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Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle

Ranking the Center Fielders

Joe DiMaggio made playing center field for the New York Yankees cool. He was graceful and he was a winner (10 pennants in 13 seasons), and helped establish the Yankee mystique. Switch-hitting Mickey Mantle combined power and speed in ways no one ever had before. Other great Yankee center fielders who made the top 50 include Earle Combs, Bernie Williams, and Johnny Damon.

♦  Fastest runner, McGee ⇒
♦  Most underrated, Wynn ⇒
♦  Most line-drive outs, Oliver ⇒

1.   Willie Mays
2.   Ty Cobb
3.   Ken Griffey Jr.
4.   Joe DiMaggio
5.   Mickey Mantle
6.   Tris Speaker
7.   Duke Snider
8.   Oscar Charleston
9.   Billy Hamilton
10.   Larry Doby
11.   Kirby Puckett
12.   Jimmy Wynn
13.   Dale Murphy
14.   Earl Averill
15.   Fred Lynn
16.   Wally Berger
17.   Vada Pinson
18.   Amos Otis
19.   Cesar Cedeno
20.   Jim Edmonds
21.   Cool Papa Bell
22.   Andruw Jones
23.   Richie Ashburn
24.   Edd Roush
25.   Willie Davis
26.   Al Oliver
27.   Jimmy Ryan
28.   Hack Wilson
29.   Hugh Duffy
30.   Max Carey
31.   Dom DiMaggio
32.   Eric Davis
33.   Willie McGee
34.   George Van Haltren
35.   Brett Butler
36.   Bernie Williams
37.   Kenny Lofton
38.   Roy Thomas
39.   Cy Seymour
40.   Earle Combs
41.   Andy Van Slyke
42.   Ginger Beaumont
43.   Chet Lemon
44.   Curt Flood
45.   Rick Monday
46.   Baby Doll Jacobson
47.   Doc Cramer
48.   Johnny Damon
49.   Willie Wilson
50.   Garry Maddox
Negro Leaguers
Dubbed "The Black Ty Cobb," Oscar Charleston was a five-tool player before that term was invented. Starring for some of the best Negro league teams in history, Cool Papa Bell was maybe the fastest runner in baseball history.
Best of the Unranked
Turkey Stearnes
Cy Williams
Andy Pafko
Lloyd Waner
Pete Browning
Steve Finley
Clyde Milan
Lenny Dykstra
George Gore
Injury-Plagued
Pete Reiser
Eric Davis
Fred Lynn
Ken Griffey Jr.

Best Bunters
Brett Butler
Matty Alou
Kenny Lofton
Best Flychasers
Richie Ashburn
Max Carey
Garry Maddox
Willie Mays
Torii Hunter
Andruw Jones
Dwayne Murphy
Tris Speaker
Chet Lemon
Larry Doby was the first black player to play for a World Series champion in the major leagues... Vada Pinson's 1,000th and 2,000th hits were home runs... Ty Cobb became the first ball player to star in a movie, a drama written by Grantland Rice titled Somewhere in Georgia.
Best life made into a screenplay
In spite of his fine career as one of the AL's best center fielders and bunters in the 1950s, Jimmy Piersall is best known for his well-publicized battle with bipolar disorder that became the subject of the movie Fear Strikes Out.
Jimmy Piersall's page ⇒

"I can't imagine Joe DiMaggio was a better all-around player than Dale Murphy."
— Nolan Ryan

Dale Murphy's page ⇒
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