The first player to ever open a World Series with a home run, a feat he accomplished in 1969 against the Mets, Buford was generally overlooked due to his more notable teammates getting the majority of the attention: Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, Mike Cuellar, Boog Powell and Jim Palmer. Career Stats: 1,919 G; .291/.319/.391; 57 HR; 941 RBI; 2,158 H; 980 R; 363-for-400 SB*. The Baseball Hall of Fame was established in 1936 to honor the very best players in MLB, America's oldest organized sport. When a discussion regarding the best second basemen in the history of baseball ensues, it's a rare occasion when Bobby Doerr's name is bought up. Top 5 Underrated Position Players 5: Ty France (UTIL), Seattle Mariners Last year, Ty France came on to the scene when he hit over .300 in 23 appearances during the shortened season. His 5.5 WAR this season is seventh-best in the majors. Seemingly every baseball generation has its underrated third basemen. SS Honus Wagner: (.352/.417/.508, 1,847 H, 51 HR, 956 RBI, 1,014 R) 2. Hal Chase is best remembered for being banned by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis following the 1919 season as rumors ran rampant that Chase, among other things, served as the middleman between the players and gamblers during the Chicago Black Sox scandal. He logged 7,370 plate appearances with a career slash line of .312/.397/.562. After starting his career with three years of limited playing time in Cleveland, Jay Bell was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1989, where he became the everyday shortstop for the team that went to the NLCS in three consecutive seasons. Adrian Beltre played 21 seasons in the majors, most of which came in the 2000s, so it'd be impossible to leave him off our list. He reminds me a bit of Reggie Smith, another eternally underrated outfielder. He moved to third base in 1971 when Boston acquired Luis Aparicio and was still manning the hot corner in 1975 when the Sox won the AL pennant and played in one of the most exciting World Series in history, losing in seven games to the Cincinnati Reds. Nobody in the league could play balls that were hit off of Ebbets Field's high wall in right field like he could, and opposing runners quickly grew tired of testing his arm and failing to advance nearly every time. Think about Dennis Johnson of the 1980sthe dude was a five-time All-Star and a Finals MVP. His best season came two years later with the Angels in 1991, when he went 18-11 with a 2.89 ERA, finishing third in the American League Cy Young Award voting. Jeff Dean/Associated Press Enough about. Six times over his 13-year career, Morris would hit over .300, though he did so with little powerhis 16-home-run season of 1996 was the most he'd ever hit. Career Stats: 2,202 G; .276/.373/.351; 54 HR; 687 RBI; 2,210 H; 1,239 R; 271-for-365 SB. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Buchanan-USA TODAY Sports. During the 1990s and 2000s, Jones was consistently one of the best hitters in MLB. Is Bryce Harper the most underrated player in baseball and is Bo Bichette the most overra. The Most Underrated NBA Players of the 2000s Hide 11. He was also named MVP of the 1980 American League Championship Series when he hit .545 with a home run, three RBI and three runs scored as the Royals swept the Yankees in three games. He was also a phenomenal defensive second baseman as well and one of the best at turning the double play, yet he never received a Gold Glove Award due to the presence of two other second basemen who were equally as adept with the glove: the Royals' Frank White and the Tigers' Lou Whitaker. While he hit the first-ever home run at Veterans Stadium as a member of the Phillies, it wasn't until Don Money was traded to the Brewers following the 1972 season that he enjoyed the most success of his career. Like Oaklandsmore celebrated starting rotation, theres tremendous depthin the bullpen (plus a couple oftalented relievers on the 40-man roster who could getSeptember call-ups.) He was the team's everyday shortstop for three seasons, earning MVP votes in 2008 and an All-Star nod in 2009 when he hit .320/.389/.490 for a 132 OPS+ and 6.2 WAR in 137 games. Take a single nine-pocket sheet and a reasonable $100 budget, and build a nine-card collection with a unifying theme. No one-year wonders or self-promoters here. A four-time All-Star, Bando led the A's in RBI three times and was the second third baseman in American League history to hit 200 home runs in their career. With six 30-homer seasons, six 100-RBI seasons and a career 144 OPS+, Berkman was one of the most feared sluggers of the 2000s. White was also one of the two runs that scored on Dave Winfield's 11th-inning-double in Game 6 of that series, the hit that eventually won the championship for Toronto. He led American League third basemen four times inassists, five times indouble plays, and twice infielding percentage. Ibanez began his MLB career with five forgettable seasons as a part-time player with the Mariners before breaking out in Kansas City. Career Stats: 2,324 G; .255/.293/.383; 160 HR; 886 RBI; 2,006 H; 912 R; 178-for-261 SB. Alomar threw the ball to John Olerud at first base to double-up the Braves' Terry Pendleton, but Pendelton had already been called out for passing Deion Sanders on the base paths. 13, was retired by the team. "The Hal McRae Rule" requires that runners slide into second base when trying to break up a double play, doing away with McRae's favorite movethe cross-body check, something he terrorized American League middle infielders with for years. Career Stats: 1,286 G; .264/.362/.379; 93 HR; 418 RBI; 1,203 H; 718 R; 200-for-305 SB. Over the next three games, Eckstein hit .615/.643/.846 with eight hits, three doubles, three runs scored and four RBIa run that not only led the Cardinals to the World Series championship but one that won him World Series MVP honors. The best they can generally hope for is a belated nod from the Veterans Committee. Graig Nettles and Darrell Evans came up in yesterdays post. Four times he hit over .300, three times he slugged more than 20 home runs and only once did he break the 100 RBI mark. Career Stats: 2,247 G; .260/.300/.320; 15 HR; 525 RBI; 2,191 H; 987 R; 318-for-423 SB. Tim Wallach Bob Watson not only played in relative obscurity for 13 seasons with the Astros but also had his home-run total reduced by the cavernous Houston Astrodome. We throw around words like ballplayers toss around a baseball during pregame warm-ups in the outfield. A nine-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove Award winner during his 19-year career with the Cincinnati Reds, Concepcion's contributions were routinely overshadowed by his Hall of Fame teammates, namely Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Morgan. Despite his achievements on the field, Doerr was not selected to the Hall of Fame until the Veterans Committee finally enshrined him in 1986. The oldest Major League player to play in a game in 2019 was Ichiro Suzuki at 45-years-old. Steve Finley is the perfect example of a "late bloomer," not breaking out offensively until 1996, his eighth major league season at which point he was already 31 years old. Upon the discovery of a tumor in his foot and with the Angels having mixed feelings about his future as a ballplayer, Fregosi was traded to the Mets in exchange for four players, most notably a right-handed pitcher named Nolan Ryan. He also deserves credit for his handling of a pitching staff, including the 2005 White Sox team that won a World Series title on the strength of a stellar starting rotation. Two years later, he was in the majors, and he quickly emerged as the staff ace. He would sign with the Diamondbacks as a free agent prior to the 1998 season and, in 2001, scored the World Series-winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 when Luis Gonzalez hit a bloop single off of Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera. Winner of the 1949 American League Rookie of the Year as a member of the St. Louis Browns and a four-time All-Star, first baseman/outfielder Roy Sievers kind of blended into the background and never really got much attention from fans or from the media. After going without a hit in the first two games of the series, he went on a tear. Lance Lynn is not only the Rangers' most underrated player, but he's also the league's most underrated starting pitcher since debuting in 2011. Victimized by a lack of run support for most of his career, largely because he was the best pitcher on some awful teams, Stieb's numbers are even more impressive. Tigers' fans remember him fondly for his contributions during their march to the World Series championship in 1968. Across 15 MLB seasons, he tallied 2,096 hits, 316 home runs, 1,220 RBI and 44.5 WAR. He finished a close second to teammate George Brett for the American League batting crown in 1976, losing out by less than .001 after Brett went 2-for-4 in the final game of the season to barely squeak past McRae. As the lockout rolls on, sit back and enjoy some nostalgia with this walk down memory lane to highlight some underrated players who were once among the best on their respective team's roster. It is once again a collection of players who have been largely forgotten by the hobby, but at their peak, they were among the best in the game at their respective positions. All told, he racked up 60.4 WAR in 17 seasons with 393 home runs and 1,199 RBI. Hisle was a solid all-around player who never really got his due, largely in part to being overshadowed by his more heralded Hall of Fame teammates with the Twins, Rod Carew and Harmon Killebrew. Of his 184 home runs, only 50 came at the Astrodome. The tussle between Myers and McCabe was short yet spirited, but the new Toronto blueliner picked up 17 penalty minutes on the play five for fighting, plus a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct. He was far from a one-sided player though, being selected to four All-Star games. Career Stats: 1,673 G; .286/.351/.455; 202 HR; 870 RBI; 1,706 H; 843 R; 103-for-171 SB. A seven-time All-Star, his 2.48 ERA led the American League in 1985. Here are the best NFL players of all time. With an undersized 60 frame, Oswalt slipped all the way to the 23rd round of the 1996 draft where the Houston Astros selected him out of Holmes Community College. While phenoms came, collected their MVP trophies, and faded, he just kept plodding along hitting .300, with a couple dozen homers and a hundred "ribbies" year after yearlike a guy punching a time clock. Craig hit .315/.362/.555 for a 151 OPS+ with 11 home runs and 40 RBI in 75 games as a utility player in 2011, then took over as the Cardinals primary first baseman the following year after Albert Pujols departed in free agency. Career Stats: 331 G (273 GS); 139-113; 2.76 ERA; 1.23 WHIP; 2,192 IP; 2,092 H, 1.75 K/BB. The rate stats matter most with Mize. Part of the Impossible Dream Sox team that won the 1967 American League pennant in one of the closest races in history, Petrocelli hit two home runs in Game 6 of the World Series, forcing a Game 7 that the Sox ultimately lost to Bob Gibson and the Cardinals. A five-time All-Star, Cash was a smooth fielding first baseman who was the first player to hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium, clearing the roof on June 11, 1961. Career Stats: 2,024 G; .285/.347/.443; 214 HR; 1,071 RBI; 1,982 H; 870 R; 54-for-83 SB. It's not like Vizquel is the second coming of Rey Ordonez, a slick fielding shortstop who was inept at the plate. Yet somehow, Tim Salmon was never named to an All-Star team. One of the great leadoff hitters and bunters of the 1980s and early 1990s, Brett Butler somehow only made one All-Star game over his 17-year career. He struck out a ton, but he also hit .240/.319/.438 while averaging 23 home runs, 20 steals and 2.4 WAR in his five full seasons with the team. He would hit .275 or better five times and put together seven consecutive seasons in which he stole at least 20 bases a year. Here are the 30 most unsung, under-the-radar, underrated pitchers in major league history. Throw in four seasons of at least 100 RBI, and you've got yourself a pretty complete player. A six-time All-Star and one of the most important pieces on the A's teams that won three consecutive World Series championships from 1972 through 1974, Campaneris was one of the great stolen base artists of his era, leading the league in steals six times. And an obp over .410! Morris hit .340 in his first full season with the Reds and was an instrumental part of the team that upset the heavily favored Oakland Athletics in the 1990 World Series. In fact, some of Alou's season-best numbers are quite impressive. Career Stats: 1,863 G; .296/.393/.506; 288 HR; 1,283 RBI; 2,051 H; 1,239 R; 96-for-160 SB. Most underrated player on each American League team heading into 2022. McRae is one of only a handful of players who have a rule be named after them. Forgive me if Im wrong, but I believe Hornsby is the only MLB player to hit 40+ homers and bat .400 in the same season. Career Stats: 1,514 G; .271/.347/.350; 28 HR; 574 RBI; 1,450 H; 676 R; 188-for-252 SB. A five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner at third base, Wallach led the National League in doubles twice and was the first player from Cal-State Fullerton to hit a home run in his first major league at-bat. He has two 20/20 seasons on his resume and fell three home runs short of adding three more to his collection. Probably own at least two of these and flipped through them countless times and never noticed that. All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. He had a particularly strong stretch from 2000-2008, in which he hit .316/.416/.560 (150 OPS+) with 255 homers, 283 doubles, 850 RBIs, and 48.3 rWAR. Let's take a look at the 50 most underrated baseball players in the history of the game. Career Stats: 1,553 G; .251/.332/.420; 210 HR; 773 RBI; 1,352 H; 653 R; 10-for-32 SB. Rocky Colavito, Vote: The most-deserving players not in the Baseball Hall of Fame at each position, The best baseball player not in the Hall of Fame, Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? Along with his Bowman and Bowman Chrome rookies, he also has a Rookie Card in 2000 SPx and Upper Deck Victory, along with a jersey patch rookie in 2000 Black Diamond Rookie Edition. I find that to be an amazing statistic. Had Jim Wynn not spent 11 years of his 15-year career playing in the Houston Astrodome, one of the more pitching friendly parks in the history of the game, chances are that he'd have approachedor surpassedthe 400 home run mark for his career. Career Stats: 1,672 G; .282/.385/.498; 299 HR; 1,016 RBI; 1,674 H; 986 R; 48-for-90 SB, To most of us he's Tim Salmon, but to those in the know, he's simply known as "King Fish.". He was terrific once again in 2002 (15-4, 3.28 ERA, 144 K, 164.2 IP) and solid in 2003 (14-13, 4.13 ERA, 161 K, 187.1 IP) before shoulder injuries derailed his career. Yes, the Chicago "Black Sox" threw the World Series, but everybody believes that if Shoeless Joe and Co. had tried, they . Leonard had a career record of 139-133 with a 2.76 ERA, and in 1914, he led the American League with a remarkable 0.96 ERA, the major league record for lowest ERA among pitchers who threw at least 150 innings in the same season. While he was slowed by injuries throughout his career, Johnson was a bona fide ace when healthy. He resurfaced with Team Netherlands in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, posting a 2.38 ERA in 11.1 innings over two starts. The two third basemen in recent years whove seemed poised to join Nettles, Evans and company in underrated purgatoryare Adrian Beltre and Scott Rolen. He posted a .994 fielding percentage in 1989, committing only five errors in more than 850 chances. The right-hander pitched just 215 innings over the next four years before he called it quits at the age of 30. The American League Rookie of the Year Award recipient in 1993, Salmon spent his entire 14-year career with the Angels and is one of the most celebrated players in franchise history. Hornsby fell one homer short of doing it twice. His real claim to fame, however, came in 1973 when he stepped into the batter's box in spring training, becoming the first player to ever bat as a designated hitter. Bartlett came to the Rays along with Matt Garza in the deal that sent former top prospect Delmon Young to the Minnesota Twins. It wasn't until he was traded to the Brewers prior to the 1978 season that a then 29-year-old Oglivie got a chance to play on an everyday basis. From 2000-06 the team won 85 games five times but never made the playoffs. The 1994 third-round pick has just one Rookie Card in the 1996 Bowman base set. Read our. Who came up with that idea. White chased the ball down and caught it while crashing full speed into the walla play some have said was more impressive than "The Catch" by Willie Maysthen threw a strike to Blue Jays' second baseman Roberto Alomar. Wally Moses hit .300 or better in seven consecutive seasons to start his career, from 1935 through the 1941 season. Honorable mention: Bobby Abreu, who fell just short ofa .300/.400/.500 slash for the first decade of the 2000s. Money pitcher. Johnson was one of them, and Carroll captured how underrated "Indian Bob" truly was: Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it can also make certain ballplayers nigh unto invisible. It's time to unveil the 2022 MLB All-Underrated Team. Career Stats: 1,190 G; .256/.346/.317; 14 HR; 254 RBI; 821 H; 339 R; 35-for-68 SB. Career Stats: 1,649 G; .259/.329/.445; 237 HR; 879 RBI; 1,505 H; 778 R; 58-for-106 SB. If you do not receive the verification code within 60 Seconds, we will send you the activation link again. There have been just 12 position players worth three or more WAR in each of the last four seasons. He batted .355 for the Houston Astros in 2000, scored 106 runs for the Cubs in 2004, had 124 RBI in 1998 and clubbed 39 home runs in 2004. For his career, he drew 1,243 walks while striking out only 675 times. Forget the Coors Effect. Heck, make it 1990 through 1998. Knowing that they couldn't afford to re-sign him when his contract expired, the Pirates traded him to the Padres in August of 2003 in exchange for Jason Bay and Oliver Perez, though he wouldn't enjoy the same level of success with the Padres. A top-25 prospect at the start of the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Quentin failed to live up to expectations during his time in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Watson became famous for scoring the 1,000,000th run inMLBhistory on May 4, 1975, narrowly beating Cincinnati's Dave Concepcion for the honor. A member of the Tigers' 1968 World Series championship team, Cash's single in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 7 with two outs started a three-run rally that propelled the Tigers to their first championship in 23 years. Full of young stars from all over the world including twenty different countries. Career Stats: 1,902 G; .265/.338/.398; 151 HR; 706 RBI; 1,726 H; 844 R; 76-for-116 SB. Interestingly enough, Finley could have had multiple 20/20 and 30/30 seasons, but the speed that he exhibited early in his career wasn't quite the same when his power finally developed. Vizquel hit .280 or better eight times, hit more than 30 doubles four times and led the league in sacrifice hits three times. Widely considered to be one of the greatest defensive shortstops to ever play the game, Omar Vizquel is entering the final two weeks of his career as an active player with the Toronto Blue Jays. Eight times in his 17-year career, Sievers hit at least 20 home runs and drove in at least 80 runs, and his 42 home runs and 114 RBI in 1957 as a member of the Washington Senators led the American League. Rico never had the attention of the media like his more famous teammate Carl Yastrzemski did, but Boston fans knew that he was a special player, and he remains one of the most popular Red Sox players of the past 50 years. He is currently working on assembling the entire base catalogs of four of his all-time favoritesKerry Wood, Mark Prior, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee. He also had two no-hitters as a member of the Red Sox withthe first coming in 1916 against theSt. Louis Brownsand the second in 1918 against theDetroit Tigers. After an inauspicious start to his career as a member of the Indians, Brian Giles found himself traded to the Pirates prior to the 1999 season. While his accomplishments with the Pirates were overshadowed by the exploits of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and even manager Jim Leyland, Bell established himself as one of the better shortstops in the game during his time with the Pirates, overcoming his limited range by putting himself in the right position, depending on the batter.