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1st Baseman
1st Baseman
Games
Birth year
The numbers jump off the page when it comes to Jim Thome, even in an era where power reigned supreme.
His 612 home runs rank eighth on Major League Baseball’s all-time list, and his 1,747 walks rank seventh.
Only six players have totaled at least 1,700 walks and 1,699 RBI: Babe Ruth, Mel Ott, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Barry Bonds and Thome.
And yet Thome, the blue-collar boy from Peoria, Ill., always seemed to work hardest at something that could never be quantified: His character.
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Right Fielder
Right Fielder
Games
Birth year
In 1891, a 15-year old Elmer Flick went down to the train station to give his hometown semi-professional baseball team in Bedford, Ohio, a send-off. With the train ready to leave and only eight players present, someone asked the youngster to join them. Despite being barefoot, Flick jumped at the opportunity – and a Hall of Fame career began.
Born on Jan. 11, 1876 in Bedford, Flick starred as a catcher for his high school team, but didn’t join real organized baseball until he made his debut with a team in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1896.
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Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
“It wasn't until you hit against him that you knew how fast he really was, until you saw with your own eyes that ball jumping at you.” – Ted Lyons
Bob Feller began his major league journey in 1936, at age 17, fresh off his family’s farm in Van Meter, Iowa. It was during his rookie season that Feller earned the nickname “Rapid Robert” because of his devastating fastball and high strikeout totals.
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Center Fielder
Center Fielder
Games
Birth year
Perhaps no one is more remembered for being second than Larry Doby.
He was the second African-American to play in the National League or American League – but the first in the AL – in the modern era after Jackie Robinson. He was the second Black manager of an AL or NL club after Frank Robinson.
He may have been second in those two regards, but Larry Doby was so much more.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
“The pressure never lets up. Don’t matter what you did yesterday. That’s history. It’s tomorrow that counts. So you worry all the time. It never ends. Lord, baseball is a worrying thing.” – Stan Coveleski
Stan Coveleski took his baseball seriously – after all, it was his ticket out of the coal mines surrounding his birthplace of Shamokin, Pa. At age 12, he quit school to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week in the mines, bringing home $3.75 to his large family. Amazingly, he still found time to practice at baseball, after work, in the dark.
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Shortstop
Shortstop
Games
Birth year
Lou Boudreau did it all in baseball – he played, managed and broadcast. He was an excellent defensive shortstop and a gifted hitter. After one game in 1938 and 53 games in 1939, Boudreau became the Indians regular shortstop in 1940, hitting .295, driving in 101 runs and leading the AL in fielding percentage for the first of eight seasons.
In 1942, the Indians shocked the baseball world by hiring their 24-year-old shortstop as a player-manager. Boudreau would continue in that role through 1950.
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Pitcher
Pitcher
Games
Birth year
One of the greatest hitters of all time, Ted Williams, once called fellow Hall of Famer Early Wynn “the toughest pitcher I ever faced.”
Undoubtedly, the Splendid Splinter’s sentiment was shared by many big league hitters for more than two decades.
Wynn combined his physical gifts with intimidation and determination to overcome early struggles and become one of the most dominant hurlers of his era.
“Since the first time I saw my father play semipro ball in Alabama, it has been my greatest ambition and desire to be a big league ballplayer,” Wynn once said.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
2nd Baseman
2nd Baseman
Games
Birth year
“Lajoie was one of the most rugged hitters I ever faced. He’d take your leg off with a line drive, turn the third baseman around like a swinging door, and powder the hand of the left fielder.” – Cy Young
Napoleon Lajoie, hitter extraordinaire, sublime fielder, manager and executive, has been described as “the first superstar in American League history.” And indeed, to concentrate on his hitting or his fielding is to miss his all-around talent as a player.
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Center Fielder
Center Fielder
Games
Birth year
“At the crack of the bat he'd be off with his back to the infield, and then he'd turn and glance over his shoulder at the last minute and catch the ball so easy it looked like there was nothing to it, nothing at all." – Smoky Joe Wood
By the time Tris Speaker turned 22, he was already one of the best center fielders in the game, a player highly regarded for both his work at the plate and in the field.
Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.
