The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #12 Albert Pujols

Operating at #12 on the list is “The Machine” Albert Pujols. Pujols earned his nickname by consistently producing huge stat lines, year after year, for close to 15 seasons. His 12 seasons of at least 170 hits and 30 home runs are two more than anyone else in history and his 12 consecutive seasons of at least 170 hits and 30 home runs are four more than any other player. Pujols’ place in history is easy to see when considering his status on the all-time leaderboards. He’s #3 on the all-time RBIs, #5 in home runs, extra-base hits, doubles, and total bases, and #15 in hits and runs. He joins Hank Aaron and Willie Mays as the only three players in history with at least 660 career home runs and 3,200 hits. He’s the only player in history with at least 660 career home runs and 660 doubles. Pujols joins Aaron and Babe Ruth as the only three players in history with 600 home runs and 2,100 RBIs. Pujols and Aaron as the only two players in history with 3,000 hits, 600 home runs, and 2,100 RBIs. Demonstrating just how feared Pujols was across MLB, he was intentionally walked 313 times in his career which is the second-most all-time. Only Barry Bonds received more MVP recognition than Pujols as he garnered a remarkable 10 top-5 MVP finishes on his way to three MVPs and four second-place finishes. His seven top-2 finishes are tied for the second-most in history (Trout and Musial). Not to be outdone in the playoffs, Pujols is on the shortlist of the greatest postseason hitters of all time. He led the Cardinals to two World Series titles and three appearances. He was named the 2004 NLCS MVP in one of the most dominant performances in a postseason series ever. He went 14 for 28 with four home runs and nine RBIs in St. Louis’s thrilling seven-game victory over Houston. His 1.030 career postseason OPS is #1 all-time (min. 170 plate appearances). His name is stamped all over the postseason leaderboard as he is in the top-10 in postseason hits, runs, home runs, RBIs, walks, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #13 Ty Cobb

Spiking in at #13 is “The Georgia Peach” Ty Cobb. Cobb is a bygone of the deadball era where hitters stubbornly emphasized contact over power even after Babe Ruth started demonstrating the virtue of power in 1918. Cobb himself railed against the home run reportedly remarking that anyone could hit a home run if they tried. While Cobb and his contemporaries were complicit in putting the dead in deadball, there is no doubt he was the king, ruler, and emporer of pre-1920s baseball. Nobody in baseball history dominated an era like Cobb did. He led the league in OPS+ 12 times, batting average 11 times, and hits eight times. All are the most or tied for the most in history. He led the league in OPS+ nine consecutive seasons which is the most all-time. He led the league in slugging percentage eight times, on base percentage seven times, and stolen bases six times, all are among the top-5 in history. Cobb’s .366 career batting average is #1 all-time, eight points ahead of anyone else. He’s #1 all-time in non-home run extra-base hits. He’s #2 in runs, hits, triples, and offensive WAR. He’s in the top ten in on-base percentage, RBIs, doubles, total bases, and runs created. There are too many one-of-a-kind accomplishments on Cobb’s resume to name them all but some stand out above the rest. He’s the only player in history with 2,200 runs, 1,900 RBIs, and 800 stolen bases. He’s the only player in history with 4,000 hits and fewer than 700 strikeouts. He’s the only player ever with 4,000 hits and 2,000 runs. Cobb had seven seasons with a .370 batting average and at least 50 stolen bases. No other player has more than two. Cobb had 217 more career stolen bases than strikeouts. To put that in perspective, Max Carey is the only other player in history with more stolen bases than strikeouts and his margin is 43. Cobb stole home 54 times. No other player did it more than 33 times. He’s the only player in MLB history to hit over .408 twice, and he’s the only player in history with an on-base percentage of at least .450 in seven consecutive seasons.

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.