Terrorizing the list at #25 is “The Beast” Jimmie Foxx. Babe Ruth deservedly gets credit for being the king of the 20^th century, but Foxx wasn’t far off. A quick glance at his placement on the all-time statistical leaderboard reveals a hitter worthy of his nickname. Foxx is 4th all-time in slugging %, 5th in OPS, and 10th in on-base percentage and RBIs. It’s obvious we’re dealing with a serious player here. A deeper look brings Foxx’s explosive bat even more into focus. Foxx and Ruth are the only two players in history with 500 home runs, 1,900 RBIs, and a .325 batting average. In 1932, Foxx produced the only season in history with at least 151 runs, 169 RBIs, 58 home runs, and 213 hits.  In 1938, he produced the only season in history with at least 50 home runs, 175 RBIs, and a .462 on-base percentage. Foxx is the only player in history to have two seasons with at least 48 home runs, 163 RBIs, and 204 hits. His 12 consecutive seasons of at least 30 home runs and 105 RBIs are the most all-time and his three seasons of at least 48 home runs and 163 RBIs are the most all-time. His 11 seasons of 115 RBIs are tied for most in history with Lou Gehrig and his 4 seasons with at least 156 RBIs are also second to Gehrig. Foxx’s three seasons with at least 163 RBIs are second behind Gehrig, and his two seasons with at least 169 RBIs are the second-most behind, who else, Lou Gehrig. Foxx’s bat was equally destructive in the postseason as he led the Philadelphia A’s to three consecutive World Series appearances including back-to-back titles in 1929 and 1930 in which he hit .341 with a .683 slugging percentage across 44 plate appearances.

Dazzling the list at #26 is “The Franchise” Tom Seaver. Seaver famously led the Miracle Mets—a team that had not finished better than 9th in the National League in its seven seasons of existence—to the 1969 World Series Championship. His capstone performance was a 10-inning complete-game victory over the Orioles in Game 4, giving the Mets a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Seaver’s ’69 regular season was largely responsible for the Mets making the playoffs in the first place as he went 25-7, leading the league in wins while also winning the NL Cy Young and finishing runner up in the MVP race. While 1969 was a stellar year for him, Terrific Tom’s career was just getting started on the superlatives. He would follow up his first Cy Young with two more in 1973 and 1975 on his way to eight top-5 finishes. Only Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, and Randy Johnson have more. Seaver is 6th all-time in strikeouts and 7th all-time in shutouts and WAR. He’s the only pitcher in history with at least 310 wins and fewer than 206 losses, 3,500 strikeouts, and 200 complete games. He’s the only pitcher in history with 3,500 strikeouts, fewer than 4,000 hits allowed, and an ERA under 3.00. He’s the only pitcher in history with more than 60 shutouts, 230 complete games, and 3,600 strikeouts.  He’s the only pitcher since 1915 with 300 career wins and an ERA under 3.00. His nine consecutive 200-strikeout seasons are the most in history, and he joins Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux as only three pitchers since 1914 with at least a 127 career ERA+ over 4,200 innings.