2017-69

36.  Jacques Fournier (1923-1925)

              After Sisler the best first baseman in baseball was Jacques Fournier.   Fournier was a Lou Gehrig type, a big, strong left-handed power hitter:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Jack	Fournier	1923	1	22	102	.351	.999	27.24
George	Kelly	1923	2	16	103	.307	.814	22.06
Jim	Bottomley	1923	3	8	94	.371	.960	21.31
Joe	Hauser	1923	4	17	94	.307	.873	20.10
Earl	Sheely	1923	5	4	88	.296	.759	19.49
Jack	Fournier	1924	1	27	116	.334	.965	29.44
George	Kelly	1924	2	21	136	.324	.902	23.84
Earl	Sheely	1924	3	3	103	.320	.837	21.11
Joe	Hauser	1924	4	27	115	.288	.874	20.78
Jim	Bottomley	1924	5	14	111	.316	.862	20.47
Jack	Fournier	1925	1	22	130	.350	1.015	26.70
Jim	Bottomley	1925	2	21	128	.367	.992	24.59
George	Kelly	1925	3	20	99	.309	.821	21.57
George	Grantham	1925	4	8	52	.326	.906	20.60
Earl	Sheely	1925	5	9	111	.315	.831	20.21

 

              Fournier was a good-looking, self-confident guy who had been raised in a family of some means.   In those years the Dodger players stayed during spring training two to a room in a not-very-good hotel in Clearwater, Florida, but according to Ira Smith (Baseball’s Famous First Basemen) Fournier stayed by himself in a much better hotel.   He was usually seen around town with some smokescreen, an actress or a model, and he talked to reporters about running for the Senate after he was out of baseball, although I don’t think he ever did.  

              The other thing I always think about in re Fournier is that the White Sox may have pitched their team history into a 40-year funk by a bad decision on Fournier.   Fournier was the White Sox first baseman from 1914 to 1916, and he was good for two years.  In 1914, just 24 years old, Fournier hit .311 and had the highest OPS of any major league first baseman.   In 1915 he hit .322, upped his OPS by almost 100 points with the aid of 18 triples, and had an OPS 87 points higher than any other major league first baseman.   I have him rated as the #2 first baseman of 1915. 

              In 1916 he had an off season; I don’t know if he was injured or what, but he had a bad year.  The White Sox sold Fournier to a Pacific Coast League team and purchased Chick Gandil from Washington to play first base for them.   Gandil wasn’t the hitter than Fournier had been in 1914-1915 or would be in the 1920s, but he was a better fielder, which was the thing in that era. 

              In 1917 the White Sox won the pennant.   The switch from Fournier to Gandil was widely praised by the press, cited as one of the key reasons the White Sox won the pennant.   I think this is a superstitious interpretation of history.   If A happens and then B happens, people will always write than A caused B, whether there was any actual connection or not.   The White Sox moved from second in 1916 to first in 1917 primarily because Eddie Cicotte pitched 187 innings with a 1.78 ERA, second-best in the league, in 1916, but 347 innings with a 1.53 ERA, best in the league, in 1917; otherwise it was pretty much the same team.  

              But the switch from Fournier to Gandil led to a long term disaster.   Gandil arranged the fix of the 1919 World Series; he was the guy who knew the gamblers and carried the money.   So if they don’t make that switch from Fournier to Gandil in 1917, here’s what happens, maybe:

              1)  They win the pennant anyway in 1917,

              2)  Fournier has a Hall of Fame career,

              3)  The 1919 team doesn’t throw the World Series,

              4)  The 1920 team wins the American League again,

              5)  Some other team becomes the center of the gambling scandals, and

              6)  The White Sox remain an upper-echelon American League team for the next 20 years. 

              Fournier fought his way back to the major leagues and became the #1 first baseman in the major leagues, but he lost what should have been his best years, when he should have been the cleanup hitter on perhaps the best team in baseball. 

 

37.  The Lou Gehrig Years (1926-1938)

              Lou Gehrig was the best first baseman in baseball from 1926 until 1937.   These are the rankings:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1926	1	16	112	.313	.969	30.06
Jim	Bottomley	1926	2	19	120	.299	.870	24.35
George	Grantham	1926	3	8	70	.318	.890	22.52
George H.	Burns	1926	4	4	114	.358	.889	19.49
Joe	Judge	1926	5	7	92	.291	.808	19.10
Lou	Gehrig	1927	1	47	175	.373	1.240	38.12
Jim	Bottomley	1927	2	19	124	.303	.896	26.05
Bill	Terry	1927	3	20	121	.326	.907	23.47
Joe	Judge	1927	4	2	71	.308	.783	18.50
Lu	Blue	1927	5	1	42	.260	.748	17.73
Lou	Gehrig	1928	1	27	142	.374	1.115	39.38
Jim	Bottomley	1928	2	31	136	.325	1.030	26.36
George	Grantham	1928	3	10	85	.323	.894	24.74
Bill	Terry	1928	4	17	101	.326	.912	24.53
Del	Bissonette	1928	5	25	106	.320	.940	23.11
Lou	Gehrig	1929	1	35	126	.300	1.013	36.15
Jimmie	Foxx	1929	2	33	117	.354	1.088	30.70
Bill	Terry	1929	3	14	117	.372	.941	26.28
Dale	Alexander	1929	4	25	137	.343	.977	23.47
Jim	Bottomley	1929	5	29	137	.314	.959	22.38
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1930	1	41	174	.379	1.194	37.46
Jimmie	Foxx	1930	2	37	156	.335	1.066	32.57
Bill	Terry	1930	3	23	129	.401	1.071	29.62
Eddie	Morgan	1930	4	26	136	.349	1.014	23.86
Dale	Alexander	1930	5	20	135	.326	.878	19.92
Lou	Gehrig	1931	1	46	184	.341	1.108	36.42
Jimmie	Foxx	1931	2	30	120	.291	.947	31.48
Bill	Terry	1931	3	9	112	.349	.926	29.24
Eddie	Morgan	1931	4	11	86	.351	.961	22.03
George	Grantham	1931	5	10	46	.305	.851	20.63
Lou	Gehrig	1932	1	34	151	.349	1.072	37.57
Jimmie	Foxx	1932	2	58	169	.364	1.218	36.79
Bill	Terry	1932	3	28	117	.350	.962	29.95
Ripper	Collins	1932	4	21	91	.279	.802	19.32
Eddie	Morgan	1932	5	4	68	.293	.804	19.02
Jimmie	Foxx	1933	1	48	163	.356	1.153	37.62
Lou	Gehrig	1933	2	32	139	.334	1.030	37.12
Bill	Terry	1933	3	6	58	.322	.798	26.50
Ripper	Collins	1933	4	10	68	.310	.816	21.70
Joe	Kuhel	1933	5	11	107	.322	.851	20.64
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1934	1	49	165	.363	1.172	38.62
Jimmie	Foxx	1934	2	44	130	.334	1.102	33.77
Hank	Greenberg	1934	3	26	139	.339	1.005	26.81
Bill	Terry	1934	4	8	83	.354	.878	26.28
Ripper	Collins	1934	5	35	128	.333	1.008	25.25
Lou	Gehrig	1935	1	30	119	.329	1.049	36.43
Jimmie	Foxx	1935	2	36	115	.346	1.096	30.48
Hank	Greenberg	1935	3	36	170	.328	1.039	29.53
Ripper	Collins	1935	4	23	122	.313	.915	23.44
Zeke	Bonura	1935	5	21	92	.295	.849	22.63
Lou	Gehrig	1936	1	49	152	.354	1.174	36.12
Jimmie	Foxx	1936	2	41	143	.338	1.071	27.52
Johnny	Mize	1936	3	19	93	.329	.979	25.22
Zeke	Bonura	1936	4	12	138	.330	.908	24.31
Hal	Trosky	1936	5	42	162	.343	1.026	21.56
Lou	Gehrig	1937	1	37	159	.351	1.116	32.47
Johnny	Mize	1937	2	25	113	.364	1.021	31.26
Hank	Greenberg	1937	3	40	183	.337	1.105	30.16
Jimmie	Foxx	1937	4	36	127	.285	.929	27.01
Dolph	Camilli	1937	5	27	80	.339	1.034	24.92

 

              Jimmie Foxx in ’38 hit 50 homers and drove in 175 runs:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Jimmie	Foxx	1938	1	50	175	.349	1.166	30.92
Hank	Greenberg	1938	2	58	146	.315	1.122	30.86
Johnny	Mize	1938	3	27	102	.337	1.036	30.74
Dolph	Camilli	1938	4	24	100	.251	.879	26.00
Hal	Trosky	1938	5	19	110	.334	.948	25.08

 

 

38.  Summarizing the Greatest First Basemen from 1900 to 1938

              Lou Gehrig was clearly the greatest first baseman of this era.   The chart below has Hall of Famers highlighted in blue and bold face, as we have done before. The totals for Beckley, Tenney, and Hickman include seasons before 1900.   Mize, Greenberg, and Frank McCormick were still in mid-career in 1938, so we left them out of the chart below, but included Foxx’s values post-1938 because he was nearer the end of his career:

 

Rank	First	Last	1	2	3	4	5	YOPDI	From	To
1	Lou	Gehrig	11	1	0	0	0	117	1923	1939
2	Jimmie	Foxx	2	9	1	1	1	90	1925	1945
3	George	Sisler	6	1	0	0	0	67	1915	1930
4	Frank	Chance	6	0	0	1	0	62	1898	1914
5	Harry	Davis	0	7	0	0	1	50	1895	1917
6	Hal	Chase	3	1	2	0	3	48	1905	1919
7	Jack	Fournier	3	2	0	0	1	45	1912	1927
8	Jim	Bottomley	0	4	1	0	2	34	1922	1937
9	Ed	Konetchy	1	2	1	1	1	31	1907	1921
10	Bill	Terry	0	0	6	2	0	28	1923	1936
11	Wally	Pipp	0	1	4	2	0	27	1913	1928
12	George	Kelly	0	2	1	2	0	22	1915	1932
13	Joe	Judge	0	2	0	1	3	19	1915	1934
13	Fred	Merkle	1	0	0	4	1	19	1907	1926
15	Stuffy	McInnis	1	1	0	0	1	18	1909	1927
16	Dots	Miller	0	1	2	0	1	16	1909	1921
16	Jake	Stahl	1	0	1	0	1	15	1903	1913
18	Doc	Hoblitzell	0	1	1	1	1	14	1908	1918
19	Fred	Tenney	4	0	1	1	0	12	1894	1911
20	Vic	Saier	0	1	1	0	0	11	1911	1919
21	Jake	Beckley	0	2	4	1	3	10	1888	1907
21	Jake	Daubert	0	0	1	2	2	10	1910	1924
21	Charlie	Hickman	0	0	2	1	1	10	1897	1908

 

              Charlie Hickman is the player identified in some old Encyclopedias as "Piano Legs" Hickman.   As was true in the other groups, the YOPDI score matches up very well with Hall of Fame selection, but in this group the Hall of Fame line is drawn more at 60 points than at 80.  In the hit-or-miss group. . .well, in the "hit" portion of the hit-or-miss group we have four players:  Jim Bottomley, Bill Terry, Jack Beckley and George Kelly. 

              One can certainly make an argument, with regard to Bill Terry and perhaps to Bottomley, that this method is not fair to them because they happened to be competing in an exceptional group of players.   Bill Terry is being compared head to head to Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg.  It is hardly an ordinary collection of first basemen.   It’s an extraordinary case. 

              OK, not arguing the point.  Bottomley’s best seasons are mostly before Gehrig and Foxx, so it is harder to make that case for him.  If I was selecting a new Hall of Fame, I certainly could do without Bottomley, and possibly without Bill Terry as well, although Terry was an exceptionally good player. 

              Beckley was not a truly dominant player, but he has a different argument; he was very good for a long period of time.  He got almost to 3,000 career hits.   It’s a different case.   And George Kelly. . .well, as I have said before, I just think his was an absurd selection.   George Kelly was not anywhere near being a Hall of Fame player, and he does not belong in the Hall of Fame.

              There is actually a flaw on this list, which I will acknowledge now and deal with at more length later, which is that "Boots" Grantham was excluded from the list, since I had him marked as a career second baseman.   He actually should be on the list above. . .will explain later. 

              In terms of peak value, these are the highest Peak Values among first basemen from 1900 to 1938:

Rank	First	Last	YEAR	Peak		Rank	First	Last	YEAR	Peak
1	Lou	Gehrig	1928	39.38		26	Ray	Grimes	1922	23.37
2	Jimmie	Foxx	1933	37.62		27	Jake	Stahl	1909	23.28
3	Frank	Chance	1906	32.69		28	Del	Bissonette	1928	23.11
4	Johnny	Mize	1937	31.26		29	Vic	Saier	1914	22.98
5	Hank	Greenberg	1938	30.86		30	Dots	Miller	1913	22.97
6	George	Sisler	1920	30.34		31	Fred	Tenney	1902	22.67
7	Bill	Terry	1932	29.95		32	Wally	Pipp	1916	22.18
8	Jack	Fournier	1924	29.44		33	Dan	McGann	1905	22.00
9	Harry	Davis	1906	28.79		34	Joe	Judge	1920	21.99
10	Jim	Bottomley	1928	26.36		35	Fred	Luderus	1913	21.43
11	Dolph	Camilli	1938	26.00		36	Earl	Sheely	1924	21.11
12	Hal	Chase	1915	25.72		37	Gus	Suhr	1936	20.88
13	Ed	Konetchy	1910	25.64		38	Lew	Fonseca	1929	20.81
14	Ripper	Collins	1934	25.25		39	Joe	Hauser	1924	20.78
15	Hal	Trosky	1938	25.08		40	Jake	Beckley	1900	20.73
16	Fred	Merkle	1912	25.04		41	Joe	Harris	1923	20.66
17	Stuffy	McInnis	1912	24.67		42	Joe	Kuhel	1933	20.64
18	Zeke	Bonura	1936	24.31		43	Chick	Gandil	1913	20.55
19	Charlie	Hickman	1903	23.97		44	Tim	Jordan	1906	20.39
20	Eddie	Morgan	1930	23.86		45	George H.	Burns	1918	20.31
21	Doc	Hoblitzell	1911	23.85		46	Jim	Nealon	1906	20.24
22	George	Kelly	1924	23.84		47	Kitty	Bransfield	1908	20.24
23	Jake	Daubert	1915	23.79		48	John	Anderson	1905	20.22
24	Babe	Borton	1915	23.49		49	Jiggs	Donahue	1905	20.00
25	Dale	Alexander	1929	23.47		50	Claude	Rossman	1908	20.00

 

              In this group, an automatic Hall of Fame selection requires a Peak Value of around 30.   Below that, Hall of Fame selection is a matter of either luck, or of having something else to tilt the vote in your direction. 

39.  The Mize-Musial-Hodges-Musial Era (1939-1958)

              Basically, from 1938 to 1958, the #1 first baseman in baseball is either Johnny Mize, Stan Musial or Gil Hodges.    The count actually is seven years as #1 for Musial, five years for Mize, four for Hodges, and one each for Phil Cavaretta and Augie Galan (during World War II), and one each for Mickey Vernon and Ted Kluszewski.   Musial switches between the outfield and first base.   When he is in the outfield he ranks first at his outfield spot, or maybe second behind Ted Williams; when he is at first base he ranks first at first.   

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Johnny	Mize	1939	1	28	108	.349	1.070	32.12
Jimmie	Foxx	1939	2	35	105	.360	1.158	30.29
Hank	Greenberg	1939	3	33	112	.312	1.042	27.68
Dolph	Camilli	1939	4	26	104	.290	.933	27.21
Hal	Trosky	1939	5	25	104	.335	.994	25.27
Johnny	Mize	1940	1	43	137	.314	1.039	31.94
Dolph	Camilli	1940	2	23	96	.287	.926	27.08
Jimmie	Foxx	1940	3	36	119	.297	.993	25.15
Hal	Trosky	1940	4	25	93	.295	.920	24.60
Frank	McCormick	1940	5	19	127	.309	.850	24.01
Johnny	Mize	1941	1	16	100	.317	.941	30.58
Dolph	Camilli	1941	2	34	120	.285	.962	27.66
Elbie	Fletcher	1941	3	11	74	.288	.878	22.20
Frank	McCormick	1941	4	17	97	.269	.740	21.24
Jimmie	Foxx	1941	5	19	105	.300	.917	19.81
Johnny	Mize	1942	1	26	110	.305	.901	31.54
Dolph	Camilli	1942	2	26	109	.252	.843	25.27
Elbie	Fletcher	1942	3	7	57	.289	.810	21.58
Frank	McCormick	1942	4	13	89	.277	.721	20.29
Mickey	Vernon	1942	5	9	86	.271	.725	20.21
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Mickey	Vernon	1943	1	7	70	.268	.744	22.46
Nick	Etten	1943	2	14	107	.271	.775	22.07
Rudy	York	1943	3	34	118	.271	.893	21.92
Frank	McCormick	1943	4	8	59	.303	.758	21.41
Elbie	Fletcher	1943	5	9	70	.283	.791	20.74
Phil	Cavarretta	1944	1	5	82	.321	.841	24.68
Frank	McCormick	1944	2	20	102	.305	.853	23.96
Nick	Etten	1944	3	22	91	.293	.865	22.78
Ray	Sanders	1944	4	12	102	.295	.812	21.85
Rudy	York	1944	5	18	98	.276	.792	21.34
Augie	Galan	1945	1	9	92	.307	.864	28.92
Phil	Cavarretta	1945	2	6	97	.355	.949	27.79
Nick	Etten	1945	3	18	111	.285	.824	21.11
Ray	Sanders	1945	4	8	78	.276	.760	19.57
Frank	McCormick	1945	5	10	81	.276	.729	19.16
Stan	Musial	1946	1	16	103	.365	1.021	39.69
Johnny	Mize	1946	2	22	70	.337	1.013	29.65
Hank	Greenberg	1946	3	44	127	.277	.977	27.62
Mickey	Vernon	1946	4	8	85	.353	.910	25.17
Johnny	Hopp	1946	5	3	48	.333	.827	20.90
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Stan	Musial	1947	1	19	95	.312	.902	34.27
Johnny	Mize	1947	2	51	138	.302	.998	29.65
Jackie	Robinson	1947	3	12	48	.297	.810	20.79
George	McQuinn	1947	4	13	80	.304	.832	20.37
Roy	Cullenbine	1947	5	24	78	.224	.823	18.00
Johnny	Mize	1948	1	40	125	.289	.959	26.69
Ferris	Fain	1948	2	7	88	.281	.808	18.51
Eddie	Waitkus	1948	3	7	44	.295	.764	16.06
Earl	Torgeson	1948	4	10	67	.253	.770	15.66
Eddie	Robinson	1948	5	16	83	.254	.715	15.28
Gil	Hodges	1949	1	23	115	.285	.813	19.34
Ferris	Fain	1949	2	3	78	.263	.754	19.17
Johnny	Mize	1949	3	19	64	.263	.794	18.75
Eddie	Robinson	1949	4	18	78	.294	.840	18.14
Mickey	Vernon	1949	5	18	83	.291	.801	17.05
Stan	Musial	1950	1	28	109	.346	1.034	36.53
Earl	Torgeson	1950	2	23	87	.290	.885	26.29
Walt	Dropo	1950	3	34	144	.322	.961	22.69
Gil	Hodges	1950	4	32	113	.283	.875	22.10
Eddie	Robinson	1950	5	21	86	.295	.846	19.75
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Gil	Hodges	1951	1	40	103	.268	.901	24.18
Eddie	Robinson	1951	2	29	117	.282	.866	21.69
Earl	Torgeson	1951	3	24	92	.263	.812	19.88
Mickey	Vernon	1951	4	9	87	.293	.781	19.51
Ferris	Fain	1951	5	6	57	.344	.921	19.45
Gil	Hodges	1952	1	32	102	.254	.886	24.83
Ted	Kluszewski	1952	2	16	86	.320	.892	22.70
Eddie	Robinson	1952	3	22	104	.296	.848	21.38
Mickey	Vernon	1952	4	10	80	.251	.746	21.32
Ferris	Fain	1952	5	2	59	.327	.867	19.63
Gil	Hodges	1953	1	31	122	.302	.943	25.61
Mickey	Vernon	1953	2	15	115	.337	.921	25.33
Ted	Kluszewski	1953	3	40	108	.316	.950	25.05
Dee	Fondy	1953	4	18	78	.309	.835	17.82
Joe	Adcock	1953	5	18	80	.285	.787	17.43
Ted	Kluszewski	1954	1	49	141	.326	1.049	28.86
Gil	Hodges	1954	2	42	130	.304	.952	26.25
Mickey	Vernon	1954	3	20	97	.290	.850	23.67
Joe	Adcock	1954	4	23	87	.308	.885	19.66
Dee	Fondy	1954	5	9	49	.285	.725	16.91
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Stan	Musial	1955	1	33	108	.319	.974	29.20
Ted	Kluszewski	1955	2	47	113	.314	.967	24.53
Gil	Hodges	1955	3	27	102	.289	.877	23.82
Vic	Power	1955	4	19	76	.319	.859	21.61
Mickey	Vernon	1955	5	14	85	.301	.835	20.82
Stan	Musial	1956	1	27	109	.310	.908	27.44
Gil	Hodges	1956	2	32	87	.265	.861	22.39
Ted	Kluszewski	1956	3	35	102	.302	.898	20.03
Joe	Adcock	1956	4	38	103	.291	.934	19.84
Vic	Wertz	1956	5	32	106	.264	.874	19.82
Stan	Musial	1957	1	29	102	.351	1.034	27.43
Gil	Hodges	1957	2	27	98	.299	.877	21.93
Vic	Wertz	1957	3	28	105	.282	.857	21.19
Ed	Bouchee	1957	4	17	76	.293	.864	19.64
Dale	Long	1957	5	21	67	.298	.875	18.55
Stan	Musial	1958	1	17	62	.337	.950	21.79
Orlando	Cepeda	1958	2	25	96	.312	.854	18.86
Vic	Power	1958	3	16	80	.312	.822	18.72
Gil	Hodges	1958	4	22	64	.259	.764	17.92
Joe	Cunningham	1958	5	12	57	.312	.945	17.85

 

              In 1958 no major league first baseman drove in 100 runs—the first time that had happened since 1919. 

40.  The Cardinal First Basemen

              The St. Louis Cardinals won 106 games in 1942, 105 games in 1943, 105 in 1944, 95 in 1945, 98 in 1946, 89 in 1947, 85 in 1948 and 96 in 1949.   The Cardinals won almost 100 games a year through the 1940s, but I left out a phrase there.   The Cardinals won almost 100 games a year despite having given away the best baseman in baseball.   Johnny Mize was the best first baseman in baseball through most of that period, when he wasn’t in the Army.  Mize was the best first baseman in baseball in 1939-1941, but after the 1941 season the Cardinals traded him to the Giants for $50,000 and three players, none of whom was really very good.   Had they not done that, the Cardinals of the 1940s might have been the greatest team of all time.

              The Cardinal farm system in that era was, of course, phenomenally productive, probably the greatest farm system ever.    They thought they could replace Mize with another first baseman just as good, and they could, bringing up Stan Musial in 1943, but since Musial could play the outfield just as well, it begs the question of how many pennants the Cardinals might have won if they had had both Musial AND Mize, which they could have had. 

              From 1921 to 1970, a span of a half-century, the Cardinals had one of the best first basemen in baseball almost every year, although sometimes they had the great first baseman playing left field and some other weenie playing first.   The Cardinals had Jacques Fournier at first base in 1921-22; these are not his best seasons but he does rank among the better first basemen.   They Cardinals had Jim Bottomley at first in 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929 and 1930; he ranks in the top five in all of those seasons, and ranks second in several of them.   They replaced Bottomley with Ripper Collins in mid-season, 1931; Collilns ranks in the top five in 1933, 1934, 1935 and 1936.   Johnny Mize came up in 1936 and immediately makes the top five, so in 1936 the Cardinals actually have TWO of the top five first baseman, Mize and Collins.  They will again in 1958.

              Mize ranks second in 1937, third in 1938, and passes Jimmie Foxx to become the best first baseman in baseball as soon as Gehrig is gone.   Mize remains the best first baseman in baseball in 1940 and 1941, is traded to New York for pretty much nothing, and is replaced by Johnny Hopp in 1943.   Hopp doesn’t have quite enough pop, but he is replaced by Ray Sanders, who hits .295 with 102 RBI in 1944, ranking as the #4 first baseman in baseball in 1944 and 1945.   Sanders is replaced by Stan Musial, who ranks as the best first baseman in baseball in 1946, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958.  In 1958, again, they have two of the best first baseman in baseball, in Musial and Joe Cunningham.   The Cardinals in 1959 have a lousy team, but they have three tremendous left fielder/first basemen:  Musial, Bill White and Joe Cunningham.   White comes into the infield and ranks among the best first basemen in 1963, 1964 and 1965.  

              In the late 1950s the Cardinals were a mess, couldn’t figure out what they wanted to do with their talent, but Joe Cunningham hit .318 in 1957, .312 in 1958 and .345 in 1959, with huge numbers of walks giving him on base percentages consistently near .450.   The Cardinals had Musial and White, both left fielder/first basemen, so they couldn’t figure out what to do with Cunningham, and eventually they gave him away, too. 

              After Bill White lost a step the Cardinals traded him to Philadelphia and brought in Orlando Cepeda.  Cepeda won a Most Valuable Player Award for them in 1967, and rates among the top first basemen in baseball in 1967 and 1968.   In spring training, 1969, they traded Cepeda for Joe Torre; Torre drove in 101 runs and was among the best first basemen in baseball in 1969.   After that season they traded for Dick Allen and put Allen at first base, sending Torre back behind home plate and then later to third base; Allen ranked as the #3 first baseman in the majors in 1970.  So the Cardinals had a top-ranked first baseman from 1921 to 1970, in ten different men—Fournier, Bottomley, Collins, Mize, Sanders, Musial, Bill White, Orlando Cepeda, Joe Torre and Dick Allen, and we should also mention Joe Cunningham, who should have been a first baseman and who was a tremendous player although he never quite got the opportunity to shine. 

              In 1970 the Cardinals played Dick Allen half-time at first base and some at third base, although Allen’s defense at third was getting ugly by then, but they had a left-handed hitting rookie named Joe Hague, who had a very good minor league career and an excellent rookie season as an outfielder/first baseman.   After the 1970 season they traded Allen to the Dodgers and went with Hague at first base.  This should have worked out but didn’t.  Hague stopped hitting for some reason; his only good year was his rookie year, so that ended the 50-year streak.   Joe Torre moved back to first base, but wasn’t the same player anymore.   The Cardinals didn’t have another good first baseman until Keith Hernandez came along at the end of the 1970s. 

 

41.  Robinson and Allison, McCovey and Cepeda, Cash and Gentile

              In 1959, 1960 and 1964 the highest-ranking first basemen were drop-in first basemen, outfielders who were playing first base for a year for one reason or another.   When a team has awkward-fitting pieces, somebody always gets pushed to first base, because first base is where the "give" is; teams always figure if we can’t put you anywhere else we can put you at first base.   The Reds in the late 1950s had outfielders coming out of their ears; they had Gus Bell, Wally Post, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood and Vada Pinson—all good players.   They traded Flood to St. Louis and moved Frank Robinson to first base for two years.   It didn’t exactly work.   Eventually they got a real first baseman, Gordy Coleman, platooned Post and Bell, put Pinson in center and Frank Robinson in right, and won the pennant (1961).

              The Minnesota Twins had a similar problem; they had outfielders coming out of their ass.  Bob Allison was a tremendous player, a 30-homer, 100-walk kind of player who was also a good baserunner and a good outfielder.  In 1963 Jimmie Hall, as a rookie center fielder, hit 33 home runs, and then the next year they had Tony Oliva, who hit .323 as a rookie with 43 doubles and 32 homers.   That’s three outfielders, and then they had Harmon Killebrew, who couldn’t exactly play first base but couldn’t exactly play anywhere else, either, but who had to be in the lineup because he could hit 48 homers every year, and then they had Don Mincher, too; he was a tremendous talent who never got an honest shot at playing time because of all of these other guys.   In the mix of all of this Bob Allison wound up playing mostly first base in 1964 and rates as the #1 first baseman of 1964 although he wasn’t really a first baseman.

              San Francisco came up with two Hall of Fame first basemen at the same time, Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey; one of them had to play the outfield and neither one of them could, so that was a problem.   They also had way more outfielders than they could use—Willie Mays, three Alou brothers, Leon Wagner, Willie Kirkland, Jose Cardenal and others. 

              Norm Cash and Jim Gentile both broke into the lineup in mid-season, 1960, and played very well in 1960, then had monster years in 1961, Cash hitting .361 with 41 homers, 132 RBI and Gentile hitting .302 with 46 and 141.   I have Cash rated as the number one first baseman of 1961 and second in 1962.  What anyone from my generation will remember is that after his monster season in 1961 he had a horrible year in 1962, dropping 118 points in batting average from .361 to .243.  

              But here’s what people at the time didn’t understand, but we would now.   If you focus on his three true outcomes, Cash in 1962 was the same player he was in 1961—almost exactly the same player, to an unusual extent.   In 1961 he had 672 plate appearances, 124 walks, 85 strikeouts, 41 homers.   In 1962 he had almost exactly the same ratios—629 plate appearances, 104 walks, 82 strikeouts, 39 homers.  The only thing that REALLY happened to him between those two seasons was that he hit in phenomenally good luck in 1961, and phenomenally bad luck in 1962.   A baseball fan now would understand that, but in 1962 the whole concept of a player hitting .361 one year and .243 the next when his underlying skills were the same would have seemed bizarre. 

              Anyway, my point is that there is really no #1 first baseman in this era, although there are mountains of talent there with Cepeda, McCovey, Cash, Gentile, Frank Robinson, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison and Don Mincher.    There’s tremendous talent at the position, but no #1.   Probably it would be more accurate to describe this as the Orlando Cepeda era than to ascribe it to any other one player. 

 

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Frank	Robinson	1959	1	36	125	.311	.975	25.42
Orlando	Cepeda	1959	2	27	105	.317	.878	22.83
Roy	Sievers	1959	3	21	49	.242	.788	20.49
Joe	Adcock	1959	4	25	76	.292	.874	18.65
Dick	Stuart	1959	5	27	78	.297	.911	18.09
Frank	Robinson	1960	1	31	83	.297	1.002	27.22
Roy	Sievers	1960	2	28	93	.295	.930	22.25
Norm	Cash	1960	3	18	63	.286	.903	20.78
Jim	Gentile	1960	4	21	98	.292	.903	20.72
Bill	Skowron	1960	5	26	91	.309	.881	20.36
Norm	Cash	1961	1	41	132	.361	1.148	33.79
Orlando	Cepeda	1961	2	46	142	.311	.970	28.32
Jim	Gentile	1961	3	46	141	.302	1.069	26.90
Norm	Siebern	1961	4	18	98	.296	.859	22.87
Dick	Stuart	1961	5	35	117	.301	.925	22.40
Roy	Sievers	1961	6	27	92	.295	.913	21.94
Orlando	Cepeda	1962	1	35	114	.306	.865	27.37
Norm	Cash	1962	2	39	89	.243	.894	26.44
Norm	Siebern	1962	3	25	117	.308	.907	24.18
Jim	Gentile	1962	4	33	87	.251	.821	22.72
Bill	White	1962	5	20	102	.324	.868	22.16
Ron	Fairly	1962	6	14	71	.278	.811	20.04
Orlando	Cepeda	1963	1	34	97	.316	.929	27.17
Norm	Cash	1963	2	26	79	.270	.856	25.03
Bill	White	1963	3	27	109	.304	.851	24.88
Dick	Stuart	1963	4	42	118	.261	.833	23.51
Ron	Fairly	1963	5	12	77	.271	.735	21.21
Jim	Gentile	1963	6	24	72	.248	.782	20.81
Bob	Allison	1964	1	32	86	.287	.957	26.66
Bill	White	1964	2	21	102	.303	.829	25.30
Orlando	Cepeda	1964	3	31	97	.304	.900	22.96
Norm	Cash	1964	4	23	83	.257	.804	22.16
Dick	Stuart	1964	5	33	114	.279	.811	21.90
Ron	Fairly	1964	6	10	74	.256	.734	20.37

 

42.  The Willie McCovey Era (1965-1971)

              Based on 1965 performance alone, Willie McCovey would rank as the #1 first baseman in baseball, although he doesn’t make the top of the list because he had a poor year in 1964 which is weighted into his moving average.  For several years after 1965 he was the best first baseman in the game, winning an MVP Award over stiff competition in 1969; a recent study showed that the 1969 NL MVP candidates were the strongest collection ever.   McCovey’s 1.108 OPS in 1969 was the highest in the majors in eight years. 

 

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Harmon	Killebrew	1965	1	25	75	.269	.885	28.11
Willie	McCovey	1965	2	39	92	.276	.920	27.42
Norm	Cash	1965	3	30	82	.266	.883	24.38
Felipe	Alou	1965	4	23	78	.297	.819	23.71
Bill	White	1965	5	24	73	.289	.845	23.41
Boog	Powell	1965	6	17	72	.248	.754	22.67
Willie	McCovey	1966	1	36	96	.295	.977	31.06
Felipe	Alou	1966	2	31	74	.327	.894	26.30
Norm	Cash	1966	3	32	93	.279	.829	24.82
Boog	Powell	1966	4	34	109	.287	.903	23.93
Donn	Clendenon	1966	5	28	98	.299	.878	22.42
Bill	White	1966	6	22	103	.276	.803	21.77
Harmon	Killebrew	1967	1	44	113	.269	.965	32.63
Willie	McCovey	1967	2	31	91	.276	.913	30.94
Orlando	Cepeda	1967	3	25	111	.325	.923	27.41
Mickey	Mantle	1967	4	22	55	.245	.825	24.01
Don	Mincher	1967	5	25	76	.273	.854	23.19
Felipe	Alou	1967	6	15	43	.274	.726	22.86
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Willie	McCovey	1968	1	36	105	.293	.923	34.83
Harmon	Killebrew	1968	2	17	40	.210	.782	26.03
Boog	Powell	1968	3	22	85	.249	.748	22.98
Norm	Cash	1968	4	25	63	.263	.816	21.40
Mickey	Mantle	1968	5	18	54	.237	.782	21.33
Orlando	Cepeda	1968	6	16	73	.248	.685	21.24
Willie	McCovey	1969	1	45	126	.320	1.108	36.06
Dick	Allen	1969	2	32	89	.288	.949	28.54
Rusty	Staub	1969	3	29	79	.302	.952	27.47
Boog	Powell	1969	4	37	121	.304	.942	25.88
Joe	Torre	1969	5	18	101	.289	.808	23.99
Lee	May	1969	6	38	110	.278	.860	23.87
Norm	Cash	1969	7	22	74	.280	.831	21.67
Orlando	Cepeda	1969	8	22	88	.257	.753	20.28
Willie	McCovey	1970	1	39	126	.289	1.056	31.68
Carl	Yastrzemski	1970	2	40	102	.329	1.044	31.29
Boog	Powell	1970	3	35	114	.297	.962	27.74
Dick	Allen	1970	4	34	101	.279	.937	26.78
Jim	Hickman	1970	5	32	115	.315	1.001	24.37
Wes	Parker	1970	6	10	111	.319	.850	23.51
Lee	May	1970	7	34	94	.253	.782	23.33
Nate	Colbert	1970	8	38	86	.259	.836	20.96
Hank	Aaron	1971	1	47	118	.327	1.079	31.49
Lee	May	1971	2	39	98	.278	.864	25.08
Harmon	Killebrew	1971	3	28	119	.254	.850	24.34
Willie	McCovey	1971	4	18	70	.277	.876	23.20
Boog	Powell	1971	5	22	92	.256	.839	23.08
Nate	Colbert	1971	6	27	84	.264	.801	22.98
Frank	Howard	1971	7	26	83	.279	.840	22.92
Norm	Cash	1971	8	32	91	.283	.903	22.83

 

 

42. Dick Allen was great, and in the other years, somebody has to rank first.

              In 1972 Dick Allen had a phenomenal season with the White Sox, winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award, and ranking first at the position.  In 1973 Tony Perez ranks first because somebody has to; he was pretty good every year although I don’t know that he was ever actually great.  In 1974 Gene Tenace ranks first despite a .211 batting average.   Tenace has miscellaneous assets—110 walks, 29 homers, the A’s played in a pitcher’s park, and Tenace caught 79 games, so he was contributing more on defense than the other players rated at first base.   In 1975 John Mayberry was second in the AL MVP voting, having his third and final 100-RBI season at the age of 26:

 

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Dick	Allen	1972	1	37	113	.308	1.023	34.33
Willie	Stargell	1972	2	33	112	.293	.930	30.90
Tony	Perez	1972	3	21	90	.283	.846	27.53
Hank	Aaron	1972	4	34	77	.265	.904	25.32
Lee	May	1972	5	29	98	.284	.833	24.88
Nate	Colbert	1972	6	38	111	.250	.841	24.11
John	Mayberry	1972	7	25	100	.298	.900	23.75
George	Scott	1972	8	20	88	.266	.746	22.01
Tony	Perez	1973	1	27	101	.314	.919	28.17
John	Mayberry	1973	2	26	100	.278	.895	27.37
Dick	Allen	1973	3	16	41	.316	1.006	25.30
George	Scott	1973	4	24	107	.306	.858	24.02
Carl	Yastrzemski	1973	5	19	95	.296	.870	23.80
Gene	Tenace	1973	6	24	84	.259	.830	23.14
Lee	May	1973	7	28	105	.270	.789	22.28
Willie	McCovey	1973	8	29	75	.266	.966	22.20
Gene	Tenace	1974	1	26	73	.211	.778	24.05
Steve	Garvey	1974	2	21	111	.312	.811	23.63
Dick	Allen	1974	3	32	88	.301	.938	23.57
Carl	Yastrzemski	1974	4	15	79	.301	.859	23.52
Willie	McCovey	1974	5	22	63	.253	.922	23.05
John	Mayberry	1974	6	22	69	.234	.782	22.82
Tony	Perez	1974	7	28	101	.265	.791	22.80
George	Scott	1974	8	17	82	.281	.777	22.48
John	Mayberry	1975	1	34	106	.291	.963	25.97
Willie	Stargell	1975	2	22	90	.295	.891	25.94
Steve	Garvey	1975	3	18	95	.319	.827	24.46
Bob	Watson	1975	4	18	85	.324	.870	23.91
George	Scott	1975	5	36	109	.285	.857	23.51
Carl	Yastrzemski	1975	6	14	60	.269	.776	21.83
Joe	Rudi	1975	7	21	75	.278	.831	21.06
Tony	Perez	1975	8	20	109	.282	.816	20.85

 

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