MLB: Top Ten players of all-time – Part 5
Lou Gehrig was elected to seven consecutive All-Star Games from 1933 to 1939. He was a true gentleman on the field and a role model off the field. Gehrig was named as American League’s Most Valuable Player for two times, his first selection coming in 1927
followed by his second in 1936.
The star first baseman was named New York Yankees’ team captain in 1935 and remained captain until illness forced him to quit baseball in 1939. He led the Yankees to three-consecutive World Series titles from 1936 to 1938. Before that, he had won three more
World titles with the Yankees in 1927, 1928 and 1932.
Gehrig wore the famous Number four pin-striped jersey which was retired by the Yankees when Gehrig called it a day. He will be long remembered for his numerous laurels in such a short life.
Christopher Mathewson, commonly known as Christy Mathewson played as starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Born on August 12, 1880, the right-handed pitcher made his MLB debut on July 17, 1900 with the New York Giants.
His 17 seasons at MLB were imposing, to say the least. While striking-out batters at will, he had the ability to halt the rate of scoring as well. His 2502 career strike-outs at an earned-run average of 2.13 highlight his achievements as a starting pitcher.
Mathewson, nicknamed “Matty”, won 373 games while only 188 ended in disappointment. He showed immense arm strength throughout his career, pitching 434 complete-games and yielding 79 shut-outs in the process. His tally of shut-outs is placed third in the
list of most shut-outs ever.
Mathewson was a strike-out machine and he was crowned the strike-out champion for five seasons. He remained unchallenged at the top from 1903 to 1905 and then again in 1907 and 1908. 1905 and 1908 also saw him bag the National League Pitcher’s Triple Crown.
Mathewson moved to the Cincinnati Reds in 1916 and after just one win as a starting pitcher, took over as manager for the Reds. He remained their manager for the next three seasons.
Also known as the “Big Six”, Mathewson was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1936 with 90.7 percent votes in his support. Mathewson died on October 7, 1925 at the age of 45. He is still regarded as one of the best pitchers to ever play baseball.
Theodore Samuel Williams, commonly known as Ted Williams, played for the Boston Red Sox as left fielder for 21 years. He played from 1939 to 1942 and then from 1946 to 1960.
His career was fruitful and saw him win 19 selections to the All-Star team. He was named American League’s Most Valuable Player twice in his career, his first selection coming in 1946 followed by his second in 1949.
Ted was aggressive in his approach from the plate and showed top-quality defence in the outfield. His batting average of .344 and 2654 hits depict his mentality on the plate. He was useful to the outfit and produced RBIs regularly, 1839 of them in his career.
He was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1966 with 93.38 percent votes. The Red Sox, honouring the legendary player, retired the Number nine jersey worn by Ted. Nine years after retiring as a player, Ted managed the Washington Senators and the Texas Rangers
from 1969 to 1972.
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