From Banks to Buckner

These rankings are based on four primary factors: WAR (Wins Above Replacement) according to baseball-reference.com, WAR according to fangraphs.com, peak WAR, and Playing Time. Playing Time (plate appearances for hitters and innings pitched for pitchers) is adjusted to match the scale of WAR by dividing career PA by 300 or career IP by 120.

I make several adjustments, the results of which are shown in the bWARadj, fWARadj , and PTadj columns. The WAR and Playing Time of relief pitchers and catchers are adjusted up, because those positions generally struggle to accumulate both WAR and PT. WAR and PT during the segregation era (1876-1946) are both discounted by 7.6% (see Jason Linden’s excellent analysis for that). I attempt to account for players who missed time due to military service, as well as players who played during the war-shortened seasons of 1918 and 1919, and the COVID-shortened 2020 season. No adjustments are made for strike-shortened seasons. Finally, I have applied a 20% discount to the stats of Sammy Sosa from the years 1998-2004 to account for his likely steroid use. This drops him from 7th on the list to 9th.

There are also bonus points added for various awards and achievements, seen below, to arrive at the player’s total ATC score:

MLB Hall of Fame	5.00
MVP	5.00
Cy Young	5.00
Hank Aaron Award	3.00
Rookie of the Year	2.00
Roberto Clemente Award	2.00
Gold Glove	0.50
Silver Slugger	0.50
All-Star Game selection	0.50
Playoff Appearance/Pennant	1.50
World Series Championship	3.00
Playoff WPA (in place of WAR)
Playoff PT

Updated through October 5, 2022

	Name	bWAR	fWAR	PA	IP	bWARadj	fWARadj	HighBR	HighFG	PTadj	Bonuses	ATC
1	Ernie Banks	67.9	63.2	10,396	–	67.9	63.2	49.1	45.4	34.7	22.5	282.8
2	Cap Anson	85.0	81.6	10,123	–	79.2	76.1	40.5	39.2	31.4	12.9	279.7
3	Ron Santo	72.2	72.2	8,979	–	72.2	72.2	39.8	38.7	29.9	12.0	264.8
4	Ryne Sandberg	68.1	60.9	9,276	–	68.1	60.9	36.6	34.0	30.9	27.2	257.8
5	Gabby Hartnett	55.1	52.6	7,135	–	62.9	60.0	32.5	32.3	27.1	18.1	232.8
6	Billy Williams	61.9	58.9	9,504	–	61.9	58.9	33.8	32.5	31.7	10.0	228.8
7	Fergie Jenkins	55.0	55.2	–	2,673.7	56.2	55.9	26.7	29.4	22.9	11.5	202.5
8	Stan Hack	55.5	56.0	8,509	–	51.3	51.8	28.2	27.6	26.2	16.1	201.1
9	Sammy Sosa	58.8	60.7	7,898	–	51.4	53.0	25.7	25.8	23.2	21.7	200.9
10	Frank Chance	46.1	48.1	5,102	–	43.6	45.3	27.2	29.0	16.1	22.8	184.0
11	Mordecai Brown	48.1	41.0	–	2,329.0	48.0	41.3	27.5	20.3	19.6	25.1	181.9
12	Rick Reuschel	49.2	47.7	–	2,290.0	49.4	48.1	26.7	22.2	19.2	2.0	167.6
13	Mark Grace	44.1	44.1	8,234	–	44.1	44.1	19.4	20.0	27.4	8.7	163.8
14	Joe Tinker	45.6	46.7	6,166	–	42.1	43.2	19.6	19.8	18.9	19.1	162.6
15	Charlie Root	38.2	39.9	–	3,137.3	40.2	41.6	22.7	22.1	27.8	6.1	160.4
16	Johnny Evers	39.6	41.2	5,653	–	36.6	38.1	19.4	19.6	17.4	25.8	156.8
17	Anthony Rizzo	36.6	32.1	5,639	–	38.5	33.5	19.3	16.8	20.2	23.4	151.7
18	Billy Herman	42.1	40.4	6,166	–	38.9	37.3	21.8	20.8	19.0	12.6	150.4
19	Hippo Vaughn	40.7	35.8	–	2,216.3	40.9	35.8	22.6	17.0	18.3	14.5	149.1
20	Phil Cavarretta	36.3	33.5	7,511	–	33.9	31.2	23.7	22.4	23.3	11.3	145.8
21	Greg Maddux	34.9	36.6	–	2,016.0	34.9	36.7	20.6	19.1	16.8	15.2	143.3
22	Wild Bill Hutchinson	41.6	43.1	–	3,022.3	38.4	39.8	20.2	21.5	23.3	0.0	143.2
23	Carlos Zambrano	43.1	36.5	–	1,826.7	43.2	36.7	21.1	16.2	15.4	9.2	141.9
24	Pete Alexander	43.2	35.4	–	1,884.3	41.2	33.7	23.6	16.5	14.9	7.9	137.8
25	Jimmy Ryan	36.0	37.3	7,560	–	33.3	34.5	20.0	20.3	23.2	2.8	133.6
26	Clark Griffith	47.2	33.8	–	2,188.7	43.6	31.2	21.7	13.7	16.9	4.6	131.7
27	Bill Nicholson	38.4	37.9	5,615	–	35.6	35.1	18.6	19.2	17.4	4.0	129.8
28	Kris Bryant	27.7	30.7	3,626	–	28.6	30.9	14.8	16.8	12.9	25.1	129.0
29	Bob Rush	32.7	38.1	–	2,132.7	33.0	38.8	17.3	17.5	18.1	1.0	125.6
30	Claude Passeau	34.7	33.9	–	1,914.7	32.9	32.6	17.1	15.5	15.4	11.6	125.2
31	Ned Williamson	36.3	38.1	4,522	–	33.9	35.5	16.4	17.0	14.0	6.9	123.6
32	Wildfire Schulte	21.7	28.5	6,620	–	20.1	26.3	13.5	15.6	20.3	27.1	122.9
33	Lon Warneke	30.5	26.2	–	1,624.7	30.7	27.3	18.9	14.4	14.3	11.2	116.8
34	Johnny Kling	25.8	20.1	3,876	–	29.5	23.0	19.3	15.0	14.7	13.6	115.1
35	John Clarkson	36.6	30.8	–	1,730.7	33.8	28.5	17.7	13.2	13.3	8.3	114.8
36	Kerry Wood	26.6	24.4	–	1,279.0	28.4	26.3	17.8	16.1	11.6	10.9	111.1
37	Bill Dahlen	34.1	35.8	4,521	–	31.5	33.1	15.7	15.9	13.9	0.0	110.1
38	Bruce Sutter	18.4	16.0	–	493.0	31.7	27.6	16.8	14.4	7.1	12.0	109.6
39	Bill Lee	27.4	28.2	–	2,271.3	26.1	26.9	19.0	13.6	18.2	4.2	107.9
40	Kiki Cuyler	26.3	29.2	4,196	–	24.3	27.0	13.0	14.7	12.9	13.6	105.6
41	Hack Wilson	31.4	33.8	3,720	–	29.0	31.2	12.7	13.5	11.5	6.7	104.6
42	Lee Smith	18.8	15.3	–	681.3	31.9	26.0	17.0	12.4	9.5	7.6	104.4
43	Heinie Zimmerman	24.0	26.4	3,985	–	22.2	24.4	15.1	16.4	12.3	13.6	103.9
44	Kyle Hendricks	23.0	21.6	–	1,312.3	26.6	24.9	13.7	12.1	12.1	14.5	103.8
45	Aramis Ramirez	24.2	25.7	4,705	–	24.2	25.7	13.3	13.0	15.7	9.8	101.7
46	Larry Corcoran	26.4	27.6	–	2,338.3	24.4	25.5	12.7	12.4	18.0	8.3	101.3
47	Ed Reulbach	26.0	16.6	–	1,864.7	25.3	16.3	18.5	9.6	15.4	15.6	100.7
48	Javier Baez	21.6	19.9	3,069	–	23.0	20.8	14.9	14.1	11.6	14.7	98.9
49	Woody English	26.8	27.4	4,943	–	24.8	25.3	13.9	14.0	15.2	5.0	98.1
50	Andy Pafko	27.2	25.8	3,996	–	25.8	24.4	15.9	15.4	12.6	4.0	98.0
51	King Kelly	23.9	24.2	3,072	–	23.8	24.1	13.9	13.9	10.1	11.6	97.9
52	Jake Arrieta	19.1	19.0	–	889.3	19.1	19.0	13.6	12.3	7.4	24.9	96.4
53	George Gore	28.6	29.9	3,306	–	26.4	27.6	11.6	12.3	10.2	6.9	95.0
54	Orval Overall	19.3	21.3	–	1,135.0	18.6	20.7	12.3	10.3	9.2	21.9	93.0
55	Bill Hands	24.4	23.4	–	1,564.0	25.7	24.3	15.0	14.2	13.8	0.0	92.9
56	Willson Contreras	20.6	15.1	2,818	–	27.0	21.4	9.8	8.8	12.9	12.8	92.7
57	Derrek Lee	22.6	22.3	4,021	–	22.6	22.3	14.3	13.3	13.4	5.8	91.6
58	Rick Sutcliffe	24.1	22.3	–	1,267.3	24.1	22.3	12.2	10.8	10.6	11.5	91.5
59	Johnny Schmitz	16.4	14.7	–	1,198.7	27.7	23.8	13.0	10.0	15.0	0.9	90.4
60	Solly Hofman	16.3	18.9	3,544	–	15.1	17.5	11.1	12.4	10.9	21.2	88.1
61	Tom Burns	22.6	23.3	5,156	–	20.9	21.5	11.0	11.2	15.9	6.9	87.7
62	Riggs Stephenson	24.5	25.6	3,965	–	22.6	23.7	12.7	13.3	12.2	3.1	87.6
63	Jody Davis	17.1	18.5	3,688	–	21.3	23.0	11.1	11.1	15.3	5.4	87.3
64	Jimmy Sheckard	19.1	23.5	4,402	–	17.6	21.7	8.5	10.0	13.5	13.8	85.2
65	Jack Taylor	21.6	20.3	–	1,810.0	20.3	19.1	14.4	9.5	14.2	6.5	84.0
66	Charlie Hollocher	23.6	23.7	3,394	–	23.1	23.3	11.6	12.2	11.0	1.6	82.8
67	Fred Pfeffer	21.3	23.1	4,628	–	19.7	21.3	12.4	13.0	14.3	2.8	82.8
68	Harry Steinfeldt	19.3	20.4	3,004	–	17.8	18.8	9.4	9.8	9.2	16.2	81.3
69	Dick Ellsworth	18.3	19.5	–	1,613.3	18.5	19.7	15.5	12.6	13.6	0.5	80.5
70	Jon Lester	13.5	17.0	–	1,002.7	13.2	17.5	8.6	9.1	9.2	22.8	80.4
71	Andre Dawson	18.8	17.2	3,520	–	18.8	17.2	8.9	7.7	11.7	15.7	80.1
72	Guy Bush	15.5	17.2	–	2,201.7	16.1	18.2	13.7	9.7	19.0	3.2	79.8
73	Larry French	22.1	20.4	–	1,486.0	22.0	20.4	11.4	9.5	12.4	3.6	79.3
74	Pat Malone	18.8	22.8	–	1,632.0	18.7	22.5	10.4	10.8	13.4	3.1	79.0
75	Ryan Dempster	18.5	17.4	–	1,182.7	19.4	19.2	14.2	11.0	11.2	3.7	78.6
76	Bill Lange	23.2	24.8	3,620	–	21.5	22.9	10.1	11.0	11.1	0.0	76.6
77	Ken Holtzman	16.1	18.7	–	1,447.0	15.7	18.4	13.1	14.5	12.3	2.0	76.0
78	Hank Sauer	19.0	18.5	3,569	–	18.6	18.2	10.0	9.9	11.7	5.7	74.1
79	Randy Hundley	11.8	12.8	3,489	–	14.8	16.0	13.3	13.4	14.5	1.0	72.9
80	Jimmy Slagle	14.4	18.8	3,984	–	13.3	17.4	8.2	9.1	12.1	12.7	72.8
81	Rogers Hornsby	16.2	16.8	1,321	–	15.0	15.5	11.3	11.9	4.1	12.2	70.0
82	Augie Galan	18.2	17.7	3,781	–	16.8	16.4	10.4	10.6	11.6	3.5	69.3
83	Bob O’Farrell	14.5	12.6	2,188	–	16.8	14.6	14.8	13.1	8.4	1.4	69.1
84	Glenn Beckert	16.3	9.9	5,371	–	16.3	9.9	12.8	9.6	17.9	2.5	69.0
85	Billy Jurges	15.8	17.2	4,082	–	14.6	15.9	9.2	9.5	12.6	5.1	66.8
86	Bill Bonham	14.4	18.3	–	1,152.3	15.8	19.5	10.3	10.4	10.5	0.0	66.5
87	Abner Dalrymple	16.4	17.8	3,321	–	15.2	16.4	8.4	8.8	10.2	6.9	66.0
88	Leon Durham	15.3	14.5	3,659	–	15.3	14.5	10.1	9.5	12.2	3.6	65.2
89	Paul Minner	17.2	20.1	–	1,196.3	17.4	20.4	7.7	9.4	10.2	0.0	65.1
90	Geovany Soto	9.5	13.7	2,097	–	11.8	17.0	9.6	11.8	8.7	5.7	64.7
91	Charlie Grimm	10.1	12.7	5,467	–	9.3	11.7	7.3	8.3	16.8	10.1	63.6
92	Don Kessinger	9.4	7.5	7,065	–	9.4	7.5	9.7	9.4	23.6	4.0	63.6
93	Mark Prior	16.5	17.3	–	657.0	16.5	17.3	9.8	9.7	5.5	4.4	63.2
94	Carlos Marmol	10.3	6.5	–	542.3	17.8	11.3	12.9	9.2	7.4	3.6	62.2
95	Alfonso Soriano	8.3	18.1	3,696	–	8.3	18.1	6.9	11.6	12.3	4.3	61.5
96	Jack Pfiester	9.1	13.7	–	1,028.3	9.0	13.5	6.9	7.7	8.4	13.7	59.3
97	Jason Heyward	8.9	8.7	2,836	–	11.5	11.3	6.5	6.8	10.5	11.7	58.1
98	Carl Lundgren	12.2	9.3	–	1,322.0	11.6	9.1	9.6	5.4	10.8	11.6	58.0
99	Vic Saier	15.2	17.3	3,243	–	14.0	16.0	8.5	9.4	10.0	0.0	57.9
100	Rick Wilkins	12.2	11.8	1,567	–	15.1	14.6	9.8	10.0	6.5	0.0	55.9
101	Warren Hacker	12.9	9.4	–	1,091.7	14.1	10.5	13.1	7.6	10.0	0.0	55.2
102	Frank Demaree	12.3	12.8	2,924	–	11.4	11.8	8.3	8.8	9.0	5.5	54.8
103	Fred Goldsmith	10.7	16.4	–	1,516.7	9.9	15.2	6.6	6.7	11.7	4.2	54.2
104	Sheriff Blake	11.0	13.3	–	1,455.3	11.0	13.1	8.9	7.5	12.0	1.4	54.0
105	Jon Lieber	12.9	16.6	–	874.3	13.2	16.6	6.4	7.4	7.6	2.0	53.1
106	Ian Happ	9.9	9.7	2,291	–	12.3	13.1	6.0	7.1	8.9	5.6	52.9
107	Hank Wyse	13.0	12.8	–	1,063.0	13.0	12.8	8.3	7.8	8.9	2.0	52.7
108	Addison Russell	11.3	11.8	2,212	–	11.3	11.8	5.5	5.3	7.4	11.2	52.4
109	Larry Jackson	12.8	15.4	–	838.0	12.7	15.4	7.7	8.6	7.0	0.5	51.9
110	Pedro Strop	7.2	5.6	–	375.0	12.5	9.6	7.3	4.8	5.4	12.1	51.6
111	Silver Flint	6.9	7.5	2,650	–	8.0	8.7	8.9	8.9	10.2	6.9	51.5
112	Starlin Castro	10.6	11.4	3,764	–	10.6	11.4	6.7	6.3	12.5	3.4	50.9
113	Claude Hendrix	10.4	14.8	–	1,076.0	11.1	15.9	4.6	6.3	9.6	1.8	49.3
114	Peanuts Lowrey	11.5	9.2	2,889	–	13.1	10.5	6.4	6.1	10.7	2.1	49.0
115	Steve Trachsel	9.9	10.8	–	1,163.7	9.9	10.8	9.0	5.4	9.7	3.5	48.4
116	Sean Marshall	8.2	7.3	–	530.0	12.3	11.0	7.7	7.7	5.7	3.3	47.8
117	Eddie Waitkus	7.4	4.8	1,669	–	16.7	11.0	4.2	2.9	12.0	0.5	47.2
118	Sparky Adams	12.1	13.5	2,968	–	11.2	12.5	6.7	7.4	9.1	0.0	46.9
119	Ray Burris	10.4	10.3	–	1,068.7	10.6	11.5	8.8	6.0	9.8	0.0	46.8
120	Milt Pappas	16.7	10.8	–	763.0	16.7	10.8	7.2	4.3	6.4	1.0	46.5
121	Ted Lilly	14.2	11.2	–	705.7	14.2	11.2	6.4	5.0	5.9	3.6	46.3
122	Clyde McCullough	5.4	5.3	2,392	–	9.2	9.1	7.8	7.5	11.5	0.9	46.1
123	Shawon Dunston	9.7	5.2	4,842	–	9.7	5.2	7.1	5.1	16.1	2.7	46.0
124	Lefty Tyler	11.8	7.6	–	542.3	12.7	8.2	8.6	5.7	4.8	5.8	45.7
125	Burt Hooton	9.5	11.2	–	666.7	9.9	12.0	8.0	8.4	6.0	1.0	45.2
126	Kyle Schwarber	5.8	6.6	2,108	–	6.1	6.9	4.4	4.1	8.4	15.3	45.2
127	Bill Buckner	8.6	9.0	4,043	–	8.6	9.0	6.2	5.9	13.5	2.0	45.2
128	George Altman	9.9	8.8	2,454	–	9.9	8.8	8.7	7.9	8.2	1.5	45.0
129	Don Elston	9.5	1.1	–	754.7	15.5	1.5	11.8	4.4	10.2	1.0	44.4
130	Scott Sanderson	10.8	10.1	–	737.7	11.3	10.7	6.1	6.5	6.6	3.2	44.3
131	Larry Cheney	11.4	11.5	–	1,061.0	11.1	11.3	7.0	5.7	8.8	0.0	43.9
132	Yu Darvish	5.9	5.5	–	294.7	10.7	10.6	7.6	8.1	3.5	3.0	43.5
133	Vern Olsen	7.7	7.3	–	516.0	12.6	12.5	5.4	4.5	8.3	0.0	43.2
134	Les Lancaster	7.7	5.6	–	555.7	12.0	8.4	8.5	5.4	6.5	1.7	42.5
135	Mike Krukow	11.5	13.2	–	828.7	11.6	13.3	4.6	5.6	7.0	0.0	42.1
136	Rick Monday	11.2	9.7	2,972	–	11.2	9.7	5.9	5.4	9.9	0.0	42.1
137	Randy Jackson	10.2	9.4	2,887	–	10.1	9.3	6.2	5.8	9.5	1.0	42.1
138	Adolfo Phillips	12.2	10.8	1,577	–	12.2	10.8	7.2	6.3	5.3	0.0	41.8
139	Glen Hobbie	5.6	9.5	–	1,218.7	6.2	10.5	6.7	6.8	11.3	0.0	41.7
140	Steve Trout	10.9	10.5	–	746.7	11.1	10.8	5.6	5.1	6.4	2.7	41.6
141	Max Flack	8.0	9.6	3,391	–	8.0	9.5	5.6	6.0	10.9	1.6	41.6
142	Jose Cardenal	9.4	9.9	3,274	–	9.4	9.9	5.7	5.5	10.9	0.0	41.4