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From 1997 to 2006, he would attend five All-Star games and be in the top ten in MVP voting four times. His career took off in 1995, and in 1996 he won his one and only Silver Slugger. Thome broke in with the Indians in September 1991 but really didnвЂ™t establish himself as a full-time major leaguer until 1994, and even then, he platooned for much of the season. Perhaps itвЂ™s because he played in the era of the power hitter, but unlike many of his contemporaries, Thome has never been suspected of using performance-enhancing substances. Only six other players in history can boast as many walks and HRs as Thome, and none of them played first base. Jim Thome seems underappreciated for a guy who ranks eighth in career home runs and seventh in career walks.

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He would most assuredly have cracked the list if he played those years. Mize finished just outside the Top Ten despite missing three years during his prime to defend his country in World War II. Honorable Mention: Johnny Mize (1936 вЂ“ 1953) Below are our Top Ten Greatest First Basemen of All-Time, starting with: Thus, stats like batting average, HRs, OPS+, and wRC+ were a part of the equation.Д®nough with the blathering letвЂ™s get to the fun stuff. In addition to the value metrics, we incorporated more offensive statistics into the criteria as first base has traditionally been more about offense than defense. We gave more weight to MVP awards for this reason вЂ“ to help identify how dominant the player was versus his peers in his best seasons. As is always the case, we tried to balance the rankings between longevity and dominance to get a good cross-section. So great players like Stan Musial and Pete Rose, who played a lot of first but are better known for another position, were excluded from consideration (though they may reappear in the Top Ten Outfielders!).ДЄs usual, we relied on a variety of value-based metrics in the evaluation process, including several different WAR ratings from both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs. Our aim with this list was to keep it to players known as being first basemen first and foremost. Many great players have shifted to first base at some point in their career вЂ“ usually the latter half.

First base is replete with star sluggers from every generation, so before we dig into the list, letвЂ™s review how we compiled it.

After all, it wouldnвЂ™t make much sense to start at third. First up on the infield is, well, first base. Thus far, weвЂ™ve revealed the top ten pitchers and catchers of all time, and this week weвЂ™ll shift to the infield as we go around the horn.

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