January 1, 1932
From now on, I'll do something a little different with my Top Players lists. Now, I'll reveal them on January 1, and I'll provide the stats for the past season for each player.
Here are the top players and pitchers in Major League Baseball, as we head toward the 1932 season:
Code:
PLAYER TEAM AGE POS LY AVG HR RBI
1 Al Simmons NYY 29 CF 2 .354 29 110
2 Chuck Klein POR 27 RF 3 .360 42 131
3 Lou Gehrig PIT 28 1B 1 .353 42 127
4 Jimmie Foxx KC 24 1B 7 .307 38 106
5 Jim Bottomley WAS 31 1B 10 .348 38 133
6 Bob Fothergill WAS 34 RF 12 .356 15 112
7 John Kinney PIT 37 LF 8 .311 10 58
8 Wally Berger STL 26 LF 4 .292 3 9
9 Charlie Gehringer WAS 28 2B 18 .319 20 98
10 Mel Ott BKN 22 RF 13 .319 37 120
11 Mule Suttles WAS 30 LF 20 .342 38 138
12 Cool Papa Bell SD 28 CF 5 .314 4 58
13 Buzz Boyle BOS 23 LF NR .356 9 73
14 Buck Leonard NYY 24 1B 19 .327 19 109
15 Mickey Cochrane STL 28 C NR .313 23 103
16 Jason Alexander WAS 34 SS 9 .358 3 61
17 Mark Chappell PIT 38 3B 14 .311 3 69
18 Rick Mar BAL 36 CF 17 .316 9 78
19 Earl Averill STL 29 CF NR .346 20 113
20 Dale Alexander CIN 28 1B 16 .335 11 36
PITCHER TEAM AGE LY W-L ERA IP K
1 Jim Jessup CLE 35 2 22-11 3.60 294.2 136
2 Satchel Paige BOS 25 1 17-12 3.36 254.2 207
3 Tommy Bridges PHI 25 13 20-12 2.59 295.0 190
4 Carl Hubbell HOL 28 3 22-12 3.28 313.0 176
5 Jesse Hester CHC 31 8 19-13 2.98 298.2 94
6 Ed Brandt BOS 26 6 18-15 3.54 304.2 170
7 Bernardo Piniella PHI 35 4 13-9 3.41 261.2 136
8 Jonathon Vance SAC 34 10 16-9 3.23 242.1 52
9 Whit Wyatt SF 24 11 16-9 3.32 249.2 111
10 Mike Crawford BAL 35 9 14-14 3.04 272.2 97
11 Ray Brown CHW 23 17 13-9 2.89 208.2 151
12 Bill Swift NYY 23 NR 6-15 4.36 187.2 71
13 Rob Browne BKN 32 7 11-13 3.67 294.1 154
14 Eugene Wise CHW 35 18 18-12 2.66 280.1 121
15 Gordon Rhodes CHW 24 12 14-13 3.10 247.0 111
16 Pat Caraway POR 26 16 12-14 3.68 237.0 113
17 Bill Foster KC 27 20 17-15 2.98 310.2 193
18 Colton Blanton SF 40 14 13-7 3.51 192.1 62
19 Bob Brown SEA 20 NR 16-16 3.49 275.2 123
20 Ad Liska OAK 25 NR 23-11 2.45 286.0 124
You read that right. In December, the Red Sox traded
Jesse Hester to the Cubs, in exchange for a 32-year-old outfielder named
Jonathan Norman, who had his best years in the mid-20s with the Solons. He's a lifetime .297 hitter, but Hester is one of the best pitchers in the game. Will the Sox regret this trade one day?
And, here are the game's ten best prospects--defined as players who have yet to make significant impact at the major league level:
Code:
PLAYER TEAM AGE POS
1 Josh Gibson POR 19 C
2 Arky Vaughan CHW 19 SS
3 Hank Greenberg MIL 21 1B
4 Joe Medwick BKN 20 LF
5 Willie Wells WAS 23 3B
6 Frank Reed BOS 19 SS
7 Vicente Ortiz PIT 20 P
8 Carlos Mena NYG 18 3B
9 Frank Demaree SF 21 CF
10 Arturo Reyes SAC 22 RF
Reed, Ortiz, Mena, and Reyes are fictional players.