Most HR and Hits by Decade (Live Ball Era)

Disclaimer: Not advocating anything with this.  Just providing the facts:

2010 - today: HR - Jose Bautista 140 / H - Miguel Cabrera 690
2000 - 2009: HR - Alex Rodriguez 435 / H - Ichiro Suzuki 2,030
1990 - 1999: HR - Mark McGwire 405 / H - Mark Grace 1,754
1980 - 1989: HR - Mike Schmidt (HOF) 313 / H - Robin Yount (HOF) 1,731
1970 - 1979: HR - Willie Stargell (HOF) 296 / H - Pete Rose 2,045
1960 - 1969: HR - Harmon Killebrew (HOF) 393 / H - Roberto Clemente (HOF) 1,877
1950 - 1959: HR - Duke Snider (HOF) 326 / H - Richie Ashburn (HOF) 1,875
1940 - 1949: HR - Ted Williams (HOF) 234 / H - Lou Boudreau (HOF) 1,578
1930 - 1939: HR - Jimmie Foxx (HOF) 415 / H - Paul Waner (HOF) 1,959
1920 - 1929: HR - Babe Ruth (HOF) 467 / H - Rogers Hornsby (HOF) 2,085

For full decade HR leaders, only Willie Stargell (475) and Duke Snider (407) are not in the 500 HR club.

For full decade Hits leaders, less than half (4/9) eventually joined the 3,000 Hit Club: Robin Yount, Pete Rose, Roberto Clemente, and Paul Waner.  Ichiro Suzuki has 2,671 career Hits as of today (2013 is his Age 39 season).  It will be close, as he is currently signed through 2014.  He'll definitely need to be picked up for 2015, if not 2016 as well, when he will be 42.

Most notable discrepancy from the list: 2nd behind Babe Ruth's 467 HR in the 1920s was Rogers Hornsby, with 250 homers in the decade.

Ted Williams also missed 3 full seasons in the 1940s (1943 - 1945), which were his Age 24-26 seasons.  He was already without a doubt the best hitter in baseball by 1941, and arguably by 1940, when he was only 21.

Source: baseball-reference.com's Play Index

Albert Pujols vs Miguel Cabrera

For Alex Sommer...

As Miguel Cabrera puts together another amazing season at the plate, it is interesting to see where he stands when ranked against another great contemporary.  Albert Pujols presents a very fair comparison to Miguel Cabrera, as they have played the same positions over the course of their careers:

1B: 1,486 G for Pujols vs. 598 G for Cabrera
LF: 269 G for Pujols vs. 248 G for Cabrera
3B: 106 G for Pujols vs. 614 G for Cabrera
RF: 40 G for Pujols vs. 100 G for Cabrera

Fact: Since 2010, Miguel Cabrera is one of the best, if not the best hitter in Major League Baseball.

Fact: To say Miguel Cabrera is the "greatest hitter to this point in his career that we've seen in our lifetime" is not correct.  The correct answer to that statement would be to insert Albert Pujols where Miguel Cabrera's name is, and have the sentence end at "lifetime".

Parameters for comparison:

Albert Pujols' career started in 2001, while Miguel Cabrera's started in 2003, a season in which he played 87 games.  Looking at Pujols to the point in his career that puts him on a level playing field with Cabrera can be done simply by looking at his first 10 seasons in the Majors: 2001-2010.  Because Cabrera didn't really have a full season in 2003, we can look at his entire career through yesterday, which would essentially give us 10 full seasons.

Pujols vs. Cabrera (first 10 full seasons with parameters mentioned above considered):

G: 1,558 Pujols vs. 1,585 Cabrera (only a 27 G difference, with Cabrera getting the edge)
PA: 6,782 Pujols vs. 6,813 Cabrera (only a 31 PA differential)
AB: 5,733 Pujols vs. 5,951 Cabrera (simple: Pujols walked more over his first 10 seasons)
R: 1,186 Pujols vs. 1,018 Cabrera (168 Runs scored advantage to Pujols)
H: 1,900 Pujols vs 1,908 Cabrera (Cabrera barely wins this)
2B: 426 Pujols vs. 403 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
HR: 408 Pujols vs. 341 Cabrera (67 more homers hit by Pujols)
RBI: 1,230 Pujols vs. 1,197 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
BB: 914 Pujols vs. 755 Cabrera (Pujols walked 159 more times)
SO: 646 Pujols vs. 1,159 Cabrera (Pujols struck out 513 less times)
BA: .331 Pujols vs. .321 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
OBP: .426 Pujols vs. .398 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
SLG: .624 Pujols vs. .565 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
OPS: 1.050 Pujols vs. .963 Cabrera (category to Pujols)
TB: 3,580 Pujols vs. 3,362 Cabrera (218 more total bases for Pujols)

Based simply on totals through their first 10 full seasons in the Majors, Pujols was clearly better at that point in his career.

Pujols vs. Cabrera (in comparison to the rest of the league over the span of their first 10 full seasons)

2001-2010 MLB
R: 1,186 Runs scored by Pujols ranks 1st
H: 1,900 Hits by Pujols ranks 3rd (Only Ichiro Suzuki and Derek Jeter had more)
2B: 426 2B by Pujols ranks 1st
HR: 408 Home Runs hit by Pujols ranks 2nd (Alex Rodriguez hit 424 from 2001 to 2010)
RBI: 1,230 RBI by Pujols ranks 2nd (Alex Rodriguez batted in 6 more runners over that stretch)
BA (min. 5,000 PA): .331 BA by Pujols from 2001 to 2010 tied with Ichiro Suzuki for 1st
OBP (min. 5,000 PA): .426 OBP ranks 2nd behind Todd Helton's .428
SLG (min. 5,000 PA): .624 SLG easily 1st.  2nd was Manny Ramirez at .583
OPS (min. 5,000 PA): Again, 1.050 easily 1st.  2nd was Manny Ramirez at .997
TB: 3,580 TB by Pujols easily 1st.  2nd was Alex Rodriguez at 3,290 TB

2003-2013 MLB
R: Cabrera ranks 4th (Pujols still 1st over that span as well)
H: Cabrera ranks 5th (Pujols 3rd)
2B: Cabrera 2nd (Pujols 1st)
HR: Cabrera T-5 with 341 (Pujols 1st with 417)
RBI: Cabrera 2nd (Pujols 1st)
BA (min. 5,000 PA): Cabrera's .321 2nd (Pujols' .322 1st)
OBP (min. 5,000 PA): Cabrera's .398 4th (Pujols 2nd with a .413 OBP from 2003 to 2013)
SLG (min 5,000 PA): Cabrera's .565 3rd (Pujols 1st with a .605 SLG from 2003 to 2013)
OPS (min 5,000 PA): Cabrera's .963 3rd (Pujols 1st with a 1.018 OPS from 2003 to 2013)
TB: Cabrera's 3,362 2nd (Pujols 1st with 3,645 TB)

It will be fun to compare careers when both players are done, but in terms of their respective first 10 full seasons, Pujols has the clear edge.

Source: baseball-reference.com

3,000 IP (1920 - )

Since the inception of the "Live Ball Era" in 1920, 83 Pitchers have more than 3,000 Innings Pitched in their career (The requirement being that the 3,000 IPs were thrown from 1920 on).  Within this total of 83 pitchers, there are a number of lists that can be generated to show different career achievements that have been accomplished along with surpassing the 3,000 IP mark.

Live Ball Era Career Wins (min. 3,000 IP):

All 13 pitchers whose careers started in the Live Ball Era that went on to win 300 or more games in their career pitched at least 3,000 innings to accomplish that milestone.  Note: the other 11 pitchers in the 300 Wins Club (Pitchers whose careers started pre-1920) all threw at least 4,000 innings in their careers.

Live Ball Era 300 Win Club:

1. Warren Spahn: 363 Wins
2. Greg Maddux: 355 Wins
3. Roger Clemens: 354 Wins
4. Steve Carlton: 329 Wins
5. Nolan Ryan: 324 Wins
6. Don Sutton: 324 Wins
7. Phil Niekro: 318 Wins
8. Gaylord Perry: 314 Wins
9. Tom Seaver: 311 Wins
10. Tom Glavine: 305 Wins
11. Randy Johnson: 303 Wins
12. Lefty Grove: 300 Wins (The only pitcher in the club that didn't throw at least 4,000 career innings)
13. Early Wynn: 300 Wins

Honorable Mention: After Lefty Grove, the Live Ball Era Pitcher with the most career wins that didn't throw 4,000 innings in his career is Mike Mussina, with 270 Wins in 3,562 2/3 IP (This goes for all-time as well).

Live Ball Era Career ERA < 3.00 (min. 3,000 IP)

Out of the 83 pitchers that threw at least 3,000 innings from 1920 on, only 7 had a career ERA under 3.00:

1. Whitey Ford: 2.75 Career ERA
2. Jim Palmer: 2.86 Career ERA
3. Tom Seaver: 2.86 Career ERA
4. Juan Marichal: 2.89 Career ERA
5. Bob Gibson: 2.91 Career ERA
6. Don Drysdale: 2.95 Career ERA
7. Carl Hubbell: 2.98 Career ERA

Exclusive Club: Tom Seaver is the only Live Ball Era pitcher to have at least 300 career wins (311) and a career ERA under 3.00 (2.86).  Note: the other 11 pitchers in the 300 Wins Club (Pitchers whose careers started pre-1920) all had career ERAs under 3.00 as well (An indication of why it's so important to break pitchers up by era).  Thus, not only was posting a career ERA < 3.00 (min. 3,000 IP) in the Live Ball Era incredibly rare, only 1 Pitcher also surpassed 300 career wins in doing so.

Un-Honorable Mention: The highest career ERA among the Live Ball Era Pitchers that threw at least 3,000 Innings was posted by Livan Hernandez, at 4.44.

Live Ball Era Career Shutouts (min. 3,000 IP)

10 out of the 83 Pitchers in discussion had at least 50 career Shutouts: Warren Spahn, Tom Seaver, Nolan Ryan, Bert Blyleven, Don Sutton, Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry, and Juan Marichal.  Only 20 Pitchers ever have had 50 career SHO, but of the 16 Live Ball Era Pitchers whose careers started post-1980, only 3 eclipsed 30 career SHO: Roger Clemens (46), Randy Johnson (37), and Greg Maddux (35).  Furthermore, Andy Pettitte is the only active Pitcher that has pitched over 3,000 Innings, but ranks last on this list (83rd out of 83) of Live Ball Era Pitchers when it comes to career SHO, with only 4 (the current active leader in career SHO is Roy Halladay, with 20 in 2,721 2/3 Career IP).

Live Ball Era Career Strikeouts (min. 3,000 IP)

Only 16 Pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball have more than 3,000 career Strikeouts.  Walter Johnson was the only Pitcher whose career started pre-1920 to accomplish this feat (3,509 K's in 5,914 1/3 IP for his career).  14 of the remaining 15 Pitchers that are in the 3,000 Career Strikeout Club threw at least 3,000 innings in the Live Ball Era: Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Bert Blyleven, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Greg Maddux, Phil Niekro, Fergie Jenkins, Bob Gibson, Curt Schilling, and John Smoltz.

Exclusive Club: Pedro Martinez is the only Pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to have at least 3,000 career Strikeouts (3,154 career SO) while not topping 3,000 Career IP (2,827 1/3 Career IP).

Closing Thoughts

A maximum of 4 active Pitchers may reach 3,000 IP for a career in the next 2 to 3 years: Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle, Roy Halladay, and CC Sabathia.

Source: baseball-reference.com

.300 / .400 / .500 Club (min. PA of 3,000)

As if today, 1,817 players in the history of Major League Baseball had or have had 3,000 or more Plate Appearances in their career (baseball-reference requires a min. of 3,000 PAs to qualify for their career leader boards in rate stats).  Of those 1,817, only 23 (1.27%) players have a stat line for their career of at least a .300 BA / .400 OBP / .500 SLG.  Mentioned already were the 13 players who accomplished this feat with a minimum career PA total of at least 9,000: Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Chipper Jones, Frank Thomas, Ted Williams, Manny Ramirez, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, and Todd Helton.  Reducing the minimum required PAs by 6,000 only adds 10 new players to this list:

14. Harry Heilmann: 8,966 PA, .342 BA / .410 OBP / .520 SLG
15. Edgar Martinez: 8,674 PA, .312 BA / .418 OBP / .515 SLG
16. Albert Pujols: 8,422 PA, .322 BA / .411 OBP / .602 SLG
17. Ed Delahanty: 8,400 PA, .346 BA / .411 OBP / .505 SLG
18. Larry Walker: 8,030 PA, .313 BA / .400 OBP / .565 SLG
19. Dan Brouthers: 7,676 PA, .342 BA / .423 OBP / .519 SLG
20. Hank Greenberg: 6,097 PA, .313 BA / .412 OBP / .605 SLG
21. Joe Jackson: 5,693 PA, .356 BA / .423 OBP / .517 SLG
22. Lefty O'Doul: 3,658 PA, .349 BA / .413 OBP / .532 SLG
23. Joey Votto: 3,400 PA, .317 BA / .418 OBP / .548 SLG

Honorable Mentions:

Only 3 active players on this list: Todd Helton, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto.

Only 2 of the 23 players were non-1B INFs (at least 66% of games in career played at that position): Chipper Jones (3B) and Rogers Hornsby (2B).

Lefty O'Doul did not play his age 24 and 27-30 seasons.  In fact, in his first 4 seasons (1919-20 and 1922-23) the most PAs he had in a season was 39, and he was a pitcher at that point in his career (53.0 IP in 1923).  He did not become a full-time LF until 1928, at the age of 31.  It would be interesting to see where he would have ended up having not missed those years or if he was a LF from the start of his career.  At a minimum of 3,000 PAs, his career .349 BA ranks 4th all-time, and he is tied with Bill Terry for the National League's all-time single season hits record (254).

13 out of the 23 are in the Hall of Fame, and are no doubt Hall of Famers: Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Rogers Hornsby, Harry Heilmann, Ed Delahanty, Dan Brouthers, and Hank Greenberg (Frank Thomas, Chipper Jones, and Albert Pujols will also for sure be elected once eligible).  This list is not meant to show Hall of Fame worthiness, but rather how rare the accomplishment is.

Setting the minimum parameters at .290 BA / .390 OBP / .490 SLG, the list goes up to 37 out of 1,817 (2.04%, so still rare in my mind), adding the likes of: Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Mickey Mantle (HOF), Jeff Bagwell (future HOF) (these 4 mentioned previously), Bob Johnson, Brian Giles, Lance Berkman, Joe DiMaggio (HOF) , Johnny Mize (HOF), Earl Averill (HOF), Bill Terry (HOF), Miguel Cabrera (Future HOF), Ken Williams, and Hack Wilson (HOF).  Again, I am not using this list to advocate Hall of Fame worthiness, but rather show that there are very few that just missed the cut, and therefore showing how rare the .300 / .400 / .500 combination for a career with a minimum of 3,000 PAs is.

Future member: through 65 career PAs, Yasiel Puig has a career .452 BA / .477 OBP / .790 SLG, one of only 26 players ever to have a career BA, OBP, and SLG of at least .300 / .400 / .500 at a minimum of 65 PAs.  The future member reference is meant to be a joke, but time will tell.

.300 / .400 / .500 Club continued...

As of today, 153 players in the history of Major League Baseball reached (or have reached) and exceeded the 9,000 PA total for their respective career (this total will increase to 155 soon as Adrian Beltre and Ichiro Suzuki are within striking distance), yet out of the 75 players that are between 9,000 and 9,999 career PAs, only 6 new members join our exclusive career .300 / .400 / .500 Club.  Joining the 7 mentioned at the min. PA level of 10,000 (Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth, Chipper Jones, and Frank Thomas), the 6 that bring our club to a total of 13 out of 153 include:

8.) Ted Williams: 9,788 PA, .344 BA / .482 OBP / .634 SLG

9.) Manny Ramirez: 9,774 PA, .312 BA / .411 OBP / .585 SLG

10.) Jimmie Foxx: 9.676 PA, .325 BA / .428 OBP / .609 SLG

11.) Lou Gehrig: 9,663 PA, .340 BA / .447 OBP / .632 SLG

12.) Rogers Hornsby: 9,480 PA, .358 BA / .434 OBP / .577 SLG

13.) Todd Helton: 9,170 PA, .319 BA / .417 OBP / .542 SLG

Honorable Mentions: 

Todd Helton has the highest amount of PAs among active players that will eventually be on this list with the final minimum PAs set.  He's a lock to retire and remain in this club, and I predict 2013 to be his final season.

Setting our parameters at a career .290 BA / .390 OBP / .490 SLG like we did at 10,000 PAs to give recognition to Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield being close, doing the same at 9,000 PAs only adds the following 2 players:

Mickey Mantle: 9,907 PA, .298 BA / .421 OBP / .557 SLG

Jeff Bagwell: 9,431 PA, .297 BA / .408 OBP / .540 SLG

So, with a minimum PA of 9,000, only 8.5% of players have ever exceeded .300 / .400 / .500 for a career.

Source: baseball-reference.com

.300 / .400 / .500 Club

With a minimum of 10,000 Plate Appearances for a career (78 players have reached that total, and none will surpass it over the course of the 2013 season), only 7 players ever have finished with a Batting Average of .300 or higher, an On-Base % of .400 or higher, and slugged .500 or higher (source: baseball-reference.com):

1.) Ty Cobb: 13,082 PA, .366 BA / .433 OBP / .512 SLG

2.) Stan Musial: 12,717 PA, .331 BA / .417 OBP / .559 SLG

3.) Tris Speaker: 11,992 PA, .345 BA / .428 OBP / .500 SLG

4.) Mel Ott: 11,348 PA, .304 BA / .414 OBP / .533 SLG

5.) Babe Ruth: 10,622 PA, .342 BA / .474 OBP / .690 SLG

6.) Chipper Jones: 10,614 PA, .303 BA / .401 OBP / .529 SLG

7.) Frank Thomas: 10,075 PA, .301 BA / .419 OBP / .555 SLG

Honorable mention: If you keep PAs at a minimum of 10,000 and lower the parameters to a career .290 BA, .390 OBP, and .490 SLG, only two additional players make the list:

Barry Bonds: 12,606 PA, .298 BA / .444 OBP / .607 SLG

Gary Sheffield: 10,947 PA, .292 BA / .393 OBP / .514 SLG

To be continued over the next couple of days in order to show how rare this accomplishment is at even a very low minimum career PA requirement.

What ever Happened to the Great RF?

Historically, RF has been the main position of some of the greatest players of all-time.  The list of great RF can rival that of any other position, and that goes not only for all-time, but also if you look at it on an era by era basis.  Although RFs have historically represented their position as well and sometimes even better than any other position, this is not the case as of late.  In my view, RF has gone from the home of some of the greatest players of all-time, to a position that has the least amount of great players in terms of hall of fame potential over the last 25 years.  My argument is demonstrated by looking at RF on a historical basis and then showing that there has not been a dominant RF over the last 25 to 30 years, while every other position has had great players over the same time frame.  Based on my standards, there is no overwhelming evidence of a RF from the last 25 to 30 years that is a lock for the hall of fame, discounting the one that has already been voted in (Tony Gwynn).

           

All the facts necessary are present when needing to prove that historically, RFs have great credentials:

        1.) In terms of position players, there have been more RFs elected to the Hall of Fame than any other position.

        2.) In terms of 5+ WAR seasons, RF has more players that have had 10 or more of them in their career than any other position (Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Mel Ott, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson).

        3.) Dominant RFs were present in every era over the course of 50 straight years (based on 8+ WAR seasons): Babe Ruth (1920s and 1930s), Stan Musial (1940s), Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline (1950s and 1960s), Roberto Clemente (1960s).

When closely examining the more recent eras, specifically looking at the credentials of players who primarily played RF over the course of the past 25 to 30 years, it is clear that RF has become the one position that lacks a clear-cut future hall of fame player.  That is not the case for any other position over that same time frame.  Here are the facts:

        1.) With the exception of C, RF is the least represented position since 1980 in terms of players having an 8+ WAR/pos season in a year where they primarily played RF.  There have only been 5 times since 1980 where a RF had a season of a WAR/pos of 8 or greater: Tony Gwynn (1987), Larry Walker (1997), Sammy Sosa (2001), Ichiro Suzuki (2004), and J.D. Drew (2004).  All remaining positions have had players reach the 8+ WAR/pos mark in a single season at least 9 different times in that same time frame.  8+ WAR/pos is significant because it signifies an MVP type season on baseball-reference.com’s scale.

        2.) Again with the exception of C, RF is the only position since 1980 that has not had a player have multiple 8+ WAR/pos seasons while playing that position.  All other positions have been home to players with multiple 8+ WAR/pos seasons over the course of their career in that time frame:

a.)    1B: Albert Pujols (6), Todd Helton (2)

b.)    2B: Chase Utley (2), Ben Zobrist (2)

c.)    3B: Wade Boggs (4), George Brett (2), Alex Rodriguez (2)

d.)    SS: Alex Rodriguez (6), Cal Ripken Jr (3)

e.)    LF: Barry Bonds (9), Rickey Henderson (3)

f.)     CF: Ken Griffey Jr (3)

        3.) When it comes to 6+ WAR/pos seasons, the leaders in terms of players who primarily played RF over the last 25 years are Tony Gwynn and Shawn Green, with three 6+ WAR/pos seasons.  All other positions besides C have at least one player that had four or more 6+ WAR/pos seasons:

a.)    1B: Albert Pujols (9), Jeff Bagwell (5), Todd Helton (5), Frank Thomas (4)

b.)    2B: Ryne Sandberg (5), Chase Utley (5)

c.)    3B: Wade Boggs (8), Chipper Jones (5)

d.)    SS: Alex Rodriguez (10), Cal Ripken (6), Nomar Garciaparra (5), Alan Trammell (4), Ozzie Smith (4)

e.)     LF: Barry Bonds (16), Rickey Henderson (9), Tim Raines (4)

f.)    CF: Ken Griffey Jr (6), Andruw Jones (5), Carlos Beltran (4)

When it comes down to it, I would propose that Tony Gwynn serve as the only RF of the past 25 to 30 years elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame until further evidence can be used to prove that one or two other players dominated that position over the same time frame.  Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Gary Sheffield, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, and Ichiro Suzuki all had very good careers as primary RFs, but none are able to separate themselves out from this group of six as the best RF of the 1990s and 2000s.  Here’s my take on each of them, and why I would not yet vote for any of them if I had a Hall of Fame vote at this point in time.  Remember that I use the standards that I deem important, and my opinion can be influenced to change with a valid argument against what I propose:

Larry Walker - Strengths: led the NL in WAR/pos in 1997 and was dominant in yearly OBP among his RF counterparts.  Off-setting weak point: Only had five 5+ WAR seasons in his career, which does not set him apart from his RF contemporaries.

Sammy Sosa – Strengths: 10.1 WAR/pos in 2001 was the first season a RF had a 10+ WAR/pos since Stan Musial did it in 1948.  Off-setting weakness: Besides 2001, 1998 was the only other season where he had a WAR/pos > 6.0.  This makes his peak short, and six 5+ WAR/pos seasons is not enough to off-set this short peak, as well as not enough to set him apart from the 5+ WAR/pos season by season totals of other RFs in his era. 

Gary Sheffield – Strength: 6 150 OPS+ seasons, which ties him with Vlad and Walker for most from a RF in the era.  Off-setting weakness: Only 4 seasons with a 5+ WAR/pos, and never had a single season WAR/pos > 6.6.

Vladimir Guerrero – See Larry Walker’s off-setting weak point.  Vlad also never had an 8+ WAR/pos season or led his respective league in WAR/pos for a season like Walker did.

Bobby Abreu – Strength: Most consistent “All-Star” level RF in the era in the sense that he had 7 5+ WAR/pos seasons, which was more than any other RF over the same period.  Off-setting weakness: similar to the 2^nd point made about Sheffield, as Abreu never enjoyed a WAR/pos season higher than 6.3.

Ichiro Suzuki – Strength: Led the AL in WAR/pos in 2004.  Off-setting weakness: On an overall basis, he is the same exact RF as Sammy Sosa in terms of 8+, 7+, 6+, and 5+ seasons over the course of their career (besides that Ichiro had 2 7+ WAR seasons to Sosa's 1), where then Sosa gets the edge offensively in my mind since he had 5 150 OPS+ seasons to Ichiro’s 0.  Sosa’s 10.1 WAR/pos season in 2001 did not lead the NL, but was higher than Ichiro’s WAR/pos that led the AL in 2004.  I will predict that Ichiro will be a first ballot hall of famer in real life, and will be the only one of the 6 from this list that makes it any time soon.  Keep in mind his first year in the MLB was his age 27 season.  If he had come over from Japan at an earlier age, we may have seen those quality WAR/pos seasons that in the end would have served to set him apart as the best overall RF of the last 25 to 30 years.

Sources: baseball-reference.com (WAR v2.1)