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spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters.sTitle = "NBA playoff matchups";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters.rowSpacer = "Leadoff batters used to be known for doing the little things, like bunting and stealing. But in today’s offense-infused game, they’re doing a little more than that.
No longer is it satisfactory to have a low on-base percentage but steal a lot of bases (like prominent leadoff batters such as Luis Aparicio and Maury Wills did more than 40 years ago). Speed is nice, but it’s more important for today’s table-setters to have a sterling on-base percentage rather than a gaudy stolen-base percentage. Often, they can score as easily from first base as from second because of today’s deeper batting orders, making the stolen base a risky proposition unless you’re talking about a success rate of at least 80 percent.
The ideal leadoff batter in the 21st Century has patience (to sees a lot of pitches and draw walks), a high on-base percentage (so he scores a lot of runs), some power (never required of leading men years ago) and speed (to be a stolen-base threat and score more easily on a hit).
It was Rickey Henderson, a late 20th Century phenomenon, who possessed those skills in the greatest abundance and he is, by acclaim, the best leadoff hitter in history. Who were some of the others and who are the best today? MSNBC Sports offers its ranking and tips its hat to Herman O. Krabbenhoft, whose thoroughly researched new book, “Leadoff Batters of Major League Baseball,” provided much of the data upon which these rankings are based.";
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spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","1. Rickey Henderson","Rickey Henderson is clearly No. 1 among leadoff hitters.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050509/050509_henderson_vmed_11a.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "James A. Finley", "AP", "295", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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Joe Morgan, the Hall of Fame second baseman and respected ESPN analyst, once wrote a column detailing what he called the “five tools” for a leadoff player. He said that Henderson was the only player who possessed all five – speed, awareness, on-base percentage, stealing and power.
Henderson is No. 1 on baseball’s all-time list in runs and stolen bases, second to Barry Bonds in walks, has 81 leadoff homers (Craig Biggio entered June with 46, the second-most) and hit 290 of his 297 homers from the top spot in the batting order. That power is what separated Henderson from every other candidate we considered.
Henderson had the highest on-base percentage among all leadoff batters in 10 different seasons and had the highest combination of on-base and slugging percentage eight times. Both are the most in history.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","2. Tim Raines","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Ben Margot", "AP", "358", "253", "", "", "", "", "");
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The man known as “Rock” was a hard case for opposing teams for 23 seasons. A switch-hitter with tremendous speed and occasional power, Raines is fifth on the all-time list with 808 stolen bases, leading the National League in that department for four straight seasons (1981-84).
In the strike-shortened ’81 campaign, Raines stole 71 bases in 88 games. Raines won a batting title in 1986, batting .334 for the Expos while leading the league with a .413 on-base percentage. He led all leadoff batters in OBP in four different seasons, and also had the highest OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) four times.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","3. Pete Rose","Rose led the league in on-base percentage among leadoff hitters seven times.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050412/050412_peteRose_bcol.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Bill Waugh", "AP", "358", "247", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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The all-time hit king is proof positive that speed isn’t the most important element for a leadoff batter. Rose was the OBP and OPS league leader among leadoff batters seven times yet stole as many as 20 bases just once.
Rose wasn’t fast, but he was a smart, aggressive base-runner and a catalyst for the potent Big Red Machine. He won three batting titles, led the league in runs four times and led the league in hits seven times. Rose was the primary leadoff batter for his team in 15 of his 24 big-league seasons. Only Rickey Henderson, the primary leadoff hitter in 23 of his 25 seasons, batted in the top spot more often than Rose.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","4. Lou Brock","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Lenny Ignelzi", "AP", "273", "389", "", "", "", "", "");
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Brock’s career on-base percentage (.343) isn’t as high as some players on our list, but we like him for having such a disruptive influence on opposing pitchers with his speed. His 938 stolen bases ranks second to Henderson on the all-time list and he led the National League in that category eight times.
His 118 steals in a season in 1974 broke Maury Wills’ mark of 104 set in 1962 and was eventually erased by Henderson’s 130 in 1982. Brock hit 149 homers, including one into the distant center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds early in his career when he was a free-swinger. He also led the NL in doubles (46) and triples (14) in 1968.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","5. Richie Ashburn","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Tony Dejak", "AP", "273", "342", "", "", "", "", "");
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i-1].body = "
“Whitey” was more of your prototypical leadoff batter for his era (1948-62), a slap hitter with speed but not much home run power. He led all NL leadoff hitters in on-base percentage five times during his 15-year career. He also led the league in hits three times and walks four times and won two batting titles for the Phillies.
He had an impressive career batting average of .306 and OBP of .396. Henderson’s OBP was .401. Only a handful of leadoff batters did better. We love Ashburn because in his final year, with the woeful 120-loss expansion Mets, Ashburn led all NL leadoff hitters with a .424 OBP and batted .306. He never mailed it in.";
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He was “Little Poison” to his brother Paul’s “Big Poison” and clearly opposing pitchers and managers found both Waners tough to swallow. Lloyd batted leadoff in nine of his 18 seasons, mostly with the Pirates, where he was versatile enough to bat in the middle of the order, too.
He had the highest OBP and OPS in the NL four times each in a Hall of Fame career. He led the league in runs with 133 as a rookie in 1927 and in hits with 214 in 1931. He never won a batting title but compiled a .316 lifetime average. He was the epitome of a contact hitter, never walking more than 40 times and never striking out more than 23 times.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","7. Wade Boggs","Boggs didn't have speed, but he could get on base with the best of them.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050728/050728_boggs_vmed_7p.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "George Widman", "AP file", "358", "231", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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More than Rose or perhaps anyone else in baseball history, Boggs proved you didn’t need to run to be an effective leading man. He stole only 24 bases in 35 attempts in an 18-year career, and never more than three in a season. But while he couldn’t run, Boggs sure could walk. He led the AL in walks twice for the Red Sox and walked more than 100 times for four straight seasons. Boggs led the AL in OBP six times, thrice as a leadoff batter. He also had seven consecutive 200-hit campaigns, won five batting titles and finished with a career average of .328, one of the highest in the modern era.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","8. Eddie Yost","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Andy Lyons", "Getty Images", "358", "271", "", "", "", "", "");
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They called him “The Walking Man” for his incredible batting eye and ability to foul off tough two-strike pitches. Despite an unimpressive .254 lifetime average with only 139 home runs, Yost walked as often as most sluggers during his 18-year career, 14 of those seasons as a primary leadoff batter.
He led the AL in walks six times for the lowly Washington Senators and twice had the highest OBP of any player in the league. He led all AL leadoff hitters in OBP seven times. His lifetime OBP of .394 is remarkable for a hitter with such a low batting average.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","9. Stan Hack","","","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Gene J. Puskar", "AP", "110", "139", "", "", "", "", "");
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This aptly named third baseman starred for the Cubs in the 1930s and 40s. He could ‘hack,’ as witnessed by his .301 lifetime batting average. He led the league in hits twice, though he never had 200-hit or double-digit home run season. Power wasn’t his game, precision was. Hack averaged about 85 walks per season during those prime seasons – 11 of his 16 campaigns were spent at the top of the order. That helped him lead all NL leadoff hitters in OBP seven times and in OBS five times. Hack also had speed, leading the league in stolen bases twice, with modest totals of 16 and 17 those years.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","10. Max Bishop/Earle Combs","","","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Haraz N. Ghanbari", "AP", "298", "173", "", "", "", "", "");
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We’ll call it a dead heat for our final spot between two contemporaries who were AL rivals for all 12 seasons of their careers, from 1924-35. Bishop, a second baseman, played mostly with the Philadelphia A’s and Combs was a centerfielder with the Yankees when their dynasty was born.
Bishop starred for the A’s pennant-winning teams of 1929-31 and had eight straight 100-walk seasons. Combs, the table-setter for the Murderers’ Row teams of Ruth and Gehrig, was more prolific with a .325 lifetime average (to Bishop’s .271).
But Bishop had a higher OBP (.423-.397). Bishop led AL leadoff hitters in OBP six times, while Combs had the highest OPS among leadoff batters five times.";
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spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","1. Ichiro Suzuki","Ichiro has compiled more than 200 hits and 100 runs in each of his five seasons.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050614/050614_ichiro_hmed_10p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Otto Greule Jr", "Getty Images", "273", "365", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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The Mariners’ speedy, strong-armed right fielder is on a pace to join our all-time Top 10 list. He has provided speed and productivity for Seattle since joining them from Japan before the 2001 season.
He entered the 2006 season with a fabulous .332 batting average and a decent .377 on-base percentage. After a shaky April, he was on fire in May and June and appears headed for another batting title and well over 200 hits. He’s been a hit-and-run machine, with more than 200 hits and 100 runs in every major-league season. He also stole 190 bases in his first five seasons.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","2. Johnny Damon","Damon has a career on-base percentage of .353.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060402/060402_damon_hmed_9p.hlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Ted Mase", "AFP - Getty Images", "273", "365", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i-1].body = "
Before major injuries removed Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield from the Yankees’ lineup until at least September, many analysts predicted that they would score more than 1,000 runs as a team in 2006. That was because they had added a supreme catalyst in Damon to the top of the order.
The Yankees won’t score 1,000 runs, but that’s not Damon’s fault. Playing with a broken bone in his foot, the one time Red Sox ‘idiot’ has been a smart addition, hitting for average, sneaky power and stealing some timely bases. He should improve on his career OBP of .353 and come close to his career batting average of .290.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","3. Grady Sizemore","Sizemore, just 23, provides power and speed from the leadoff spot for the Indians.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060629/060629_sizemore_hmed_6p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Bill Boyce", "AP file", "273", "385", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i-1].body = "
He still needs to cut down on his strikeouts (132 in 2005 and keeping pace this year), but there’s nothing else to quibble about regarding the 23-year-old Indians center fielder. He appears on his way to a .300 season and may improve on last year’s total of 22 homers and 22 steals.
His batting eye is improving and so is his on-base percentage. He’s so productive and has so much pop in his bat that he may wind up as a No. 3 hitter before his career his over. But for now, he’s one of the best young leadoff hitters in the game.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","4. Rafael Furcal","Furcal averaged more than 30 steals per season with Atlanta before leaving for the Dodgers.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss_060324_baseball_preseason/ss_060323_baseball_03_RafaelFurcal.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Rick Silva", "AP", "348", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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After five seasons as the Braves’ leadoff hitter, he signed in the offseason as a free agent with the Dodgers. Atlanta misses his speed (he averaged more than 30 steals per season) and power (41 homers in the previous three seasons, when he also scored at least 100 runs).
The Dodgers’ improvement can be traced to the arrival of Furcal, even though his batting average was only in the .250s in mid-June. He was still on pace for double-digit homers and more than 30 steals. Presumably, his batting average will rise throughout the summer.";
spt_MLB_leadoff_hitters[i++] = new Array("","5. David Eckstein","Eckstein is a throw-back to old-time leadoff hitters.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050722/050722_eckstein_vmed.vlarge.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Tom Gannam", "AP", "320", "278", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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At 5-6 and 170 pounds, the Cardinals’ shortstop actually does resemble those old-time leadoff hitters like Luis Aparicio, Eddie Stanky and Phil Rizzuto. But he’s been huge for the Cardinals, especially with Albert Pujols on the DL.
Based on his fast start in 2006 – his average was in the .320s in early June – Eckstein may produce the first .300 season of his career in his second year in St. Louis as well as his best OBP mark. He also remains a base-stealing threat. And it sure looks like the Angels miss him."; // END editorial data