Month: June 2021

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #33 Ken Griffey Jr.

Swinging in at #33 is “the Kid” Ken Griffey Jr. At 19 years old in the spring of 1989, Griffey was arguably baseball’s most hyped phenom ever. By the summer, he was a superstar. In just 455 at-bats, Griffey produced the first and only 60-RBI, 60-run, 15-home run, and 15 stolen base-season by a teenager. In 1993, he produced the first and only 45-home run, 100-RBI, 100-run, and 17 SB-season by a 23-year-old. Griffey would be robbed of full seasons in 1994 and 1995 by a strike and injuries but his per-game averages remained elite setting up a 1996 season that would be the start of a stretch unparalleled in baseball history. From 1996 to 1998, Griffey became the first and only player in history with three consecutive seasons of 120 runs, 49 home runs, and 140 RBIs. From 1996 to 1999, he became the only player in history with four consecutive seasons of 120 runs, 48 home runs, and 134 RBIs. There have only been nine seasons in history with 48 home runs, 134 RBIs, 120 runs, and 15 stolen bases, and Griffey has four of them. By the age of 30, Griffey was well on his way to breaking Hank Aaron’s all-time home run record. Unfortunately, Griffey’s 30s would be plagued by injuries as he only managed to reach 600 plate appearances just once in his final 10 seasons. As disappointing as it was for fans to see injuries prevent Griffey from making a run at Aaron’s record, his career production is still among the most impressive in history. He’s 7th all-time in home runs and 8th all-time in extra-base hits and intentional walks.    

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #34 Frank Robinson

Hittin’ the list at #34 is Frank Robinson. Few players in history were more productive for a longer period of time than Robinson. Despite playing in an era dominated by pitching, Robinson ranks among the top-25 all-time in OPS+, home runs, RBIs, runs, total bases, walks, runs created, extra-base hits, WAR, and intentional walks. Robinson was a fixture on league leaderboards finishing in the top-10 in slugging % 17 times, on-base % 16 times, and home runs 15 times.  Robinson won the NL MVP in 1961 and the AL MVP in 1966, becoming the only player in history to be named MVP in both leagues. He finished in the top-10 of MVP voting 10 times and received MVP votes in 15 seasons. Robinson played in five World Series while winning two with the Orioles. In Game 4 of the 1966 World Series, he hit the series-clinching home run which earned him the series MVP and made him the only player in history with multiple league MVPs, a World Series MVP, and an all-star game MVP.