The Top 10 greatest centerfielders 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 Centerfield

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 centerfielders in the last 50 years.

1.  Mike Trout

2.  Ken Griffey Jr

3.  Kirby Puckett

4. Dale Murphy

5. Carlos Beltran

6. Andruw Jones

7. Jim Edmonds

8. Kenny Lofton

9. Fred Lynn

10. Bernie Williams

Comments.  Trout has 3 MVPs and has finished no lower than 5^th in voting in any of his 9 full seasons. Griffey won an MVP and won 10 gold gloves. Puckett won a batting title, led the AL in hits 4 different times, and won 6 gold gloves. Murphy won the MVP twice, while leading the NL in home runs twice and winning 5 gold gloves. Beltran had 8 seasons of over 100 RBI and won 4 gold gloves. Jones had 8 straight seasons over 90 RBI and won 10 gold gloves.  Edmunds won 8 gold gloves. Lofton led the AL in stolen bases for 5 straight years and hit over .300 in 10 seasons. Lynn was the first player to win both the Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. Williams won a batting title and hit over .300 in 8 seasons.

Honorable mention. Willie Mays retired in the early 70s, and didn’t meet the criteria, but, is widely considered the greatest centerfielder of all time.

Next up is the 10 greatest right fielders in the last 50 years.