Debuting as a rookie with the Boston Beaneaters in 1898, Vic Willis would win the ERA Title as a sophomore with a 2.50 ERA with 27 Wins.  He was also first for bWAR for Pitchers that season.  1900 was not great, as his ERA ballooned above 4.00, but he rebounded with four straight seasons with an ERA below 3.00, and he finished with Boston in 1905 with a 3.21 ERA.  Unfortunately, in his last two seasons in Boston, he posted records of 30 and 54 because he received limited run support.  He would finish his stint in Boston with a record of 151 and 147 and an ERA of 2.82.

He would later be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he would have four straight seasons of 20 or more Wins and top ten finishes in bWAR for pitchers, including a league-leading 8.1 in 1906.  Willis would also help the Pirates win the World Series in 1909.

Willis would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995 by the Veterans Committee.

We return back to the 1880’s (we seem to be in the 1800’s a lot on this franchise list) with Righthander, Jim Whitney who had a 133 and 121 record over his five seasons with the Boston Red Caps/Beaneaters and as a rookie (1881) he was first in both Wins (33) and Losses and would later have two seasons where he was first in FIP (1883 & 1884) and three straight where he was first in SO/BB (1883-85), a stat in which he is still first all-time in the franchise.  Whitney never finished with an Earned Run Average over 3.00 and was in the top ten four times with Boston.

Interestingly, Whitney would finish first in BB/9 three times and first in Wild Pitches, yet his overall control numbers were quite good.

What really helps his ranking is that Whitney was a good hitter for a Pitcher, and he had a batting average of .270 for Boston with 406 Hits.  That can’t be discounted.

Tommy Bond arrived in Boston in 1877 after a disagreement with his former Manager with the Hartford Dark Blues and the then-named Red Stockings would quickly love having the Irish-born Pitcher on the team.  Bond was a huge force on the mound where the sidearmer was arguably the best Pitcher in the National League from 1877 to 1879.  In that timeframe, which was basically the infancy of baseball, Bond won 40 Games each year, the first two of which were league-leading. He would also win the ERA Title twice, the Strikeout title twice, and was also first in WHIP twice.  1877 would see Bond win the Pitcher’s Triple Crown, making him the first to do so in the National League.  Bond tailed off quickly after his arm got weak but for the franchise he would win 149 Games.

It was not a long run but his dominance over that three year period warrants him a place here, even one this high.

From Curacao, Andruw Jones made his debut with the Braves at age 19, and it was clear from the beginning that this was a star in the making.  Jones would have his first 30-HR season in 1998, and from 2000 to 2003, he would hit that mark with three 100-RBI seasons and a .300 season in 2000, which was surprisingly the only one he ever had.  Jones would add to his already prolific power numbers in the 2005 season, where he had a league-leading (and career-high) 51 Home Runs and was also the champion in Runs Batted In with 128. For his efforts, he was the runner-up for the National League MVP.  His overall power totals for the Braves would be an impressive 368 Home Runs, 1,117 RBIs, with a .497 Slugging Percentage.

No conversation about Andruw Jones can take place without discussing his incredible defensive abilities.  Jones would win the Gold Glove every season from 1998 to 2007 (all with Atlanta), and he had six straight years where he would finish first in Total Zone Runs (1997 to 2002).  As a Brave, he was the NL leader in Defensive bWAR, and in six other seasons, he was in the top ten. 

Had Jones had a better Batting Average and OBP (.263 and .342 are decent but not spectacular), he would be higher on this list.  The Braves chose Jones for their Hall of Fame in 2016.  Ten years later, Jones received the call from Cooperstown.