The 100 Greatest in 100 Days: #57 Jeff Bagwell

Coming at #57 is Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell. Bagwell’s career is marked not by robust career numbers—although they are impressive—but by his ridiculous per-162 game totals. Bagwell joins Ted Williams as the only two players since 1940 with 162 game averages of at least 114 runs, 114 RBIs, and a .400 on-base percentage. He’s the only player in history to play 2,150 games or less and reach 1,500 runs and 1,500 RBIs. Bagwell is the first player since 1931— and only the third player in history along with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig—with back-to-back 140-run seasons. He’s the only player since 1936 to reach 152 runs in a single season. He’s the only player since 1949 with at least 143 runs and 143 walks in the same season, joining Babe Ruth and Ted Williams as the only players ever to do it. He’s one of only four players since 1950 with 1,500 runs, a 149 ops+ and a .405 on-base %, and he’s the only first baseman since the dead-ball era with 1,500 career runs and a 149 ops+. Bagwell won the NL MVP in 1994 when became just the third player since 1927 along with Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire with a single-season slugging percentage of at least .750.

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Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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