100 Greatest Center Fielders of All-Time

ALL-TIME TOP 100 LISTS

Baseball's All-Time Greatest Center Fielders Ranked From 1 to 100

RANKNAMEFROMTOCAREERLONG PEAKSHORT PEAKPRIME
1Willie Mays19511973156.273.632.952.3
2Mickey Mantle19511968110.264.833.147.7
3Ty Cobb19051928151.069.132.647.7
4Mike Trout2011202385.265.030.947.3
5Tris Speaker19071928134.362.229.144.3
6Ken Griffey Jr.1989201083.853.927.537.8
7Joe DiMaggio1936195179.151.325.438.0
8Oscar Charleston19201941102.053.027.944.0
9Duke Snider1947196466.050.026.338.8
10Kenny Lofton1991200768.443.221.331.0
11Carlos Beltran1998201770.144.321.730.3
12Andre Dawson1976199664.839.120.832.6
13Andruw Jones1996201262.746.322.534.2
14Turkey Stearnes1923194089.847.726.434.1
15Jim Edmonds1993201060.442.520.032.1
16Cristobal Torriente1916193278.849.028.935.0
17Richie Ashburn1948196264.444.220.631.5
18Jim Wynn1963197755.843.322.228.6
19Andrew McCutchen2009202348.638.321.131.6
20Cesar Cedeno1970198652.841.221.331.4
21Willie Davis1960197960.838.719.724.7
22Vada Pinson1958197554.240.120.530.7
23Martin Dihigo1923194571.741.024.835.1
24Chet Lemon1975199055.637.018.225.7
25Kirby Puckett1984199551.137.520.426.9
26Larry Doby1947195949.339.520.030.1
27Dale Murphy1976199346.541.021.428.0
28Fred Lynn1974199050.238.321.026.6
29Cool Papa Bell1922194670.040.519.531.5
30Bernie Williams1991200649.636.417.426.7
31Curtis Granderson2004201947.034.318.426.3
32Johnny Damon1995201256.333.016.322.2
33Willie Wilson1976199446.133.821.026.9
34Brett Butler1981199749.735.116.824.0
35Lorenzo Cain2010202238.432.519.427.3
36Devon White1985200147.335.418.724.5
37Earl Averill1929194148.037.419.525.4
38Wally Berger1930194042.535.718.227.1
39Torii Hunter1997201550.731.315.620.7
40Curt Flood1956197141.932.815.823.3
41George Springer2014202336.230.016.523.6
42Ellis Burks1987200449.831.918.219.7
43Kevin Kiermaier2013202335.530.517.423.9
44Paul Blair1964198037.735.519.824.8
45Bobby Murcer1965198332.129.719.726.4
46Andy Van Slyke1983199541.332.717.824.0
47Ray Lankford1990200438.231.316.424.0
48Willard Brown1937194848.537.522.826.2
49Amos Otis1967198442.832.517.620.7
50Steve Finley1989200744.231.916.518.2
51Pete Reiser1940195224.421.617.926.7
52Earle Combs1924193543.934.316.925.7
53Sam Jethroe1938195444.036.020.026.0
54Garry Maddox1972198636.830.316.523.8
55Max Carey1910192954.532.815.322.5
56Dwayne Murphy1978198933.229.817.123.2
57Hack Wilson1923193438.235.919.530.0
58Eric Davis1984200136.130.017.623.7
59Dom DiMaggio1940195333.126.813.320.4
60Al Oliver1968198543.727.914.019.4
61Grady Sizemore2004201527.728.219.126.8
62Marquis Grissom1989200529.627.515.821.5
63Edd Roush1913193145.131.716.124.2
64Darin Erstad1996200932.328.718.022.7
65Shane Victorino2003201531.528.515.921.3
66Jacoby Ellsbury2007201731.028.017.620.3
67Mickey Rivers1970198432.727.515.222.1
68Josh Hamilton2007201528.227.118.022.5
69Willie McGee1982199934.228.417.518.8
70Lance Johnson1987200030.228.017.122.4
71Andy Pafko1943195936.729.716.822.3
72Chili Davis1981199938.224.712.715.6
73Adam Jones2006201932.524.913.020.3
74Ben Chapman1930194641.329.515.022.3
75Mike Cameron1995201146.732.516.223.9
76Bobby Thomson1946196033.926.915.920.6
77Dave Henderson1981199427.627.216.621.3
78Lenny Dykstra1985199642.532.920.123.4
79Vernon Wells1999201328.626.115.220.2
80Lloyd Moseby1980199127.525.717.322.4
81Tommy Leach1898191846.831.016.217.9
82Clyde Milan1907192240.028.214.921.7
83Tommie Agee1962197325.426.317.021.6
84Bill North1971198126.826.516.919.6
85Cesar Tovar1965197628.225.913.220.2
86Fielder Jones1896191543.228.913.821.5
87Michael Bourn2006201622.823.816.621.6
88Denard Span2008201828.123.513.517.2
89Benny Kauff1912192029.029.119.325.1
90Austin Jackson2010201821.924.115.220.6
91Rick Monday1966198433.122.912.016.1
92Carlos Gomez2007201924.423.014.719.3
93Jimmy Piersall1950196729.425.314.218.1
94Tony Gonzalez1960197127.026.414.417.4
95Roy Thomas1899191132.231.115.822.3
96Baby Doll Jacobson1915192728.426.614.720.5
97Coco Crisp2002201628.924.311.814.1
98Randy Winn1998201027.524.713.116.3
99Alejandro Oms1917193534.627.219.020.4
100A.J. Pollock2012202322.322.513.417.7
EXPLANATION OF TABLE DATA
CAREER = Career Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
We use bWAR.
LONG PEAK = WAR in best seven seasons.
SHORT PEAK = WAR in best three seasons.
PRIME = WAR in best five consecutive seasons.

How Do We Rank The Players?

That's a Great Question. In short, it isn't Simple.

We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate.

Players are evaluated on five criteria as the foundation of our rankings: 

  • Career Value
  • Long Peak
  • Short Peak
  • Career Prime Value
  • Contribution to Championship Teams

We use Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as a basis for these calculations. However, we also adjust for era, integration and level of competition, and missed playing time due to factors beyond the control of the player.

Generally, a player’s Career Value is worth about 50-60% of the ranking score we assign him. That leaves half or just under half from his long peak (seven best seasons), short peak (three best seasons), and prime (five best consecutive seasons). The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases.

Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists.

We feel it’s important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. It doesn’t make sense, in our opinion, for most of the great baseball players to have played prior to World War II, when MLB was segregated.