The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #14 Clayton Kershaw

Four-seaming in at #14 is Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. How Kershaw finishes his career remains to be seen, but nobody in history has had a better career through the age-33. Even at a position that sees the historical leaderboard dominated by pitchers from 25, 50, and even a hundred years ago, Kershaw stands out. In the pinnacle pitching statistic in baseball—ERA+—Kershaw ranks number one in baseball history. He is second all time in H/9, third in winning %, fourth in WHIP, 10th in strikeouts-to-walks ratio, and 12th in K/9. He has won three Cy Young Awards and an NL MVP, joining Sandy Koufax and Roger Clemens as the only three pitchers to accomplish that feat. Kersh’s seven consecutive seasons in the top-5 of the Cy Young voting is tied for the longest streak in history (Max Scherzer and Greg Maddux). He has led the league in WHIP four consecutive seasons which is tied for the longest streak ever (with Carl Hubbell, Sandy Koufax, and Johan Santana.) He joins Koufax as the only two pitchers in history to lead the league in ERA and WHIP for four consecutive seasons. Kershaw produced eight consecutive seasons with lower than a 2.74 ERA and lower than a 1.05 WHIP which is the most by a starting pitcher in history. His six seasons of less than a 2.32 ERA and less than a .95 WHIP are the most in history by a starting pitcher and his streak of five consecutive seasons below those marks is the longest in history. It took some time for the payoff but Kershaw’s postseason success eventually came and his overall postseason numbers are stellar. Among pitchers with at least 110 postseason innings, Kershaw’s 1.07 WHIP is the fourth-best in history, and no pitcher ever has more postseason strikeouts. Kersh has led the Dodgers to three World Series appearances and went 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA and a .857 WHIP in LA’s World Series win in 2020.

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: #15 Mike Trout

Swimming in at #15 is Angels Outfielder Mike Trout. Trout is smack dab in the middle of his prime so his career numbers are TBD, but what he was able to accomplish by the age of 29 is unrivaled in baseball history.  Trout holds the record with nine consecutive seasons in the top-5 of the MVP voting. He’s the only player in history with three MVPs and two all-star game MVPs. He’s also tied for 2nd with seven top-2 finishes in MVP voting (Musial and Pujols). Trout is tied for 5th all-time in OPS+, 8th in OPS, 9th in slugging %, and he has the 2nd highest OPS+ since 1960. Trout’s worst season in terms of OPS+ in which he had at least 250 plate appearances is 169. For perspective, that is better than Ty Cobb’s career OPS+ and would be the 10th best career mark in history. In just eight non-COVID seasons as an everyday player, Trout has led the league in OPS+ six times, runs and on-base percentage four times, and slugging percentage and walks three times.