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Best batters of 2001-2005
Rodriguez and Bonds win top honors, though they’re shadowed by PED accusations
My weekly breakdown of the greatest hitters during five-year intervals has reached the twenty-first century. And Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have emerged as the latest champions.
Rodriguez split the period of 2001-2005 between two positions and clubs — shortstop for the Texas Rangers (2001-2003) and third baseman for the New York Yankees (2004-2005). He won an American League Most Valuable Player Award at each stop (2003, 2005), and he blasted a five-year total of 240 home runs. Nobody else in the AL had more than 199.
Bonds spent all five seasons as the left fielder for the San Francisco Giants and the almost-permanent owner of the National League’s MVP trophy, which he won four years running (2001-2004). His five-year batting average of .347 was eight points better than the BA for anybody else in the majors.
There’s an asterisk, of course. Rodriguez admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs during his Texas stay, and Bonds was suspected of similar transgressions, though the latter remain unproven.
But the ratings for 2001-2005 don’t take PEDs into account. They’re based solely on my Five-Year Test, which ranks hitters in these categories:
Batting average
Slugging average
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances
The 2001-2005 rankings include every batter who made a minimum of two plate appearances per game, spread out over the full five-year period. That would translate to a threshold of 1,620 appearances over a normal schedule.
A total of 93 batters qualified for the American League rankings, as did 96 in the National League. The AL hitters collectively carried a batting average (BA) of .277 and a ratio of bases per out (BPO) of .784 during the half-decade. The corresponding figures for the NL were a .279 BA and an .803 BPO.
Right behind Rodriguez in the American League’s rankings for 2001-2005 were Manny Ramirez and Jason Giambi. Next to Bonds on the National League side were Albert Pujols and Todd Helton. The two AL runners-up were also shadowed by steroid suspicions and allegations. The two in the NL were not.
Scroll down to find lists of both leagues' 20 best hitters in the period. Each batter is followed by a breakdown of his 2001-2005 statistics: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats were not part of the Five-Year Test, but I've added them here to provide a bit of context.
I started this series on June 17 with a breakdown of the period from 1961 to 1965, and I’ll keep going each subsequent Friday until I reach 2016-2020. Next week’s edition, naturally enough, will be devoted to the best hitters of 2006-2010.
You can see the previous standings through these links:
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American League top batters (series so far)
1961-1965: Mickey Mantle
1966-1970: Frank Robinson
1971-1975: Reggie Jackson
1976-1980: George Brett
1981-1985: Eddie Murray
1986-1990: Rickey Henderson
1991-1995: Frank Thomas
1996-2000: Ken Griffey Jr.
2001-2005: Alex Rodriguez
National League top batters (series so far)
1961-1965: Willie Mays
1966-1970: Willie McCovey
1971-1975: Willie Stargell
1976-1980: George Foster
1981-1985: Mike Schmidt
1986-1990: Eric Davis
1991-1995: Barry Bonds
1996-2000: Larry Walker
2001-2005: Barry Bonds
American League top 20 batters (2001-2005)
1. Alex Rodriguez, G 802, H 935, HR 240, BA .305, BPO 1.078
2. Manny Ramirez, G 720, H 836, HR 199, BA .315, BPO 1.087
3. Jason Giambi, G 684, H 656, HR 164, BA .286, BPO 1.109
4. Carlos Delgado, G 594, H 595, HR 146, BA .282, BPO 1.048
5. Carlos Beltran, G 527, H 597, HR 94, BA .293, BPO .951
6. Magglio Ordonez, G 607, H 713, HR 115, BA .311, BPO .912
7. David Ortiz, G 651, H 667, HR 157, BA .284, BPO .962
8. Nomar Garciaparra, G 371, H 469, HR 61, BA .306, BPO .855
9. Mark Teixeira, G 453, H 484, HR 107, BA .282, BPO .908
10. Mike Sweeney, G 609, H 704, HR 112, BA .306, BPO .902
11. Miguel Tejada, G 810, H 949, HR 152, BA .294, BPO .810
12. Eric Chavez, G 745, H 785, HR 151, BA .278, BPO .853
13. Trot Nixon, G 606, H 580, HR 98, BA .281, BPO .887
14. Ivan Rodriguez, G 483, H 579, HR 77, BA .308, BPO .797
15. Ichiro Suzuki, G 796, H 1,130, HR 52, BA .332, BPO .832
16. Hideki Matsui, G 487, H 545, HR 70, BA .297, BPO .832
17. Derek Jeter, G 739, H 928, HR 91, BA .306, BPO .838
18. Frank Thomas, G 429, H 381, HR 104, BA .257, BPO .964
19. Bill Mueller, G 406, H 437, HR 41, BA .303, BPO .833
20. Troy Glaus, G 466, H 420, HR 105, BA .250, BPO .878
National League top 20 batters (2001-2005)
1. Barry Bonds, G 587, H 585, HR 214, BA .347, BPO 1.938
2. Albert Pujols, G 790, H 982, HR 201, BA .332, BPO 1.108
3. Todd Helton, G 773, H 941, HR 164, BA .339, BPO 1.187
4. Larry Walker, G 603, H 632, HR 112, BA .316, BPO 1.093
5. Gary Sheffield, G 433, H 501, HR 100, BA .316, BPO 1.069
6. Sammy Sosa, G 573, H 614, HR 188, BA .289, BPO 1.052
7. Jim Edmonds, G 726, H 696, HR 168, BA .291, BPO 1.079
8. Vladimir Guerrero, G 432, H 520, HR 98, BA .324, BPO 1.048
9. Lance Berkman, G 759, H 824, HR 155, BA .305, BPO 1.080
10. J.D. Drew, G 561, H 541, HR 106, BA .291, BPO 1.009
11. Chipper Jones, G 716, H 760, HR 142, BA .303, BPO 1.011
12. Scott Rolen, G 658, H 677, HR 123, BA .283, BPO .926
13. Bobby Abreu, G 798, H 860, HR 125, BA .297, BPO 1.037
14. Brian Giles, G 764, H 810, HR 133, BA .298, BPO 1.041
15. Jeff Kent, G 735, H 842, HR 137, BA .298, BPO .879
16. Luis Gonzalez, G 726, H 780, HR 152, BA .292, BPO .983
17. Miguel Cabrera, G 405, H 459, HR 78, BA .300, BPO .866
18. Cliff Floyd, G 619, H 631, HR 122, BA .285, BPO .940
19. Jeff Bagwell, G 674, H 684, HR 139, BA .279, BPO .936
20. Derrek Lee, G 794, H 828, HR 157, BA .288, BPO .943