The new last 10 of my 100 greatest players:
91 | Barry Larkin | SS 10 | Ozzie Smith | SS 9 |
92 | Joe Torre | C 9 | Harmon Killebrew | 1B 10 |
93 | Roy Campanella | C 10 | Jim Palmer | P 21 |
94 | Roberto Alomar | 2B 9 | Pee Wee Reese | SS 10 |
95 | Dick Allen | 1B 11 | Paul Molitor | 3B 8 |
96 | Jim Palmer | P 23 | Dick Allen | 1B 11 |
97 | Ted Simmons | C 11 | Sam Crawford | RF 10 |
98 | Willie Stargell | LF 8 | Billy Williams | LF 8 |
99 | Ryne Sandberg | 2B 10 | Dave Winfield | RF 11 |
100 | Carl Hubbell | P 24 | Frankie Frisch | 2B 11 |
Ok let’s go with this group. I talked about shortstop in my last writeup. Despite being passed by two at shortstop Larkin went down only 2 spaces overall. Torre faded a little at catcher due to his defense. He was passed by Gabby Hartnett but held on to 8th for catchers but went down 9 spots overall.
Campanella got a defensive bonus which helped him move from 13th to 9th for catchers. He did get a defensive bonus this time which moved him past a tight group. He moved up 34th places to make the top 100. I think I have Campanella in the right place now. Ted Simmons one the catchers passed stayed in the top 100 places.
Willie Stargell and Billy Williams traded places. Now Stargell is in the top 100 and Williams is barely out at 101. Such are the breaks. Ryne Sandberg held on to the top 100 despite second basement fading some with the new formula. Carl Hubbell was one of the biggest benefactors of the new formula. He got a lot of points for his clutch pitching. Hubbell is by far the number one pitcher in Championship WPA. That helped propel him to the top 100 and he deserves that. He also got a bonus for being the second-best pitcher of the 1930s. That helped move him up 14 places as a pitcher but 68 places overall. This new information makes me excited that he has now made the top 100.
We had 5 players drop out of the top 100. They all had long careers and edge players who were stronger in prime. With the new formula they were pushed back a bit, but not much. Paul Molitor who designated hitter a lot at the end of the career was also hurt for his defense. He went down to 107th. Sam Crawford went down to 103rd. Billy Williams as mentioned before just missed the top 100 at 101st. Dave Winfield who had a long career ended up at 109th, with Frankie Frisch at 105th.