10. Omar Vizquel
Vizquel is the second greatest defensive shortstop behind the great Ozzie Smith. In his 20-year career with the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, and San Francisco Giants, he has won eleven gold glove awards and was selected to the three All Star teams. He has a .273 career average along with 77 home runs, 892 RBI's, 1361 runs scored, 2657 base hits and 385 stolen bases. However, he could never win a championship, losing in 1995 and 1997 with the Cleveland Indians.
9. Alan Trammell
Trammell was an amazing offensive and defensive shortstop. In 2293 career games, he posted a .285 average, 185 home runs, 1003 RBI's, 1231 runs scored, 2365 base hits and 236 stolen bases. He spent his entire 20-year carreer with the Detroit Tigers, was selected to six All Star teams and won three Silver Slugger awards. He was also one of the best defensive infielders ever, winning four Gold Glove awards in the early 80's.
8. Arky Vaughan
Vaughan is a very underrated player, as no one talks about him. In his 14-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers, he had a .318 average, 96 home runs, 926 RBI's, 1173 runs scored, 2103 base hits and 118 stolen bases. He was selected to the All Star team nine times, starting at shortstop for four of them. He won one batting title, three on base percentage titles and one slugging percentage title. He finished in the top three in MVP voting in 1935 and 1938.
7. Barry Larkin
Larkin was a great all-around shortstop. In his 19-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, he had a .295 average, 198 home runs, 960 RBI's, 1329 runs scored, 2340 base hits and 379 stolen bases. He won an amazing nine Silver Slugger Awards throughout the 90's and was selected to the All Star team 12 times, starting four out of five games.
He was a solid defensive player as he won three consecutive Gold Glove awards in the mid 90's. His best season came in 1995 when he won the NL MVP award even though he missed over 30 games that season. Finally, he helped lead the Reds to a victory in the World Series in 1990 as the Reds swept the Athletics.
6. Derek Jeter
Jeter is one of the greatest offensive infielders ever and one of the best postseason performers of all time. So far in his 14 year career with the Yankees, he has a .316 average, 206 home runs, 1002 RBI's, 1467 runs scored, 2535 base hits and 275 stolen bases. He has been selected to the All Star team nine times, starting in four of them and has won three Silver Slugger Awards.
He is also a good defensive shortstop as he won three consecutive Gold Glove awards in the mid 2000's. He won the 1996 Rookie of the Year Award and an All Star MVP in 2000. Finally, he is one of the greatest winners in baseball as he has led the Yankees to the postseason every year of his career except for one and to the World Series six times, winning four of them.
5. Ozzie Smith
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about 1 month ago
This is a great list. You couldnt have ordered it any better. Its amazing how A-Rod is already one of the greatest players of all time and the greatest shortstop/third baseman being only 33 years old.
about 1 month ago
Where is Nomar? Phil Rizzuto? Pee Wee Reese? Robin Yount?
about 1 month ago
jeter does not even belong on this list. he is so overrated it is not even funny. his gold gloves were a joke, he has recently been called the worst defensive player at any position. he was taken to most of those all-star games undeservedly when his manager/daddy joe torre took him over more deserving players. most of his career has been a shame put forth by the joe torre/yankees publicity team. what a shame that so many dullard have fallen for this farce.
from about 1 month ago
wow you guys never stop do you
if you look closely it says OF ALL TIME ok maybe i will spell it out for you
O F A L L T I M E
who gives a shit what he has RECENTLY been called that is RECENT u dumbass not of all time
the all star games were a FAN vote and if so many people think he is OVERATED then y did they vote for him
the gold gloves im guessing u never saw the man play
i dont even see how you came up with this conclusion
and by the way who would you say is better than him who isnt on the list since u know so much
from about 1 month ago
Paul, I'm going to try to reply to you without using language. You may not like Derek Jeter, but there is no denying he is one of the greatest shortstops of all-time. I am not a Derek Jeter fan personally, but it's hard to argue with his offensive numbers, his role as the Yankees' captain, and six World Series appearances and four rings.
As far as his defense... well he has won Gold Glove AND he has been called the worst defensive shortstop of all-time. So which is it? Well, I would lean toward the middle. I don't think he is a particularly good or bad fielder (although if forced to choose, I would pick bad).
I'm not quite sure what you don't like about Jeter. The Yankees hadn't won a World Series in almost 20 years when he joined the team, and they won his first year and four of his first five seasons. Obviously, Jeter is not the whole team, but he may have been the missing link.
I think by the time he is done his career, he will 3,000 hits, a .300 career batting average, and he will be regarded as one of the greatest shortstops of all-time by everyone... even you.
from 28 days ago
I have to agree with paul...Jeter's numbers at SS are at the bottom of both leagues now.
2-4 good seasons don't make a career, don't make "ALL_TIME" and certainly shouldn't make this list.
Being a Yankee and hitting in front of some great players mask reality here.
about 1 month ago
I love these kinds of lists, it takes some guts to put these lists out and I appreciate it.
Omar Vizquel in the top 10, I don't think so. Hughie Jennings from the 1900s should be on the list for sure, up there with A-Rod and Wagner. Jennings was part of those great Baltimore teams of the late 1890s with John McGraw and Joe Kelley, one of the best and smartest offensive teams in history, even had Dan Brouthers with them for a while. Jennings was also a good solid defensive Shortstop. If we had 1 season to take a Pennant, you can have Vizquel, I'll take Jennings. For sure. Jennings should be on the list.
I agree with A-Rod at #1, interesting he's playing Third Base. Jeter should be on the list, but not because of his defense. Jeter is a bad defensive Shortstop, not good. Now he's not terrible, but he's bad. Jeter looks great when he makes the play, but when he doesn't make the play he usually doesn't look bad because he has such a bad intuition for the ball that he looks like he should not have made the plays that he doesn't make. But he should have. Still his great offense, hustle and intangible things he brings should have him in the top 10, I agree with that. I can't think of another Shortstop that historians disagree on defensively like Jeter. Can you? Historians are usually near one end of the stick or the other with him defensively, interesting. Let's get this straight though, Torre didn't keep Jeter at Shortstop because he was a better defensive Shortstop than A-Rod, he moved A-Rod to Third Base because Jeter would have also been worse than A-Rod at Third Base. Jeter has a Second Base arm, no way he could play Third Base.
I love that you have Trammell on the list, don't know if he should be top 10, but he generally gets a bum wrap from historians and he was a great player for a Shortstop.
from about 1 month ago
Michael W,
Nice comment, disagree re Omar but to each his own.
One thing - I think defense played no part in Jeter staying at SS; I think Torre kept him there b/c he is Derek Jeter and the leader of the Yankees.
First, the best arm in the infield belongs to the SS on almost every team (even catchers, who need a quick release and accuracy more so than sheer strength/velocity). If Jeter's arm were a problem, 3rd would be better for him than short (again, ARod clearly has a better arm so if D was a factor, the move makes no sense). If you have the arm for short, you have the arm for 3B. Second, I agree re Jeter's instincts but that too makes him better suited to 3rd since you don't usually have to use baseball instinct, just self-preservation.
3rd's scarier, no doubt because you feel like righties might hit you with their follow through. But it's easier defensively than SS so I gotta believe it was just a matter of pampering egos.
I mean, you never hear of anyone hiding a bad glove at SS, do you? It's usually the opposite a la Vizquel or the Wizard (weak bats that make the lineup b/c of astronomical leather). But there have been quite a few brutal 3rd basemen who play b/c of their bat.
Totally agree though. ARod is a far superior glove than Jeter.
from about 1 month ago
Michael, check something. You don't put the weakest arm at second base. Second base has to take the relays from the outfield so you need a strong arm there. Doesn't always happen, but you don't want a weak arm at second. And if Jeter has a second base arm (Using your idea that that is where you would put your weakest arm) how has he patented the flying throw from short left field.
about 1 month ago
Nomar's career took a dive much too quickly for him to be included, in my opinion. Hey, it was his own fault...Rizzuto is only associated with great Yankee teams, otherwise he'd be just an average shortstop. Yount, like Banks, played the majority of his games at another position. I disagree that Jeter is a good defensive player - all of the sabermetric stats over the years points to him being below average. The gold glove system is a joke. Great article, you did a fine job overall.
from about 1 month ago
Rizzuto does have one more MVP award than Jeter...
about 1 month ago
Marcel,
Thank you for a great article and thanks for remembering guys like Honus Wagner and Arky Vaughn. But most of all, thank you for including Derek Jeter and not just for his offense. He has been and still is a very good shortstop. I recently wrote a piece to point out that his career fielding percentage is .975 and that there are more currents SS below him than above him. He makes plays no one else can get to and some of these knuckleheads who are arguing that he is at short because he has a weak arm.
about 1 month ago
It's hard to consider some of these players because a few can be fairly one sided. For the most part, nice list.
about 1 month ago
where is Derek Jeter?
about 1 month ago
Nice list. I'm with Bob; the toughest part of making a list of top shortstops is, because the position is so physically taxing, it's almost impossible to make a list of the greats at the position without having half the list playing a different position.
However, where's Luis Aparicio? Best, smoothest SS in the game in the 50s & early 60s... also, Aparicio is considered by many the man who opened the floodgates between Venezuela and major league middle infields; Ozzie Guillen & Vizquel give him a lot of credit for making that possible.
Also, on a lighter note, I would ask you to make sure the next time you make a list of Top Ten Shortstops to mention Shawon Dunston at #11...
about 1 month ago
Very Good job, I like these type of lists a lot. The guy that comes to mind for me, like Tab is Aparicio. If Mark Belanger could have hit at all he would deserve consideration.
about 1 month ago
The top three i wouldn't rank. You can't rank them by what you think will happen. remember 2000? ken griffey jr, everyone thought he was going to break the home run record by a lot? i would say wagner, ripken, and a-rod are too close to rank. Also a-rod shouldn't even be on short stop lists, put him on a 3b list. if you are basing it on predictions Hanley Ramirez has 1.
about 1 month ago
paul is an idiot.....jeter is a superb defensive shortstop...sounds like someone's either jealous or is a redsox fan...jeter has to go down in the top 5...he is a class act and is on track for 4000 hits....stop hating
from about 1 month ago
Good list Marcel. Joe, Jeter is a below average defensive shortstop as he has absolutely no range. Sure, he makes some great defensive plays, but he also isn't even close to several balls that he should get which doesn't make him look bad. Also, he has no chance to get 4,000 hits. He will end up with about 3300 hits, which is great but far less than 4000 as only Cobb and Rose have 4000 hits.
from about 1 month ago
Joe, Jeter is totally overrated. Yes, he is a good offensive player, but he is just a bad defensive player who gets way too much credit as evidence by his three gold glove awards. Overall, this was a good list and I completely agree with your top three.
from 28 days ago
joe...show me numbers that show Jeter as a defensive gem...he's a liability with leather.
about 1 month ago
A-Rod can't be #1, he's a 3B now, I don't know if he even belongs on the list, same with Ripken, you are listing best SHORTSTOPS of all time. I won't dispute they are both better than some of the players on that list but best SHORTSTOPS? No. You have to put Rizzuto and Reese on there in Ripken and A-Rod's place.
from about 1 month ago
I understand what you're saying TJ, but A Rod has played the majority of his career and was not just a great offensive player as a shortstop, but a very good defensive player as he won two Gold Gloves at shortstop. If he didn't have to move to third base, he most likely would have 5-6 gold gloves now.
from about 1 month ago
I agree with you, Marcel, that A-Rod should be ranked as a SS. He has played well over the majority of his career at shortstop. By the end of his career, it may be a toss-up, but as of now, he is a SS.
about 1 month ago
Fact of the matter is he's not a shortstop anymore though, don't tell me IF something went differently it would change, fact is it didn't so that's that.
about 1 month ago
jeter will get way over 3300 hits and at his age right now, he has as many hits as pete rose did...baring injury and when jeter decides to retire jeter gets atleast 3500 hits and most likely will end up somewhere close to 4000...probably 3800-3900 hits.....and i don't know how anyone can say jeter isn't a good fielder...ozie smith had a .978 fielding percentage to jeter's .975 and i'm not suggesting jeter is as good as ozie smith was in the field but he certainly is one of the better fielding shortstops in the league....he is an all around talent...jeter can hit for average, hit for some power when needed (averages 18 homerun's per year), drive in runs (hits 2nd in the lineup and averages 83 rbi's per year, also hit's close to 400 with bases loaded in his career and close to 400 and hits very well with RISP) steals bases, has a strong arm, and makes all routine play (is superb going to his right, not as fluent at going ot his left but still covers a lot more range than people think)....steps up his game in ocotber....i odn't see how he is overrated.....i think that people are either jealous that he has won so much or hate the yankees and his salary....DEREK JETER IS A REMARKABLE player and definatley shoudl be rated higher than ripken
from about 1 month ago
You say....
jeter can hit for average, hit for some power when needed (averages 18 homerun's per year),
Jeter averages 16 HRs a year. He has 206 home runs in 13 full seasons. That's 15.8 per year.
You say....
hits 2nd in the lineup and averages 83 rbi's per year
He averages 77 RBIs a year. He has 1002 RBIs in 13 full seasons.
As for fielding, if you think that fielding percentage is an important stat for rating a shortstop, you're hopeless. JETER HAS NO RANGE. His career range factor per 9 innings is 4.17 comapred to the league average of 4.58.
Where do you get this stuff from that Jeter "steps up his game in October?"
His career post season batting average is .309 compared to .316 in the regular season. His career post season OBP is .377 compared with .387 in the regular season. All in all he's no better in the post season than he is in the regular season, and mybe slightly worse. And if he did a little better than his 4 for 27 with 3 runs scored in the 2001 world series the Yankees probably would have beaten Arizona.
I'm really sick of all these Jeter "ball washers" out there. The guy is an excellent all around player, but he's nowhere near being the greatest shortstop of all time.
about 1 month ago
never put jeter name with ozie on fielding.
about 1 month ago
This list is HORRIBLE. A-Rod is not even close to being as good as Wagner, for one. Jeter doesn't belong anywhere on this list. Ranking him ahead of Vaughan is preposterous. Ozzie Smith played 19 years, but he did not play 19 years WITH THE CARDINALS, stupid. No way in hell that Vizquel belongs on this list ahead of people like Cronin and Appling and Boudreau and George Davis.
from 28 days ago
Sweet...
about 1 month ago
In your reply to a post you say that Jeter belongs on this list partially because of his "roll as the Yankee captain."
The facts are that the Yankees have done progressively worse every year since he was named captain in 2003. They have never won a world championship with Jeter as the captain.
2003 - lost in world series in 6 games.
2004 - The "captain" was in charge of the biggest post season collapse in sports history as they blew a three games to none lead against the Red Sox in the ALCS. The only time ANY team ever blew a three games to none lead in ANY post game series, under the "Captain's" watch. The team has not gotten back to the ALCS since this epic choke job.
2005 - Lost in 5 games in the first round.
2006 - Won division - Lost in 4 games in the first round.
2007 - Wild card - Lost in 4 games in the first round.
2008 - Did not make the playoffs.....ROFL
about 1 month ago
Here's the REAL top ten shortstops:
1 - Honus Wagner
2 - Alex Rodriguez
3 - Arky Vaughan
4 - Cal Ripken
5 - George Davis
6 - Robin Yount
7 - Ernie Banks
8 - Bill Dahlen
9 - Joe Cronin
10 - Luke Appling
from 28 days ago
An outstanding list...
about 1 month ago
I would definatley rate jeter higher than ripken...he may be the most overrated short stop of all time hitting only 276 for his career....also he is extremely lucky he never got hurt which is his most overrated stat....and BRUCEYYY.....jeter does average 82 RBI's per year and does average 18 homerun's per year...look up his stats on baseball reference so stop being a hater....there is no question jeter belongs in the top 5.....i'm not even a damn yankee fan...he's arguably baseball's most clutch player in the last 15 years....and when you mention he hits .309 with a .377 on base percentage in october, these are remarkable numbers considering in the playoffs, you face much better pitching every night than you do in the regular season....look at other great players like micky mantle who only hit 257 in the postseason and kirby puckett who also hit 309 for his career in the postseason....stop being a jealous yankee and jeter hater...BRUCEYY sounds like a red sox fan
from about 1 month ago
Joe, you are quoting Jeter's stats "per 162 games played," not "per year." Unless you think Jeter average 162 games per year, his averages are not what you say they are "per year."
Also, Joe, reseach has proven that there are no such things as "clutch hitters." Once a player has enough plate appearances in the clutch his numbers will revert to his normal numbers. Guys who are great in the clutch onbe year (like A-Rod in 2007) are bad the next year (A-Rod in 2008) all the time. If there really were "clutch hitters" this would not happen. It's all just a function of random chance over time.
Mickey Mantle didn't get to play weaker teams in the early rounds of the playoffs, Joe. All there was back then was the world series. He may have had a lower batting average than jeter, but he hit with much more power, and walked way more often. He was a much better all around offensive player in the world series than jeter has been in the post season.
Jeter's been a dismal failure as captain, as evidenced by what i posted earlier. The Yankees have gotten progressively worse every season since he was named captain in 2003. Jeter has never won a championship while he was captain.
about 1 month ago
Here's a poll I did after the 2001 season. 25 experts (including Bill James) each ranked the top 50 players of all time in order, and those lists were tabulated through a weighted point system. Here are the results of that poll:
Rank / Player Total Points - Mentions
1. Babe Ruth 1742 25
2. Honus Wagner 1626 25
3. Willie Mays 1614 25
4. Ted Williams 1510 25
5. Ty Cobb 1491 25
6. Walter Johnson 1467 25
7. Hank Aaron 1423 25
8. Barry Bonds 1341 25
9. Tris Speaker 1291 25
10. Stan Musial 1242 25
11. Lou Gehrig 1239 25
12. Mickey Mantle 1195 25
13. Rogers Hornsby 1140 25
14. Lefty Grove 1105 25
15. Mike Schmidt 1195 25
16. Cy Young 1062 25
17. Eddie Collins 1049 25
18. Frank Robinson 959 25
19. Christy Mathewson 940 25
20. Jimmie Foxx 937 25
21. Grover Alexander 924 24
22. Joe Morgan 879 23
23. Nap Lajoie 846 24
24. Roger Clemens 841 23
25. Joe DiMaggio 841 23
26. Rickey Henderson 812 22
27. Josh Gibson 786 18
28. Mel Ott 766 23
29. Tom Seaver 722 24
30. Eddie Mathews 699 24
31. Greg Maddux 697 23
32. Oscar Charleston 663 16
33. Johnny Bench 655 24
34. Satchel Paige 624 18
35. Warren Spahn 600 24
36. George Brett 595 24
37. Yogi Berra 491 19
38. Arky Vaughan 385 17
39. Bob Feller 359 16
40. Ken Griffey, Jr. 357 15
41. Bob Gibson 347 18
42. Mike Piazza 330 17
43. Mark McGwire 322 12
44. Kid Nichols 320 14
45. Cal Ripken 292 15
46. Jackie Robinson 267 12
47. Jeff Bagwell 260 13
48. Ed Delahanty 246 11
49. Carl Yastrzemski 234 12
50. Sandy Koufax 194 8
51. Alex Rodriguez 186 9
52. Johnny Mize 185 9
53. Steve Carlton 175 9
54. Hank Greenberg 168 8
55. Pete Rose 135 6
56. Reggie Jackson 131 8
57. Charlie Gehringer 130 7
58. Pop Lloyd 129 5
59. Buck Leonard 128 5
60. Joe Jackson 125 5
61. Roberto Clemente 114 5
62. Roy Campanella 111 6
63. Randy Johnson 100 5
64. Carl Hubbell 94 5
65. Al Kaline 90 6
66. Martin Dihigo 86 2
67. Duke Snider 82 5
68. Cap Anson 82 3
69. Wade Boggs 80 5
70. Mickey Cochrane 79 4
71. Robin Yount 77 4
72. Turkey Steames 75 3
73. Tony Gwynn 70 4
74. Dan Brouthers 70 3
75. Whitey Ford 68 4
76. Eddie Murray 66 3
77. King Kelly 60 2
78. Tim Keefe 58 3
79. Bid McPhee 54 2
80. Willie McCovey 53 3
81. George Davis 51 3
82. Pedro Martinez 45 3
83. Buck Ewing 45 2
84. Smokey Joe Williams 44 3
85. Mule Suttles 39 2
85. John Clarkson 37 2
87. Frank Thomas 37 2
88. Tim Raines 35 2
89. Ozzie Smith 33 2
90. Willie Stargell 29 2
91. Roberto Alomar 28 2
Remember, this was done after the 2001 season, so it's before Jeter and A-Rod had been playing very long. Here's the top shortstops from this poll:
1 - Honus Wagner (#2 overall)
2 - Arky Vaughan (#38 overall)
3 - Cal Ripken (#45 overall)
4 - Alex Rodriguez (#51 overall)
5 - Pop Lloyd (#58 overall)
6 - Robin Yount (#71 overall)
7 - George Davis (#81 overall)
8 - Ozzie Smith (#89 overall)
Marcel, do you know who Pop Lloyd is?
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