easily taken home the MVP. It was 2003 and Delgado hit 42 homers with an incredible 145 RBIs while hitting .302 with an OPS over 1.000. Unfortunately, A-Rod, perhaps with a little assistance, outdid him in Texas and won the MVP. Since voters don’t consider juicers legit and won’t put them in the hall, I assume they must also credit Delgado then for being the true MVP that year. Aside from 2003, he was incredibly consistent, crushing at least 30 home runs 11 times, going over 40 3 times. Here’s one stat that might convince you Delgado is a Hall of Famer or at least deserved more than getting kicked off the ballot after one year. He drove in more runs than Mickey Mantle. When you combine that fact with the fact that he had nearly 500 homers, that’s all I need to know. Names on the list of similar players on baseball reference includ Willie McCovey, Jeff Bagwell and Willie Stargell. The voters did Delgado dirty when they failed to even give him 5% of the vote.

#23 Thurman Munson

Up next is a player whose career and life was cut short by a tragic plane crash. Had this never occurred, Munson would have likely waltzed into the Hall of Fame. Still, even with his shortened career, I think Munson deserves enshrinement. During his 11 year career, he made 7 All Star teams, won 3 Gold Gloves, and took home the Rookie of the Year Award as well as an MVP Award. That alone sounds close to a Hall of Famer. If it’s not enough, how about an absolutely phenomenal postseason career in which he hit .357 in 30 games, helping the Yankees win two World Series rings. He had 16 World Series starts and was unstoppable, hitting .373. Defensively, he was also dominant, throwing out 4 of 6 would-be base stealers during the ‘77 World Series. The only excuse to keep him out is his shortened career, in which he still hit .292 but only had 1,558 hits. Still, he did get the 10 year minimum in, has an MVP and was an absolute superstar during his time. When you add that to the postseason contributions, I believe he absolutely deserves a plaque and I’m shocked he was never voted in when you consider his tragic death as, for better or worse, I would assume he would have gotten some sympathy votes. Nevertheless, in my opinion, he’s a Hall of Famer with or without sympathy votes.

#22 Jim McCormick

It’s time to go way back in time again and talk about one of the early players of the game. Jim McCormick is another forgotten 19th century player who played pro ball from 1878 to 1887, just 10 years. However, during that time, his numbers were off the charts – even for early baseball stats. For example, he won 265 games in his career – nearly 300 – in just 10 years. In 1880, he led the league with an insane 45 wins, a number impossible to achieve today. He is 11th All Time with 466 Complete Games and is one of just 4 pitchers in baseball history with 4,000 innings pitched with an ERA under 2.50. The other 3 are all in the Hall of Fame – Christy Matthewson, Walter Johnson and Eddie Plank. In fact, when looking at his incredible numbers, it’s quite baffling he’s not in the Hall of Fame. The reason may be because he hasn’t been on the ballot in many decades and back when he was, he was held out for not reaching 300 wins, which most of his peers who made the Hall of Fame did. However, nowadays, 300 wins is rare and far from a requirement to get in. Jim McCormick is some one whose case needs to be re-evaluated and he needs to be put in the Hall of Fame and hopefully he has descendants he can be there to celebrate the induction.

#21 Dwight Evans

Coming in as my ultimate snub in today’s edition of snubs is an amazing player who spent 20 years in the league, dominating in both the field and at the plate. His name is Dwight Evans. Evans may be the most baffling case of some one who didn’t even receive 5% of the vote, which caused him to fall off the ballot. This just goes to show many of these voters don’t do the slightest bit of research when casting their ballot. This is some one who played 20 years, won 8 gold gloves, accumulated over 2,400 hits and crushed 385 home runs. He was a three-time All Star and 2-time Silver Slugger as well. The offensive numbers alone make him a borderline case, but when you add in the 8 Gold Gloves, the case should become clear – Dwight Evans belongs in. His career WAR of 67.2 is higher than Willie McCovey, Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson. Along with his power, Evans had a knack for getting on base and led the league in walks 3 times. He simply helped his teams win games for 20 years on both sides of the ball and even though he didn’t reach any of the main milestone numbers, Evans was great for a sustained period of time and deserves a plaque in Cooperstown.

Top 20 MLB ACTIVE Draft Steals

Welcome to another Humm Baby Baseball countdown and today we’ll wrap up my series on MLB Draft Steals by going down the list of my Top 25 MLB Active Draft Steals. This includes only players that are currently active and on a Major League roster and each of these players signed out of a draft in which they were taken in no higher than the 5th round. Players of the past like Mike Piazza, Ozzie Smith and John Smoltz have proven that you don’t have to take a prospect in the first or second round in order to find a future Hall of Famer. That hasn’t changed and today we’ll talk about 20 MLB stars who were all taken very late in the draft. I am ranking these based not just on how good the player is, but also on how late they were taken. The later the pick, the better the steal. A few honorable mentions include..

Honorable Mentions

• Mike Yastrzemski - 14th Round

• Jared Walsh - 39th Round

• Adam Frazier - 6th Round

• Cedric Mullins - 13th Round

• Tommy La Stella - 8th Round

• Matt Moore - 8th Round

• Matt Carpenter - 13th Round

20. Corey Dickerson - 8th Round

First up is Corey Dickerson, who was a massive superstar at Meridian Community College in Mississippi. He hit .459 with 21 bombs during his freshman year. Still, he wasn’t taken until the 8th round by the Rockies in 2010, who had also drafted him in the 29th round out of High School in 2009. Dickerson destroyed Rookie Ball with a .348 average and 13 bombs. He moved quickly through the Minors and found his way into the Rockies lineup by mid-2013. In 2014, he crushed 24 bombs with a .312 batting average and .931 OPS. He was later traded to the Rays where he hit 27 homers in 2017, making the All Star Team. In 2018, he hit .300 for the Pirates and won a Gold Glove. Dickerson recently signed with the Nationals for the 2023 season.

19. Nestor Cortes Jr - 36th Round

Coming in at #17 is a player with a chance to move much higher a list like this in the future, Nestor Cortes Jr. He was not taken until the 36th round in 2013, but absolutely dominated the minor leagues with an 11-4 record and 1.53 ERA in 2016. He continued to pitch well in the minors until, surprisingly, the Yankees left him unprotected and he was taken in the Rule 5 Draft by the Orioles. Luckily for the Yankees, the O’s were not patient with him and after a couple bad outings, they sent him back to New York. He went 5-1 in 2019, then after a stint with the Mariners, came back to the Yankees where he finally had his breakout season in 2022 going 12-4 with a 2.44 ERA and 163 strikeouts, making his first All Star Team. He is currently slated to be in the rotation for the 2023 and could end up being an amazing steal from the 36th round.

18. Ty France - 34th Round

Next up is another player who could be ranked much higher on a list like this in a few years. Ty France was taken all the way down in the 34th round of the 2015 Draft and as of now, is the only player from that round to make the big leagues. France played at San Diego State University and showed some ability by hitting .337 across four seasons. Nevertheless, he wasn’t considered a big prospect and not taken until the 1,017th pick by the Padres. He hit so well in the Minors, the Padres had no choice but to keep moving him up until 2019, when he made Triple A look like T-Ball, hitting .399 with an OPS over 1.200. He hit 27 home runs in just 76 games, forcing the Padres to bring him up to the big leagues. He never got a full opportunity, however, until he joined the Mariners lineup in 2021 and hit .291 with 18 homers. France could go on to become one of the greatest steals of all time, but he is still at the beginning of his big league career.

17. Jordan Romano - 10th Round

Undrafted out of High School, Jordan Romano at first attended Connors State College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he 0-1 with an 8.68 ERA, not exactly stellar numbers. The next year, he improved drastically and transferred to Oral Roberts, where he became the closer, saving 11 games with a 2.66 ERA. The Blue Jays took him in the 10th round of the 2014 Draft, paying him a $25,000 signing bonus. The Jays almost lost him when the White Sox took him in the Rule 5 Draft in 2018, but after a trade to the Rangers, he was returned to Toronto. Despite a high ERA in the Triple A, his strikeout stuff was good enough to give him an opportunity and in 2020, Romano broke through with a 1.23 ERA in 15 apperanaces. In ‘21, he became the closer and last season, he made his first All Star Team and saved 36 games with a 2.11 ERA.

16. Blake Treinen - 7th Round

Next up is a player with an amazing story. Blake Treinen retired from baseball for the first time after his freshmen year of High School. He had some weight issues and struggled with borderline Type 2 Diabetes. Treinen worked hard to get in shape and by his Junior year realized he had grown 6 inches and could throw a ball harder than ever. He gave baseball another try and pitched well, but had no scholarship offers. He went to a Junior College called Baker, where he struggled to get playing time. After a transfer to Arkansas, he was told that they don’t hold open tryouts and denied even the opportunity to play ball. Finally, Treinen was given a chance at South Dakota State, where he went 7-3 with a 3.00 ERA. The A’s took him in the 7th round and later traded him to the Nationals. In 2014, Treinen, against all odds, made it to the big leagues and pitched well, with a 2.49 ERA in 15 games. The A’s eventually got their man back in another trade and in 2018, Treinen was one of the best in the game, allowing just 46 hits in 80 innings with a stunning 0.78 ERA. He’s been one of the most effective relievers out of the Dodgers bullpen since 2020 and an absolutely incredible steal from the 7th Round.

15. Max Muncy -5th Round

Max Muncy had a nice career at Baylor where he hit .311 with 27 homers. It wasn’t enough to get him very high in the draft however, as he wasn’t taken until the 5th round when the Oakland A’s took him as the 169th overall pick. He hit 25 homers with 100 RBIs during his first full minor league season and became a prospect to keep an eye on for Oakland. Unfortunately, he didn’t hit well with the big league club during two stints in 2015 and 2016, looking like the dreaded Quadruple-A Player. The A’s released him during the end of Spring Training in 2017. He signed a Minor League deal with the Dodgers, earned another shot in the big leagues by 2018 and from there, became one of the premiere power hitters in the game, crushing 35 home runs in ‘18 and 35 again in ‘19. He has made two All Star Teams and already has 144 big league home runs.

14. Brandon Belt - 5th Round

Coming in at #14 is the Captain, Brandon Belt, who was taken in the 5th round of the 2009 Draft out of Texas. He was quickly a mid-season All Star with the High A San Jose Giants. He blasted through the minors all the way to Triple A in his first season, ending the year with a .352 average and 23 home runs across all levels. He was quickly considered a top prospect for the Giants and made his MLB debut in 2011. By 2012 he was a regular and helped the Giants win their second World Series in 3 years. Of course, he was also part of the 2014 World Championship team as well and hit one of the most dramatic homers in Giants history in the NLDS in Washington D.C. with this tie-breaking bomb in the 18th inning. He ended up spending 12 years with the Giants, getting on base consistently while playing phenomenal defense at first base. In 2021, he crushed 29 home runs and helped the Giants win a franchise record 107 games. For the 2023 season, he has signed with the Blue Jays.

13. Chris Bassitt - 16th Round

Up next on the list is a pitcher named Chris Bassitt, who had a 1.62 ERA as a reliever during his Junior year at the University of Akron. He wasn’t taken until the 16th round by the Chicago White Sox. His excellence continued in the Minor Leagues and the organization converted him to a starter. Bassitt made his big league debut in 2014. After that season, the Sox sent him to the A’s along with Marcus Semien, who we may be discussing soon as well. Bassitt went on to be an All Star in Oakland. In 2020, he had a 2.59 ERA. In 2022, Bassitt went 15-9 for the Mets, helping them win over 100 games. After the season, he signed a 3-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays. Not bad for a 16th Round Pick.

12. Jake Cronenworth - 7th Round

Just cracking the Top 10 is Jake Cronenworth, who is still very early in his career. He played for the Michigan Wolverines, hitting .338 in his final year with 6 homers. The Tampa Bay Rays took him but not until the 7th round. He hit extremely well for five years in the Rays organization, but before he could make his big league debut, he was traded to the Padres. The Padres thanked the Rays for developing him for them, put him right in their lineup and let him rake as he hit .285 his rookie year, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting. The next season, in 2021, he made his first All Star Team and found his power stroke, crushing 21 homers. He made the All Star Team again in 2022 and drove in a career high 88 runs. He also hit well in the postseason for San Diego and is already a definite great steal as a 7th round pick even though the Rays never took advantage.

11. Brandon Woodruff - 11th Round

Coming up next is pitcher Brandon Woodruff, who was a solid prospect out of High School and was as originally taken in the 5th round by the Rangers but did not sign. His stock fell a bit after struggling at Mississippi State with a 6.75 ERA his Junior Year. The Brewers took him in the 11th round. In 2016, he went 14-9 with a 2.68 between Single and Double-A, becoming a serious pitching prospect for Milwaukee. The next year, he made his big league debut. By 2019, he worked his way to the top of the Brewers rotation, making the All Star Team and going 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA. He made another All Star Team in 2021 and then, in 2022, went 13-4 with a 3.02 ERA. He, along with Corbin Burnes, has become one of the most solid 1-2 punches at the top of a rotation in the game. Burns, by the way, was also a nice steal from the 4th round, but this list is only considering those taken in the 5th and lower.

10. Kyle Hendricks - 8th Round

Next up, we have The Professor, Kyle Hendricks, who was a solid pitcher for the Dartmouth Big Green. He was not considered a huge prospect and not taken until the 8th round by the Texas Rangers. Shortly after his pro career began, the Rangers traded him to the Cubs as part of a trade that sent Ryan Dempster to the Rangers. He quickly turned heads in the Cubs organization, going 13-4 with an even 2 ERA between Double and Triple A. He was promoted to the big leagues the next season and had a stellar rookie year, going 7-2 with a 2.46 ERA. In 2016, he was one of the best in the league, going 16-8 with a 2.13 ERA, then continued to dominate during the postseason, helping the Cubs win their first World Series since Teddy Roosevelt was president. Although he hasn’t repeated his 2016 season, Hendricks has continued to be a staple in the Cubs rotation and is still on their roster for the 2023 season.

9. Joc Pederson - 11th Round

Coming in at #9 is a fantastic steal in the 11st round, taken out of Palo Alto High School, Joc Pederson. He hit extremely well in the minors and after the 2013 season in which he hit 22 home runs, Joc was ranked as the #1 Dodgers Prospect by Baseball America. He became a full time big leaguer in 2015 and made the All Star Team, finishing the season with 26 bombs. His best season came in 2019 when he crushed 36 home runs. He came through for the Dodgers in 2020 and then the Braves in 2021 with some key postseason home runs, helping each team win a World Series. He smashed over 20 home runs again in 2022 for the Giants and now has a 171 career homers as an 11th Round Pick.

8. Marcus Semien - 6th Round

Next up is a huge star in the game named Marcus Semien, who played college ball at Cal. He was a solid prospect, but after hitting .275 his Junior year, his stock dropped a bit and he fell all the way to the 6th round. It was the White Sox who took him and he moved quickly through the minors, earning a promotion in just his third season. In 2014, he got an extended shot in Chicago but hit just .234 with 6 homers in 64 games. It was after this season when the White Sox packaged him up with Chris Bassitt and a couple others to send to Oakland for Jeff Samardzija and Michael Ynoa. The Sox got some value from these players but they certainly lost the trade. Semien became an everyday player in Oakland and crushed 27 homers in 2016. He was an MVP candidate in 2019 when he hit .285 with 33 homers. He has only missed about 8 games in the past 4 years. Before the 2022 season, he signed a 7-year deal worth $175 million with the Rangers.

7. Jeff McNeil - 12th Round

Next up is Squirrel, Jeff McNeil, who didn’t even play baseball during his Senior year at high school because he was focused on golf. He eventually returned to baseball at CSU Long Beach and hit .348 his Junior Year. The Mets took notice and drafted McNeil but not until the 12th round. His hitting ability and incredible speed were immediately noticeable in the minors as he hit .292 in A Ball with 17 steals. The next year, 2015, he hit .308 and was slowly climbing the Mets Top Prospects List. Still, he wasn’t promoted until 2018 as he was tearing up Triple-A with Las Vegas. With New York, he hit .329, finishing 6th for the Rook of the Year. The next year, his bat exploded with 23 bombs and a .318 average. He also made the All Star Team. He led the league with a .326 batting average last year and recently signed a lucrative extension with the Mets. He was an absolutely fantastic steal for the Mets in the 12th Round.

6. Robbie Ray -12th Round

Ray was an elite High School pitcher in the Nasvhille area who went 7-1 with 0.95 ERA during his Senior Year. He was planning to play at Arkansas when the Washington Nationals drafted him 12th round and offered a signing bonus of nearly $800,000, an amount usually allocated for fourth round picks. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse and Ray entered the Minor Leagues. Unlike many players on this list, the minors weren’t always easy for Ray and he struggled in High A, going 4-12 with a 6.56 ERA. The Nationals stuck with him, though, and by 2013 he had completely turned his career around, drastically improving his strikeout stuff and going 11-5 with a 3.36 ERA. With his improved value, the Nats traded him to Detroit, and Ray made his big leauge debut in 2014. He was later traded to the Diamondbacks and after two rough seasons, everything came together in 2017 when he went 15-5 and made the All Star Team. With the Blue Jays in 2021, Ray was one of the best in the game, striking out a league leading 248 batters and taking home the Cy Young Award. In November of 2021, he signed a 5 year, $115 million contract with the Seattle Mariners.

5. Mookie Betts - 5th Round

Although the next player wasn’t taken too insultingly low, I still have to put him very high on the list because Mookie Betts went from a 5th round pick to an American League MVP. He was a fantastic High School athlete and hit .548 with 24 steals his Junior Year. However, he committed to attend Tennessee on a scholarship, which certainly hurt his draft stock. He was taken in the 5th round but offered a $750,000 bonus. He signed with the Red Sox and went on to dominate the minors, hitting .346 in 2014 between Double and Triple A, earning a call up to the big leagues. From there, the rest is history as Betts became one of the greatest players in the game, making the All Star Team every year, winning Gold Glove after Gold Glove and even taking home the MVP in 2018. He helped the Red Sox win a World Series then did the same for the Dodgers in 2020. In his first 9 years, he already has 213 home runs, 6 Gold Gloves, an MVP and a batting title.

4. Josh Hader -19th Round

Moving into the top 3, we have Josh Hader, who makes it this high because he was taken all the way down in the 19th round. Hader went 10-0 with 0.3 ERA in High School, but at that time had a fastball in the mid-80’s. The Orioles took him as the 582nd overall pick and he is just one of the three players from his round to make the big leagues. Hader adjusted his workout routine and increased his velocity dramatically in the Minors. He had a 2.77 ERA in 2013 and made the Single A All Star Team. After the season, he was traded to Houston and continued to pitch well in their system as a starter. In 2016, he was traded to the Brewers and continued to start games in the Minors. However, after he was promoted in 2017, he pitched so well out of the bullpen that Hader became a reliever and won the Reliever of the Year award in 2018 despite not yet being a full time closer. He took over the closer role for good in 2019 and became one of the most dominant in the game. In 2021, he reached 400 strikeouts faster than any pitcher in history innings-wise. He’s already made four All Star Teams and has 131 career saves. He was traded to the Padres in 2022 and after some early struggles, pitched well for them during the postseason.

3. Jacob Degrom - 9th Round

Incredibly, one of the greatest pitchers of his generation was not even selected out of High School and was exclusively a shortstop throughout his first two college seasons. I’m talking about Jacob Degrom, who wasn’t drafted until the 10th Round of the 2010 Draft by the New York Mets. Early in his Minor League career, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery, but came back strong in 2012, going 9-3 with a 2.43 ERA in A Ball. In 2013 The Mets added him to their 40-man Roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. He made his Major League Debut in 2014 and in 22 starts had a 2.69 ERA with 144 strikeouts in 140 innings. DeGrom took home the Rookie of the Year award and went on to become one of MLB’s premiere starters, winning back to back Cy Young awards in 2018 and 2019. He’s made four All Star teams and recently signed a 5-year $185 million deal with the Texas Rangers.

2. J.D. Martinez - 20th Round

Just missing out on #1 is J.D. Martinez, who gets this high not only because he is a 5-time All Star with nearly 300 career home runs, but because he was taken shockingly in the 20th round. He played college baseball at Nova Southeastern University, where he set the school home run record with 32. He was an RBI machine who hit .394 and absolutely should have gone higher in the draft. However, because he went to a Division II school, he wasn’t considered too hot of a prospect and wasn’t taken until the 20th round when he was selected by the Houston Astros. He tore up the minor leagues, hitting well over .330 at each level, until the Astros promoted him in 2011. Unfortunately, he bounced back and forth between the minors and big leagues for the next 3 years until the Astros released him just as he was ready to hit his stride in 2014. He signed with the Tigers and hit .315 with 23 home runs. From there, he only got better, hitting 38 bombs the next season and becoming an All Star. He had his best years, however, in Boston and was instrumental in 2018, hitting 43 bombs with 130 RBIs, leading the team to a World Series ring. He recently signed a $10 million deal to play for the Dodgers in 2023.

1. Paul Goldschmidt - 8th Round

Coming in at #1 on my list of the Top 20 Active MLB Steals is an 8th Round selection named Paul Goldschmidt. He played college ball at Texas State and set Bobcat career records with 36 home runs and 179 RBIs. Still, he wasn’t taken until the 8th round of the ‘09 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Minor Leagues were child’s play for Goldschmidt who crushed 35 home runs in High A with a .314 average. The next year, he had 30 homers in Double-A when the D-Backs promoted him. From there, he became an MLB superstar, making 6 straight All Star teams and twice finishing runner-up for the MVP in Arizona. He hit 36 homers and drove in 125 runs in 2013 and helped the Diamondbacks make the postseason twice. He was later traded to St. Louis, where he won the 2022 MVP award after hitting .317 with 35 bombs. Goldschmidt is one of the best in the game and was a superb steal for the D-backs in the 8th round.