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Committee Chairman

Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

185. Wally Schang

Many baseball historians have painted Wally Schang as one of the better offensive Catchers of the deadball era.  In terms of his World Series Rings, you can argue that he is one of the most successful.

Schang won his first World Series as a rookie with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913, and he would play there for the first five years of his career.  The Athletics dealt Schang to the Red Sox in 1918, where again, he was a World Series Champion in his first year with a Major League Team.  He batted over .300 for the BoSox in 1919 and 1920, but the Red Sox were in the middle of dismantling their team, and he was traded to the New York Yankees in 1921, where he again had two more .300 seasons, the second of which would see him win a World Series in 1922.  

Schang later played for the St. Louis Browns and the Detroit Tigers, and, in addition to his excellent offense, he was considered a very good defensive player.  He would also have five seasons in which he received an MVP vote, and he secured a fourth ring in 1930 as a reserve with the Athletics. 

While his 1,506 career Hits may not seem like a lot, for a Catcher of his time, it was a lot.  Throw in the lifetime Batting Averages of .284 and OBP of .393, and you have a special player.

209. Jack Fournier

Jack Fournier was a Manager’s enigma.  He could hit well, but his fielding was so bad that in the era before the Designated Hitter, the talented batsmen would have spells where he could not make the Majors.

Fournier first made the Majors in 1912 when he broke in with the Chicago White Sox.  Fournier led the American League in Slugging in 1915 (.491), and he batted .322 with a .311 mark the year before.  Despite that, he was relegated to a platoon with Jack Ness in 1916, and he began to slump, making him expendable.  He was waived and returned to the minors.  The New York Yankees gave him a shot in 1918, but they released him after feeling his defense was subpar.

He returned to the bigs with St. Louis in 1920, where he batted over .300 in 1920 and 1921, and in 1923, his first year in Brooklyn, he began a three-year streak where he batted at least .334, had an OBP of .411, a Slugging Percentage well over .500, and 20 HR/100 RBI years.  Fournier won the National League. Home Run Title in 1924 (27), and he had a league-leading 86 Walks in 1925.  

Fournier played until 1927, retiring with 1,631 Hits and an exemplary Slash Line of .313/.392/.483.

182. Andres Galarraga

The Montreal Expos had earned a reputation for scouting and signing Latin American talent, and one of the best examples of that was Venezuelan First Baseman, Andres Galarraga.

Galarraga debuted in Montreal in 1985, and after a rocky start, he batted .305 in 1987 and was an All-Star the season after, when he posted a .302 Batting Average and was the league leader in Hits (184) and Doubles (42).  Like every homegrown star of the Expos of the late 80s and early 90s, Galarraga left when the impending free agent was traded to St. Louis.

The Venezuelan was injured for most of the year and only played in 95 Games for the Cards, but he signed with the expansion Colorado Rockies in 1993, which ushered in the best era of his career.

Coors Field was an excellent fit for Galarraga, who batted .370 in the Rockies' first season, and he gave them their first batting champion.  The First Baseman was an All-Star that year, and he showed off greater power numbers, hitting 31 Home Runs in both 1994 and 1995, the first time he ever eclipsed 30.  Galarraga blasted 47 in 1996 with 150 RBIs, both of which would lead the National League.  He was sixth in MVP voting that year and was seventh the year after with a 41 HR/140 RBI year, which, like the season before, also saw Galarraga bat over .300.

Galarraga joined the Atlanta Braves in 1998 and was an All-Star again, showcasing excellent power metrics (44 HR, 121 RBI).  Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma kept him out of the entire 1999 season.  He came back in 2000, providing Atlanta with 28 Home Runs and an even 100 in RBIs, and Galarraga was chosen for his fifth and final All-Star Game.  That was his last good year in baseball, and he finished off his career with stints in Texas, San Francisco, Montreal (again), San Francisco (again), and Anaheim. 

A valid criticism of Galarraga was his propensity to strike out.  He was the leader in whiffs in four different seasons, and he would have 2,003 Strikeouts in his career.  Galarraga would accumulate 2,333 Hits, 399 Home Runs, and 1,425 Runs Batted In over his 19-year career. 

208. Bobby Shantz

When you look at the past MVPs in baseball history, Bobby Shantz is one of the more curious players to win it.