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Best All-Time Left Fielders in MLB history

ByBobMueller|
(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
(Original Caption) Wheat, hard hitting left fielder of the Brooklyn Nationals, whose great playing has been an important factor in the winning streak of the Dodgers.

Best All-Time Left fielders Zack Wheat (#15)

"“The fellows that I played with encouraged me to bunt and beat the ball out. I was anxious to make good and did as I was told. When I came to Brooklyn, I adopted an altogether different style of hitting. I stood flat-footed at the plate and slugged. That was my natural style.”—Zack Wheat"

To put Zack Wheat in historical perspective, he was born in Missouri just six years after Jesse James had been murdered by a member of his gang. It was still a wild frontier and Wheat was part Cherokee. In 1917, Baseball Magazine wrote about this, saying, “The lithe muscles, the panther-like motions of the Indian are his by divine right.”

Wheat’s heritage would come up again when he made it to the big leagues with Brooklyn. One newspaper described Wheat this way: “He is an Indian, but you would hardly guess it except from his dark complexion. He is a very fine fellow and a quiet and refined gentleman.”

In the minor leagues, Wheat was known more for his defense than his bat. As he acknowledged in the quote above, he went away from the bunting and contact style of hitting when he got to Brooklyn. He hit .284/.341/.403 in his first full season, with 36 doubles and 15 triples.

The first dozen years of Wheat’s career came during the Deadball Era and his statistics show how hard it was to hit home runs during that time. He regularly hit more triples than home runs. When the lively ball arrived in 1920, Wheat was already 32 years old but had three seasons with 14 home runs and a career-high 16 home runs in his 30s.

In 1925, Wheat had his last good season. He hit .359/.403/.541, with 125 runs scored, 103 RBI, 42 doubles, 14 triples and 14 home runs. He was 37 years old. Despite having such a good season, the end was near. He played one final season with Brooklyn, then finished out his career with one year in Philadelphia, playing for the Athletics.

At the time he retired, Wheat was 10th on the all-time list for career hits, with 2884. His name can be found all over the leaderboard for the Dodgers, including the top spot in games played, hits, doubles, triples and total bases.

Despite his impressive career, Wheat peaked with 23 percent of the vote on the BBWAA ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He fared better with the Veterans Committee when he was selected for induction in 1959. In 1981, Wheat was one of the players included in the book The 100 Greatest Players of All Time, written by Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig.

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