MLB History: Top 25 first basemen in MLB History
Continuing our series on MLB History, today we look at the top 25 first basemen in the history of baseball.
We looked at the top 15 right-handed pitchers in MLB history and the top 10 catchers in baseball history. Now it’s time to look at the top 25 first baseman in baseball history. Why 25? Because it was too difficult to cut down to 15. Actually, cutting down to 25 was difficult because there have been so many first basemen who were very close in value.
First base is one of the positions where the big bats reside. For the most part, these are the run-producers, the home run hitters, the middle-of-the-lineup guys. As you’d expect, you’ll find Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx from years ago on this list, along with more than one first baseman who is still playing today.
Of course, some people will disagree. That’s what all-time lists are for. Some will wonder why so-and-so didn’t even make the top 25. That’s understandable. The guys in the back end of this list tend to be hard to distinguish. It’s a list that might be slightly different from day to day.
There was method to the madness. Two versions of Wins Above Replacement (WAR) were used, those from Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference, but they weren’t the sole determining factor.
Offense was considered slightly more than defense because offense is considered more accurately measured. Players who starred in the 19th century were knocked down a touch because the game was so different back then.
Some first basemen on this list may have played more games at a different position, but if they played a significant number of games at first base, they were included. In the end, 25 men made the cut and they span pretty much the entire history of baseball. Let’s look a the 25 greatest first baseman in MLB history.