The American League East division consists of five teams, those teams are the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Baltimore Orioles. In this article, we will look at each AL East team’s best player of all time.
New York Yankees: Babe Ruth
The Yankees might be the most storied franchise in the MLB, certainly the most famous. There are many players you can argue for the greatest Yankee of all time. There’s Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez or even current player Aaron Judge.
But in the end none of these players are Babe “The Great Bambino” Ruth. Babe Ruth is not only a baseball icon, he’s also a pop culture icon. From The Babe to The Sandlot Babe Ruth is a larger-than-life individual not only in the city of New York but in all of America as well.
The Yankees acquired Ruth before the 1920 season from the rival Red Sox and immediately took off. Ruth led the league in home runs twelve times over a 22 year career and all twelve of those years came with the Yankees. He also led the league in RBI five times.
Babe Ruth is not only the greatest Yankee of all time. Not only the greatest baseball player of all time. He might be one of the greatest athletes ever.
Boston Red Sox: David Ortiz
The Red Sox are another very storied franchise and they have also had their fair share of great players. Some may argue Ted Williams for this spot, but in the modern era of baseball there’s only one “Big Papi”.
David Ortiz played for the Red Sox for 13 seasons from 2003-2016. From 1997-2002 he played for the Minnesota Twins but was traded to the Red Sox before the 2003 season. Ortiz won three World Series with the Red Sox in 2004, 2007 and 2013. Ortiz won the 2013 World Series MVP Award with five home runs, 13 RBIs and a batting average of .353.
Ortiz is a beloved figure not only in the Boston community, but in the entire MLB community as well.
Tampa Bay Rays: Evan Longoria
The Rays are tied with the Diamondbacks for the youngest team in the MLB, being founded in 1998. In their 24 year history there is one player that stands out and that is Evan Longoria. Longoria played for the Rays from 2008-2017 before being traded to the Giants.
Longoria is a three-time All-Star and has 261 career home runs with the Rays. Longoria also has 780 runs scored and 892 RBIs. Longoria currently holds the Ray’s all-time stat for batting as well.
While Evan Longoria may not be done playing yet, he will always be remembered as the first great Tampa Bay Ray.
Baltimore Orioles: Cal Ripken Jr
Cal Ripken Jr. is the greatest Baltimore Oriole of all time and here’s why. First, Ripken has the longest consecutive games played streak and 2,131 games played. This record will most likely never be broken.
Ripken played for the Orioles his entire twenty year career from 1981-2001. In those twenty years he played all 162 games nine times. He also led the league two times in At-Bats with over 600 both times.
Cal Ripken Jr. grew up in Maryland as an Orioles fan and he ended up making his hometown team proud.
Toronto Blue Jays: Roy Halladay
Roy Halladay may be known more as a member of the Phillies, however he played the majority of his career with Toronto. Halladay was drafted by the Blue Jays in 1998 and played with them until 2010 when he was traded to the Phillies.
As a pitcher Halladay led the league in wins twice. In 2003 he went 22-7 one of the best single season records the league has ever seen.
While Halladay never won a title in Toronto he will always be remembered as the best pitcher Toronto has ever seen for now.
