by David Fleitz

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dlfleitz@wcnet.org

Joe Jackson in the outfield at Cleveland's League Park, 1912.

Stan Musial in 1949.

Carl Yastrzemski on the December 25, 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated, in which he was named Sportsman of the Year.

I recently read a new book by Bill James, The New Historical Baseball Abstract, in which James takes on the daunting task of identifying the 100 best players at every position in the history of baseball.

I figured that wherever James rated Shoeless Joe Jackson, someone would complain that the ranking wasn't high enough. Sure enough, the gang on the message board at blackbetsy.com stopped trashing my book long enough to weigh in with their opinions.

One participant writes:

Bill James has Joe ranked 6th all time in left field. What an outrage!

I don't know if the word "outrage" is justified here, but Joe certainly has his fans. Another Joe-worshipper says:

I believe that Joe Jackson is the best player that the game of baseball has had the honor of enjoying or not enjoying.

Well, I think that Babe Ruth was better than Joe, and so was Willie Mays, and a few others (at least).

However, James listed five left fielders ahead of Joe in his rankings. Those five, in order, were Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Barry Bonds, Rickey Henderson, and Carl Yastrzemski. Before I look at those five players, I'd like to make a few points about the left field position.

1. Left field is the outfield position that requires the least fielding ability. I know that on the playground, you always put your worst player in right field, but on the major league level he goes into left. If an outfielder is a really good fielder, the team will usually put him in right or center. Some Hall of Fame left fielders, like Ralph Kiner, Lou Brock, Hack Wilson, and others, were horrible fielders whose managers tried to hide them in left and hoped for the best.

2. Left fielders, quite often, are people who started their careers at other positions. Joe Jackson played mostly right field in his Cleveland years (1910-1915) because he was fast and had a strong throwing arm. By 1917 or so, Joe was approaching his 30th birthday and slowing down due to age and leg injuries, so the White Sox moved him to the less demanding left field spot. Good hitters who slow down in the field are usually moved to left (Hank Greenberg, Yogi Berra, Harvey Kuenn) or first base (Mickey Mantle, Ernie Banks, Willie Mays in his last Giant season).

3. A left fielder does not need a good throwing arm. You need a great arm for right field, and at least a good arm for center, but you can get away with having a poor arm in left field. Joe Jackson had a very good throwing arm, and so did Yastrzemski, but Williams, Musial, and Bonds were average at best, and Henderson's arm was terrible.

A left fielder (or a first baseman) has to be a good hitter, because the position he plays is not very demanding. In rating left fielders, hitting must be the most important consideration.

With that in mind, let's look at James' top five left fielders.

Ted Williams.  He was a pain to be around most of the time - James said that Williams was hated around the league like Albert Belle was in the 1990s - but Ted was the greatest hitter of his era, no question.  Williams, who played 17 full seasons for the Red Sox (and spent all or part of five others in military service) has to rate ahead of Jackson, who played only nine full seasons.  By the way, Connie Mack said in 1941, "I wish I had a Williams.  I had one once and I lost him.  Joe Jackson, one of the greatest batters of all time."

Stan Musial. Most people rate him slightly behind Williams, though I might put him slightly ahead.  He won seven batting titles (Williams won six, while Jackson never won any) and played 22 full seasons to Jackson's nine.  He's got to rank ahead of Joe, too.

Barry Bonds. Probably the best player of the 1990s (him or Griffey), Bonds will surpass 600 career homers sometime this year.  He'd have amazing RBI numbers if the Giants could get anyone on base in front of him.  He's so dangerous that opposing managers walk him every chance they get, just like an earlier generation of managers did with Williams.  He ranks ahead of Jackson as he enters his 18th season.

Rickey Henderson. He's the greatest leadoff man of all time and the all-time leader in walks, steals, and runs scored.  Rickey has bounced around a lot in the latter stages of his career, but he's put together an amazing 23-year statistical record.  I'll take him over Joe.

Carl Yastrzemski.  It's a close call.  Joe was undoubtedly a better player, but Yaz played more games than anyone in major league history except Pete Rose.  He won the 1967 pennant for the Red Sox almost single-handedly and won 3 batting titles.  Joe hit for a much higher average (.356 to .285) but it's hard to compare Joe's 9 seasons to the 23 that Yaz played.

Some of Joe Jackson's fans - the ones who think he should be reinstated and placed in the Hall of Fame - like to say that Joe was the "greatest player of all time," which is a wild exaggeration. If Joe had played until age 40 he might have gotten into the top 3 in left field, but he didn't. I think that James' rating of Joe as number 6 among left fielders is accurate.