Where Baltimore Orioles Legends Rank on ESPN’s Top 100

4 Baltimore Orioles’ all-time greats made  ESPN’s list of the best baseball players ever

In the middle of an offseason with very little baseball news due to the lockout dragging on, ESPN last week put out their list of the 100 greatest MLB players of all time.

The list rightfully includes Negro Leaguers who never got a chance to play in MLB, as well as active players and those who took the field before the World Series even existed. Unlike the criteria for Hall of Fame voting, only baseball statistics ostensibly matter for this process.

Rather than asking each baseball columnist to make his or her own top 100 lists, ESPN had them pick players in head-to-head matchups and then made a composite ranking from those results.

There is plenty to appreciate, as the point of the exercise is to admire the best of the best. Yet some players are clearly ranked too high or too low.  Let’s take a look at where some Baltimore Orioles greats landed, and whether they ended up in the right spot.

Eddie Murray — Unranked

First baseball in general got the short end on the list, and that includes Eddie Murray.  When the list only includes one hundred players, that means over 100  Hall of Famers do not make  it. Fellow omissions at first base include Tony Perez, Todd Helton, Orlando Cepeda, and, most egregiously, Jeff Bagwell.  Albert Pujols, the best player this century (non-steroid category), only came in at No. 30, and his contemporary Miguel Cabrera only sits at No. 59.

Murray made eight All-Star games, won three Gold Gloves, and three Silver Sluggers.  He, of course, came in clutch to help the Orioles win the 1983 World Series, and he helped lead the 1996 club back to the playoffs.  But his career WAR of 68.8 is short of most other players who make the top 100 list.  It’s too bad that Steady Eddie doesn’t show up, but I can’t say it really upset me.

4 Baltimore Orioles’ all-time greats made  ESPN’s list of the best baseball players ever

Cal Ripken Jr. — No. 66

The Iron Man’s relatively low ranking raised a few eyebrows, and not just among people in Maryland.  Cal Ripken‘s consecutive game streak is one of the most famous and unbeatable records in baseball, and it belongs to the man who saved baseball after the players’ strike.  And yet, somehow, Derek Jeter stills comes in at No. 28 despite very poor defense and over 24 fewer WAR.

I don’t think Cal’s ranking on its own is so bad, but being thirty-eight spots behind Jeter is just appalling. Yes, Jeter won a bunch of World Series, but he did not win any MVP awards while Ripken won two. Ripken also has three more Silver Sluggers and a record Hall of Fame attendance of over 80,000 despite the Hall being in New York. There was a notable Yankee bias in this list (Babe Ruth No. 1 and Mickey Mantle No. 7), and a loud backlash from the rest of us.

Frank Robinson — No. 19

The man who brought a winning culture to Baltimore, Frank Robinson deservedly shows up very high on the top 100 list. While he played more years for the Cincinnati Reds, Robinson holds a special place in the hearts of Birdland after winning a Triple Crown and the World Series in his first season with the Orioles.

The toughest guy on the field was also one of the best, as Frank is still the only player to win the MVP award in both the AL and the NL.  In today’s game where guys change teams very often, it is amazing no one else has achieved such a remarkable feat.

Robinson is also historically important as the first Black person to become an MLB manager when he was a player/coach in Cleveland.  Robinson’s career is cherished to the extent that he has a statue in three different ballparks.  #20 is certainly worthy of his top 20 ranking.