Top Ten Black First Basemen of All Time Part 2
This is the fourth article in a series where the top ten Black baseball players at each position will be ranked.
Introduction
Some of these lists will include active players, and you may be surprised by some of my additions and omissions. I hope to spark debate and discussion of Black baseball players of the past and present with my writing, especially by baseball fans who are a part of the African diaspora.
The careers of those who played in the Negro Leagues, Latin America, and the Caribbean before the integration of MLB will be included. Black baseball players who have worn MLB uniforms will be featured as well.
Because of the lack of statistical data for Negro Leagues players, firsthand and secondhand accounts will play a significant part in these rankings. Surface level and advanced statistics will be present, so I hope those who strongly prefer one or the other are satisfied with my assessments.
The position player rankings will be much more difficult but rewarding and exciting, so I wanted to get those out of the way first. I will start with the catcher position and go in order based on each position's assigned number. There will be separate lists for Black starting pitchers and Black relievers, published last.
The Top Ten First Basemen of All Time (#5 - #1)
5. Eddie Murray
“His game never has been one of knock-’em-dead showmanship, but of delicious subtlety and nuance. And an unwavering focus on singular goals — a strict attention to, and the repetition of, the smallest of details, executed game after game, year after year, with a wonderous mechanical efficiency. It is a game so blatantly understated, so incredibly unpretentious, that it has made Eddie Murray the most underrated and misunderstood player of his generation.” — Michael P. Geffner
The all-time leader in defensive appearances as a first baseman, “Steady” Eddie Murray is one of the most iconic and visible players to man the cold corner. He has one of the most complete skillsets and accolade-filled careers of any of the players on this list. He won the 1977 AL Rookie of the Year Award, 8x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger winner, 3x Gold Glove Winner, 1x batting champion, and a World Series champion in 1983.
Murray was born in 1956 and raised in the Watts section of Los Angeles, California as the eighth of 12 children, seven girls and five boys. His parents moved to California from Mississippi during the second wave of The African-American Great Migration in the mid-1940s. All four of Eddie’s brothers played in the minor leagues and one of them made a brief cameo in MLB for parts of two seasons with the San Francisco Giants.
He didn’t begin playing high school baseball until his senior year and was teammates with fellow switch-hitting Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith Jr. at Locke High School. Despite this, Murray was still selected in the 3rd round of the 1973 MLB Draft directly out of high school by the Baltimore Orioles. Originally just a right-handed hitter, he tore through the lower levels of the minors during his first two years in MiLB.
During an extended slump in the 1975 season while with the Orioles Double-A affiliate, he began switch-hitting at the suggestion of his manager and former big leaguer Jimmie Schafer. Despite skepticism and extreme concern from the front office, Murray was adamant about following through with the experiment. During his first professional plate appearance as a left-handed hitter, he got a hit.
The Hall of Famer made his MLB debut during the 1977 season, going .283/.333/.470 across 160 games for a 97-win Orioles club that finished second in the AL East. He finished fourth in wRC+, fifth in fWAR, first in home runs, and second in doubles amongst 57 qualified rookies, winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award. He quickly established himself as one of the best first basemen in MLB by the end of the 1970s, making his first All-Star appearance in 1978. He helped the Orioles reach the 1979 World Series after winning 102 games to win the AL East where they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven games.
During the 1980s Murray was second in games played, second in hits, third in home runs, sixth in doubles, first in RBI, and eighth in walks logged by an individual player. His .293/.374/.497 slash line for the decade across 6437 plate appearances grades out to a 139 wRC+. He made six consecutive All-Star appearances between 1981 and 1986 and was a core piece of the Orioles team that won the 1983 World Series. In between the 1985 and 1986 seasons the Orioles front office made him the highest-paid baseball player in the world with a five-year extension worth $13 million dollars. He finished top ten in AL MVP votes for six consecutive seasons which included back-to-back years in second place for the decade.
He was traded from Baltimore to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1988 season and spent three years with his hometown ball club wearing Dodger Blue before a two-year stint with the New York Mets. He then signed with the Cleveland Indians before the 1994 season and played there before being traded back to Baltimore in 1996. During his final season in 1997, the kid from Watts coincidentally played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Anaheim Angels before retiring.
Murray finished his career as the third member of the 3000 hits/500 home runs club after Willie Mays and Henry Aaron and there have only been three players to achieve the feat since. He has 12 seasons with at least 170 hits and 12 seasons with at least 25 home runs. He is the all-time leader for RBI driven in and is second in total hits as a switch hitter. He is 11th amongst all MLB players in total bases and RBI while being 22nd in total extra-base hits. He played in 150 games in 16 of his 21 seasons and is among only 10 players in MLB history to have played in at least 3000 games.
4. George “Mule” Suttles
“He didn’t get the ballyhoo that Satchel and Josh got. They were the ones who it seemed all the sports writers put the praise on. Mule Suttles was a powerful hitter. I can’t fathom why he didn’t get the publicity they got. He was a laid-back person. He didn’t do much talking. He wasn’t the boastful type. Sometimes the better players get overlooked.” - Squire Moore
Born in 1901 and raised in coal mining towns strewn across rural Alabama, George “Mule” Suttles dominated the Negro Leagues, California Winter League, and Cuban Winter League. He played with and against individuals such as Martín Dihigo, Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, and Biz Mackie. While Buck Leonard was more well-known due to his proximity to Josh Gibson, Suttles had a lower profile because of his standing as a quiet, gentle giant with an easygoing disposition despite being just as good.
He stood around 6’2’’, weighing around 250 pounds. His reputation for his immense strength preceded him as there is a popular but thoroughly debunked myth about the first baseman using 50-ounce bats. He had an official sponsorship with Hillerich & Bradsby Company, the entity that produces the famous Louisville Slugger bats. His specific model was a 36-inch, 36-ounce bat although sometimes he would have the weight tinkered with when ordering a batch.
His career started with the Birmingham Black Barons before his prolific stint with the St. Louis Stars, where he formed an elite trio with fellow Hall of Famers Willie Wells and Cool Papa Bell during the mid-to-late 20s and early 1930s. Suttles batted at least .340 in five consecutive seasons, also making a name for himself with the power that drew comparisons to Babe Ruth.
After playing for the Detroit Wolves and Washington Pilots in 1932 he played with the Chicago American Giants for three seasons. He was teammates with Hall of Famers Turkey Stearns, Bill Foster, and Willie Wells. From 1936 until his retirement in 1944 Suttles settled on the East Coast, playing for the Newark Eagles and New York Black Yankees. He would be an important mentor to second-generation Negro Leagues stars such as Monte Irvin, Larry Doby, and Don Newcombe.
A .339 hitter for his Negro Leagues career, Mule Suttles blended an elite combination of contact skills and power. A one-time Triple Crown winner and two-time batting champion, he posted an OPS over 1.000 in 11 seasons. Suttles posted a career .317 batting average in the integrated California Winter League, going against competition from MiLB, MLB, the Negro Leagues, and Latin American Winter Leagues.
3. Willie McCovey
“A group of terrorized pitchers stood around the batting cage watching Willie McCovey belt some tremendous line drives over the right-field fence. Every time a ball bounced into the seats we’d make little whimpering animal sounds. ‘Hey, Willie,’ I said. ‘Can you do that whenever you want to?’ He didn’t crack a smile. ‘Just about,’ he said, and he hit another one. More animal sounds.” - Jim Bouton
Willie McCovey was a force of nature in the batter’s box, dominating MLB while being hampered by severe issues with his knees, hips, and feet throughout his entire career. One of the most prolific sluggers of the 1960s and 1970s, his 521 home runs were eighth on the all-time list when he retired. He is a 6x All-Star, NL MVP, All-Star Game MVP, NL Rookie of the Year, three-time NL Home Run champion, and Hall of Famer.
He was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama during the 1940s and 1950s as the seventh of 10 children. He dropped out of high school between the ages of 16 and 17 to help his family, working at a bakery and delivering newspapers. Former Negro Leagues team owner and New York Giants scout Alex Pompez discovered McCovey on a tip from a Negro Leagues player’s brother in 1954.
His professional career started in the lowest levels of the Giants farm system in 1955 and he made his MLB debut in 1959. McCovey won the 1959 NL Rookie of the Year Award despite playing in only 52 games. He went .354/.429/.656 with nine doubles and 13 home runs in only 219 plate appearances. He finished the season 2nd in fWAR, first in batting average, first in on-base percentage, first in slugging and fifth in home runs despite being 17th in plate appearances out of 24 qualified rookies.
From 1960 to 1970 McCovey was one of the best first basemen on the entire planet, logging seven seasons with at least 30 home runs and finishing in the top ten for MVP votes four times. He went .280/.385/.553 across a little over 5600 plate appearances and led all qualified 1Bs in OPS, wRC+, slugging percentage, and intentional base on balls.
During the 1970s he struggled to stay on the field, playing in only 1214 games out of a possible 1620 between 1970 and 1980. His .255/.368/.472 graded out to a 130 wRC+, hitting at least 20 home runs in five different seasons. He retired after the 1980 season and is one of 17 players to have appeared in a game in four different decades during MLB’s Integration Era.
2. Frank Thomas
"He had an amazing ability to focus on things and get them done. He could look at the stat sheet and tell himself, I need five home runs this week. And he'd hit five home runs. If he was 10 RBIs behind, he'd drive in 10 runs in a week. He used to look at the sheet, the American League leaders, in front of the whole clubhouse, and tell himself, This is what I want to do. This is what I want to be. He wasn't really talking to us. He was just talking in front of us." - Robin Ventura
Frank Thomas was a standout first baseman during an illustrious two-decade career where he walked and slugged his way into Cooperstown. Drafted seventh overall by the Chicago White Sox during the 1989 MLB Draft out of Auburn University, he made his MLB debut in 1990 and his first of seven consecutive finishes in the top ten for MVP votes in 1991. Thomas was a two-sport star at Auburn University, excelling at football and baseball.
“The Big Hurt” was a 5x All-Star, 2x AL MVP, 4x Silver Slugger winner, and one-time batting champion. His career coincided with those of a plethora of other talented 1Bs such as Jeff Bagwell, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, John Olerud, Fred McGriff, Carlos Delgado, Jim Thome, Jason Giambi, and Eddie Murray and he was arguably the best out of all of them. He was also one of the few who refrained from using PEDs, as the large majority of his career took place during The Steroid Era.
Thomas is one of only 39 players in MLB history to have recorded at least 1000 extra-base hits and one of only 35 to have at least 1000 walks drawn. In terms of all-time rankings, he is 20th in home runs, 26th in RBI, 47th in total bases, 10th in walks, 22nd in on-base percentage, 23rd in slugging percentage, and fifth in sacrifice flies.
During his first ten years in MLB, Thomas hit at least 30 home runs in seven seasons while only striking out more than 100 times once. His combination of elite contact ability, elite on-base skills, and prodigious raw power made him one of the best all-around hitters in MLB history. He drew at least 100 walks in eight consecutive seasons, leading MLB thrice. He played in eight seasons after the turn of the century, struggling to stay healthy but still performing when on the field. He retired after the 2008 season, finishing his career a shade over 10,000 plate appearances.
1. Buck Leonard
“Leonard was not the flamboyant, bombastic jock seeking the limelight, but one who approached the game in a very methodical manner, a thoughtful practitioner; he was a critical thinker — sure in the clutch and almost never left a man on base. Possessing a calm demeanor, Leonard was a near-perfect fielder; his pull-style hitting resulted in both power and average.”
No other answer besides Buck Leonard as the greatest Black first baseman of all time would be correct. One of the greatest power hitters of his respective era, historians estimated that he had at least seven 40-home run seasons. He was often compared to Lou Gehrig because he was a lefty-lefty first baseman who batted cleanup after Josh Gibson, a teammate who was known as “The Black Babe Ruth.” This was just hyperbole, as most pundits would say the most accurate comparison for Leonard was George Sisler if he had more power.
Born in 1907, Walter Fenner “Buck” Leonard grew up in Rocky Mount, North Carolina as the oldest of six children. The first individual from North Carolina to be enshrined in Cooperstown, he started working full-time after graduating the eighth grade since Rocky Mount did not have a high school for Black people to attend and his family could not afford to send him elsewhere to further his education. He became one of the primary breadwinners of the Leonard household at 12-13 years old after his father passed away in 1919 during The Great Influenza outbreak.
At 16 years old, he was an employee for the Atlantic Coastline Railroad shop, a shoe shiner, and a worker at a local hosiery mill while playing semi-professional baseball for extra cash. He got his first opportunity to be a player-manager at 17 years old and decided first base would be his permanent position so he could be closer to the umpires. Leonard didn’t think he was good enough to be a full-time professional baseball player so he stuck to his routine of working and playing on the local semi-pro scene until he was laid off from his job because of The Great Depression.
He found an opportunity to get paid a weekly $15 dollar salary playing for an independent Black team in Portsmouth, Virginia before making his Negro Leagues debut with the Baltimore Stars. In 1934 the 26-year-old got recruited to the Homestead Grays by the owner, chief scout, and former Negro Leagues star Cumberland Posey. Located just outside of Pittsburgh, the Grays was the only Negro Leagues team Leonard would play for during his career.
First base was the weakest position in the Negro Leagues, typically reserved for players who were only good for providing comedic relief and entertainment for the crowd at certain junctures in the game. This did not apply to Buck Leonard, who was viewed as one of the greatest first basemen on the entire planet. He was the third highest-paid Negro Leaguer after Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, making up to $10,000 per year.
Leonard was one of the centerpieces of the Negro Leagues’ greatest dynasty, leading the Homestead Grays to nine Negro National League championships and three Negro League World Series. He was a 13x All-Star during his Negro Leagues career, going .346/.453/.593 across 14 seasons. He led the Negro Leagues in batting average twice and batted over .330 11 times. He was an elite defender, considered by many to be the best defensive first baseman in Negro Leagues history. Negro Leagues pitcher Dave Barnhill used a colorful analogy to describe his defensive prowess at first base. “You could put a fastball in a shotgun and you couldn’t shoot it by him.”
He played numerous winter leagues across Latin America and the Caribbean on an annual basis from 1935 to 1955, where he also got the chance to manage. He participated in the most competitive leagues in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Cuba. He played with and against individuals such as Martín Dihigo, Silvio Garcia, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and others. On one particular tour in Venezuela in 1945, he played alongside an inexperienced Jackie Robinson who had yet to accumulate much experience as a professional baseball player.
Even though Leonard was entering his 40s by the time MLB’s color line was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947, his talents were heavily sought after. Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck made the most enthusiastic offer, inviting the first baseman to spring training. He declined all offers, citing his age. “We always believed we could have made the major leagues if baseball hadn’t been segregated. I’m not bitter. But it was too late for me. When Jackie Robinson came along, I was 40 years old.”
He retired as a player in 1955 and would become one of MLB’s first Black scouts. During his career as a member of the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Cubs scouting departments, he found a plethora of talented Black players such as Lou Brock, Lee Smith, Joe Carter, and Oscar Gamble. In 1962 he became the first Black coach in MLB history with the Chicago Cubs. In 1972 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside a long list of other Negro Leaguers that included Satchel Paige, one of his most famous teammates. Leonard passed away in 1997 at the age of 90 years old.
Explaining My List
The reason why McCovey is so high and above Suttles and Murray is that I prioritized peak over longevity. McCovey’s peak is one of the greatest ever, especially when you factor in the fact that he played in the worst offensive environment in the Integration Era in Candlestick Park. A large portion of his career took place before the mound was lowered as well. It isn’t far-fetched to think that McCovey would have at least 700 home runs if he hadn’t dealt with severe injuries on a frequent basis.
Murray was top five due to his longevity, but the peak wasn’t good enough to put him higher than fourth in my opinion. Especially since his game leaned towards singles more than it did extra-base hits.
Mule Suttles is probably the most underrated Negro Leagues player of all time. When comparing his stats to Buck Leonard’s, the production is comparable although Leonard was a much better defender.
Frank Thomas was a below-average defender at first who had to move to a role as a DH due to injuries but his offensive peak was ridiculous, especially when taking into account that he played during The Steroid Era. He was a back-to-back MVP during a decade that featured a bunch of other elite first basemen. His profile as a hitter is very close to being perfect for a middle-of-the-order slugger.
Leonard is undoubtedly my number one. The combination of offensive production and elite defense across two decades with and against some of the best baseball players in the game’s history speaks for itself.