The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #17 Rogers Hornsby

Lighting up the list at #17 is Rogers Hornsby. While Babe Ruth was putting on a nightly fireworks display in the American League in the roarin’ 20s, The Rajah was lighting up the scoreboard in the National League. Although Hornsby’s numbers aren’t quite at the Babe’s level, Hornsby’s frequency atop the league leaderboard is unprecedented. No player led the league in offensive WAR and OPS+ more often. He also led the league in Baseball Reference’s adjusted runs, adjusted batting wins, and offensive win percentage more than any other player in history. Hornsby’s .358 career batting average is the second-highest of all-time and his 175 OPS+ is the 5th highest in history. Hornsby led the league in on-base percentage and slugging percentage nine times, runs created eight times, and batting average and total bases seven times. He is one of only five players in history with at least a .434 on-base percentage and a .577 slugging percentage, and the company he shares that with—Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, and Lou Gehrig—speaks for itself. In 1922, Rajah produced the only season in history with a .400 batting average and 450 total bases. Hornsby won the 1925 and 1929 NL MVPs and should’ve won in 1924 when he produced the only season ever with at least a .424 batting average and a .507 on-base percentage (min. of 100 at-bats). He also became the only player since Major League Baseball formed in 1903 to lead the league in runs, doubles, home runs, RBIs, hits, on-base percentage, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS+, and total bases in the same season. Hornsby won the Triple Crown in 1922 and 1925 joining Ted Williams as the only two-time triple crown winners.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #18 Mickey Mantle

Bursting onto the list at #18 is Yankee dynamo Mickey Mantle. Mantle’s career regular-season totals are somewhat muted by injuries, but his combination of per-game performance and playoff performance is unparalleled in history. His 172 career OPS + is the 7th most all-time and “The Mick” joins Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth as the only three players in history with at least a 172 OPS+ and 530 career home runs. He joins Barry Bonds and Mike Trout as the only three players in history with at least a 172 OPS+ and 150 career stolen bases. Mantle and Bonds are the only two players to debut after 1940 with a career on-base percentage of at least 420 and a slugging percentage of .557. Mantle is tied for 2nd all-time with three MVPs while also finishing runner-up three times and top-5 nine times. Mantle’s regular-season statistics are eye-popping on their own, but Mantle’s place in history really comes into perspective when we consider that he is arguably the greatest World Series performer of all time. Mantle led the Yankees to a World Series appearance in 12 of his first 14 seasons, including seven World Series titles. He holds the records for most career World Series home runs, RBIs, runs, total bases, and walks.

The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #19 Stan Musial

Swattin’ into the list at #19 is Cardinals legend Stan “The Man” Musial. Musial’s career was magnificent for a number of reasons but the most remarkable is his presence on the all-time leaderboard in virtually every major offensive statistic. Musial is second all-time in total bases, third in runs created, doubles and intentional walks, 4th in hits, 7th in offensive WAR, 8th in RBIs, 10th in runs, 13th in OPS and walks, 16th in slugging percentage, 19th in triples, 23rd in on-base percentage, 30th in batting average and 32nd in home runs. He is the only player in history in the top-35 of each category. Musial’s hit/power tool and plate discipline are arguably the best ever as he is the only player in history with 3,600 career hits and a .559 slugging %. He’s also the only player in history with more than 1,500 career walks and fewer than 700 strikeouts. Stan “The Man” led the league in runs created nine times, doubles eight times, and extra-base hits seven times; all are the most in history. Musial had five seasons of at least 80 walks, 40 or fewer strikeouts, and at least 30 home runs which are the most in history. He’s the only player in history with 420 total bases and fewer than 35 strikeouts in the same season. Stan’s three MVPs are tied for the 2nd most all-time as are his seven top-2 MVP finishes. Musial led the Cardinals to three World Series titles and four appearances.