Ernest Banks (Born in Dallas, TX on January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed “Mr. Cub” and “Mr. Sunshine”, was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between 1953 and 1971. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977, and was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Banks is regarded by some as one of the greatest players of all time. He began playing professional baseball in 1950 with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro leagues. He served in the U.S. military for two years, played for the Monarchs again, and began his major league career in September 1953. The following year, Banks was the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up. Beginning in 1955, Banks was a National League (NL) All-Star for 11 seasons, playing in 13 of the 15 All-Star Games held during those years. Banks was the Cubs’ main attraction in the late 1950s, the National League Most Valuable Player in 1958 and 1959, and the Cubs’ first Gold Glove winner in 1960.
Carl Yastrzemski (Born in Bridgehampton, Long Island on August 22, 1939-) won the Triple Crown for hitting in 1967, batting .326 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI. Carl played his entire career with the Boston Red Sox (1961-1983) potentially filling the shoes of retired Red Sox star Ted Williams. Yastrzemski both filled Williams place at the plate hitting 452 home runs in his career, but was an upgrade in the field as an excellent fielder sporting a .981 fielding percentage. Yaz was a fixture at the All-Star game, garnered 18 selections and was able to manage the torturous Green Monster with ease earning seven Gold Gloves in left for the Red Sox. Yaz was a three time batting champion winning the American League’s Most Valuable Player award during his 1967 Triple Crown season. For his 23-year career, Yastrzemski compiled a .285 career batting average with 3,419 hits, 1,816 runs, 1,844 RBI and 452 home runs. Carl Michael Yastrzemski was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.
Tony Pedro Oliva (Born in Pina Del Rio, Cuba on July 20, 1938-) won the Silver Louisville Slugger award in his first years in the minors as he batted .410 with the Wytheville Twins and became the only player in MLB history to win the batting title in each of his first two full seasons in the Major Leagues. In his rookie season, Oliva led the American League in runs (109), hits (217), doubles (43), batting average (.323) and total bases (374), won the 1964 AL Rookie of the Year award, earned his first All-Star appearance and finished fourth in AL MVP voting. Oliva won the batting title again in 1965, led the league in hits a second time and finished second in AL MVP voting. Tony Oliva played his entire career with the Minnesota Twins (1962-1976), led the American League in runs once, hits five times, doubles four times and added a third batting title in 1971 (.337). Oliva was a perennial candidate for the Most Valuable Player award finishing in the top 20 eight times in his 15-year career and five times in the top ten. Tony was named to his first eight MLB All-Star Games, passing Joe DiMaggio’s record of six. Tony O’s career was cut short due to nagging knee injuries finishing with 1,917 hits including 329 doubles and 220 home runs, scored 870 runs, drove in 947 RBI and batted .304 over his 15-year career. He also posted a .975 fielding percentage with 2,332 putouts in 2,464 chances.
Danny Cater Born in Austin, TX. Played twelve seasons in the big leagues, mostly as a regular. For the eight-year period from 1965 to 1972, he averaged over 500 plate appearances per season. Cater was a good hitter who was tough to strike out; however, he was slow afoot, making him more likely to ground into double plays, finishing in the top ten in the league in that category six times in those eight years, including second in both in 1968 and 1969. Cater finished second for the American League batting title in 1968 with a batting average of .290. That year is called “The Year of the Pitcher”, and Carl Yastrzemski won the batting crown with a .301 batting average, the lowest mark ever to win a major league batting championship. Cater also led all American League first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage, that season.
Rodney Cline Carew (born in Gatun, Panama on October 1, 1945) is a Panamanian former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, second baseman and coach who played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels. The greatest contact hitter in Twins history, he won the 1977 AL Most Valuable Player Award, setting a Twins record with a .388 batting average. Carew appeared in 18 straight All-Star Games and led the AL in hits three times, with his 239 hits in 1977 being twelfth most at the time. He won seven AL batting titles, the second most AL batting titles in history behind Ty Cobb, and on July 12, 2016 the AL batting title was renamed to the Rod Carew American League batting title. On August 4, 1985, Carew became the 16th member of the 3,000 hit club with a single to left field off Frank Viola. His 3,053 hits are 27th all time, and his career batting average of .328 is 34th all time. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 in his first year of eligibility; he appeared on upwards of 90 percent of the ballots. He was also elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame, Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame, and Angels Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Carew served as a coach for the Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers.
Geoffery Clayton Zahn (born in Baltimore, MD on December 19, 1945) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He pitched thirteen seasons in Major League Baseball from 1973 to 1985. In his career, he had a Win–loss record of 111–109, an earned run average of 3.74, and 705 strikeouts. Zahn’s best season came in 1982 when he compiled an 18–8 record, helping the Angels win the American League Western Division crown. Zahn was selected as the left-handed pitcher on the Sporting News AL All-Star Team after the 1982 season. Zahn was primarily a starter during his career, although on May 10, 1975, he earned his only major league save. He pitched the final four innings of a 5-1 Cubs victory over the Padres, allowing one hit and zero runs, and preserved the win for starting pitcher Rick Reuschel.
Johnny Lee Bench (born in Oklahoma City, OK on December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from 1967 through 1983, with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the Reds team known as the Big Red Machine that dominated the National League in the mid-1970s, winning six division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships.
Craig Alan Biggio (born in Smithtown, NY on December 14, 1965) is an American former second baseman, outfielder and catcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career from 1988 through 2007 for the Houston Astros. A seven-time National League (NL) All-Star often regarded as the greatest all-around player in Astros history, he is the only player ever to be named an All-Star and to be awarded Silver Slugger Award at both catcher and second base. With longtime teammates Jeff Bagwell and Lance Berkman, he formed the core of the “Killer B’s” who led Houston to six playoff appearances from 1997 to 2005, culminating in the franchise’s first World Series appearance in 2005. At the end of his career, he ranked sixth in NL history in games played (2,850), fifth in at bats (10,876), 21st in hits (3,060), and seventh in runs scored (1,844). His 668 career doubles ranked sixth in major league history, and are the second-most ever by a right-handed hitter; his 56 doubles in 1999 were the most in the major leagues in 63 years.
Bert Blyleven (born in the Netherlands as Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch American former professional baseball pitcher who played from 1970 to 1992. A renowned curveball pitcher, Blyleven was a two-time All-Star and World Series champion. He ranks fifth all-time among pitchers in strikeouts, 14th in innings pitched, and 27th in wins. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. From 1996 to 2020, he was a color analyst for Minnesota Twins television broadcasts.
Wade Anthony Boggs (born in Omaha, NE on June 15, 1958) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent 18 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily with the Boston Red Sox. He also played for the New York Yankees (1993-1997), and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-1999). He won the 1996 World Series with the Yankees. Boggs became the 23rd player to reach 3,000 career hits. His hitting in the 1980s and 1990s made him a perennial contender for American League batting titles. He is 33rd on the list of career leaders for batting average among Major League Baseball players with a minimum of 1,000 plate appearances and has the highest ranking of those still alive. Boggs was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. Boggs’ career paralleled that of Tony Gwynn, who also debuted (in the National League) in 1982. Boggs and Gwynn were the premier contact hittersof their era. They both won multiple batting titles—Boggs, five and Gwynn, eight—and each won four straight batting titles to join Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, and Rod Carew as the only players to do so. Gwynn and Boggs each hit over .350 in four straight seasons, the only players to do so since 1931. They joined Lou Brock and Rod Carew as the only players whose careers ended after World War II who finished with 3,000 hits and fewer than 160 home runs. Tommy John noted that Boggs always seemed to know what the next pitch was going to be. “…for pure hitting, Boggs is the best I’ve ever seen,” John wrote in 1991. “He’s a phenomenon, a pure hitting machine. I’ve never seen anything like him. He lit me up.”
Barry Lamar Bonds (born in Riverside, CA on July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants from 1993 to 2007. He is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Recognized as an all-around player, Bonds received a record seven NL MVP awards and 12 Silver Slugger awards, along with 14 All-Star selections. He holds many MLB hitting records, including most career home runs (762), most home runs in a single season (73, set in 2001), and most career walks. Bonds led MLB in on-base plus slugging six times and placed within the top five hitters in 12 of his 17 qualifying seasons. For his defensive play in the outfield, he won eight Gold Glove awards. He also stole 514 bases, becoming the first and only MLB player to date with at least 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases.
Kenton Lloyd Boyer (Born in Liberty, MO on May 20, 1931 – September 7, 1982) is the only St. Louis Cardinal to have his number retired but has not been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Boyer began his career as a pitcher, with little success, but was moved to third base due to his hitting ability. Ken played for the Cardinals (1955-1965), the Mets (1966-1967) the White Sox (1967-1968) and Dodgers (1968-1969). During his 15-year career, Boyer was selected to 11 All-Star games and won five Gold Glove Awards. In 1964, Boyer had a career year with 185 hits, 100 runs, 119 RBI, 24 home runs and a .295 batting average as he guided the Cardinals to the World Series victory over the New York Yankees and the National League Most Valuable Player honors. During the 1964 World Series, Kenny hit a grand slam in Game 4 to give the Cards the 4-3 win and added another home run as he went 3-for-4 in Game 7. Ken and his brother Clete (of the New York Yankees), who also homered in Game 7, became the first brothers to hit home runs in the same game of the World Series. The Boyer brothers rank fourth in home runs by a brother duo (444) behind Hank and Tommie Aaron (652) and Joe and Vince (486) or Dom (448) DiMaggio. Boyer was the soft-spoken leader of a Cardinal team that included Hall of Famers Lou Brock and Bob Gibson. Ken Boyer retired with a .287 career batting average, 2,143 hits, 1,104 runs, 1,141 RBI, 282 home runs and 318 doubles. Kenny Boyer would go on to manage for seven years in the minors before taking over the helm of the Cardinals from 1978-1980.
George Howard Brett (born in Glen Dale, WV on May 15, 1953) is an American former professional baseball player who played 21 seasons, primarily as a third baseman, in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals. Brett’s 3,154 career hits are second most by any third baseman in major league history (after Adrian Beltre’s 3,166) and rank 18th all-time. He is one of four players in MLB history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, and a career .300 batting average (the others being Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Stan Musial). He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot and is the only player in MLB history to win a batting title in three different decades. He was also a member of the Royals’ 1985 World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
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