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MLB All-Decade Team 1990s: Who Should Really Make The List?

By Max Neibaur

OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 11: Fans hold up signs in protest of the baseball strike prior to the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on August 11, 1994 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 11: Fans hold up signs in protest of the baseball strike prior to the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on August 11, 1994 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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MLB all-decade team
COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 27: Frannk Thomas  (Photo by Heather Ainsworth/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

MLB All-Decade Team 1990s 1st Base – Frank “Big Hurt” Thomas

Fans can choose to analyze the choice of best first baseman from multiple perspectives.

Typically, first base has been a position a coach gets power from in the lineup. During the 1990s, Mark McGwire fills that desire. He broke Roger Maris’s single-season home run record when he famously jacked 70 in 1998.

Furthermore, Big Mac finished six seasons in the 1990s with an OPS over 1.000. Remarkable.

But the modern fan looks beyond these numbers to analyze players. Jeff Bagwell not only had power, he finished 4 seasons over 1.000 in OPS during the 1990s, and he could run and play defense as well.

Affectionately known as “Bags,” Bagwell played in all 162 games for the Houston Astros four times during the 1990s. He also won a Gold Glove in 1994 and accumulated double-digit steals in all but his rookie year during the 1990s. He stole over 30 in 1997 and 1999.

Although Bagwell is the most toolsy first baseman during the 1990s, Frank Thomas is the guy I want in my lineup.

Bagwell had a better glove than Thomas, but he was not an expert defensive first baseman. And, even though Bagwell’s base running was spectacular, a deeper look at the stats shows Thomas was superior at the plate.

The Big Hurt won back-to-back MVPs in 1993-94. Like McGwire, he earned an OPS over 1.000 six times during the 1990s. Thomas, however, made more contact with the bat. He struck out over 100 times just once (his first full season) during the decade.

At the same time, Thomas took his walks. He led the league in OBP four times during the 1990s. Plus, the Big Hurt lived up to his nickname by slugging well over .500 every year but 1998-99.

Thomas had a lesser dWAR than Bagwell, but he had a good fielding percentage, which tells us he made the easy plays.

The Big Hurt’s power/on-base combo makes him my pick for the MLB All-Decade Team 1990s at first base.

A more well-rounded player usually gets the nod in these close calls, but the others in the conversation at first base did not control games defensively like Pudge did from the catcher’s position.

Looking back, Frank Thomas was the best during this period in baseball.

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