Due to unforseen circumstances, The Collector's Top Ten Players by Position countdown will no longer be posted
twice a week. I've got so much going on at home that I'll have to post these every Wednesday for a while. This week, the Wheel Of Positions landed on something that didn't exist for the first hundred years of the sport: Designated Hitters
It would have been preferrable to establish who we're considering at each field position first (and third and left field... haha) but the Wheel wants us to do this backwards. Here are the top ten players who had more career appearances at DH than any specific position.
But first (and third and left field...) let's salute some hitters who weren't quite top ten material:
Just Missed The Cut
Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner were teammates for 6 1/2 seasons in Cleveland. While "V-Mart" squatted behind the dish as Cleveland's catcher "Pronk" was the Tribe's primary DH. The more decorated Martinez was a five-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger winner - incluing in 2014 when he led the AL with a .409 on-base percentage and finished second in MVP voting as a 35 year-old DH in Detroit. Hafner had three straight 5-WAR seasons from 2004-06, powering Cleveland's lineup with an AL-leading 1.097 OPS in '06.
Don Baylor once held the modern-day hit by pitch record, though he was also skilled at getting on base in less painful ways. His 2,135 career base hits (1,235 as a DH) are the 8th-highest among players on this list. The 1979 AL MVP smacked 366 doubles and 338 homers over his 19-year career, placing in the position's top ten for total hits, runs, home runs, RBI, and games played. However his career slash line of .260/.342/.436 is among the lowest of the 20+ players I considered for this list.
I struggled to choose a 14th-place player out of the remaining dozen or so designated hitters I considered, and so I'll use this slot to recognize the Royals as a group. Their penchant for producing above average designated hitters dates back to the dawn of the position, when Hal McRae was traded to the Royals prior to the 1973 season. McRae is third among all DHs in games played and hits, though his power production (191 homers, .454 slugging) ranks lower than five-time All-Star Mike Sweeney - who produced 215 homers and a .486 slugging average in 630 fewer games. Billy Butler also deserves a mention; his career was notably shorter than all but one DH on this list yet his slash line of .290/.354/.441 is better than Baylor's and his 226 doubles as a DH are top ten at the position.
Edwin Encarnacion began his stellar career as Cincinnati's third baseman in 2005. In his first full season at the hot corner, he committed a league-leading 25 errors. In 2008 he set a career high with 26 home runs but made 23 errors at the hot corner. He soon found himself in Toronto, where the Blue Jays deployed him as a 1st baseman/DH through the first half of the 2010s. Batting in a lineup with Jose Bautista and Josh Donaldson, Edwin (and his companion Edwing) took off. "EE" led American League position players with a 5.6 WAR in 2012, earned All-Star nods in three of the next four seasons, and topped all AL hitters with 127 RBI in 2016. With 424 career home runs, Encarnacion ranks fifth among DH-first players - ahead of three Hall of Famers.
#10 - Chili Davis
Chili Davis played every outfield position in the first half of his career. As a rookie center fielder in 1982, Davis led the NL in assists.. and errors. He led NL CF's in errors again in '83. The Giants moved him to right field in 1986, where he ...led the league in errors. The two-time All-Star moved across California to the AL's Angels for the 1988 season and promptly led all outfielders in errors. He moved to left field in 1989 and earned MVP votes for the first time in his career, making just five errors in his last full season in the field. Throughout the 1990s, he established himself as one of the most consistent designated hitters in the game - earning another All-star spot in 1994 and three World Series rings. Chili's 2,380 career hits are the fifth-most for any primary DH, and only four have more career RBI.
#9 - Edwin Encarnacion
#8 - J.D. Martinez
A sub-par player in his first three seasons with Houston, J.D. Martinez immediately became an All-Star in a Tigers lineup boasting Miguel Cabrera and the aforementioned Victor Martinez. J.D. earned his first All-Star selection and Silver Slugger in 2015, leading the Tigers with a 5.5 WAR and 38 home runs. In 2017, the pending free agent was shipped to Arizona at the trade deadline during a season in which he set career highs with 45 homers and a major league-leading .690 slugging. Martinez signed with the Red Sox in 2018, succeedding Boston's legendary DH and leading the majors in RBI and total bases. The six-time All-Star earned a World Series ring and two(!?) Silver Sluggers that season.
Dishonorable Mention: Jose Canseco
Two of the most infamous moments of Jose Canseco's career were in the field - both as a member of the Texas Rangers. In a blowout loss against the Red Sox, the hulking slugger offered to pitch and tore a ligament in his elbow. Three days prior, Canseco was in right field - his customary position - when a batted ball bounced off the top of his head and over the fence for a home run. If that doesn't convince someone to DH full-time I don't know what would. Whatever hijinks Jose got into on or off the field, he was built to mash baseballs. The 1989 AL MVP and four-time Silver Slugger winner was a tabloid topic as much as he was a ballplayer, and a lot of his abusive behavior has been buried under piles of PEDs.
#7 - Nelson Cruz
Speaking of PED users who have had infamous moments in right field for the Rangers... Nelson Cruz wasn't an everyday major leaguer until his age-28 season. In his first year as a starter, Cruz earned his first All-Star selection while leading the Rangers with 33 home runs and finishing second among AL right fielders with 11 assists. The 2011 ALCS MVP was suspended in 2013 after being named as one of a dozen major leaguers who purchased PEDs through the Biogenesis clinic. Unlike most players who have been credibly accused of using steroids, Cruz admitted his involvement and apologized. He proceeded to play another ten seasons at an even higher level, posting three straight 40-plus home run seasons and earning four Silver Slugger awards after his suspension. Nellie will never earn Hall of Fame honors like our next all-time great DH, but he rebuilt his reputation while bouncing around the league as a veteran hitter and clubhouse leader well into his forties.
#6 - Harold Baines
I have to admit, when I saw that the Baseball Hall of Fame Eras committee had elected Harold Baines I thought I was losing my mind. Harold Baines?!? There's got to be fifty players more deserving of a plaque in Cooperstown. Right? Wellll.. let's play Devil's Advocate (i.e. try to see this from Tony LaRussa's perspective) How many players have over 2,800 hits and over 1,600 RBI and are not in the Hall of Fame? Five. How many of them are eligible? Three. How many of them have posted those numbers without performance enhancing drugs? None. So maybe Baines isn't the worst modern-day Hall of Famer? He ranks among the top three designated hitters in several counting categories, and the only certifiably clean players at the position with more home runs are Edwin Encarnacion and our #1 DH of all time.
Honorable Mention: Frank Howard
Frank Howard ended his career in 1973 as a DH with the Detroit Tigers. Had the DH option existed before that season, the "Capitol Punisher" would have had little use for a glove. His defensive metrics in left field were among the worst of all-time, but his bat more than made up for it. Howard's four-year total of 172 home runs from 1967-1970 were the second-most in all of baseball during that offense-starved span (behind only Harmon Killebrew) He finished top-5 in AL MVP voting in '69 and '70, earned four All-Star selections, and his 382 career long balls are just two behind Baines.
While we're at it, let's shout out Dave Kingman, Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn, Greg Luzinski, and other sluggers who could have made this list had the DH option been available in their league and/or era.
Our next slugging star doesn't need to bat in place of a pitcher -- because he is a pitcher.
#5 - Shohei Ohtani
You can make the case that Shohei Ohtani is already the greatest player ever to DH. He's fulfilled the minimum requirement of this list: eight seasons in MLB with DH his most frequent position. He's the first (and second, and third and fourth) designated hitter to win an MVP award. He's already third all-time with 280 career home runs as a designated hitter. All he needs to do to top this list and earn the title of GOAT DH is to a) not get chronically injured and b) not get involved in PEDs, gambling, or any other controversy.
Notably, Shohei's stolen base total of 165 - boosted by the only 50/50 season any player at any position has ever had in the history of baseball - is already the second most of any player while performing DH duties. The stolen base leader at this traditionally oafish position is none other than...
#4 - Paul Molitor
Unlike most players on this countdown, Paul Molitor was a speedy singles hitter who played all around the infield. The seven-time All-Star lined up at every position except pitcher and catcher during his Hall of Fame career, though DH was his most frequest position. "The Ignitor" stole 30 or more bases in a season eight times, led the league in hits three times and runs three times. Though he never won a batting title, Molitor batted .353 in 1987 and .341 in two separates seasons late in his thirties. No player who played the majority of his games as a DH can match Molly's 3,319 career hits or 504 stolen bases.
#3 - Edgar Martinez
Edgar Martinez began his career as a third baseman with the Mariners in 1987. In his first full season as a starter, he led the AL with 27 errors - and led the M's in WAR with 5.6 ahead of two Gold-Glove winning hitters. An All-Star and batting champion for the first time in 1992, Edgar moved to DH full-time in 1995 - a year in which he led the league in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS+, runs scored, and doubles. But, because Martinez didn't play a position he finished third in AL MVP voting despite having the second-highest* WAR among all non-pitchers. The standard-setter and namesake of the Designated Hitter award boasts the highest career batting average and second-highest on-base percenatge at his position, yet it took him ten tries to earn enshrinment into Cooperstown.
*Only John Valentin (who finished 9th) had a higher WAR among position players in '95, yet his teammate Mo Vaughn won the award.
#2 - David Ortiz
Let's get this out of the way first: in 2003, before David Ortiz became Big Papi, he tested positive for... something. No one knows what triggered the positive result, and not even commissioner Rob Manfred would confirm that Ortiz used PEDs. (Also not known - the names of 98 other players who tested positive in the initial anonymous screening.) Even if he knowingly cheated, Ortiz would still rank ahead of the original Papi, because these lists don't parse performance-enhancers. (Barry Bonds is the #1 overall left fielder) The legendary Red Sox slugger finished top-4 in AL MVP voting four consecutive seasons from 2004-07 (after PED testing was mandated); had he picked up a glove for any length of time he surely would have earned at least one MVP award. Guess he'll have to settle for three World Series rings, a first-ballot Hall of Fame induction, and the most home runs (and RBI) of any full-time designated hitter.
#1 - Frank Thomas
I was having a tough time deciding if David Ortiz (eight-time Edgar Martinez Award winner) or Edgar Martinez (Edgar Martinez) would be the top DH of all time.
Luckily I didn't have to decide between those two. Because Frank Thomas played 1,310 games as a DH. The "Big Hurt" is second behind Ortiz in career home runs and RBI, but his slash line of .301/.419/.555 is superior to Papi's. Thomas tops all designated hitters in OPS and walks, has a higher OPS+ than any retired DH, and earned back-to-back AL MVP awards as a 1st baseman. A five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger winner, Frank Thomas is the best all-around hitter among all designated hitters.
For now...
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The Top Ten By Position countdown will be on Spring Break next week. See you in two weeks with another position list.
Thanks for reading!
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