Can you name the MLB players with the most career WAR by position?

created by DJC83

Enter a player (last names acceptable) in the box below
Correctly named players will show up below
Answers do not have to be guessed in order
Source: Baseball Reference
Players are assigned to the team/position at which they played the most games.
The "1st Team" here consists of the players at each of the 9 positions with the highest career Wins Above Replacement. The "2nd Team" consists of the next best players in WAR at each position, etc.
Data is from 1876-2010.

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1st Team
P (CLV-143.2)
C (CIN-71.3)
1B (STL-127.8)
2B (STL-127.8)
3B (PHI-108.3)
SS (PIT-134.5)
LF (SFG-171.8)
CF (DET-159.5)
RF (NYY-190.0)

2nd Team
P (WSH-139.8)
C (TEX-67.7)
1B (NYY-118.4)
2B (CHW-126.7)
3B (MLN-98.3)
SS (NYY-101.9)
LF (BOS-125.3)
CF (SFG-154.7)
RF (MLN-141.6)

3rd Team
P (BOS-128.8)
C (CHW-67.3)
1B (PHA-95.2)
2B (CLE-104.2)
3B (BOS-89.0)
SS (NYG-90.3)
LF (OAK-113.1)
CF (CLE-132.9)
RF (NYG-109.3)

4th Team
P (PHI-106.8)
C (MON-66.3)
1B (CHC-88.9)
2B (CIN-103.5)
3B (KCR-85.0)
SS (BAL-89.9)
LF (BOS-88.7)
CF (NYY-120.2)
RF (CIN-107.4)

5th Team
P (NYM-106.1)
C (NYY-61.9)
1B (NYG-87.2)
2B (DET-80.9)
3B (ATL-80.1)
SS (MIL-76.9)
LF (PHI-74.7)
CF (NYY-83.6)
RF (DET-91.0)

6th Team
P (BSN-103.2)
C (NYM-59.1)
1B (STL-83.8)
2B (STL-74.8)
3B (BAL-69.1)
SS (CHC-75.9)
LF (PIT-73.4)
CF (SEA-78.5)
RF (PIT-83.8)

7th Team
P (ATL-96.9)
C (MLN-55.6)
1B (BUF-81.7)
2B (DET-69.7)
3B (CHC-66.4)
SS (PIT-75.6)
LF (BOS-67.5)
CF (PHI-69.6)
RF (DET-76.6)

8th Team
P (PHA-93.3)
C (NYY-54.4)
1B (HOU-79.9)
2B (CAL-67.6)
3B (PHI-66.1)
SS (NYY-70.1)
LF (MON-64.6)
CF (STL-68.3)
RF (OAK-74.6)

9th Team
P (ATL-93.0)
C (NYG-51.4)
1B (MIN-79.1)
2B (HOU-66.2)
3B (PHA-63.7)
SS (CHW-69.3)
LF (CLV-64.1)
CF (BRO-67.5)
RF (PIT-73.8)

10th Team
P (STL-91.8)
C (PHA-51.2)
1B (CIN-75.3)
2B (TOR-63.5)
3B (NYY-61.6)
SS (CIN-68.9)
LF (PHA-63.6)
CF (CLE-65.3)
RF (DET-69.4)

11th Team
P (NYG-90.7)
C (STL-50.4)
1B (CLE-70.3)
2B (BRO-63.2)
3B (CLE-60.8)
SS (DET-66.9)
LF (WSH-63.0)
CF (ATL-59.9)
RF (SDP-68.4)

12th Team
P (SFG-90.5)
C (CHC-50.3)
1B (STL-70.2)
2B (CHC-62.0)
3B (OAK-60.6)
SS (BRO-66.7)
LF (CLE-62.9)
CF (HOU-59.8)
RF (COL-67.3)

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There are 84 comments for this game.
(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

MLB Best All-Time Starting Nines (by WAR) Quiz

by DJC83

Created Jun 9, 2011 in Sports
Featured Jun 14, 2011
Game Plays 53,540

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Archived comments: show them

	piratesfan:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 17:32 GMT		10 points
	great job. very fun quiz. WAR is probably the most useful stat in baseball

	strags11:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 17:49 GMT		7 points
	@piratesfan: Well, we can agree on 2 out of 3. @djc did a great job and it's a very fun quiz. However, we'll have to disagree on WAR. It's not a bad stat on a season-by-season basis (notwithstanding the fact that the baseline "replacement" value is a nebulous and moving target, and that finding those presumably ubiquitous replacement players is easier said than done, and that it fails to take into account critical aspects like effective situational player usage.) However, on a career basis, it's a very shaky stat indeed because it rewards longevity above all else. Ah, let's just stick with "great job, fun quiz".

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	UrsaCanid:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 18:47 GMT		-2 points
	I will agree with the comments of great quiz, well done. I must also express my thoughts on the WAR stat. This is yet another stat for stats sake. Jim Thome at first, really?!? Niekro and Perry on the list, Carlton and Koufax are not. There is far more to the replacement value of a player than cold stats. Scott Rolen can not keep a steady job but no Paul Molitor. I am sure there are many more examples, these are just a few off the top of my head. The amount of doubt and discussion just proves how useless this stat is.

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	sbshuffler85:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 19:32 GMT		9 points
	Although I love advanced baseball stats, career WAR isn't a great way to measure players. Love the quiz, but for people who don't know advanced stats, don't think that this is what all sabermetricians believe.

	Etheridge2:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 19:38 GMT		5 points
	Count me in the HATE WAR but LOVE THE QUIZ group.

	mraithel13:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 20:20 GMT		5 points
	well, WAR isn't COMPLETELY worthless. Molitor was hurt for much of career as well - he hit his way (at DH) into the HOF. I'll take Rolen's glove at 3rd any day.

	alrightnik:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 20:33 GMT		18 points
	Koufax isn't in the top 12 in wins or strikeouts or ANY counting stat because he had a short career. However, he was 1st in two seasons, 2nd in two more, and third for one season. The problem isn't with WAR -- the problem is one of comparing peak value vs. career value. There will always be good players with very long careers that pass the great guys with short careers in ANY counting stat. And there are arguments to be made for and against each. Ultimately, it sounds like a lot of people here don't understand what WAR is, how it is calculated, and what it claims and does not claim to measure. Instead, you're making arguments about other, irrelevant points. (Here's something else WAR doesn't do: tell you how tall a player was! MOTHER'S BASEMENT! MOTHER'S BASEMENT!)

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	MetaphysicalMan:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 20:46 GMT		17 points
	Mr. Burns may have been a fan of this stat as Cap Anson, Nap Lajoie, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, and Honus Wagner were among his initial choices for his company softball team.

	JakeA:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 20:53 GMT		3 points
	Carlton would have been on this list if he hadn't hung around too long at the end and piled up about 30 or 40 extra losses.

	qifblackbeard:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 21:03 GMT		1 point
	Ughhhhhhh.... there are some of these I never would've gotten. But others were easily within my grasp. I need to get to the doctor, I'm showing symptoms of a bad case of Sporclitis.

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	DJC83:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 21:06 GMT		3 points
	All right, my 3rd published quiz! And, if I'm not mistaken, the first published baseball quiz on Sporcle to use WAR. Despite the controversy over the use and abuse of total value stats like WAR, I'm glad to be a pioneer of sorts in this.

	woowoo682:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 21:15 GMT		0 points
	anyone who wants make any kind of argument about WAR...do you even have the slightest clue what it means?

	ClintT13:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 21:38 GMT		3 points
	Boggs ahead of Brett is a statistical tragedy. As Bill Simmons, a Boston homer, wrote after Boggs was inducted into Cooperstown: "There was never a time during Boggs career when he was the best 3B in the American League. I never thought 'I sure am glad we have Boggs instead of George Brett.'"

	DJC83:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 22:14 GMT		2 points
	@ClintT13: I think calling it a tragedy is a bit of an exaggeration. After all, WAR is only one measurement of total value, and not a perfect one at that. Also, Brett is not all that far back from Boggs in total WAR (offense + defense) and actually edges out Boggs in offensive WAR (79.5 for Brett to 78.9 for Boggs). It's Boggs's defensive WAR that puts him up over the top (10.1 vs. Brett's 5.5).

	craigmeister:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 22:22 GMT		3 points
	1) Being from KC, I'll go along with Brett over Boggs. 2) I could have used more time on this quiz. There are a number of guys like e.g. Edmonds, Torre and Lofton that I might have answered with some thought but they are not automatic members of the pantheon that come right to my mind.

	SuperZero:	Jun 14th, 2011 at 22:31 GMT		16 points
	For those wondering why Player X didn't make the cut, remember that these "teams" are based on accumulation of a single statistic. Nobody's going to argue that Ty Wigginton is a better player than Ty Cobb was, but if the teams were based on career home runs, Wigginton would finish well ahead of Cobb. WAR is not an attempt to find the "better" player in the purest sense, but an attempt to quantify the overall value of a player compared to a replacement level player (essentially, a player readily available from the minors or the scrapheap) and then translate that value into baseball currency (wins--hence "wins above replacement"). This value is calculated annually based on the overall strength of the league, so even if a player records the EXACT SAME counting statistics in two straight years, his WAR will likely change. And since WAR is based on seasonal VALUE rather than skill, a decent player who doesn't get hurt can put up a WAR that rivals or exceeds an exceptional player who's made of glass. There are flaws in WAR (following the "Wins Above Replacement" link in the quiz info will illustrate this). Defense is very, very difficult to quantify, and fluctuates unreliably from year to year. Catcher defense is RIDICULOUSLY difficult to quantify, and in many ways isn't even accounted for in WAR (one cause of the relatively low catcher WAR totals). Others have already commented on other potential issues. On top of that, simply adding up career WAR privileges players with long, productive careers over those with short, brilliant careers, once again reducing WAR's ability to tell us the "best" player the way most people use the word. But none of this means that WAR is useless, ridiculous, or limited to basements (mom-owned or otherwise); it's an interesting, useful, but incomplete SINGLE statistic, and just one of many possible ways to judge player value. Oh, and awesome quiz!