The top 25 left-handed hitters of all time

You don't need to know exact numbers to understand Ken Griffey Jr. is one of the greatest left-handed hitters in history. Junior Griffey was the face of baseball for a generation of youngsters who modeled their swings after him and who dreamed of mimicking his outfield heroics. In his prime and at his best, The Kid may have been the most complete player anybody has ever seen.  

If there is a baseball league in the afterlife, Tony Gwynn is probably winning batting titles in it. The eight-time batting champion notched the NL's highest batting average since 1930 when he hit .394 through the summer of the 1994 season. A work stoppage prematurely ended that campaign and his chances of hitting .400. Any young player looking to learn more about hitting should watch as many of Gwynn's at-bats as possible. 

Ichiro Suzuki notched a combined 4,367 hits in Japan and MLB, 111 more than Pete Rose's total MLB base knocks. As Ed Lucas of NJ.com explained, Ichiro made history in 2001 when he became the first player to win Rookie of the Year, AL MVP, a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove in the same season. There's little doubt he would have chased Rose's MLB record had he started his career in the United States. 

A member of the 2018 Hall of Fame class, Jim Thome would point his bat at opposing pitches while in the box, almost as if he was calling his shot. He hit plenty of those shots, 612, good for eighth all time, to be exact. Per the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Thome is one of only six players to accumulate at least 1,700 walks and 1,699 RBI. All six are now Hall of Famers. 

Between 1932 and 1943, shortstop and third baseman Arky Vaughan batted .300 or better each season, other than in 1942, while with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers, per Baseball-Reference. He led the NL in WAR twice, and he won the batting title in 1935. 

In November 2017, Joe Posnanski of MLB.com made the case for Lou Whitaker deserving a spot in Cooperstown. Whitaker wasn't the greatest hitting second baseman of his era, but he was consistently solid for over a decade. According to Baseball-Reference, he's 78th all time in WAR. 

Carl Yastrzemski was tasked with succeeding Boston Red Sox royalty Ted Williams. Yaz was more than up to the challenge. While he wasn't Teddy Ballgame, Yastrzemski evolved into a Hall of Famer and one of the greatest left-handed hitters in history. He won the AL MVP and Triple Crown in 1967. 

The Duke of Flatbush had a massive role in bringing a World Series championship to diehard Brooklyn Dodgers fans who repeatedly clung to the 'Wait 'till next year" mantra until the final out of the 1955 World Series. Duke Snider is also one of the greatest players in club history. He's the team's all-time leader in home runs and RBI, per MLB.com.

“I never play a game without my man," manager Casey Stengel once said, per Alex Belth of Sports Illustrated. His man was Yogi Berra. The three-time MVP known as one of the greatest catchers in history became, over time, even more famous for his words than his on-the-field achievements. Don't let those "Yogi-isms" cause you to forget he still holds multiple World Series records set by a catcher.  

Of course Mr. October has to make the list of the greatest left-handed hitters in history. The two-time World Series MVP had no problem telling anybody who would listen about his standing in the sport. In Game 6 of the 1977 Fall Classic, Reggie Jackson famously hit three home runs on three pitches. 

Rod Carew won Rookie of the Year honors in 1967, and he was named to his first of 18 consecutive All-Star teams that same year. Between 1969 and 1978, Carew won seven batting titles, and he led the American League in on-base percentage on four occasions between 1974 and 1978, per Baseball-Reference. 

"Pine tar" may be the two words that come to mind whenever you think of George Brett. Replace that phrase with words such as "consistency" and "longevity." Brett is the only player to ever win batting titles in three different decades, and he is one of only four individuals to retire with 3,000 hits, 300 home runs and a .300 batting average, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. 

Understandably overshadowed by teammate Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews was one of the greatest left-handed power hitters in history. In total, Mathews and Aaron crushed 863 homers while in the same lineup. Rogers Hornsby once called Mathews "the most dangerous hitter in baseball today," per the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

All things being equal, Wade Boggs may have been the American League's greatest contact hitter of the 1980s. Per Baseball-Reference, Boggs is an eight-time Silver Slugger, and he won five AL batting titles. According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Boggs led the AL in on-base percentage and intentional walks on six occasions. 

Long before Joe Morgan became a target for those who bashed his announcing style, he was potentially the greatest second baseman in history. Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams are the only left-handed hitters to accumulate more bases on balls than Morgan (1,865). Per Kristen Gowdy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Morgan became the first MLB player to accumulate both 200 home runs and 500 steals, which he did in 1978. 

According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, legendary manager John McGraw referred to Eddie Collins as "the best ballplayer I have seen during my career on the diamond." Known for his high baseball IQ and his fielding prowess at second base, Collins became the sixth player in history to notch 3,000 hits, in 1925. He led the American League in stolen bases on four occasions. 

In October 2007, Steve Treder of The Hardball Times suggested that Mel Ott may be the most underrated player in history. Per Christopher Dabe of The Times-Picayune, Ott led National League position players in WAR four times between 1932 and 1942. He was a six-time NL home run leader over that period.  

Tris Speaker was better in the field than at the dish. But that isn't a knock on his hitting. Speaker retired with 792 doubles, 46 more than Pete Rose, who is second in that category, and he's fifth all time in hits. 

Lou Gehrig is remembered for starting 2,130 consecutive games and for arguably the greatest speech in sports history. Gehrig was also a phenomenal athlete capable of producing All-Star stats in 1938 even though he first began noticing symptoms of ALS that season. We can only imagine what his final numbers would be had he remained healthy past his 40th birthday.  

Stan "The Man" Musial was the quintessential consistent hitter. Musial compiled 1,815 hits during home games and an equal 1,815 hits in away contests, per Ryan Turnquist of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. When Musial retired, he was second all time in career hits. 

If he was around today, Ted Williams would probably be insulted at the idea that he wasn't the greatest left-handed hitter who ever lived. The last man to bat over .400 for an entire season, which Williams did when he posted a .406 average in 1941, he won a pair of Triple Crown titles during his career. According to Baseball-Reference, Williams still holds the highest all-time on-base percentage (.4817). 

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson is the most famous name from the 1919 Chicago White Sox team that threw the World Series. He was also so tremendous at the plate that Babe Ruth admitted he copied Jackson's swing, according to Bleacher Report and Baseball-Almanac. Had Jackson come along a decade later, he may have competed with Ruth for home run titles. He remains third all time in career batting average (.3558).

It's too bad the numbers produced by Barry Bonds will always be questioned by many observers because of substances he may or may not have used during his career. Bonds, who absolutely should be in the Hall of Fame, notched video-game stats when he was the most feared hitter of his generation and he was a player worthy of being intentionally walked with the bases loaded. His records for single-season and career home runs will likely stand forever unless the league institutes significant rule changes. 

Remove home runs from the equation, and Ty Cobb would probably have to be the pick for the greatest hitter, left- or right-handed, in history. No current player is remotely flirting with matching Cobb's .3664 career batting average. Only Pete Rose retired with more hits. Per Baseball-Almanac , the Sporting News ranked the Detroit Tigers icon as the third greatest player in history behind Willie Mays and the last man on this list. 

As of August 2018, Babe Ruth remains the career leader in slugging, OPS, adjusted OPS+ and WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. In February 2016, Paul Casella of MLB.com offered a handful of other statistics regarding Ruth's complete dominance of the league during his best days. Ruth not only has no equal, but nobody is close.