The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #42 Mel Ott

Powering in at #42 is New York Giants Hall of Famer Mel Ott. The diminutive Ott took his 5’9, 170-pound frame and turned it into a run-producing machine. Although the people responsible for giving him the nickname “Master Melvin” should be ashamed, there was nothing shameful about Ott’s career totals. Over 22 seasons with the Giants, Ott surpassed 500 home runs, 1,850 RBIs and runs, and did so with a .304 batting average, .414 on-base percentage, and a 155 OPS+. Ott is the only player in history with 2,800 hits and 1,700 walks with fewer than 900 strikeouts, and he’s the only player in history with 500 home runs and 1,850 RBIs with fewer than 900 strikeouts. Ott and Babe Ruth are the only players in history to lead the league in home runs and walks at least six times each. Ott’s streak of 18 consecutive seasons with an OPS+ of at least 130 is just one behind Hank Aaron for the all-time record. Ott’s 10th-inning home run against the Washington Senators in Game 5 of the 1933 World Series clinched the championship for the Giants. Ott led all players in the series in hits, runs, RBIs, home runs, and walks.  

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #43 Cy Young

Coming at #43 is the namesake of Major League Baseball’s pinnacle award for pitching, Cy Young. Young is pretty much the major league leader in every pitching category, holding the top spots in career wins, losses, games started, complete games, innings, hits allowed, and earned runs allowed. His 7,356 career innings are over 1,400 more than any other pitcher in history. Behind Young’s massive volume is one of the most frugal pitchers ever when it comes to issuing walks. Young led the league in BB/9 a record 14 times, five more than any other pitcher. He led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio a record 11 times and no other pitcher led the league in WHIP and shutouts more often. Young’s 16 20-win seasons are the most in history and his streak of 14 consecutive seasons of 20-wins is the longest in history. Young also led the Boston Americans—soon to be Boston Red Sox—to victory in 1903 in the first-ever World Series between the American League and the National League.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #44 Tris Speaker

Doubling onto the last at #44 is The Gray Eagle Tris Speaker. Speaker’s 792 career doubles make him baseball’s king of the two-bagger. He led the league in doubles a record eight times and holds the record for 30, 40, and 50-double seasons. Few players in history can equal Speaker’s lofty place in the record books where he stands 5th all-time in hits, 6th in batting average and triples, 9th in WAR, and 11th in on-base percentage. He has the most 145-hit seasons and the most consecutive 145-hit seasons in history. He’s the only player in history with at least 1,300 career walks and fewer than 400 strikeouts. He’s the only player in history with 3,000 career hits and 400 stolen bases with fewer than 400 strikeouts. He’s the only player in history with 3,500 hits and 750 doubles, and he’s the only player in history with 3,500 hits and 300 sacrifice hits. No player in MLB history has more seasons with both a .370 batting average and a .460 on-base percentage than Speaker’s six (Babe Ruth also has six). Speaker played in three World Series leading his team to victory on all three occasions.