Pirates' Top 5 second basemen: Berry's take
Adam Berry
@adamdberryNo one loves a good debate quite like baseball fans, and with that in mind, we asked each of our beat reporters to rank the top five players by position in the history of their franchise, based on their career while playing for that club. These rankings are for fun and debate purposes only ¡ if you don¡¯t agree with the order, participate in the Twitter poll to vote for your favorite at this position.
Here is Adam Berry¡¯s ranking of the top 5 second basemen in Pirates history. Next week: Third basemen.
1) Bill Mazeroski, 1956-72
Key fact: The Hall of Famer, arguably the greatest defensive second baseman ever, hit the first and only walk-off home run in World Series Game 7 history
The best defensive second baseman of his time, and perhaps of all time, ¡°Maz¡± is ironically best remembered -- and memorialized outside of PNC Park -- for his unmatched accomplishment at the plate. Mazeroski remains the only player in Major League history to hit a walk-off homer in Game 7 of the World Series, which he did to lead the Bucs past the Yankees in the 1960 Fall Classic.
A 10-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner whose No. 9 is retired in Pittsburgh, Mazeroski holds the Major League records for second basemen in most seasons leading the league in assists (nine), most seasons leading the league in double plays (eight), most double plays in a single season (161, in 1966) and most career double plays (1,706), a testament to how quickly and precisely he turned two.
A career .260 hitter over 17 seasons (all with Pittsburgh) and the Pirates¡¯ Wins Above Replacement leader among second basemen, Mazeroski was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2001. Simply put, Mazeroski¡¯s status as the Pirates¡¯ best second baseman of all time is not up for debate.
2) Claude Ritchey, 1900-06
Key fact: Ranked second among Pirates second basemen with 25.2 WAR, Ritchey led NL 2B in assists twice (1901, ¡¯03), double plays twice (¡¯01, ¡¯05) and fielding percentage four times (¡¯02-03, ¡¯05-06)
Honus Wagner was the Pirates¡¯ star at the turn of the 20th century, but his middle-infield partner was no slouch -- even if he is largely forgotten to history. The Pirates won three National League pennants from 1901-03, although they lost the first World Series in '03 to the American League¡¯s Boston Americans.
Ritchey, a durable infielder regarded as an excellent defensive player in his day, batted .277 with 965 hits, 150 doubles, 46 triples, five home runs and 420 RBIs for the Pirates. According to the Society for American Baseball Research, Wagner praised Ritchey for his clutch hitting (¡°Claude was never a great hitter except in a pinch,¡± Wagner said, according to SABR. ¡°But then is when you could bet on him.¡±) and his defense. (¡°The best man I ever saw picking up ground balls between the bounces,¡± Wagner said. ¡°Nothing seemed to fool him.¡±)
3) Johnny Ray, 1981-87
Key fact: 1982 Rookie of the Year Award runner-up and ¡®83 Silver Slugger Award winner ranks third among Pirates second basemen in hits (1,009) and WAR (19.4)
A 12th-round pick in the MLB Draft by the Astros in 1979, the Pirates acquired Ray in exchange for Phil Garner on Aug. 31, 1981, and immediately made the University of Arkansas product their starting second baseman -- a role he held for most of the ¡®80s.
Ray batted .281 with 30 doubles, 36 walks and only 34 strikeouts in 162 games as a rookie and finished second to Steve Sax in the Baseball Writers Association of America¡¯s NL Rookie of the Year Award voting. (Ray won The Sporting News¡¯ version of the award.) He was even better in ¡¯83, leading the NL with 38 doubles as he hit .283 and earned a Silver Slugger Award. He also ranked 10th among all NL position players with 5.1 WAR that season.
The switch-hitting Ray, who was all but impossible to strike out throughout his career, also led the NL in doubles in 1984, when he batted .312 with a career-best .789 OPS in 155 games for the Bucs. Ray slugged at least 30 doubles every season from '82-88, with the last year and a half coming for the California Angels. Ray earned his only career All-Star nod with the Angels in ¡¯88.
4) Rennie Stennett, 1971-79
Key fact: The first and, to date, only player in MLB¡¯s modern era to record seven hits in seven at-bats in a nine-inning game
Stennett stands alone in history with his 7-for-7 performance in the Pirates¡¯ 22-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sept. 16, 1975. Pittsburgh¡¯s leadoff man doubled twice, tripled, scored five runs and drove in two -- a game for the record books.
When Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford recorded seven hits in a 14-inning game in Miami in 2016, Stennett visited Marlins Park to personally congratulate him. ¡°I feel good just being remembered,¡± Stennett said, according to the Associated Press.
Like Mazeroski, it¡¯s funny that Stennett is remembered for an offensive accomplishment when defense was arguably his greatest strength. He led the NL in putouts at second base in 1974 and ¡¯76, and he led the league in total zone runs at second in ¡¯75, ¡¯76 and ¡¯79. Overall, Stennett batted .278 with 38 homers and 388 RBIs in 1,079 games for the Pirates.
On Sept. 1, 1971, Stennett was part of the first Major League lineup comprised entirely of black and Latin American players. He didn¡¯t appear in Pittsburgh¡¯s 1971 World Series triumph, but he did record a hit in his only plate appearance in the Bucs¡¯ '79 Fall Classic victory.
5) Neil Walker, 2009-15
Key fact: Among modern-era Pirates players, only Mazeroski hit more home runs as a second baseman (183) than Walker¡¯s 93. Only the four second basemen listed above had more hits than Walker¡¯s 833.
This isn¡¯t just a sentimental pick for the Pittsburgh Kid, a born-and-raised Pirates fan who helped end the franchise¡¯s 20-year losing streak in 2013. Walker earned this spot, primarily with his bat, slashing .272/.338/.431 in 836 games for the Bucs before they traded him to the Mets in December 2015.
Beginning in 2010, his first full season, Walker posted an above-average OPS+ every year through '17 -- and that indicated he was more productive than the league-average hitter, not just the league-average second baseman. The switch-hitter brought poise and power to second base, and he delivered a big hit in Pittsburgh¡¯s first postseason game since 1992 when he hit an RBI double in the 2013 NL Wild Card Game.
Walker ranks fourth all-time among Pirates second baseman with 15.5 bWAR and fifth with 15.4 fWAR. His finest offensive campaign came in 2014, when he slashed .271/.342/.467 with 23 homers, 76 RBIs and 25 doubles in 137 games. He also earned his first and only Silver Slugger Award at the end of the year.
Honorable mentions
Phil Garner (1977-81) hit .267 with a .739 OPS and earned two All-Star nods with the Pirates, and he was the starting second baseman for their '79 World Series championship team. And he wasn¡¯t just part of the team; he hit .417 in the ¡¯79 NLCS and .500 in the World Series.
Dave Cash (1969-73) made three All-Star teams with the Phillies from ¡¯74-76, but he earns a mention here for five solid seasons with the Pirates and his contributions to the '71 World Series championship club.
Freddy Sanchez (2004-09) hit .301 in five seasons with the Pirates, earned three All-Star nods and won the batting title in '06 when he hit .344 with 53 doubles.
Dots Miller (1909-13) bounced around the infield during his time with the Pirates, but he enjoyed an excellent offensive season as the primary second baseman and started all seven games there as Pittsburgh beat Detroit in the '09 World Series.