Greatest shortstop ever - who do you pick?

Did what really young?

 

Belanger/Robinson was a thing to see.

 

Gehrig, interesting post but you lose all credibility by not having Jeter in your Top 12. I wouldn't consider any Negro League players because like their counterparts in MLB they werent playing against all of the game's great players.

 

Pee Wee Reese.

 

Not sure many people care, but here are my top 10(included 15 for pitchers) rankings for every position discounting steroid use. Also, left off the shortstops since you saw my list already.

Catchers-
1) Johnny Bench
2) Yogi Berra
3) Mike Piazza
4) Mickey Cochrane
5) Roy Campanella
6) Ivan Rodriguez
7) Gary Carter
8) Carlton Fisk
----Bill Dickey
10) Gabby Hartnett

First base-
1) Lou Gehrig
2) Jimmie Foxx
3) Albert Pujols
4) Jeff Bagwell
5) Johnny Mize
6) Hank Greenberg
7) Frank Thomas
8) Willie McCovey
9) Cap Anson
10) Dan Brouthers

Second base-
1) Rogers Hornsby
2) Eddie Collins
3) Joe Morgan
4) Nap Lajoie
5) Charlie Gehringer
6) Jackie Robinson
7) Rod Carew
8) Frankie Frisch
9) Roberto Alomar
10) Craig Biggio
-----Ryne Sandberg

Third base-
1) Mike Schmidt
2) Eddie Mathews
3) George Brett
4) Wade Boggs
5) Chipper Jones
6) Ron Santo
7) Brooks Robinson
8) Frank Baker
9) Paul Molitor
10) Scott Rolen

Left field
1) Ted Williams
2) Barry Bonds
3) Stan Musial
4) Rickey Henderson
5) Carl Yastrzemski
6) Ed Delahanty
7) Joe Jackson
8) Al Simmons
9) Pete Rose
10) Manny Ramirez

Center field
1) Ty Cobb
2) Willie Mays
3) Mickey Mantle
4) Tris Speaker
5) Joe DiMagio
6) Ken Griffey Jr.
7) Duke Snider
8) Billy Hamilton
9) Jim Edmonds
10) Richie Ashburn
----Kirby Puckett

Right Field
1. Babe Ruth
2. Hank Aaron
3. Frank Robinson
4. Mel Ott
5. Al Kaline
6. Roberto Clemente
7. Reggie Jackson
8. Sam Crawford
9. Tony Gwynn
10) Vladimir Guerrero

Staring pitchers-
1) Walter Johnson
2) Cy Young
3) Greg Maddux
4) Roger Clemens
5) Pete Alexander
6) Lefty Grove
7) Randy Johnson
8) Tom Seaver
9) Christy Mathewson
10) Warren Spahn
11) Pedro Martinez
12) Kid Nichols
13) Bob Gibson
14) Bob Feller
15) Steve Carlton

Relievers
1) Mariano Rivera
2) Hoyt Wilhelm
3) Goose Gossage
4) Dennis Eckersley
5) Trevor Hoffman
6) Billy Wagner
7) Dan Quiz
8) Lee Smith
--Rollie Fingers
10) Bruce Sutter

 

JR is the only guy who has seen every player on Gehrig's list play in person.

And, really, Alomar 9th? I thought you were a Toronto guy...

 

I am. But, I'm very old-school when it comes to rankings, which is why Alomar slipped all the way to 9th.

 

He must have decided to stick to shortstops who were good fielders.

 

I've got a whole hell of a lot more respect for Gehrig's list since his shows some research and a lot of respect for the history of the game, rather than Manky reinventing his criteria whenever his main man is threatened by the truth ... and brushing off Negro League players is totally ignorant.

And while we're evaluating shortstops, I haven't seen Omar Visquel on many, if any, lists. I'm no sabrmetrician, but have heard enough oohing and ahhing over his fielding to make me wonder why he doesn't rate. And, ladies and gentlemen of SportsJournalists.com, "Because he's not Jetes" is not an acceptable answer.