Baseball GOATstarting pitcher
Al Spalding
Boston Red Stockings, 1871–1878
66.2
Score, No. 52 all-time
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Hornsby leads on both counts: 125.2 wins added to 65.8 over a career, and 74.0 to 66.7 across his seven best seasons.
starting pitcher
Boston Red Stockings, 1871–1878
66.2
Score, No. 52 all-time
second base
St. Louis Cardinals, 1915–1937
99.6
Score, No. 7 all-time
Wins added is how many extra games a player’s teams won because they had him and not a replacement-level player, the kind of fill-in any team can find. In one season, 2 is a solid regular, 5 is an All-Star and 8 or more is an MVP-level year. Score is the average of the career total and the best seven seasons.
| Al Spalding | Rogers Hornsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | ||
| 66.2 | Score | 99.6(better) |
| 65.8 | Wins added, career | 125.2(better) |
| 66.7 | Wins added, best 7 seasons | 74.0(better) |
| 52 | All-time rank | 7(better) |
| 8 | Seasons | 23 |
The dot marks the better number in each row. A hitter and a pitcher don’t share traditional stats, so this comparison uses the ratings only.