Top 5 MLB Hitters of All-Time part one

 

 This is my list of the top 5 hitters of all-time. I will be featuring one player a day.

#5 Willie Mays
Mays is the second greatest right-handed batter of all-time. His career offensive WAR is 131.3(WAR or wins above replacement level player is a statistic that is a single number that presents the number of wins that a player added to his teams total, above what a replacement player would add.) On a single season scale the number 8+ wins is a MVP type year, 5+ wins is a all-star caliber season, 2+ is an everday player and 0 or minus is a replacement player.  Mays was a player that could hit for average, power, and had phenomenal speed.  Over a 22 year career, his average 162 game season totals out to:112 runs scored, 178 hits, 36 HRs, 103 RBI, 18 Stolen Bases, 79 walks, 83 Strikeouts, 28 doubles, 8 triples, .302 Batting Average, .384 On Base Percentage, .557 Slugging percentage, and 328 total bases.  Some of these numbers are a little low, because Mays played four years longer than he should have. By hanging on too long, he lowered his career averages.

Willie was selected to the Hall of Fame in1979, his first year of eligibility,  with 94.9% of the voters including him on their ballots. Mays finished in the top 4 of the National League for Offensive WAR 13 straight years(1954-1966).  Willie is; third all time with 6,006 career total bases, 4th all-time in Home-runs with 660, 11th all-time with 1,903 RBIs, 7th in career runs scored with 2,062, and 7th all-time with 2,368 runs created. Mays also has; the 5th most extra base hits in his career with 1,323, the 11th most at bats with 10.881, 9th in career games played 2,992, 11th all-time with 3,283 hits and led the league in stolen bases four different times.

Mays, combined power and speed better than any player, ever. This was a man who could lead the league in Home-runs and stolen bases. Willie led the National league in HRs four different times, twice hitting more than 50 in a single season. He also finished four different seasons at the top of the National League in Stolen Bases. He led the NL seven different times in offensive WAR. Mays was also a consistent .300 hitter, who won one NL batting title in his career.

Mays produced all of these numbers as a right-handed hitter. Mays also had to face racial bigotry and racism from fans throughout most of his career. The only thing keeping Mays from being higher on my list is the fact that he only won one career batting title. He, also really fell off a cliff, in terms of production the last 6-7 years of his career. The Say Hey Kid is still the second best RH hitter of all-time and definitely deserving of a spot as high as number 3 on this list. He will have to settle for number 5 though

Top 5 hitters in MLB History part 2

top 5 Hitters In MLB History Part 3

Top 5 Hitters In MLB History Part 4