Ranking the greatest position players in baseball history: Nos. 60-41

Throughout the month of January, a cast of editors from theScore will share their rankings of the greatest teams, performances, pitchers, and position players in baseball history. This list focuses on the greatest position players:

100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1

Voter list:

• James Bisson, National Sports Editor
• Brandon Wile, Senior MLB Editor
• Jonah Birenbaum, MLB News Editor
• Michael Bradburn, MLB News Editor
• Jason Wilson, MLB News Editor
• Bryan Mcwilliam, MLB News Editor
• Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb, MLB News Editor
• Dylan Perego, News Editor
• Josh Wegman, News Editor

60. Mike Piazza, C

Piazza's storied career as one of the best power-hitting catchers ever recently culminated in being voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016. He mashed his way to 12 All-Star selections and 10 Silver Slugger awards, and put together the second-longest RBI streak in MLB history in 2000 at 15 games. While never being a league leader in average, his career mark of .308 stands tall at a position notorious for a lack of offensive production. -- Perego

59. Dan Brouthers, 1B

Brouthers' resume sounds almost completely foreign to modern baseball fans. He began his career with the Troy Trojans before playing for the Buffalo Bisons, Detroit Wolverines, and the Boston Beaneaters. One of his best seasons was with the Brooklyn Grooms, where he posted a .335/.432/.480 slash line with five homers and 31 stolen bases. "Big Dan" led all of baseball in OPS in six different seasons. Too bad he played before the MVP award existed. -- Bradburn

58. Carlton Fisk, C

It's downright unfair to reduce Fisk's outstanding 24-year, Hall-of-Fame career to one swing, but it was one hell of a meaningful swing. Before the Boston Red Sox reversed the curse in 2004, Fisk was responsible for the franchise's most glorious post-WWI moment, earning a place in baseball's annals with his iconic, waving-it-fair, walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. That shot off the left-field foul pole at Fenway Park would ultimately change the way baseball was televised. -- Birenbaum

57. Ron Santo, 3B

Few players are as beloved on the north side of Chicago as Santo, the heel-clicking third baseman whose consistent excellence rendered him an outsider on the terrible teams he played for - in 14 years with the Cubs, he didn't play a single postseason game. Still, being surrounded by mediocrity didn't seem to faze Santo, a nine-time All-Star who won five Gold Glove awards and may well have been the top third baseman of the 1960s. -- Birenbaum

56. Tim Raines, OF

Through little fault of his own - he overlapped with Rickey Henderson and only won as a supporting player - Raines' greatness was often overlooked. That's simply an injustice against one of the best leadoff hitters of all time. Raines had an 84.70 career stolen-base success rate, the highest among players with 600-plus steals since 1951 (when caught stealing became a statistic). He also won a batting title, was an artist at getting on base, and may have lost out on an MVP due to collusion in 1987. A combination of cocaine, labor wars, and injuries likely robbed Raines of milestones such as 3,000 hits and even 900 steals. -- Sharkey-Gotlieb

55. Jim Thome, 1B/DH

With Thome almost definitely being enshrined in Cooperstown this summer, the Hall of Fame will add the poster child for philanthropy and blue-collar work ethic to its ranks. While defensive shortcomings prevented him from playing third base, and back problems caused him to become a DH, Thome became the eighth player in baseball history to join the 600-home run club. -- Bradburn

54. Manny Ramirez, OF

Manny being Manny was pretty darn good. One of the game's elite hitters, Ramirez was at his most dominant from 1998-2008. He was an All-Star in each of those seasons, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting 10 times, won eight Silver Sluggers, and clubbed 418 homers. Ramirez ranks 15th all-time with 555 home runs and 19th in RBIs with 1,831. If you exclude his first and last seasons in the majors (27 games total), Ramirez owns a career 1.001 OPS. -- Wile

53. Tony Gwynn, OF

The late Tony Gwynn won an amazing nine batting titles, including four straight from 1994-97. In that '94 season, he came oh so close to hitting .400, finishing with a .394 batting average. Incredibly, he never hit below .309, with the exception of his 54-game rookie year. Younger fans often forget that Mr. Padre was also a premier base-stealer and fielder in his early days. -- Wegman

52. Ozzie Smith, SS

Playing in a sport so defined by offensive numbers, Smith made the defensive side of baseball a joy to watch. "The Wizard" only hit 28 home runs during his 19-year career, but dazzled with his glove en route to 12 consecutive All-Star appearances from 1981-92 and 15 overall. Add 13 consecutive Gold Gloves to a resume that also included 8,376 assists, and Smith's election into the Hall of Fame in 2002 was a no-brainer. -- Mcwilliam

51. Larry Walker, OF

Walker became a household name as a member of the Montreal Expos from 1989-94, but it wasn't until he signed as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies that he became one of the game's best. Walker took complete advantage of the hitter-friendly confines of his home park to post a .334 average in 10 seasons with the Rockies. He won three batting titles and posted an OPS higher than 1.000 seven times during his career. -- Mcwilliam

50. Ivan Rodriguez, C

Widely considered as one of the greatest catchers of all time, Rodriguez was not just a defensively gifted backstop with a cannon for an arm, but he was also a terror at the plate during his prime. "Pudge" caught nearly half of the base-runners (46 percent) who attempted to steal on him, rarely made errors (averaged 6 per year over 21 seasons) and won 13 Gold Gloves. The 1999 AL MVP was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2017. -- Mcwilliam

49. Derek Jeter, SS

Jeter was nicknamed "Captain Clutch" and "Mr. November" for good reason. He won five rings during his career, hit .321 in 38 World Series games, and took home World Series MVP in 2000. The metrics wouldn't agree with his five Gold Gloves, but iconic plays such as "the dive" and "the flip" were true displays of his will to win and unteachable baseball instincts. -- Wegman

48. Brooks Robinson, 3B

Smooth and graceful in the field, Robinson - aka "The Human Vacuum Cleaner" - has an argument as the greatest third baseman of all time due to his unparalleled defense. An 18-time All-Star with the Orioles, Robinson won a Gold Glove in 16 of his 23 seasons, the most ever for a non-pitcher. And though his defense rightfully stands out, he was no slouch at the plate: 2,848 hits, the 1964 AL MVP, and the 1970 World Series MVP when he hit .429 against the Reds. -- Sharkey-Gotlieb

47. Miguel Cabrera, 1B/3B

Since his emergence as the 20-year-old hero of the 2003 Marlins, Cabrera has been rewriting the history books as a modern-day legend. Four batting titles, two MVPs, the first Triple Crown winner in 44 years, and a slash-line Triple Crown the year after ... it's a seemingly never-ending list of accolades. Now, as he starts down the back nine of his career, the 3,000-hit and 500-homer clubs await his arrival. Points off for subpar defense at multiple positions, but does that even matter? Miggy is a once-in-a-generation hitter who we've been lucky to witness firsthand. -- Sharkey-Gotlieb

46. Robin Yount, SS/OF

You rarely found Yount atop the AL leaderboards or in the spotlight - surprisingly, he was only a three-time All-Star - but if you looked closely, there he was, plugging away as the heartbeat of Milwaukee Brewers baseball for 20 seasons, in which he amassed over 3,100 hits. One of the great shortstops on both sides of the ball in his prime, he spent his later years in center field, where he became one of just four players to win the MVP award at two different positions. Not bad for a guy who almost quit baseball to become a pro golfer. -- Sharkey-Gotlieb

45. Reggie Jackson, OF

Forget the actual stats for a moment. In terms of pure superstar power and swagger, Reggie Jackson has no peers in baseball's TV era. He first starred in Oakland with the dynastic three-peating A's in the early '70s, before earning legend status as a Yankee with his three-homer Game 6 in 1977. Not only did Jackson win a World Series MVP with both of the A's and Yankees, but both teams retired his numbers - a testament to his career. When not crafting his October legend, the mercurial Jackson was busy winning the 1973 AL MVP and slugging 563 homers as one of the greatest pure power hitters ever. -- Sharkey-Gotlieb

44. Charlie Gehringer, 2B

Also known as "The Mechanical Man," the lifetime Tiger peaked in his 30s, coinciding with their first World Series title in 1935. From 1933-1937, Gehringer batted an obscene .347 while forming one of the best duos of the era alongside Hank Greenberg. Gehringer's sustained success and famed durability helped entrench him as one of the best second basemen in the game. -- Wilson

43. Paul Molitor, DH/3B

Before Molitor was winning Manager of the Year awards, he was one of the fastest and best hitters in baseball. Across his 21-year career, Molitor compiled four seasons with at least 200 hits and led the league three different times. His 3,319 hits are good for the 10th-most in MLB history. In addition to constantly getting on base, he was also a threat to run. Molitor stole 20 or more bases in 13 different seasons and ranks 39th on the all-time list. Throw in the fact that he was a seven-time All-Star, World Series Champion and MVP, and a four-time Silver Slugger, and it's not hard to tell why he was a first-ballot HOFer. -- Wile

42. Frank Thomas, DH/1B

One of the largest human beings to ever step into a big-league batter's box, the "Big Hurt" stood 6-foot-5 and weighed 240 lbs. Thomas not only used his size to mash the baseball (521 career HRs), but he was an incredibly patient hitter (1,667 career walks) who had a knack for getting on base (hit over .300 10 times). Thomas will forever go down as one of the greatest players in Chicago White Sox history (spending 16 years on the South Side), as he leads the franchise in home runs (448), RBIs (1,465), and OPS (.995). -- Mcwilliam

41. Ichiro Suzuki, OF

After nine dominant seasons playing in Japan, Ichiro made the jump to the majors as a 27-year-old and immediately made an impact. He was named the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2001 after hitting .350/.381/.457 with eight homers, 34 doubles, and 56 stolen bases, while also claiming a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. That was only the beginning, as Ichiro would be named an All-Star and Gold Glove winner in each of his first 10 seasons in the majors, and currently ranks 22nd on the all-time hits list and 35th in stolen bases. -- Wile

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)