This Great Game Lists

Below is our growing collection of baseball lists you always wanted to know but never had the time to go out of your way to find them. So how convenient that you’ve found us. If you feel there’s a subject we need to make a top-five or top-10 list out of, let us know. Otherwise, enjoy our offerings from below!

Ten Baseball Players Who Made It Big Elsewhere

These multi-talented athletes, politicians and actors all had their beginnings in the majors, before finding bigger fame on a different stage.

Almost Perfect: Ten Baseball Games That Came Closest to Being a Perfect Game

These pitchers were within an out, sometimes a strike, of finishing a perfect game. They couldn’t complete the deal.

Baseball’s 10 Most Inseparable Groupings

Major league duos, trios and quartets who made for as much fame together as the individuals within them who helped make them excel.

Ten Most Noteworthy Players Who Hit a Home Run in Their First At-Bat

Special and memorable moments among those who went deep the very first time they stepped up to a major league plate.

Baseball’s 10 Greatest Season Performances by a Pitcher—Revised

Amid popular demand and an errant way of ranking, we returned to the drawing board to provide a more accurate list of baseball’s most dominant pitching seasons. Turns out, we were mostly right all along.

The Ten Oldest Players Who Did Something in a Baseball Game

Age is nothing but a number to these old baseball pros, who defied time and produced when asked to at a certain age.

Ten Other Crazy New Baseball Rules MLB Should Consider

Are baseball’s “temporary” rule changes not enough to satisfy those tiring of the same ol’ National Pastime? See if any of these suggestions will get them back to the ballpark.

Baseball’s 10 Most Famous Celebrity Wives

These women are just as famous as the major league ballplayers they married.

The 10 Greatest Games of the 2010s

A look at the best that big league ball had to offer within nine innings, and sometimes more, during the 2010s.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 2010s

As the concept of the starting pitcher continued to trend toward possible obsolescence, these 10 aces delivered with old-time magic from the mound.

The 2010s: Ranking MLB Teams, From Worst to First

In a decade in which the fortunes of MLB teams swung wildly like an out-of-control pendulum, here’s our list of how everything shook out at the end.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 2010s

Good guys with great numbers and all-around productivity dominate this list.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 2000s

In a time of decreased durability among pitchers in baseball, these 10 hurlers managed to leave an impressive mark in an era that leaned offensive.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 2000s

In a decade dominated by steroid accusations and admissions, some of these 10 hitters did it cleanly. Some of them.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1990s

These pitchers somehow managed to stay immune—and actually excel—in a time of increasing offensive dominance.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1990s

Eye-popping numbers set records and dominated baseball in a decade beset with work stoppage and growing steroid fever.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1980s

A decade of sensational debuts is well represented on this list of top pitchers from a robust time for baseball.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1980s

Baseball stars were slugging, running and walking their way to success in a volatile but popular time for the game.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1970s

Tireless workhorse aces kept the focus and stayed in charge during a time of change and upheaval in the game, on and off the field.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1970s

A diverse mix of power sluggers, contact hitters and colorful personalities defined a transitional decade at the plate for baseball.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1960s

In a banner time for pitchers, these all-time greats took advantage and put up some of the most dominant numbers since the Deadball Era.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1960s

Pitchers may have had the upper hand, but a banner crop of star hitters still made for a glorious time at the ballpark.

MLB’s Five Most Handicapped Franchises

Through little or no fault of their own, these teams find it tough to compete on a regular basis for reasons mostly beyond their control.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1950s

In a vigorous time for major league hitters and pitchers, a healthy representation of aces gave the game competitive balance.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1950s

Baseball’s golden era was a boon for muscle-bound sluggers, and no longer restricted by race.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1940s

World War II helped extend the careers of veteran pitchers while disrupting the prime of younger aces; they’re both well-represented on this list.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1940s

World War II had a say in determining the ranking of these 10 great sluggers, who missed various amounts of time to wartime service.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1930s

A diverse group of talented pitchers helped to quell jack-rabbit offenses and restore respect to the mound.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1930s

These 10 major league hitting stars benefitted from the live-ball era’s push into the 1930s, as offensive achievements still ruled over those of the pitchers.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1920s

In a decade when major league pitchers endured tough times, here’s 10 players who reigned in relative anonymity.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1920s

Here’s 10 great baseball hitters from a decade well remembered for a ball that was given jack-rabbit life.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1910s

The baseball remained dead during the 1910s, and these 10 pitchers were all too happy to take advantage of it.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1910s

Some of baseball’s legendary star hitters did their best to help the game during a time when rules and conditions still favored the pitcher.

The 10 Best Pitchers of the 1900s

The Deadball Era was full of life for these 10 pitchers who racked up mammoth numbers and unbreakable records.

The 10 Best Hitters of the 1900s

Take a look at the major leaguers who best managed to survive the torture of hitting at the height of the Deadball Era.

Ten Great Baseball Talents Who Left Us Way Too Soon

These 10 players could have been among the greatest ever seen in baseball. Because of their untimely deaths, we’ll never know.

Ten People Who Should Not be in Baseball’s Hall of Fame

Not everyone who’s in baseball’s Hall of Fame deserves to be there. Here’s the 10 most egregious examples.

Five Mid-Market Baseball Teams That Went for Broke in the 2010s—and Ended up Broke

Here’s a group of recent World Series wannabes who pushed the budget to make a big push toward quick success—and failed miserably.

The 10 Most Notable Omissions From Our Top 10 Lists

A list of baseball greats you think would have made the grade on This Great Game’s assorted lists. Don’t blame us, blame the numbers.

Baseball’s 10 Biggest Pennant Race Collapses

Memorable instances of major league teams who thought they had a postseason spot in the bag—until things went terribly wrong.

Ten Baseball Legends Who Briefly Played Where You Would Least Expect

Iconic ballplayers practically synonymous with the teams they starred for logged cameo time with other ballclubs—and it just didn’t make sense.

Baseball’s Ten Most Dominant Dynasties

These major league powerhouses exhibited greatness over long stretches of time and gave opponents little to hope for—except maybe a fast-foward button.

The 10 Biggest Oversights From Baseball’s “Franchise Four” Selections

If you thought some big names were missing when baseball announced its lists of each team’s four best players ever, you were right.

Baseball’s 10 Worst Performances by a Reigning Cy Young Award Winner

Ten major leaguers who followed up a dream season earning baseball’s top pitching prize with a nightmarish encore.

Baseball’s 10 Most Unbreakable Records

Here’s 10 baseball records that currently reside in the record book—and will likely stay there for all eternity.

The 10 Worst Promotional Ideas in Baseball History

Bad promotions, bad ideas, bad results. Here’s 10 concepts that didn’t quite work out as baseball had hoped.

The 10 Unlikeliest Three-Home Run Performances in Baseball History

Nobody expected these guys to go deep three times, whether it was due to their unimpressive slugging abilities, their age, the setting or the times.

Ten Great Baseball Call-Ups Followed by…Well, Nothing

Brought up from the minor leagues, these 10 players wowed with great performances—but they were never able to duplicate their initial successes for the long term.

Baseball’s 10 Unlikeliest No-Hitters

These pitchers had short and unsuccessful careers in the majors, but they achieved something that even some Hall of Famers could not: A no-hitter.

Ten Rookie Baseball Players Who Peaked…When They Were Rookies

Promising careers looked to be ahead for these players who surged in their first year in the majors, but they never came close to replicating their freshman experience.

Baseball’s Five Worst Home Plate Collisions

With the home plate collision outlawed, here’s a look back at five memorable and bruising moments when the runner and catcher legally played crash.

The 10 Most Imperfect No-Hitters in Baseball History

So-called gems achieved by major league pitchers who labored to fame in spite of wildness, some clumsy play—and sometimes even a loss.

The 10 Worst Owners in Baseball History

Among the many rotten rulers who have run (and ruined) major league teams, these 10 stand out for varying levels of intolerance, dishonesty and incompetence.

The 10 Most Influential People in Baseball History

Few if any people in the history of baseball have had as great an impact on shaping the game as we know it today; see if you agree with our choices.

Baseball’s 10 Most Memorable Home Runs

These 10 long balls driven over the outfield walls of ballparks past and present are the most deserving for their fame, importance and pure spectacle.

Baseball’s Five Least Deserving MVP Recipients

We understand that baseball’s MVPs aren’t automatically given to the players with the best numbers, but these five honorees warrant some serious head-scratching.

Baseball’s 10 Greatest Season Performances by a Hitter

Nobody was more dominant in a single baseball season than these major league hitters who impressively overwhelmed the competition.

Baseball’s Five Worst Rebrands

Remember the Boston Bees or the Philadelphia Blue Jays? Of course you don’t. Here’s five branding decisions by major league baseball teams that just never made sense.