Throughout the history of the MLB the left Field position has seen some of the greatest players of all time from Ted Williams to Rickey Henderson and Barry Bonds. This list will rank the top five left fielders of all time and give the reason they rank where they rank.
5. Carl Yastrezemski
Carl Yastrezemski was one of the greatest defensive left fielders of all time totaling seven gold gloves during his career. Yaz also added an MVP in 1967 where he also won the Triple Crown, as well as leading the league in hits, OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS.
The Yaz won three batting titles and also led the league in doubles three times as well. Yaz had the ever difficult task of replacing Ted Williams as the Red Sox’s left fielder and he did everything he could to fill those shoes, and deserves a spot on this list.
4. Manny Ramirez
Manny Ramirez arguably is one of the greatest right handed bats to ever play the game. He also played left field for the Boston Red Sox and won two world series including a world series MVP.
Ramirez also added nine silver sluggers to his resume, and a batting title in 2002. Ramirez led the league in homers once, as well as RBIs once. Three times he led the league in OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS.
A career .300 hitter, he also added 555 career home runs, which ranks 15th all time. Ramirez was selected as an all star 12 times during his career.
3. Rickey Henderson
The most devastating baserunner of all time, Henderson has the most stolen bases of all time, in a season, and led the league a total of 12 times in stolen bases. Henderson also has the most runs scored in the history of the game with 2,295.
Henderson is considered by way to be the greatest lead-off hitter of all time, and has the most home runs at the lead-off position in MLB history. Henderson won two world series, an MVP, a gold glove, and three silver sluggers.
There will never be a player with the speed and aggression on the bases ever again like Rickey and that is only part of the reason he ranks this high. His longevity is one of the greatest ever by any MLB player, playing a total of 25 seasons in the big leagues.
2. Ted Williams
The greatest pure hitter to ever play the game, Ted Williams defined how to be a hitter for almost a century now. The last man to ever hit .400 in a season, his career numbers could be the highest of any player ever if he didn’t loose 5 years to military service.
Williams won two MVPs, and won six batting titles, led the league in home runs four times, runs six times, and OBP 12 times. He has the highest career OBP of all players to ever play the game.
Williams totaled 521 career home runs which could have been over 700 with his career average if you add the five seasons he missed. Williams’ baseball card is loaded with bold text for all the categories he led the league in over his career, and when you talk about the art of hitting, Williams is the first name to be mentioned.
1. Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds has stats that don’t even seem real at times. He has the most career home runs, most home runs in a season, highest OBP in a season with .609, which is honestly insane.
Bonds won seven MVPs, eight gold gloves, and 12 silver sluggers. He added two batting titles as well, and led the league OPS nine times. Bonds also walked more than any player in the history of the game, and was more feared than anyone with 688 career intentional walks, which is also the most ever.
Bonds will also have those that question his place in baseball history, but when you look at the number and his impact, there is no debate as to who the best left fielder of all time is.
