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Bubbles Hargrave
- Age: 28-35
- Years: 1921-1928
- Positions: C
- Teams: Cincinnati Reds
Bubbles Hargrave Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 18.5 766 2,367 298 744 146 57 29 359 27 16 206 147 .314 .377 .461 .838 -
Lou GehrigHOFMVP
- Age: 20-26
- Years: 1923-1929
- Positions: 1B
- Teams: New York Yankees
Lou Gehrig Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 39.3 767 2,746 631 919 206 72 146 635 30 30 480 351 .335 .436 .622 1.058 -
Rogers HornsbyHOF2x MVP
- Age: 24-33
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: 2B
- Teams: St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs
Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 93.1 1,430 5,451 1,195 2,085 405 115 250 1,153 74 62 753 431 .382 .460 .637 1.096 -
Pie TraynorHOF
- Age: 21-30
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: 3B
- Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates
Pie Traynor Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 23.0 1,186 4,650 764 1,496 226 109 42 804 129 46 272 142 .322 .362 .444 .806 -
Joe SewellHOF
- Age: 21-30
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: SS
- Teams: Cleveland Indians
Joe Sewell Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 44.1 1,404 5,268 813 1,698 358 57 30 820 70 63 613 96 .322 .399 .429 .828 -
Babe RuthHOFMVP
- Age: 25-34
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: OF
- Teams: New York Yankees
Babe Ruth Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 102.4 1,399 4,884 1,365 1,734 314 82 467 1338 88 93 1,240 795 .355 .488 .740 1.228 -
Harry HeilmannHOF
- Age: 25-34
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: OF
- Teams: Detroit Tigers
Harry Heilmann Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 56.8 1,417 5,285 962 1,924 397 101 142 1,131 70 56 615 324 .364 .433 .558 .991 -
Goose GoslinHOF
- Age: 20-28
- Years: 1921-1929
- Positions: OF
- Teams: Washington Senators
Goose Goslin Hitting Stats WAR G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS 39.7 1,144 4,346 717 1,436 240 110 108 822 109 48 419 281 .330 .394 .511 .905 -
Pete AlexanderHOF
- Age: 33-42
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: SP
- Teams: Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals
Pete Alexander Pitching Stats WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP 48.5 325 290 165 105 3.04 2,415.1 194 20 16 982 816 349 653 2.4 1.191 -
Dazzy VanceHOFMVP
- Age: 31-38
- Years: 1922-1929
- Positions: SP
- Teams: Brooklyn Dodgers
Dazzy Vance Pitching Stats WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP 50.0 266 244 147 90 3.10 2,053.2 172 22 4 820 708 583 1,464 6.4 1.205 -
Stan CoveleskiHOF
- Age: 30-38
- Years: 1920-1928
- Positions: SP
- Teams: Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, New York Yankees
Stan Coveleski Pitching Stats WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP 38.4 274 253 133 89 3.20 1,933.2 137 21 9 851 688 510 558 2.6 1.319 -
Urban Shocker
- Age: 29-37
- Years: 1920-1928
- Positions: SP
- Teams: St. Louis Browns
Urban Shocker Pitching Stats WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP 44.9 330 261 156 93 3.34 2,148.2 168 22 22 946 797 484 753 3.2 1.275 -
Dolf Luque
- Age: 29-38
- Years: 1920-1929
- Positions: SP
- Teams: Cincinnati Reds
Dolf Luque Pitching Stats WAR G GS W L ERA IP CG SHO SV R ER BB SO SO/9 WHIP 37.1 353 302 138 146 3.09 2,479.2 168 21 8 1,059 851 688 904 3.3 1.264 - Catcher – Gabby Hartnett
- First Base- Jack Fournier
- Second Base- Frankie Frisch
- Third Base- Freddie Lindstrom
- Shortstop- Travis Jackson
- Outfield – Ken Williams
- Outfield – Sam Rice
- Starting Pitcher – Lefty Grove
- Starting Pitcher – Red Faber
Often referred to as the golden age of baseball. The decade began with the newest Yankee Babe Ruth playing his first season as a full-time outfielder. That year he set the standard for which all great seasons would be measured against. We saw the careers of arguably the greatest hitter, Ty Cobb, and the greatest pitcher of all-time, Walter Johnson. Ultimately, this would mark the beginning of the New York Yankees century long reign over baseball.
Walter Johnson and Pete Alexander would become 10th and 11th players to eclipse 300 career wins and Johnson would join Cy Young as the second player to accumulate 400 career wins. Johnson became the only player to strike out 3,000 batters during his career. Ruth became the first player to hit 500 career homers and Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, and Eddie Collins all joined the 3,000 hit club doubling its size from three to six. Cobb would also become the only player to collect 4,000 career hits.
These rankings are part of The Baseball Scholar’s MLB All-Decade Teams, which evaluates the greatest players in Major League Baseball history across every position.
Catcher
First Base
Second Base
Third Base
Shortstop
Outfield
Outfield
Outfield
Starting Pitcher
Starting Pitcher
Starting Pitcher
Starting Pitcher
Starting Pitcher
Honorable Mention
All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.
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Although he played mor games in the 1930s, I’m more in the
C Gabby Hartnett
This was not the ideal decade for 1B. Lou Gehrig played most of his career in the 1930s. When he started, he became the best but, until then, even though he was nearly blinded the last part of career, the best 1B of the 1920s overall:
1B George Sisler
Babe Ruth best season was in 1921 when he played LF in the Polo Grounds. I can see an argument for LF Goose Goslin and an even stronger one for RF/CF Sam Rice. But, I think there is one better honorable mention: The knock is that Al Simmons didn’t start until 1924:
LF Babe Ruth
CF Sam Rice
RF Harry Heilmann
Pete Alexander is one of the elite pitchers all time and is part of the 1910s greatest team. The Coveleski brothers were considered the best when they were active. Stan’s last great season was in 1925. The best pitchers of the 1920 decade are not obvious:
Dazzy Vance
Burleigh Grimes
Urban Shocker
Herb Pennock
Red Faber
Waite Hoyt
So you want Gabby Hartnett, even though he played mostly in the 30s, yet reject Lou Gehrig for basically the same reason. Inconsistent logic. Also Pete deserves to be on the team of two different decades. It’s not his fault he played well when he was older.
Great article and all decade team. I’m replaying the 1922 baseball season with Hughie Jennings EE-YAH! game and love it!
the game and love it