We’ve elected ten catchers. Now it’s time for first basemen, and this will be a terrific vote with many candidates!
The rules are the same; Please name ten first basemen (in no particular order) who you think we should name to the SDMB Baseball Hall of Fame. Active players and players ineligible for election to Cooperstown are eligible; there are no restrictions. Below I have provided a list of all Hall of Fame first basemen as well as many other first basemen who might merit consideration; this list is provided for your convenience. It is not a restricted ballot. You can vote for players I have not mentioned if you wish. Please note we will be having ballots for Negro League stars in another thread.
You may vote for less than ten if you wish but please vote for ten if you can. The ten players with the most votes shall be immediately inducted into the SDMB Hall of Fame. There is no minimum percentage of votes needed; the top ten are in.
A few notes before I post the list. A class of player I’m struggling with are multi-position players; I am not sure where to put them. I’m thinking, specifically, of players who didn’t play a majority of their games at one position (Pete Rose, Paul Molitor) and players who were mostly DHs (Edgar, Harold Baines.) Comments are welcome.
Here - again, solely for your convenience, please feel free to vote for people not on this list - is a list of top first basemen:
Lou Gehrig
Rudy May
Albert Pujols
Jimmie Foxx
Roger Connor
Willie McCovey
Kent Hrbek
Roy Sievers
Jack Clark
Jack Fournier
Hank Greenberg
Harmon Killebrew
Jim Bottomley
Frank McCormick
Bob Watson
Tino Martinez
Jason Giambi
Jake Beckley
Eddie Murray
Mark McGwire
Rod Carew
Cecil Fielder
Rafael Palmeiro
Jeff Bagwell
John Mayberry
Don Mattingly
Wally Joyner
Jim Thome
Steve Garvey
George Kelly
Jake Daubert
George Sisler
Dick Allen
Todd Helton
Bill Buckner
John Olerud
Cap Anson
Dan Brouthers
Johnny Mize
Frank Thomas (The Big Hurt)
Will Clark
Boog Powell
Tony Perez
Bill Skowron
Keith Hernandez
Gil Hodges
Orlando Cepeda
Vic Power
Frank Chance
Norm Cash
Mark Grace
George Scott
Bill Terry
Andres Galarraga
Chris Chambliss
Mickey Vernon
Mike Hargrove
Mo Vaughn
Fred McGriff
Hal Chase
Carlos Delgado
Joe Adcock
Dolf Camilli
Cecil Cooper
Bill White
Charlie Grimm
Lou Gehrig: He clearly stands at the top of this list!
Jimmie Foxx : Great offensive star
Cap Anson *Can’t leave Cap off this list. *
Hank Greenberg: A truly great player.
Eddie Murray: A great player, a great switch hitter and a very good glove. *
Keith Hernandez: * a good offensive player and a great fielder.
Bill Terry: *A great player and from what I heard he had a very good glove. He was also apparently a team leader. His lifetime .341 BA speaks volumes. *
Dan Brouthers: *I will include him as the second best 1B of the 1800s. *
George Sisler: *His numbers are close to Terry, but I know less about him.*Willie McCovey: *The great McCovey rounds out my top 10. *
Sorry Rod Carew, maybe at 2B. You were far more valuable at 2nd than at 1st.
Now that I’m over my shock at a mediocre pitcher appearing somehow on this list, my top 10 1B men, in alphabetical order (oddly imbalanced to the first half of the alphabet):
Dick Allen
Cap Anson
Dan Brouthers
Jimmie Foxx
Lou Gehrig
Hank Greenberg
Gil Hodges
Harmon Killebrew
Johnny Mize
George Sisler
It seems a good idea to have a “miscellaneous” category, covering multi-position players (I’d include Carew and Allen on that list, possibly Cepeda and Killebrew and others who played elsewhere than first base for parts of their careers). One of the reasons I didn’t vote for Cepeda was his years platooning with McCovey and in the OF. Personally, I’d put anyone on that list who didn’t play over 98% of his career games at a single position (including OF as one position). It would be fun, IMO, to have a large grab-bag category.
Hmm. Anyone mentioning Stargell ought to save him for the left-field list, when he was younger and wasn’t nagged by injuries. He was moved to first base in 1975, pretty late in his career.
Most lists have him as a top ten left fielder, but he doesn’t register as a first baseman - even though he was working first when he had his amazing Series in '79.
But it is an all time list and he just isn’t an all timer. I had a hard time not including Harmon Killebrew, but no matter how much I liked him and how much I love his name, he doesn’t belong and yet he was a better first baseman than Thomas or one of my favorite players like Don Mattingly or Bill ‘Moose’ Skowron.
