The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #45 Jim Palmer

Winding up at #45 is Orioles ace, Jim Palmer. Prior to the 19-year-old Palmer showing up in Baltimore in 1965, the Orioles had won zero world titles and made one World Series appearance. During his 19 seasons with the O’s, Palmer helped lead them to three World Series titles in six appearances. Palmer’s shutout of Sandy Koufax and the defending World Series champion Dodgers in Game 2 of the 1966 World Series got the ball rolling on Baltimore’s dynasty. Palmer would play an integral part in Baltimore’s subsequent playoff success. His eight postseason wins are the most in franchise history and his 2.61 postseason ERA is the 4th best all-time among pitchers with at least 120 career postseason innings. Palmer was even better in the regular season. He won the AL Cy Young in 1973, 1975, and 1976 and finished runner-up in 1977 and 1982 on his way to eight top-5 finishes.  Palmer’s eight 20-win seasons are the most by any pitcher since 1955 and he has the most 290-inning seasons since 1970. Palmer is one of only four pitchers since 1935 with 265 career wins and a .638 winning percentage.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #46 Steve Carlton

Taking the mound at #46 is “Lefty” Steve Carlton. Carlton’s four Cy Young awards are the third most in history, and for the first 40 years the award existed no pitcher won more of them. Carlton is the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history with at least 325 wins, 5,000 innings, and 4,000 strikeouts. No pitcher since 1930 has more seasons of at least 23 wins (Lefty Grove, Robin Roberts, and Bob Feller also have four) and no pitcher since 1950 has more 230-inning seasons (Seaver also has 15). Carlton’s 16-consecutive seasons of at least 10 complete games are the most since 1948. He’s 4th on the all-time strikeout list, 9th in innings, and 11th in wins. Carlton helped the Cardinals reach two World Series including a World Series title in 1967. He also led the Phillies to two World Series appearances and the 1980 World Series title in which he pitched a masterpiece in game six to close out the series.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #47 Honus Wagner

Sliding in at #46 on the list is SpongeBob’s favorite baseball player, “The Flying Dutchman” Honus Wagner. Wagner was the original “greatest of all time” when Major League Baseball was officially formed in 1903. While his reign at the top was usurped by Ty Cobb by 1910, Wagner’s imprint on the sport is still felt today as his 1909 T206 baseball card has been the most sought after on the market for over a century. Few players in history appear in baseball record books as often as Wagner.  He’s third all-time in triples, 8th in hits, and 10th in doubles and stolen bases. Among shortstops, he’s the all-time leader in hits, doubles, triples, stolen bases, WAR, batting average, and OPS+. Wagner led the league in WAR for position players 11 times, batting average and OPS eight times, doubles, extra-base hits, and runs created seven times, total bases and slugging % six times, on-base percentage and RBIs four times, triples three times, and hits and runs twice. Wagner was the star of the 1909 World Series as he led the Pirates to the title over the Tigers, throwing one last salvo at Cobb before the changing of the guard.