who is the best 2nd baseman of all time?give me #'s please?

Answer 1

The first name that popped into my head was Joe Morgan from the Big Red Machine. He had a great on-base percentage, and displayed awesome power for a man at his position. However, checking one of my "All-Time Greatest books," Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals stands out. Now one will approach his single-season .424 average, and he was the first "100/100" man (100 singles/100 extra base hits in the same season).

It is hard to compare players from different eras, and I frequently feel that if Hornsby had played in the 1970s or Morgan back in the 1920s, their stats could be very similar.

Hope this answers your question.

Answer 2

Numbers wise it is Rogers Hornsby, But he played in an era where numbers were inflated. In the modern day area I would say Joe Morgan:

Joe Morgan 2B


Hitting Stats: Next Stats >>

SEASON TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG AVG
1963 Houston Colt 45's 8 25 5 6 0 1 0 3 8 5 5 1 0 .367 .320 .240
1964 Houston Colt 45's 10 37 4 7 0 0 0 0 7 6 7 0 1 .302 .189 .189
1965 Houston Astros 157 601 100 163 22 12 14 40 251 97 77 20 9 .373 .418 .271
1966 Houston Astros 122 425 60 121 14 8 5 42 166 89 43 11 8 .410 .391 .285
1967 Houston Astros 133 494 73 136 27 11 6 42 203 81 51 29 5 .378 .411 .275
1968 Houston Astros 10 20 6 5 0 1 0 0 7 7 4 3 0 .444 .350 .250
1969 Houston Astros 147 535 94 126 18 5 15 43 199 110 74 49 14 .365 .372 .236
1970 Houston Astros 144 548 102 147 28 9 8 52 217 102 55 42 13 .383 .396 .268
1971 Houston Astros 160 583 87 149 27 11 13 56 237 88 52 40 8 .351 .407 .256
1972 Cincinnati Reds 149 552 122 161 23 4 16 73 240 115 44 58 17 .417 .435 .292
1973 Cincinnati Reds 157 576 116 167 35 2 26 82 284 111 61 67 15 .406 .493 .290
1974 Cincinnati Reds 149 512 107 150 31 3 22 67 253 120 69 58 12 .427 .494 .293
1975 Cincinnati Reds 146 498 107 163 27 6 17 94 253 132 52 67 10 .466 .508 .327
1976 Cincinnati Reds 141 472 113 151 30 5 27 111 272 114 41 60 9 .444 .576 .320
1977 Cincinnati Reds 153 521 113 150 21 6 22 78 249 117 58 49 10 .417 .478 .288
1978 Cincinnati Reds 132 441 68 104 27 0 13 75 170 79 40 19 5 .347 .385 .236
1979 Cincinnati Reds 127 436 70 109 26 1 9 32 164 93 45 28 6 .379 .376 .250
1980 Houston Astros 141 461 66 112 17 5 11 49 172 93 47 24 6 .367 .373 .243
1981 San Francisco Giants 90 308 47 74 16 1 8 31 116 66 37 14 5 .371 .377 .240
1982 San Francisco Giants 134 463 68 134 19 4 14 61 203 85 60 24 4 .400 .438 .289
1983 Philadelphia Phillies 123 404 72 93 20 1 16 59 163 89 54 18 2 .370 .403 .230
1984 Oakland Athletics 116 365 50 89 21 0 6 43 128 66 39 8 3 .356 .351 .244

Career Totals 2649 9277 1650 2517 449 96 268 1133 3962 1865 1015 689 162 .392 .427 .271





Fielding Stats:

SEASON TEAM POS G GS INN TC PO A E DP PB SB CS RF FPCT
1963 Houston Colt 45's 2B 7 --- --- 33 15 15 3 2 --- --- --- --- .909
1964 Houston Colt 45's 2B 10 --- --- 59 31 25 3 4 --- --- --- --- .949
1965 Houston Astros 2B 157 --- --- 867 348 492 27 82 --- --- --- --- .969
1966 Houston Astros 2B 117 --- --- 593 256 316 21 61 --- --- --- --- .965
1967 Houston Astros 2B 130 --- --- 655 297 344 14 67 --- --- --- --- .979
1967 Houston Astros OF 1 --- --- 2 2 0 0 0 --- --- --- --- 1.000
1968 Houston Astros 2B 5 --- --- 17 9 6 2 2 --- --- --- --- .882
1968 Houston Astros OF 1 --- --- 1 1 0 0 0 --- --- --- --- 1.000
1969 Houston Astros 2B 132 --- --- 649 303 328 18 79 --- --- --- --- .972
1969 Houston Astros OF 14 --- --- 12 12 0 0 0 --- --- --- --- 1.000
1970 Houston Astros 2B 142 --- --- 796 349 430 17 98 --- --- --- --- .979
1971 Houston Astros 2B 157 --- --- 830 336 482 12 93 --- --- --- --- .986
1972 Cincinnati Reds 2B 149 --- --- 814 370 436 8 92 --- --- --- --- .990
1973 Cincinnati Reds 2B 154 --- --- 866 417 440 9 106 --- --- --- --- .990
1974 Cincinnati Reds 2B 142 --- --- 742 344 385 13 92 --- --- --- --- .982
1975 Cincinnati Reds 2B 142 --- --- 792 356 425 11 96 --- --- --- --- .986
1976 Cincinnati Reds 2B 133 --- --- 690 342 335 13 85 --- --- --- --- .981
1977 Cincinnati Reds 2B 151 --- --- 715 351 359 5 100 --- --- --- --- .993
1978 Cincinnati Reds 2B 124 --- --- 553 252 290 11 49 --- --- --- --- .980
1979 Cincinnati Reds 2B 121 --- --- 600 259 329 12 74 --- --- --- --- .980
1980 Houston Astros 2B 130 --- --- 599 244 348 7 68 --- --- --- --- .988
1981 San Francisco Giants 2B 87 --- --- 439 177 258 4 61 --- --- --- --- .991
1982 San Francisco Giants 2B 120 --- --- 625 254 364 7 69 --- --- --- --- .989
1982 San Francisco Giants 3B 3 --- --- 4 1 2 1 0 --- --- --- --- .750
1983 Philadelphia Phillies 2B 117 --- --- 579 231 331 17 63 --- --- --- --- .971
1984 Oakland Athletics 2B 100 --- --- 440 201 229 10 62 --- --- --- --- .977

Career Totals 2546 --- --- 12972 5758 6969 245 1505

Answer 3

It's hard to compare eras, I've never seen guys like Hornsby and Joe Morgan play, but the best I've seen in my life was probably Roberto Alomar , with Sandberg a close second. Biggio although has had a long and productive career isn't the ballplayer those 2 were, and if Soriano plays 2nd again, no one can touch him offensively anyways.

Answer 4

rogers hornsby

Holds the NL record for career batting average at .358.
Hit better than .300 15 times and better than .400 three times.
Won seven batting titles, two HR titles and four RBI crowns.
Won triple crowns in 1922 and 1925.
Even though Hall of Fame rules state that a player must be retired for five years before he can be inducted, Rogers Hornsby received 105 votes during the inaugural year of 1936-one year before he retired.
Rogers is the only right-handed hitter in the 20th century to hit .400 in three seasons.
In 1922, Hornsby became the first National Leaguer ever to hit 40 home runs in a season.
In only his second season as the player/manager, Rogers led the Cardinals to defeat the New York Yankees four games to three in the 1926 World Series.
Rogers’ career .358 batting average is the highest by a right-handed hitter in the history of Major League Baseball.
Hornsby is the only player in history to average a .400 batting average over a 5 year span (1921-25).
Rogers’ .424 batting average in 1924 is the highest mark in the National League in the 20th century.

G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB
2,259 8,173 2,930 541 169 301 1,579 1,584 1,038

SO AVG OBP SLG
679 .358 .434 .577

Answer 5

The Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame second baseman, Bobby Doerr.

Answer 6

The four best second basemen were Hornsby, Alomar, Biggio and Morgan (not in order). I have listed the sabermetric analysis numbers of how many times they were the league leader (black ink), among the league leaders (gray ink), how they fit in with other hall of famers (HOF standards), and the predictor of their chances of getting in the Hall of Fame when compared to other players (HOF monitor).

Tied for second place on the All Time Batting HOF Mointor list is Rogers Hornsby. As a hitter he is tied with Musial, Mays and Bonds.
Black Ink: Batting - 125 (4) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 329 (10) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 75.9 (2) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 349.5 (8) (Likely HOFer > 100)


Craig Biggio is one of the greatest players who ever played because of his combination of his speed, power, and his ability to become an all star at two difficult defensive positions.
Black Ink: Batting - 17 (130) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 104 (204) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 56.4 (43) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 145.0 (84) (Likely HOFer > 100)

Roberto Alomar, of the four second basemen listed, could spit on umpires the farthest.
Black Ink: Batting - 3 (499) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 95 (233) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 56.8 (41) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 193.5 (40) (Likely HOFer > 100)

Joe Morgan was ranked by the Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract as the best second basemen in history.
Black Ink: Batting - 15 (149) (Average HOFer ≈ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 131 (132) (Average HOFer ≈ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 55.9 (46) (Average HOFer ≈ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 172.0 (58) (Likely HOFer > 100)

Of the four, it appears that Hornsby has the best statistics in his era as the best second baseman of all time. His 1922 season when he led the league with 450 total bases ranks as the second most total bases of any player in history. His 1922 season is also fifth most in runs created. His 1925 season is the 13th highest OPS in history and behind only seasons by Bonds, Ruth, and Williams.

In regards to the above poster who commented that Joe Morgan's stats are more impressive than Hornsby's considering the eras they played in, this is not correct. Consider the career adjusted OPS + (which is the on base percentage plus slugging percentage adjusted to the park and the league the player played in.) Hornsby's adjusted OPS + is 175 which is fifth all time, and is behind only Ruth, Bonds, Williams and Gehrig. Morgan is at 132 which is not even in the top 100 players of all time. Biggio is 114 and Alomars is 116.

When converting the players statistics into a statistically neutral 162 game seasons, statistically neutral ballpark, adjusted for league runs per game, and an average team scoring 715 runs per game (as in the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract), Hornsby still has an OPS of 1.01. and Morgan has a far smaller OPS of .854.

So despite the eras they played in, Hornsby was still the far better player.


Footnote:
Ryan Sandberg's best season his adjusted OPS + was 145 and career was 114.

Jeff Kent's best season his adjusted OPS + was 165 and his career was 126.

Robinson Cano's best season his adjusted OPS + was 132 and career is 116.

Alfonso Soriano's best season his adjusted OPS + was 132 and his career is 115. (Look Cubs fans, Soriano and Cano are identical twins statistically yet for around $100 million more!)

None of these great players had a career best year in adjusted OPS + that ever matched the career average OPS + of Hornsby.

Answer 7

Hitting -- Rogers Hornsby: .358 lifetime, over .400 for a five-year span in the 1920s. Not a great fielder, though.
Fielding -- Bill Mazeroski. 8 gold gloves, numerous fielding records.
Combined -- Joe Morgan: the complete package, multi-MVP, great leadoff hitter.

Answer 8

Rogers Hornsby.

Answer 9

The Rajah. Rogers Hornsby. He was the pure essence of hitting.
2 time triple crown winner.
Batted over .400 during a five year period.

Answer 10

Craig Biggio