Al Oliver. Doug Christie 9. Michael Finley 3. I should clarify. Four times he hit over .300, three times he slugged more than 20 home runs and only once did he break the 100 RBI mark. What MLB players are overrated and what MLB players are underrated? It sounds crazy, I know, to suggest a player who won three National League MVPs and eight Gold Gloves in a decade was anything but one of the most celebrated players of it. Let's take a look at the 50 most underrated baseball players in the history of the game. A five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner at third base, Wallach led the National League in doubles twice and was the first player from Cal-State Fullerton to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. Its a simple concept with infinite possibilities. It was the best thing that ever happened for him. Injuries would take their toll andultimatelyend his career in 1985 after only 38 innings of work. Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe did exactly that on Saturday, responding to a monstrous Tyler Myers hit on Toronto captain John Tavares. The No. Three years later, he was runner-up in NL MVP voting when he led the league in batting average (.340), hits (216), doubles (50) and RBI (137) while slugging 36 home runs. Forget the Coors Effect. The type of player you love if hes on your team and hate if hes not, Pierzynski played 19 MLB seasons with the Twins, Giants, White Sox, Rangers, Red Sox, Cardinals and Braves. Ron Artest 4. Weve looked over the past few days at the1960s, 70s, and 80s, the1930s, 40s, and 50sand the1900s, 10s, and 20s. He posted a .994 fielding percentage in 1989, committing only five errors in more than 850 chances. The Big Puma was a six-time All-Star and he finished his career with 366 home runs and 1,234 RBI, yet he was a one-and-done on the Hall of Fame ballot with just 1.2 percent of the vote in 2019. Despite his achievements on the field, Doerr was not selected to the Hall of Fame until the Veterans Committee finally enshrined him in 1986. Career Stats: 1,553 G; .251/.332/.420; 210 HR; 773 RBI; 1,352 H; 653 R; 10-for-32 SB. While he began his major league career in 1968, it wasn't until 1969 that a 22-year-old center fielder named Larry Hisle got a chance to play on a daily basis, and he rewarded the Phillies with a solid campaign that resulted in a fourth place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. Graig Nettles and Darrell Evans came up in yesterdays post. He was the team's everyday shortstop for three seasons, earning MVP votes in 2008 and an All-Star nod in 2009 when he hit .320/.389/.490 for a 132 OPS+ and 6.2 WAR in 137 games. He slugged 107 home runs and made two All-Star appearances in four years with the South Siders. A 20-homer, 20-steal player in 2007 and 2008, Hart also had a 31-homer, 102-RBI campaign in 2010 when he earned his second All-Star selection. Power Ranking Top MLB Stars of Every Decade Since the 1900s While Abbott wasn't an elite pitcher, the fact that he lasted a decade in major league baseball with only one hand is truly a remarkable featand it's a shame that future generations will view him only as an oddity and not as the inspirational figure he truly isif they notice him at all. In 1990, Oquendo set the National League record for fewest errors by a second baseman in at least 150 games by committing only three. He hit at least 20 home runs in nine consecutive seasons from 1933 through 1941, and drove in at least 100 runs for seven straight seasons, from 1935 through 1941. In my opinion, Todd Helton might be the most underrated player between 2000-2009. Hal Chase is best remembered for being banned by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis following the 1919 season as rumors ran rampant that Chase, among other things, served as the middleman between the players and gamblers during the Chicago Black Sox scandal. The right-hander pitched just 215 innings over the next four years before he called it quits at the age of 30. His 2,043 hits rank 10th all-time among players who played primarily catcher in their career, and his .280 career average speaks to his offensive prowess. The two third basemen in recent years whove seemed poised to join Nettles, Evans and company in underrated purgatoryare Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen. Career Stats: 2,213 G; .290/.377/.376; 54 HR; 578 RBI; 2,375 H; 1,359 R; 558-for-815 SB. He had a 126 OPS+ with 22 home runs, 22 steals and a career-high 3.5 WAR in 151 games in 2013, earning a two-year, $8.5 million extension. Originally drafted as a catcher, Walker posted a 114 OPS+ while averaging 29 doubles, 16 home runs, 70 RBI and 2.7 WAR in six seasons as the everyday second baseman with the Pirates. That's the response we set out to elicit with our rundown of each MLB team's most underrated player of the past 20 years. Career Stats: 1,246 G; .304/.361/.433; 76 HR; 513 RBI; 1,216 H; 535 R; 45-for-69 SB. Career Stats: 1,514 G; .271/.347/.350; 28 HR; 574 RBI; 1,450 H; 676 R; 188-for-252 SB. His 146 home runs rank eighth all-time in franchise history. Hornsby fell one homer short of doing it twice. A six-time All-Star and one of the most important pieces on the A's teams that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 through 1974, Campaneris was one of the great stolen base artists of his era, leading the league in steals six times. White made ridiculous catches in the outfield look routine while hitting for power and flashing excellent speed when he got on base. An on-base machine who regularly posted a .400 OBP while also tallying eight 100 RBI seasons as a middle-of-the-order run producer, he earned just two All-Star selections in his 18-year career. The pitchers threw the ball harder, and the sluggers hit the ball further than any previous decade. Career Stats: 2,239 G; .296/.340/.375; 37 HR; 842 RBI; 2,705 H; 1,357 R; 62-for-135 SB. He'd accomplish the feat three more times over the course of his career. Probably own at least two of these and flipped through them countless times and never noticed that. A fixture on the first four National League All-Star teams from 1933 though 1936, Wally Berger was a power-hitting center fielder who led the National League in home runs (34) and RBI (130). Throw in four seasons of at least 100 RBI, and you've got yourself a pretty complete player. As one of the top picks in the 1997 draft, he was widely featured in 1998 products. I grew up with Bill White, watching him team up with Phil Rizzuto on WPIX in New York to call Yankees games from the late '70s through the early '90s. A seven-time All-Star and one of the smoothest fielding third basemen of the 1940s, Ken Keltner almost single-handedly ended Joe DiMaggios 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Shareef Abdur-Rahim 8. Part of the Impossible Dream Sox team that won the 1967 American League pennant in one of the closest races in history, Petrocelli hit two home runs in Game 6 of the World Series, forcing a Game 7 that the Sox ultimately lost to Bob Gibson and the Cardinals. Tigers' fans remember him fondly for his contributions during their march to the World Series championship in 1968. Biggiocost his team 100 defensive runs lifetime which will rank worst among Hall of Famers, at least until someone like Dick Allen, Derek Jeter or Gary Sheffield goes in. White chased the ball down and caught it while crashing full speed into the walla play some have said was more impressive than "The Catch" by Willie Maysthen threw a strike to Blue Jays' second baseman Roberto Alomar. Career Stats: 1,832 G; .295/.364/.447; 184 HR; 989 RBI; 1,826 H; 802 R; 27-for-55 SB. His best season came two years later with the Angels in 1991, when he went 18-11 with a 2.89 ERA, finishing third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Hall of Very Good: Ranking the MLB Players Likely to Get Bounced off Career Stats: 1,197 G; .273/.347/.452; 166 HR; 674 RBI; 128-for-189 SB. Tim Wallach could play both corner-infield and outfield positions, and even took the mound twice for the Expos, in 1987 and 1989. He then returned to Seattle in 2004 after a three-year run with the Royals and put together some of the best years of his career. Roberto Clemente: Almost criminally underrated and had he not died heroically in a plane crash in 1972, he'd be even less remembered. After going without a hit in the first two games of the series, he went on a tear. Most underrated player on each American League team heading into 2022 30 Most Unsung Pitchers in MLB History | Stadium Talk The Cardinals starting second baseman in three World Series (1982, 1985 and 1987), Tommy Herr paired with the Wizard of Oz, Ozzie Smith, to form one of the best double-play combinations the game has seen in the past 30 years. Please enter the verification code that you received on your email. In 1978, he finished third in the AL MVP voting behind the Yankees' Ron Guidry and the eventual winner, Boston's Jim Rice. Conine enjoyed success for a few seasons, placing third in Rookie of the Year balloting in 1993 and earning an All-Star selection in each of the next two seasons. If theres any indication from Smiths showing on the Hall of Fame ballot 0.7 percent of the vote in 1988, one of the weaker ballots in recent memory Abreu doesnt have much to look forward to in five years. Who came up with that idea. The tussle between Myers and McCabe was short yet spirited, but the new Toronto blueliner picked up 17 penalty minutes on the play five for fighting, plus a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct. Reliever Mike Adams with his 1.66 ERA in 209 appearances over four seasons was also considered as most underrated for the Padres. As the decade comes to a close, the baseball community is beginning to look back at the 2010s. Johnson was one of them, and Carroll captured how underrated "Indian Bob" truly was: Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it can also make certain ballplayers nigh unto invisible. Bonds pre-2000 is only underrated because of his 2000-on roids numbers. All MLB players dream of earning a place alongside legends such as Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, and Bob Gibson. A seven-time All-Star, his 2.48 ERA led the American League in 1985. He was a two-time All-Star and also won a Silver Slugger. In spite of it all, Rolen will be lucky to top 15 percent his first time on the writers ballot. Amazingly enough, Ryne Sandberg took home Gold Glove honors. At his peak, Edmonds was one of the greatest two-way center fielders in MLB history. Career Stats: 1,998 G; .277/.343/.425; 193 HR; 1,007 RBI; 2,020 H; 1,092 R; 341-for-434 SB. He generated down-ballot MVP support three different times, and was an All-Star in 2012 when he hit .324/.394/.540 for a 149 OPS+ with 32 doubles, 16 home runs and 68 RBI in a 4.6-WAR season.
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