by Will-He-M
[Editor's Note: This list was updated on August 8, after deciding to switch Stan Musial to left field]
Unlike catchers, where you can easily pick and choose a Top Ten that nobody would have too many problems with, First Base is a tough position to judge because that's where the worst defender on the team is supposed to play. Yet, while looking up my Top Ten candidates, I found some things quite surprising. For instance, I hadn't realized just how good a defender Mark McGwire really was.
Now, a lot of the guys I researched came from the early days of baseball and I fully understand that their defensive numbers might be skewed. They faced many more ground balls then the guys of the last 75 years, which would cause them to have more errors then a guy like McGwire or Todd Helton.
This list was very hard to put together with so many factors involved. I couldn't go by the offensive numbers alone as there have been many great offensive first basemen in history. And since nobody alive today has actually seen someone like Cap Anson play I have to go by the numbers alone in certain cases, but I am factoring the era into my process.
10. Johnny "The Big Cat" Mize (St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, New York Yankees 1930-1953)1884 GP, 6443 AB, 1118 R, 2011 H, 367 D, 83 T, 359 HR, 1337 RBI, 28 SB, .312 AVG, .992 FPCT
NL Batting Crown Winner (1939)
5x World Series Champion (1949-1953)
10x All-Star (1937, 1939-1942, 1946-1949, 1953)
Hall of Fame 1981
9. Harry Stovey (Worcester Ruby Legs, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Grooms 1880-1893)1486 GP, 6138 AB, 1492 R, 1771 H, 347 D, 174 T, 122 HR, 908 RBI, 509 SB, .289 AVG, .961 FPCT
2x NL Home Run Crown Winner (1880, 1891)
3x AA Home Run Crown Winner (1883, 1885, 1889)
AA RBI Crown Winner (1889)
8. "Hammerin" Hank Greenberg (Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates 1930-1947)
1394 GP, 5193 AB, 1051 R, 1628 H, 379 D, 71 T, 331 HR, 1296 RBI, 58 SB, .313 AVG, .991 FPCT
2x AL MVP (1935, 1940)
2x World Series Champion (1935, 1945)
5x All-Star (1937-1940, 1945)
Hall of Fame 1956
7. "Prince" Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals 2001-present)
1246 GP, 4602 AB, 954 R, 1540 H, 343 D, 13 T, 322 HR, 986 RBI, 45 SB, .335 AVG, .994 FPCT
2001 NL Rookie of the Year
2x NL MVP (2005, 2008)
Gold Glove Award Winner (2006)
4x Silver Slugger Award Winner (2001, 2003, 2004, 2008)
World Series Champion (2008)
8x All-Star (2001, 2003-2009)
6. Jeff "BagPipes" Bagwell (Houston Astros 1991-2005)
2150 GP, 7797 AB, 1517 R, 2314 H, 488 D, 32 T, 449 HR, 1529 RBI, 202 SB, .297 AVG, .993 PFCT
1991 NL Rookie of the Year
1994 NL MVP
Gold Glove Award Winner (1994)
3x Silver Slugger Award winner (1994, 1997, 1999)
4x All-Star (1994, 1996, 1997, 1999)
5. Mark "Big Mac" McGwire (Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Cardinals 1986-2001)
1874 GP, 6187 AB, 1167 R, 1626 H, 252 D, 6 T, 583 HR, 1414 RBI, 12 SB, .263 AVG, .993 FPCT
1987 Rookie of the Year
1998 Broke single season HR record
Gold Glove Award Winner (1990)
3x Silver Slugger Award Winner (1992, 1996, 1998)
World Series Champion (1989)
12x All-Star (1987-1992, 1995-2000)
4. "Big" Dan Brouthers (Troy Trojans, Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, Boston Beaneaters, Boston Reds, Brooklyn Grooms, Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants 1879-1904)1673 GP, 6711 AB, 2296 H, 460 D, 205 T, 106 HR, 1296 RBI, 256 SB, .342 AVG, .971 FPCT
5x NL Batting Crown Winner (1882, 1883, 1889, 1891, 1892)
2x NL Home Run Crown Winner (1881, 1886)
2x NL RBI Crown Winner (1883, 1892)
Hall of Fame 1945
3. Jimmie "Beast" Foxx (Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies 1925-1945)
2317 GP, 8134 AB, 1751 R, 2646 H, 458 D, 125 T, 534 HR, 1922 RBI, 87 SB, .325 AVG, .992 FPCT
3x AL MVP (1932, 1933, 1938)
2x World Series Champion (1929, 1930)
9x All-Star (1933-1941)
Hall of Fame 1951
2. Cap "Pop" Anson (Rockford Forest Citys, Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago Cubs 1871-1897)2523 GP, 10277 AB, 1996 R, 3418 H, 581 D, 142 T, 97 HR, 2076 RBI, 276 SB, .333 AVG, .972 FPCT
2x NL Batting Crown Winner (1881, 1888)
8x NL RBI Crown Winner (1880-1882, 1884-1886, 1888, 1891)
Hall of Fame 1939
1. Lou "The Iron Horse" Gehrig (New York Yankees 1923-1939)
2164 GP, 8001 AB, 1888 R, 2721 H, 534 D, 163 T, 493 HR, 1995 RBI, 102 SB, .340 AVG, .991 FPCT
2x AL MVP (1927, 1936)
6x World Series Champion (1927, 1928, 1932, 1936-1938)
7x All-Star (1933-1939)
Hall of Fame 1939
[Editor's Note: This list was originally published on April 26th, 2009 with Stan Musial listed as the second-ranked first baseman. It has since come to the author's attention that Musial was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a left fielder, prompting his removal from this list]
