Top Ten Years Position Player - 1990s

Yes, it does. (How did steroids effect the stats, and therefore, the rankings of the best seasons of the decade in the 1990s) Start to get a little sticky this decade as, at least as far as we know, the statistics of the game of baseball began to get marred with the inclusion of steroids into the game. Now, none of us know how pervasive it was, and even with the rumors that some of the best in the game, some included on the list below, have had their names brought through that ringer, we don't now if the playing field was even at all. And if we accept the fact, an unknown one, that the steroid era was predominantly from 1998 to 2003, it could have been much broader.

The year Barry Bonds had in 1993, presumably well before his alleged steroid use began, is one of the best cases he has going forward that Barry Bonds had a deserved Hall of Fame career. Playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bonds was a five tool threat that year, raising his PEVA-B rating to 43.404. Look a little further down the list and you see Mark McGwire's 1998 season, rated 4th in the decade. McGwire did not lead MLB in Run Production that season, 277 to the 292 for Sammy Sosa, his compatriot in the chase for the Home Run Title, now defaced by the rumors of performance enhancing substance use during the chase. And what about Sosa? Where is he on the list? Sosa did not make the top of the list, with an OBP of only 0.377 and an SLG well below the league's best.


D/ARank Player ID Name First Year Team Lg HR RBI AVG Age PEVA-B
1 29 bondsba01 Bonds Barry 1993 SFN NL 46 123 0.336 29 43.404
2 49 thomafr04 Thomas Frank 1994 CHA AL 38 101 0.353 26 41.278
3 52 piazzmi01 Piazza Mike 1997 LAN NL 40 124 0.362 29 41.108
4 55 mcgwima01 McGwire Mark 1998 SLN NL 70 147 0.299 35 40.809
5 80 bagweje01 Bagwell Jeff 1994 HOU NL 39 116 0.368 26 38.044
6 112 bondsba01 Bonds Barry 1990 PIT NL 33 114 0.301 26 36.095
7 114 thomafr04 Thomas Frank 1991 CHA AL 32 109 0.318 23 36.023
8 115 bagweje01 Bagwell Jeff 1999 HOU NL 42 126 0.304 31 35.960
9 118 ripkeca01 Ripken Jr. Cal 1991 BAL AL 34 114 0.323 31 35.853
10 130 bondsba01 Bonds Barry 1992 PIT NL 34 103 0.311 28 35.418