WTSBASEBALL PRESENTS: The Best of the Best
On this week’s episode of “Ben pretends he’s an analyst” I thought we would do a fun, possibly controversial, feature. I will be putting together a top 10 list of the best players from the Tigers, Braves, and Cubs. The best players from each club will be compared to each other to form:
“THE MONOLIST”™
Below you will find my founded-in-research-no-bias-at-all top 10 players of all time from our favorite baseball clubs. Feel free to let me know who you think I missed in the chat.
Before we get started, I wanted to name three of my favorite players from each team growing up. No rational ranking other than I really liked them and decided that I would randomly remember them forever.
TIGERS: I obviously have too many to name here but if I was going to randomly mention my favorite, non-Miguel Cabrera Tiger, it would be Magglio Ordoñez. His 2007 batting champ season will always be a memory I will cherish. He hit .363 with 28 HRs and 139 RBI. Maggs forever.
BRAVES: Don’t ask me why but I always loved David Justice. I thought he had a cool last name and he mashed. 305 career home runs and had a career OPS of .878.
CUBS: This one is easily Carlos Zambrano. Had a very decent MLB career and he was fiery on the mound. In addition to his ✨zest✨ he could also actually hit. Had a career high 6 homers in 2006 and had 24 career homers as a pitcher. That total is good for 7th all time in MLB history. He's tied with the great Bob Gibson.
THE LIST
For the record, I tried to be as unbiased as possible. Please note that these are all retired players.
10. Erie Banks (Cubs) Hall of Fame
Mr. Banks kicks us off. Ernie Banks, a 14x All-Star, played 19 seasons, and all with the Cubbies. Primarily a shortstop in his earlier years. However, after winning a gold glove in 1960, he then moved to first base. A position he would play until he retired after the 1971 season. Banks would end his career with 67.7 WAR, 512 HRs .274/.330./.500 with a .830 OPS. If you think this is elite, you should see the other guys.
9. “Sweet” Lou Whitaker (Tigers) Should be Hall of Fame
Sweet Lou played his entire 19 year career with the Detroit Tigers. He is currently the most controversial HOF snub of all time according to everyone except writers apparently. Lou manned second base as a part of the legendary double play duo of Trammel and Whitaker that won them the World Series in 1984. Lou never played another position in his 19 years as a major leaguer and he was as steady as they come. Lou won 3 Gold Gloves, 4 Silver Sluggers, and was a 5x All-Star. He ended his career with a 75.1 WAR, 2,369 hits, 244 HRs, 1084 RBI, .276/.363/.426. Tell me why this man isn’t in the Hall of Fame goddamnit.
8. Sammy Sosa (Cubs)
Sammy is my #8 on this list. Some could argue that maybe he doesn’t belong on this list because of steroids or the fact that there are a lot of HOF Cubs players. But you know what I say to that? Fuck you, bring back the steroid era. B12 for all.
I think we are all aware of what Sammy accomplished over the course of his career, maybe one the most legendary Cubs players of all time. The 7x All Star battled Mark McGwire in 1998 for the single season homerun record. Sammy would finish with 66 homers that year and fall just short of the crown. The 6x Silver Slugger would finish his MLB career with 609 HRs, 58.6 WAR and 1667 RBI.
7. Tom Glavine (Braves) Hall of Fame
There is no world where you put a list of top Braves players and Tom Glavine isn't on it. He won his 300th game in 2007. He is the last player to register 300 wins besides Randy Johnson in 2009. In my opinion, he will be the one of the last pitchers to ever win 300 games. Over his 22 years in the bigs, Glavine pitched primarily for the Braves (1987-2002). In 2003 Glavine would go to the Mets and pitch in NYC for 5 seasons. In fitting fashion, Glavine would pitch one more year in 2008 in ATL. He would then retire, rightfully, a Brave. The 2x Cy Young & 10x All Star would end his career with 305 Ws, 2,607 Ks, and 3.54 ERA.
6. Fergie Jenkins (Cubs) Hall of Fame
Fergie Jenkins is greatly regarded as one of the greatest pitchers of all time, if not just the Cubs. He threw 267 Complete Games over the span of his 19 year career and led the league with 30 CGs in 1971. It was during this 1971 season that he would win the Cy Young Award. Over his career Mr. Jenkins pitched 4500 innings, which is just outrageous lol. He would make 3 All-Star teams and amass a career stat line of 84.2 WAR, 284 Ws, 3,192 Ks, and 1.14 WHIP. Ridiculous.
5. Chipper Jones (Braves) Hall of Fame
If you don’t know Chipper Jones, and claim to be a baseball fan, then you are not a baseball fan. Chipper is easily in the top 5 of most legendary Third Basemen. While he never won a Gold Glove in his career, he is synonymous with the hot corner. Chipper played 19 years and all with the Braves. He would win the World Series his rookie year with Glavine and the rest of the absolutely incredible 1995 team. The 2x Silver Slugger and 8x All-Star would win the MVP award in 1999 only 4 years into his career. After retiring following the 2012 season, Chipper’s final stat line read: 85.3 WAR, 468 HRs, 1,619 RBI, .303/.401/.529 and a .930 OPS. Plus he is an all around excellent dude.
4. Al Kaline aka “Mr. Tiger” (Tigers) Hall of Fame
No one who has watched even one second of Tigers baseball doesnt know Mr. Tiger. He was the face of the organization for what seemed like a century before his death in 2020. However, that was post-playing years. Al Kaline’s 22 year MLB career is one of absolute domination. Mr. Tigers made his MLB debut in 1953 and is one of the only players in MLB history to have not spent one single day in the minor leagues. He would win the world Series in 1968 and never wear any other uniform other than the Olde English D. One of my favorite (most frustrating) stat about Al Kaline is that he would finish his career with 399 homers. Just one shy of 400. Maddening. He was one of the three Tigers to have 3,000 hits (Ty Cobb, Miguel Cabrera). Fun fact, the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians are the only teams in Major League baseball to have 3 players with 3000 hits. Kaline would finish with 3,007 Hits, 399 HRs, 98.2 WAR, 1,582 RBI, and a .855 OPS. RIP Mr. Tiger, you were one of the great ones.
3. Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) Soon to be Hall of Fame
Miguel Cabrera is the Ken Griffey Jr. of my generation. Truly. One of the greatest to ever do it and easily one of the most elite right handed hitters of all time. Miggy played for 21 years in the MLB. 4 with the Marlins before being traded to the Tigers (Thank you, DD) in 2008. Many of you know the greatness that is Miguel Cabrera. 500 homers, 3,000 hits, 600 doubles. He is one of only 3 players in MLB history to have that stat line (Hank Aaron, Albert Pujols). Miggy won his only World Series (SOBS) with the Marlins his rookie year in 2003. Miggy’s list of accolades is an embarrassment of riches: World Series winner, Triple Crown winner, 2x MVP, 7x Silver Slugger, 4x Batting Champion, 12x time All-Star, and 2x MLB Player of the Year lmfao. One of my greatest memories will be attending his last ever MLB game and crying along with 44,000 of my closest friends. Jose Miguel Cabrera Torres finished his gem of a career with 511 HRs, 3174 Hits, 1,881 RBIs, 627 2Bs (I did all these from memory lol) 67.1 WAR, .306/.382/.518 and an OPS of .901. GOAT.
2. Greg Maddux (Braves & technically Cubs, but mostly Braves) Hall of Fame
Nick and Kenneth can both claim this one, but Kenny definitely has more stake in this claim. One of the greatest control pitchers of time, Greg Maddux is my definite number 2 on this list (sorry, Miggy). When you think of efficiency, you think Greg Maddux. When you think of precision, you think Greg Maddux. For everything else, there’s MasterCard. The 4x ERA king pitched 23 seasons in the MLB. Mostly for the Braves and Cubs with a few stops to San Diego and the LA Dodgers. Maddux had a career era of 3.14 which, over the course of 23 years, is absurd when you think about it. He also pitched over 5000 innings which is bonkers. 4x Cy Young Award winner and 3,371 Ks in those 5000 innings. He is also one of just 32 players in MLB history to have a career war over 100 (106.6). The definition of dominance on the mound. Greg also holds the record for most Gold Gloves at his position with 18 and in fact has the most gold gloves of any MLB player. Just an absolute legend.
1. Hank Aaron (Braves) Hall of Fame
Like we all didn’t know this was coming. Like I wouldn’t put the single greatest baseball player to ever walk the diamond as #1. I mean what more can you say about this guy? Broke Babe Ruth’s all-time homerun record while receiving death threats, has the most Total Bases (6856) and RBIs (2297) than any other player in the game, and never hit more than 47 homers in a season. Hank Aaron was a 25x (!) All-Star also won 2 batting titles and 3 gold gloves just as an afterthought to his illustrious MLB career. His 755 career homer runs now sit 2nd all time only to Barry Bonds. He is 7th all time in WAR at 143.1 and accumulated 3771 hits. His hit total is good for 3rd all time. Hank finished his career with a line of .305/.374/.555 with a career OPS of .928. I can’t express to you how nuts this all is over 23 years. Literally, the best to ever play the game. The most prolific player in MLB history, rightfully, wraps up our list.
