If you disliked my July 27 story about the Modern Era’s best shortstops, you will positively loathe today’s entry about the top left fielders.
Many readers were unhappy that my 10-part formula established Alex Rodriguez as baseball’s preeminent shortstop during the period from 1961 through 2022. The same rating procedure has now proclaimed the No. 1 left fielder to be Barry Bonds, who (like Rodriguez) was widely accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
Major League Baseball hasn’t flagged, altered, or eliminated the statistical records of suspected PED abusers, and I’ve followed MLB’s lead. Rodriguez and Bonds have been treated exactly as the same as their competitors in these rankings, much to the displeasure of some of you.
Today’s standings document a massive victory for Bonds over the other 160 players who spent at least 40 percent of their time in left field and made more than 2,500 plate appearances during the Modern Era. The formula analyzed each player’s full body of work, including any stats he might have accumulated at positions other than left field. (Click here to learn more about the rating process.)
Nobody else in the group of 161 left fielders came close to Bonds’s career stats for slugging average (.607), bases per out (1.265), wins above replacement (162.8), and total runs generated (3,461). And, of course, nobody at any position ever blasted as many home runs as the 762 that Bonds hit during his 22-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants.
Manny Ramirez, who was twice suspended for PED abuse, is the runner-up in the rankings of left fielders. (Bonds’s record, it should be pointed out, is free of steroid-related suspensions or convictions.) Ramirez played 19 seasons with five clubs, primarily the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox.
Rounding out the top five are Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics (and eight other teams), Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox, and Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, and four other clubs.
Bonds, as the frontrunner at the position, was assigned a score of 1,000 points, with the figures for all other candidates being determined by their relative performances. The vast gap between Bonds and runner-up Ramirez (653 points) reflects the enormous difference in their statistical records.
This is the sixth story in my weekly review of the era’s greatest players. Follow these links to read previous installments about the top catchers, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops, and third basemen.
Statistical breakdowns for the Modern Era’s top five left fielders can be found below, followed by a list of the next 15.
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1. Barry Bonds (1986-2007)
Score: 1,000 points
WAR: 162.8 total, 6.5 per 500 PA, 7.6 defensive
Averages: .298 BA, .607 SLG, 1.265 BPO
Scoring: 3,461 R generated, 137 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,986 G, 2,935 H
Notes: The stats are simply mind-boggling. Bonds won seven Most Valuable Player Awards in the National League, including four in a row from 2001 to 2004. He earned a pair of batting crowns with averages of .370 in 2002 and .362 in 2004. He set the single-season record of 73 home runs in 2001. And he was so feared that he drew more than 100 walks in 14 seasons.
2. Manny Ramirez (1993-2011)
Score: 653 points
WAR: 69.3 total, 3.6 per 500 PA, -21.7 defensive
Averages: .312 BA, .585 SLG, 1.059 BPO
Scoring: 2,820 R generated, 144 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,302 G, 2,574 H
Notes: Ramirez never won an MVP Award, but he was a consistent contender. He finished among the American League’s top nine vote-getters every season between 1998 and 2005. Ramirez drove home more than 100 runs in 12 different seasons — peaking at 165 in 1999 — and he hit more than 40 home runs on five occasions.
3. Rickey Henderson (1979-2003)
Score: 648 points
WAR: 111.2 total, 4.2 per 500 PA, -2.3 defensive
Averages: .279 BA, .419 SLG, .985 BPO
Scoring: 3,113 R generated, 117 per 500 PA
Totals: 3,081 G, 3,055 H
Notes: Henderson bounced around (playing for nine franchises over his 25-year career), but he was no journeyman. He topped the American League 12 times in stolen bases and five times in runs scored. He remains MLB’s all-time leader in both categories with totals of 1,406 steals amd 2,295 runs. Henderson earned the American League’s MVP trophy in 1990.
4. Carl Yastrzemski (1961-1983)
Score: 646 points
WAR: 96.5 total, 3.5 per 500 PA, 1.0 defensive
Averages: .285 BA, .462 SLG, .845 BPO
Scoring: 3,208 R generated, 115 per 500 PA
Totals: 3,308 G, 3,419 H
Notes: Yastrzemski had the unhappy fate of following the immortal Ted Williams in left field for the Red Sox, a seemingly impossible task that he mastered. He won three American League batting titles. His greatest season was 1967, when he was named the AL’s Most Valuable Player after capturing the Triple Crown with 44 homers, 121 RBIs, and a .326 BA.
5. Luis Gonzalez (1990-2008)
Score: 502 points
WAR: 51.6 total, 2.5 per 500 PA, -0.7 defensive
Averages: .283 BA, .479 SLG, .844 BPO
Scoring: 2,497 R generated, 119 per 500 PA
Totals: 2,591 G, 2,591 H
Notes: Gonzalez was nothing special during his first nine seasons with the Astros, Chicago Cubs, and Detroit Tigers. He batted .268 and hit 107 homers between 1990 and 1998. But he truly blossomed after joining the Diamondbacks in 1999. He pushed his average above .300 four times for Arizona, and he launched as many as 57 homers in a single season (2001).
Next 15
6. Tim Raines (1979-2002)
7. Jim Rice (1974-1989)
8. Albert Belle (1989-2000)
9. (tie) Moises Alou (1990-2008)
9. (tie) Ryan Braun (2007-2020)
11. Billy Williams (1961-1976)
12. Matt Holliday (2004-2018)
13. Jose Cruz (1970-1988)
14. George Foster (1969-1986)
15. Garret Anderson (1994-2010)
16. B.J. Surhoff (1987-2005)
17. Lou Brock (1961-1979)
18. Juan Soto (2018-2022)
19. Carlos Lee (1999-2012)
20. Carl Crawford (2002-2016)