The Baseball Scholar

1920s All-Decade Team

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

    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.

    Catcher

  • Bubbles Hargrave

    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

    • First Base

  • Lou GehrigHOFMVP

    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

    • Second Base

  • Rogers HornsbyHOF2x MVP

    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

    • Third Base

  • Pie TraynorHOF

    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

    • Shortstop

  • Joe SewellHOF

    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

    • Outfield

  • Babe RuthHOFMVP

    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

    • Outfield

  • Harry HeilmannHOF

    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

    • Outfield

  • Goose GoslinHOF

    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

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Pete AlexanderHOF

    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

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Dazzy VanceHOFMVP

    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

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Stan CoveleskiHOF

    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

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Urban Shocker

    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

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Dolf Luque

    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

    • Honorable Mention

  • 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

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

4 responses to “1920s All-Decade Team”

  1. Garry Harris Avatar
    Garry Harris

    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

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  2. Sabrsteve Avatar
    Sabrsteve

    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.

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    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Great article and all decade team. I’m replaying the 1922 baseball season with Hughie Jennings EE-YAH! game and love it!

      Like

      Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    the game and love it

    Like

    Reply

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