Who is the greatest baseball shortstop?

Answer 1

While answers would be partially opinion, the following will attempt to be as objective as possible.

Shortstop is by far the most difficult and important position in Baseball and many marquis players have played the position over the years.

There are three different questions with three potential answers for this question; Who is the greatest shortstop of all time?; Who is The Greatest shortstop in the game today?; and Which active shortstop has had the greatest career.

The answer to the first one is a matter of debate, and for the sake of accurate comparisons will only involve the modern era (1901-current), but the consensus pick is Honus Wagner of The Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner was a seven-time batting champion and led the league in RBIs five times, ending his career with an amazing .328/.391/.467 slashline. While not an outstanding defensive player, he was quite capable.

Other great shortstops include Ernie Banks of The Cubs, Derek Jeter of The Yankees, Luke Appling of The White sox and Cal Ripkin Jr of The Orioles.

For the second question, it would be a matter of opinion. As of last season (2012), Derek Jeter of The Yankees led baseball in hits and produced a very strong .316 batting average.

However, while Jeter may have had the best season, it is generally felt that the mantle of best shortstop has been assumed by Troy Tulowitzki of The Rockies (who idolized Derek Jeter as a young player). Tulowitzki is almost certainly the superior player at the moment, however his health has stopped him from becoming the consensus pick for top shortstop.

Another option is Hanley Ramirez, who had been moved to third base at the beginning of last season, but who appears to be making a permanent move back to shortstop.

Also atop the list is Elivs Andrus of The Rangers, Jose Reyes of The Blue Jays, Ian Desmond of The Nationals and Jimmy Rollins of The Phillies.

For the third question, the answer is incredibly obvious; Derek Jeter of The Yankees is without a doubt among the five greatest shortstops in baseball history, and is the only one among them currently playing. He is the all time leader in hits and runs among shortstops and is fifth in home runs, with his numbers still rising.