The Baseball Page
Good things often come in small packages. So it was with our top second baseman, Eddie Collins, shown here with Frankie Frisch, another Hall of Famer, prior to the 1930 World Series. Collins was a winner. He appeared in six World Series, winning four titles. His tremendous World Series performance (.328 with 14 stolen bases) earn Collins the stop spot at the keystone position.
At the end of his career, he ranked second in major league history in career games (2,826), walks (1,499) and stolen bases (744), third in runs scored (1,821), fourth in hits (3,315) and at bats (9,949), sixth in on base percentage (.424), and eighth in total bases (4,268); he was also fourth in AL history in triples (187). He still holds the major league record of 512 career sacrifice hits, over 100 more than any other player. He was the first major leaguer in modern history to steal 80 bases in a season, and still shares the major league record of six steals in a game, which he accomplished twice in September 1912. He regularly batted over .320, retiring with a career average of .333. He also holds major league records for career games (2,650), assists (7,630) and total chances (14,591) at second base, and ranks second in putouts (6,526). Under the win shares statistical rating system created by baseball historian and analyst Bill James, Collins was the greatest second baseman of all time.
The offensive catalyst of the great Cincinnati Reds teams of the 1970s, Joe Morgan was one of the finest all-around players of his generation. The diminutive second baseman possessed a keen batting eye and surprising power for a man his size, and also was an outstanding fielder and an exceptional baserunner. Morgan's rare combination of skills enabled him to capture consecutive MVP trophies during the mid-1970s, and earned him general recognition as one of the greatest second sackers in baseball history and election in the Hall of Fame
Best right handed hitter ever? Hit .402 over a 5 year span.
The best player in the American League before the rise of Ty Cobb, Napolean Lajoie is considered one of the two or three greatest second baseman to ever play the game. His fame was so great that the Cleveland team was renamed in his honor. As a hitter, he is considered one of the best right-handers in history, and as second basemen only Rogers Hornsby and Joe Morgan rival his all-around offensive skill. In the field he was considered the finest fielding keystoner of the first 50 years of the 20th century.
