Best right-handed hitters of all time?

[Blackout]

why are right handed hitters in general not as good? 1 in every 9 people is left handed, so there's 8 times the talent pool of righties to choose from right?


anywho

Rogers Hornsby
Josh Gibson
Jimmie Foxx
Hank Aaron
Willie Mays
Joe Dimaggio
Alex Rodriguez (climbing season by season)
Vlad Guerrero (with SB's I rate him above Manny)
Manny Ramirez
Hank Greenberg

give Pujols a few years and he'll be on the list


today on the radio I was hearing people say Manny was the best right handed hitter they had seen in the last 40-50 years. not sure if I can agree on that.

[Proctor, CF]

Because they face mostly right-handed pitchers, they're closer to first, right-field fences are often shorter, and they're exposed to more testosterone while in the fetus. Plus, they're more sinister.

How's that for a guess?

[GiambiJuice]

At this point, I'd give Ramirez a significant edge over A-Rod if we are only judging them as hitters and not on the total package.

A-Rod: .306/.389/.578, 147 OPS+ in 1,904 games
Manny Ramirez: .313/.409/.593, 154 OPS+ in 1,950 games

Plus, I think you might be forgetting Frank Thomas. He's easily a better hitter than Vlad.

A few other great ones that come to mind are Honus Wagner, Dick Allen, Mark McGwire, Frank Robinson, Ed Delahanty, and Jeff Bagwell.

[Bill Burgess]

My candidates for the Greatest Right-Handed Hitters of All Time:

1. Rogers Hornsby
2. Honus Wagner
3. Willie Mays
4. Hank Aaron
5. Nap Lajoie
6. Cap Anson
7. Harry Heilmann
8. Alex Rodriguez
9. Jimmy Foxx
10. Joe DiMaggio

Honorable Mentions:
Mike Schmidt, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Roberto Clemente, Hank Greenberg, Manny Ramirez, Jackie Robinson, Kiki Cuyler, Ed Delahanty.

[Westlake]

Blackout,

What do SBs have to do with hitting?

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

At this point, I'd give Ramirez a significant edge over A-Rod if we are only judging them as hitters and not on the total package.

A-Rod: .306/.389/.578, 147 OPS+ in 1,904 games
Manny Ramirez: .313/.409/.593, 154 OPS+ in 1,950 games

Ramirez is a player that can drive a GM nuts. I think that his mood swings make him one of the most underestimated players.

[hellborn]

Because they face mostly right-handed pitchers, they're closer to first, right-field fences are often shorter, and they're exposed to more testosterone while in the fetus. Plus, they're more sinister.

How's that for a guess?

I know that the Italian word for left is "sinistre"...one word that's handy to know for understanding directions ("destre" for right). The word "sinister" means what it does to us because of the long standing reputation of left handed people...

I'd say that Frank Thomas at his best was more impressive than Manny, although Manny has been far more consistent throughout his career. I like Manny's swing a lot better, Frank had a base hitter's stroke but 300 lbs of muscle behind it. Frank would hit some balls that would just scare the crud out of infielders.
I'm going to make a list by era, sort of...
Anson
Delahanty
Wagner
Hornsby
Beast
Greenberg
Clipper
Kiner
Mays
Aaron
F Robby
Allen
Killebrew
Schmidt
Frank Thomas
Manny
ARod

The advantage that lefty hitters have in compiling good numbers as hitters is huge...I think that a typical platoon differential is about .100 for OPS, which is a LOT.
One thing to remember is that not all lefty hitters are actually left handed...Cobb and Ted Williams, for example, were both righty throwers. The advantage to hitting left becomes obvious even at a young age...anyway, the breakdown of hitters into lefty/righty does not follow the population's proportions of left handed and right handed people.

[fenrir]

mike piazza deserves a mention.

[leecemark]

All RH hitting team

C Piazza
1B Thomas
2B Hornsby
3B Schmidt
SS Rodriguez
LF Rameriz
CF Mays
RF Aaron

--I'd actually give the edge to 5 of the 8 over the LH hitting team (of course most LHers do play OF/1B)

C Berra
1B Gehrig
2B Morgan
3B Mathews
SS Vaughan
LF Williams
CF Cobb
RF Ruth

[Blackout]

Blackout,

What do SBs have to do with hitting?

it adds to your total offensive package

[brett]

Just wanted to throw Edgar Martinez out there.

and Dick Allen

Clemente for his top 5-7 years.


And also Mickey Mantle from the right side.

[KCGHOST]

1 Rogers Hornsby
2 Hank Aaron
3 Honus Wagner
4 Willie Mays
5 Jimmie Foxx
6 Frank Robinson
7 Ed Delahanty
8 Nap Lajoie
9 Cap Anson
10 Frank Thomas
12 Joe DiMaggio
13 Manny Ramirez

[Olliemets]

Honerable Mention

In his prime- Piazza

[Westlake]

it adds to your total offensive package

So, again, what do SBs have to do with hitting -- baserunning has nothing to do with hitting.

[stejay]

In his prime- Piazza

I agree. Piazza was a great player in his prime, and deserves an honurable mention here.