Where Baltimore Orioles Legends Rank on ESPN’s Top 100
![Former major league baseball player Frank Robinson watches the unveiling of his bronze sculpture before a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 28, 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fbirdswatcher-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F10-2F143531882-oakland-athletics-v-baltimore-orioles-jpg-850x560-414234d31adc3f1548a6deaa5be2ba19.jpg)
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
![Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fbirdswatcher-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F78449004-ea4c99355ded8bbe919a12772ca4fb86.jpg)
Jim Palmer — No. 85
Unsurprisingly, the most loaded position on the list is starting pitcher. Jim Palmer shows up amidst a sea of stalwart hitters, so his ranking is a bit harder to judge without a pitcher close to him. The next highest pitcher is Giants legend Juan Marichal at No. 74, who makes an interesting comparison.
The two pitchers overlapped for part of their career, but Marichal started almost a decade earlier and pitched more years in pitcher-friendly environments. Palmer has a slight edge in career ERA at 2.86 compared to 2.89 and an addition 25 career wins. The voters clearly had different criteria over comparing eras and which stats matter, but it seems like wins still have some relevancy.
I would rank Palmer higher with his three Cy Young awards, but Marichal has an important place in history as the first Dominican to make the Hall of Fame. Eleven spots is not a big difference, and we will see more frustrating placements soon.
Brooks Robinson — No. 67
I will never budge on my opinion that Brooks Robinson is the best third baseman of all time. You can call it a fan bias all you want, but the numbers back up his brilliance. Unfortunately, Eddie Mathews, George Brett, Alex Rodriguez, and Mike Schmidt all slot in higher.
I get it, they are all better hitters and offense is more important than defense, but Robinson’s defense prowess is so unbelievable that he should at least rank in the top 50. His 78.4 WAR is well short of contemporaries Mathews and Schmidt, and that is wholly because of offense. Robinson has a career OPS+ of 105, but a whopping sixteen Gold Gloves to go along with that. His career dWAR of 39.1 is so astronomically high that second place is twelve behind (Adrian Beltre).
The combination of solid offense with the essence of fundamental defense made Brooks one of the most respected players in the league, and he made eighteen All-Star games to boot. Oh, and he won two World Series, an MVP award, a World Series MVP, and an All-Star Game MVP. Sounds like the best third baseman to me.
4 Baltimore Orioles’ all-time greats made ESPN’s list of the best baseball players ever
![Hall of Fame player and former Baltimore Orioles SS Cal Ripken Jr. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fbirdswatcher-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2017-2F07-2F486991882-65a47a5ef9edefbf17dd0d370dc799f4.jpg)
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.
Next. Several Orioles among Baseball America's top prospects. dark
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.