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Best All-Time Left Fielders in MLB history

By Bobby Mueller

(Original Caption) Oakland, Calif.: Oakland A's Ricky Henderson races toward the all-time Major League stolen base record, 118 in one season, held by Lou Brock. Notching his 109th against the California Angels, he leads off 1st base (Rod Carew 1b); (B) sprints away (pitcher Ken Forsch turns); (C) dives toward 2nd (Tim Foli waits to throw with Bobby Grich back up); (D) slides under Foli; (E) beats Foli's tag; and (F) gets the safe sign.
(Original Caption) Oakland, Calif.: Oakland A's Ricky Henderson races toward the all-time Major League stolen base record, 118 in one season, held by Lou Brock. Notching his 109th against the California Angels, he leads off 1st base (Rod Carew 1b); (B) sprints away (pitcher Ken Forsch turns); (C) dives toward 2nd (Tim Foli waits to throw with Bobby Grich back up); (D) slides under Foli; (E) beats Foli's tag; and (F) gets the safe sign. /
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Best All-Time left fielders. Ralph Kiner (#20)

"“I think one of the most difficult things for anyone who’s played baseball is to accept the fact that maybe the players today are playing just as well as ever.”—Ralph Kiner"

Many baseball plans knew Ralph Kiner as the longtime announcer for the New York Mets. He was particularly well known for some of the funny things he said on air, like, “Solo homers usually come with no one on base” and “All the Mets’ road wins against Los Angeles this year have been at Dodger Stadium.”

Long before he entered the broadcast booth, Kiner was one of the most prolific sluggers in baseball in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He grew up in Alhambra, California, where he was able to play baseball year round in beautiful weather. Shortly after graduating from high school, he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Kiner played three minor league seasons before serving in the military during World War II. He returned to baseball in 1946 and immediately led the National League in home runs.

He also led the league in strikeouts, with 109, but would cut down on his strikeouts over the rest of his career. When he retired, he had 262 more walks than strikeouts in his career.

After leading the league with just 23 home runs in 1946, Kiner exploded for 51 homers in 1947, again leading the league. This would be a regular occurrence. Kiner led the NL in home runs in each of his first seven major league seasons. Twice he hit more than 50 and five times he hit more than 40.

He wasn’t just a home run hitter, though. He also had six straight seasons with 100 or more walks and finished his career with a .398 OBP and .548 slugging percentage.

He led the league in on-base percentage once and slugging percentage three times. Despite playing on terrible Pittsburgh Pirates teams, Kiner finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting four times.

Off the field, Kiner lived at home with his mother during his first few major league seasons, but would soon build a house of his own in Palm Springs, California. The city was becoming a hotbed for golf and tennis among the Hollywood crowd.

Kiner lived near Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. He dated beautiful movie stars before marrying one of the top tennis players in the country, Nancy Chaffee.

In 1950, the Pirates brought on Branch Rickey to be their general manager. Rickey was not a big Ralph Kiner fan. He didn’t think Kiner deserved the salary he made, so he worked behind the scenes to get the Pirates owner, John Galbreath, to trade Kiner. He was successful. Kiner was dealt to the Cubs in the middle of the 1953 season.

Kiner’s 1953 season was still good despite the mid-season trade. He finished with 35 home runs and 116 RBI and was nearly a 3 WAR player. That was a significant drop from his peak, though, when he had three 8 WAR seasons in five years from 1947 to 1951.

Kiner followed up his 1953 season with a 2.9 WAR season in 1954, but his home run total dropped to 22, the lowest of his career. The Cubs traded him to Cleveland after the season and Kiner played one last year in the big leagues. He was still an above-average hitter, but only played 113 games and was terrible defensively.

Despite his short career (just 10 seasons), Kiner made the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975, his 15th year on the ballot. He only hit 369 career home runs, but his rate of one home run every 17 plate appearances is eighth-best among hitters with 300 or more home runs in their career.

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