In baseball lore, there are legends and gods: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Cy Young. The legacies of these men are passed down from generation to generation. But outside of the Mt. Olympus of baseballs, there are other greats, greats who have been or will be forgotten by history. Here are some of these disrespected and underrated players.

Bill Dickey, C- Bill Dickey was born on June 5, 1907, in Bastrop, Louisiana. He played his entire career for the Yankees, from 1928 to 1946. Dickey won seven World Series of the eight he played in. After his career, he managed the Yankees for a short time and became a coach, helping Yogi Berra achieve the status of one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Dickey might be the most recognizable name on the list, as his number is retired and he’s in the baseball Hall of Fame. But people underestimate how good he really was as a hitter and catcher, often looking to Cochrane and his successor Yogi Berra.

Dickey’s career line was .313/.382/.486/.868/127+ with 678 BBs at 289 K. His best season was in 1936, when he hit .362/.428/.617/1.045/158+ with 22 HOUR. Those totals are astounding, and the fact that a receiver has come up with those numbers is mind-boggling.

However, Dickey was also a great catcher. Although CS and SB against a receiver did not register, many reports say that Dickey had a really strong arm. In 1,720 games, he only had 76 passes. By comparison, the greatest defensive receiver of all time, Johnny Bench, had 94 passes in 1,742 games.

Johnny Mize, 1b- Mize was born on January 7, 1913, in Demorest, Georgia. The Big Cat was a slugger for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1930 to 1950. He finished with a .312/.397/.562/.959/158+ line and a final .330 EqA. His best seasons were 1937-1940. During that span of his early career, Mize received MVP votes every season.

1937: .364/.427/.595/1,022/172+ with 25 HRs
1938: .337/.422/.614/1.036/175+ with 27 HRs
1939: .349/.444/.628/1,070/178+ with 28 HRs
1940: .314/.404/.636/1,040/176+ with 43 HRs

That works out to an average line of .341/.424/.618/1.042/175+ with 31 HRs.

After that “peak,” Mize still had five seasons with an OPS+ over 150. Mize served in the US Army from ’43-’45, missing out on what might have been the finest hour of his career. Is that the reason why he often forgets her? Maybe. But Mize was a player of all time.

Career totals: .312/.397/.562/.959/158+ and 359 HRs over 6,443 ABs.

Roberto Alomar, 2b- Born in Puerto Rico on February 5, 1968, Alomar is a funny guy, since he had several good years spread out, without a defined peak. I will do my best to select one and show the other good seasons/career of him.

His 1992 and 1993 seasons with Toronto were pretty good.
1992: .310/.405/.427/.832/129+ with 49 SB at 84% clip
1993: .326/.408/.492/.900/141+ with 55 SB at 78% clip

His next city pit stop was Baltimore, where he had two more good seasons.
1996: .328/.411/.527/.938/136+ with 17 SBs
1997: .333/.390/.500/.890/134+ with 9 SBs

But his “peak” was his three years in Cleveland.
1999: .323/.422/.533/.955/139+ with 24 HR, 37 SB at 86%
2000: .310/.378/.475/.853/114+ with 19 HR, 39 SB at 90% clip
2001: .336/.415/.541/.956/150+ with 20 HR, 30 SB at 83% clip

Average line: .323/.405/.921/134+ with 21 HR, 35 SB

His final career stats were: .300/.371/.443/.814/116+ with 210 HR, 504 2B, 474 SB at 80% and 132.6 WARP3

Very good for a 2b, right? Well, not only did he hit and run, but Alomar was a top-notch defender. He has won 10 GG awards, and won a GG in every season noted except 1997.

Alomar cleared 30 Win Shares in a season 5 times and led the league 3 times. He hit .313 in the postseason (230 AB). Going into 2004, he had 373 Win Shares in his career, an outstanding total.

Why hasn’t it stood out more? Well, one reason people haven’t had time to immerse themselves in greatness, since it retired this decade. Furthermore, Alomar quickly faded, ending with five below-average seasons, a fresher image in fans’ minds than his MVP-caliber seasons. Roberto was also good at everything: stealing, hitting and defending, but he never really stood out. Many people can now remember his name, but not recognize him as an all-time great.

Barry Larkin, SS- Barry Larkin was born on April 28, 1964 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the city where he would find success as a professional baseball player. Larkin is the third-greatest shortstop of all time, second-greatest if A-Rod is ruled out. Yet Larkin is often forgotten and, if remembered, brushed aside when discussing the all-time greats. Barry was another middle infielder who could hit, field and run base, all impressive for an SS.

For his career, Larkin finished with a line of: .295/.371/.444/.815/116+ with 379 SBs at an 83% hit rate, .291 EqA and 939 BBs at 817 K’s. WARP3 run of 121.8

Those numbers are good, but when you consider that it was done from shortstop, it really stands out. Here is a chart showing how the short stop position exploded, once Larkin was in decline:

Over his entire career, the average shortstop hit just .256/.317/.361, while Larkin hit .295/.371/.444, a 20.2% OPS difference. Very few players dominate a position like that for that long and only two big-name shortstops in the last 30 years have outperformed the rest of the position offensively more than Larkin.

Not only was his bat a bonus from an SS, but he was also a quality defender, taking home three Gold Glove Awards. His best seasons were 1995-1998, and 1997 he was interrupted due to injury.

1995: .319/.394/.492/.886/133+ with 15 HRs and 51 SBs vs. 5 CSs. He won the Gold Glove.
1996: .298/.410/.567/.977/154+ with 33 HRs and 36 SBs against 10 CSs. He won the Gold Glove.
1998: .309/.397/.504/.901/134+ with 17 HRs and 26 SBs against 3 CSs.

Larkin should be a HOF’er. And yes, he was better than Mr. Cal Ripken Jr. Despite having much more HR and 2b, Ripken’s slugging percentage is only .03 higher, while trailing Larkin in OBP, OPS, OPS+, SB , EqA, RC/G and not to mention that Larkin was the better fielder.

Like Alomar, Larkin is a recent player, so his name is familiar. But it should be more than a household name. Larkin was a fantastic short stop that should eventually get a plaque at Cooperstown.

Frank Baker, 3b- Frank “Home Run” Baker was born on March 13, 1886 and would become a famous player for the Philadelphia Athletics. He’s not in the same class as Schmidt, Matthews and Brett, but Baker is often a 3b that people forget about because he played in the dead-ball era. In fact, he was arguably the best 3b of the pre-war era.

Despite playing in an era of big ballparks and pitching dominance due to rules and regulations, Baker managed to hit .307/.363/.442/.805/135+. At the height of his career in 1912, Baker hit .347/.404/.541/.945/173+. That same year the AL’s ERA was 3.34 and there were fewer than 9 hits per game. In context, Baker was fantastic and would have had better slugging numbers if he had played in a different era.

Ralph Kiner, OF- Ralph was born in October 1922 and was a baseball legend for the Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring due to injuries. He is currently a broadcaster, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Kiner is forgotten because he only played ten seasons, nine with 500+ AB’s. However, he was one of the best smashers of his generation, and surely would have hit 500-600 HR if he had been able to play into his thirties.

Kiner finished slashing .279/.398/.548/.946/149+ with 369 HRs. But he takes a look at the best three seasons of him.

1947: 51 HR, .313/.417/.639/1.056/171+, 9.9 RC/G, .343 EqA
1949: 54 HR, .310/.432/.658/1,090/186+, 10.7 RC/G, .351 EqA
1951: 42 HR, .309/.452/.627/1.079/184+, 10.7 RC/G, .355 EqA

Average Line: 49 HR, .311/.434/.641/.1075/181+, 10.4 RC/G, .350 EqA

Simply amazing. Ted Williams created a list using his secret formula and concluded that Ralph Kiner was the 20th greatest hitter of all time. It’s a shame he doesn’t get those kinds of braces.

Harry Heilman, OF- Born in 1894 in the city of San Francisco, the man known as ‘Slug’ was one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, yet many people don’t even recognize his name. He played for Detroit during the live and dead ball eras.

His final career stats are just incredible. He hit .342 / .410 / .520 / .930 / 148+ with 856 BBs at 550 K. Heilman’s best season came in 1923, at the age of 28. Heilman hit .403/.481/.632/1.113/194+ with 44 2b, 18 HR, and nearly twice as many BBs as K’s.

Why was it not known? Maybe it was because he played a long time ago, but Heilman is someone who should be revered as one of the all-time greats.

Al Simmons, OF- On May 22, 1902, Simmons was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Sporting News once ranked him as the 43rd greatest player of all time.

He wasn’t a great baserunner or fielder, but Simmons is a name that never comes up when talking about the all-time greats. Simmons shone for Oakland in his hey, hitting .376/.419/.639/1.058/165+ with 25 HRs and .322 from 1927 to 1931. In that span, he slugged over .600 three times, including .708 in 1930.

Simmons sizzled to a career line of .334/.380/.535/.915/132+ with 539 2b and 307 HR.

Nasty.

Addie Joss, SP-Joss was born in 1880. The reason Joss is forgotten is because he played dead ball and died early, at the age of 31. But if it weren’t for the tragic death, he could be considered as good as Christy Mathewson.

In 2,327 innings, Joss allowed 1,888 hits, 19 HRs, 364 BBs, had a 1.89 ERA, 142 ERA+ and 0.968 WHIP.

He posted a sub-2.00 ERA in five of his eight full seasons. He was the all-time career leader in WHIP at .9678. He had the second-best ERA of all time at 1.89. Joss pitched a perfect game in 1908 and another no-hitter in 1910. He won 160 games in fewer than 9 full seasons. He would have had a longer career, but the disease cut short his life at 31. He thinks again. He finished his career with a 1.89 ERA and a 0.9678 WHIP! That comes over 2300 career entries. And in an age of spitting balls, Joss achieved his success without altering baseball in any way.

Take a look at his best years-
1906: 282 IP, 1.72 ERA, 220 H, 43 BB, 151 ERA+, 0.93 WHIP
1907: 338 IP, 279 H, 54 BB, 1.83 ERA, 137 ERA+, 0.98 WHIP
1908: 325 IP, 232 H, 30 BB, 1.16 ERA, 205 ERA+, 0.80 WHIP
1909: 242 IP, 198 H, 31 BB, 1.71 ERA, 149 ERA+, 0.94 WHIP

And oh yes, in 1904 he also had a great season:
192 IP, 160 H, 30 BB, 1.59 ERA, 160 ERA+, 0.98 WHIP

Watch his 1908 season again. Over 300 IP but only 30 BBs and maintained a 1.16 ERA! He was so good that he posted a 205+ ERA when the league ERA was 2.39, the best ERA in the league during his career.

These men were all giants of the game and should be recognized as giants of the game.

Underrated players in MLB history

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