As it turns out, Clayton Kershaw has already passed Pee Wee Reese. I didn't account for Kershaw's WAR as a hitter. (He's apparent hits pretty well for a pitcher). I didn't reset the stats - so they might be a bit off for awhile.
This quiz led me to look up Eddie Plank, which was great, because I can now add "Gettysburg Eddie" to my list proving that they just don't make athlete nicknames like they used to.
I am a baseball nut and am really into baseball history, and I wish so badly that they would bring back the ridiculous nicknames that used to be everywhere in the game. Oil Can Boyd, Three-Finger Brown, Hack Wilson, Ducky Medwick, Dizzy *and* Daffy Dean, Mookie Wilson. There are some solid nicknames in the game today (Polar Bear is an especially good one), but I love that for a lot of guys the nickname is the only name people know. Cy Young is one of the most famous players in history. How many people know his real name? ("Cy" is a nickname, short for "Cyclone.") Every American knows Babe Ruth. I wonder how many know his real name.
Amazing that the Big Train is number one of all time. I read a biography of him many years ago but that was before WAR came about so I never knew he was the all-time leader.
But Walter Johnson does hold the modern-era record for highest single-season WAR in 1913 when he won 36 games and recorded an ERA of 1.14 while also hitting .261.
I know this is based on WAR but Ron Santo wasn't nearly as good as Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Fergie Jenkins. Santo is one of the most overrated underrated players of all time.
It surprised me too. Apparently Ron Santo was really good at doing something very boring but effective: walking. Santo led the league in on base percentage twice while hitting for great power and winning Gold Gloves as a third baseman. He also didn't have too many down years, unlike Banks. That said, he just barely beats Ernie Banks in WAR.
Banks was just not that great of a ballplayer in his 30s. Sure he hit 20-30 Homers with a healthy RBI total, but he played subpar defense at 1B, struggled to get on base better than a .300 clip, and his net OPS in his 30s wasn't even +110. He was comparable to A-Rod in his 20s (one of the best all around SS ever) and comparable to a Mitch Moreland who got to play every day in his 30s.
How so? Is it possible that good defense in catchers is overrated? I have heard, however, that WAR doesn't measure the contributions of a catcher to a pitcher's success. It's possible that a really good catcher could be the most important player on the team IF they made the pitcher better. (And that's a big if).
Rose had 3,000 more plate appearances as a Red than Bench, plus got most of his declining years with Phillies. I'm guessing Bench's offensive WAR:PA was better even though he played all of his declining years with Reds.
Kershaw has three Cy Youngs, which is the MVP for pitchers. He also has an actual league MVP award, which is very rare for a pitcher to get. It has happened twice in the last 30 years. Once for Kershaw and once for Verlander. (Ohtani has two, of course, but his awards were primarily based on his hitting, as evidenced by the fact that he didn't win a Cy Young in either year).