The Top 10 greatest designated hitters in the last 50 years

 Today I am continuing my list of the greatest players at each position in the last 50 years with the top 10 designated hitters.

 Here’s the criteria.

·         Must have played at least 5 years since the 1971 season to be considered (only looking at his playing career since 1971. Previous year stats prior to 71 will not be considered).

·         Player cannot qualify for 2 positions. Will be considered based on position he played most in his career (example. Rod Carew played more games at first base then at second base. He would only make the list at first base). Using baseball reference to confirm amount of games at each position.

·         Same consideration takes place for Designated Hitter (Frank Thomas being an example. He played more games as a DH than at first base. He would only make the list at DH).

·         Rankings based on regular season stats, awards won (MVPs, titles, gold gloves, etc). Post season will add to consideration.

Here is my list of the top 10 greatest designated hitters in the last 50 years.

1.   David Ortiz

2.   Edgar Martinez

3.   Paul Molitor

4.   Frank Thomas

5.   Hal McRae

6.   Harold Baines

7.   Don Baylor

8.   Chili Davis

9.  Brian Downing

10.  Andre Thornton

Comments. A lot of all-time greats have spent time as DH, but the players on this list spent most of their career at the position. Ortiz won 2 RBI titles and finished in the top 5 MVP voting for 5 consecutive seasons. He has a lifetime.455 World Series average, won a WS MVP and led the Red Sox to 3 championships. Martinez won 2 batting titles and has a lifetime .312 batting average. Molitor played 5 different positions other than DH. He led the league in hits and runs scored in 3 seasons and has a lifetime .306 batting average. Thomas is a 2-time MVP who had 8 consecutive seasons of 100 RBI, leading the league 4 times. McRae is considered the first full time everyday DH. He hit over .300 in 7 seasons and led the league in RBI once. He has 2 top 5 finishes in MVP voting. Baines hit over .300 in 8 seasons and finished once in the top 10 MVP voting (good DH, but why is he in the HOF? For another post). Baylor is the first full time DH to win an MVP, when he led the league in RBI and runs scored. Davis won 3 World Championships as full time DH. Downing started his career as a catcher, then moved to left field before becoming an everyday DH. Playing most of his years with the Angels, Downing was the teams all time leader in hits, runs, doubles, home runs and RBI when he retired. Thornton was 1 of the few good players on some bad Indians teams in the late 70s and early 80s. He hit more than 25 home runs 5 times during his career.

Next up is the top 10 greatest right-handed starting pitchers in the last 50 years.