The Postseason Bests of All-Time

Well, I know. We're getting tired of this guy heading all the lists, but whatcha gonna say, the Babe was just the best player of all-time, even without counting his pitching prowess, which actually does come into play here. In postseason ball, most players stick to what they do best. They either hit their way to notoriety in the World Series or playoffs or they pitch their way there. For the Babe, it was mostly his hitting, which would have been enough to land him in the top spot in the All Players Postseason Best List for a Career. At 28.065 POST PEVA, that batting number would have outdistanced him from the #2 man on the list, Yogi Berra, 22.935. However, when you add in the pitching, it raises Ruth to 30.139.

The list of All Player Postseason Career Best contains many of the players we all think of as great, even some who are not quite Hall of Fame worthy, although 24 of the Top 40 are already in the Hall of Fame, including two of this year's class, Joe Gordon at #31 and Rickey Henderson at #36. And when you include those who ten years from now will be inducted (Greg Maddux, Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Schilling, Smoltz, and Chipper Jones) and those who would be without some of their questions (Rose and Manny Ramirez) - Yes, we know Manny might make it anyway, and perhaps even Rose some day - that makes it 32 of 40. Not too shabby.

Now it's always a question to how highly you should rate a player's postseason ability when considering Hall of Fame worthiness. Players don't get an equal shot at World Series notoriety due to their team success or lack of it in the regular season. In the old-timers days, prior to 1903, postseasons were not an every year event, skipping the first decade of pro ball, the 1870s, and most of the 1890s. But there's no doubt that it raises their profile, and should be considered, in that discussion. As we can see, it certainly contains a good deal of the cream rising to the top 40 of this list.

The remainder of the Top Ten includes some of the best postseason players of the past generation, including Reggie Jackson at #6 and Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter at #8 and #9 respectively. One surprise to us was how highly Bernie Williams ranked, coming in at #10. Way to go Bernie.

So another list dominated by the Babe brings out some interesting notes on other players and reminds us of their World Series greatness through the years. Congratulations Postseason Top 40 guys; it is greatly deserved. Go to Top 40 All-Time Postseason Career Players for the list.