Among fans and in the media, second base may be the most overlooked position in baseball. Second basemen are least likely to do the kinds of things offensively that generate headlines. They are rarely known for their power output. There are also comparatively few batting champions who won their titles while patrolling second base (though 3 of the players listed below proved to be exceptions to that rule, with 11 career batting titles between them).
The fundamental value of a second baseman derives from his defense. Quick, sure hands and the ability to pivot and throw accurately in turning the double play are the essential qualities of a valuable second sacker, delivered with the kind of boring consistency that too often goes unnoticed. Any offense that the second baseman can generate is usually a bonus, and there were plenty of "bonus" second basemen in this list.
Here are the 10 best from a decade that produced some of the game's best glove men (and maybe the best of all in Mr. Mazeroski), as well a two of the most prolific hitters of the 20th Century.
1. Bill Mazeroski - You can't talk about the great second baseman unless you include the man who did it better and longer than just about anyone else. Winner of 8 Gold Gloves, Mazeroski holds more defensive records than any other player in major league history. He wasn't a bad hitter either, finishing his 17-year career (all with Pittsburgh) with more than 2,000 hits and a .260 lifetime batting average.
2. Bobby Richardson - From 1961 through 1966, the durable Bobby Richardson never had fewer than 600 official at-bats in a season. He led the American League in hits in 1962 with 209. That year he had a career-high .302 batting average, and finished second in the MVP balloting to teammate Mickey Mantle.
3. Pete Runnels - Pete Runnels was the 메리트카지노 first player ever to win two batting titles while playing two different positions. As the Boston Red Sox starting second baseman, Runnels won his first batting championship in 1960 with a .320 average. As the Red Sox first baseman in 1962, Runnels claimed his second batting title with a .326 average.
4. Pete Rose - A strong debut season (.273 batting average on 170 hits) earned Rose Rookie of the Year honors for 1963. His best season during the 1960s came in 1968, when Rose led the league in hitting (.335), hits (210) and on-base percentage (.391), finishing second in the league in doubles (42).
5. Rod Carew - Rod Carew's Hall of Fame career began in the 1960s, and he won the first of his 7 batting titles by the end of the decade, hitting .332 in 1969.
6. Glenn Beckert - Between 1966 and 1969, Beckert hit for an average of .288 (he hit .283 over his 11-year career). He led the National League with 98 runs in 1968, the same year he won his only Gold Glove.
7. Julian Javier - The St. Louis Cardinals' second baseman throughout the 1960s, Javier hit 12 home runs with 65 RBIs during the 1964 championship season, and had his best year in 1967, hitting .281 with 14 home runs and 64 RBIs.
8. Ron Hunt - The Mets first genuine "star," Ron Hunt hit .303 in 1964, his second full season. From 1968 to 1974, he led the National League in one statistical category: hit by pitch. He was hit by 50 pitches in 1971, the highest single-season total in the modern era.
9. Bobby Knoop - Though he led the American League with 11 triples in 1966, Bobby Knoop's value to the Angels was to be found in his durability and his glove. From 1964 to 1968, he averaged 155 games per year and won 3 Gold Gloves.
10. Cookie Rojas - As the Philadelphia Phillies' second baseman from 1964 to 1969, Cookie Rojas was a fan favorite who hit .262 during his Phillies career and led the league with 16 sacrifice hits in 1967.
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