In baseball lore, there are legends and gods: Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Cy Young. The legacies of these men are passed down from generation to generation. But outside of Mt. Olympus baseballs, there are other greats, greats that have been or will be neglected by history. Here are some of these players, disrespected and underrated.

Bill Dickey, C- Bill Dickey was born on June 5, 1907 in Bastrop, Louisiana. He played his entire career for the Yankees, from 1928 to 1946. Dickey won seven World Series of the eight in which he played. After his career, he coached the Yankees for a short period and became a coach, helping Yogi Berra achieve the status of one of the greatest receivers of all time.

Dickey might be the most recognizable name on the list, as his number is retired and he is in the baseball Hall of Fame. But people underestimate how great as a hitter and catcher he really was, often looking at Cochrane and his successor Yogi Berra.

Dickey’s career line was .313 / .382 / .486 / .868 / 127 + with 678 BBs at 289 K. His best season was in 1936, when he hit .362 / .428 / .617 / 1.045 / 158 + with 22 HOUR. Those totals are staggering, and the fact that a receiver put up those numbers is mind-boggling.

However, Dickey was also a great receiver. Although no CS and SB were recorded against a receiver, many reports say that Dickey had a really strong arm. In 1720 games, he had only passed 76 passes. By comparison, the greatest defensive receiver of all time, Johnny Bench, had 94 passes in 1,742 games.

Johnny Mize, 1b- Mize was born on January 7, 1913 in Demorest, Georgia. El Gran Gato was a slugger for the St. Louis Cardinals from the 1930s to 1950s. He finished with a line of .312 / .397 / .562 / .959 / 158 + and a final EqA of .330. His best seasons were 1937-1940. During that span in his early career, Mize received MVP votes each season.

1937: .364 / .427 / .595 / 1.022 / 172 + with 25 HR

1938: .337 / .422 / .614 / 1.036 / 175 + with 27 HR

1939: .349 / .444 / .628 / 1.070 / 178 + with 28 HR

1940: .314 / .404 / .636 / 1.040 / 176 + with 43 HR

That results in an average line of .341 / .424 / .618 / 1.042 / 175 + with 31 HR

After that “spike,” Mize still racked up five seasons of an OPS + over 150. Mize served in the US Army from ’43 to ’45, losing what could have been the best of his career. Are those the reasons why you often forget? Maybe. But Mize was an all-time player.

Career Totals: .312 / .397 / .562 / .959 / 158 + and 359 HR over 6443 AB.

Roberto Alomar, 2b- Born in Puerto Rico on February 5, 1968, Alomar is a funny guy, since he had several good years spread out, not a defined peak. I will do my best to select one and show his other good seasons / career.

His 1992 and 1993 seasons with Toronto were pretty good.

1992: .310 / .405 / .427 / .832 / 129 + with 49 SBs at 84% clip

1993: .326 / .408 / .492 / .900 / 141 + with 55 SB at 78% clip

His next city pit stop was Baltimore, where he had two more good seasons.

1996: .328 / .411 / .527 / .938 / 136 + with 17 SB

1997: .333 / .390 / .500 / .890 / 134 + with 9 SB

But his “peak” was his three years in Cleveland.

1999: .323 / .422 / .533 / .955 / 139 + with 24 HR, 37 SB with 86% clip

2000: .310 / .378 / .475 / .853 / 114 + with 19 HR, 39 SB with 90% clip

2001: .336 / .415 / .541 / .956 / 150 + with 20 HR, 30 SB at 83% clip

Average line: .323 / .405 / .921 / 134 + with 21 HR, 35 SB

His final career stats were: .300 / .371 / .443 / .814 / 116 + with 210 HR, 504 2B, 474 SB at 80% and 132.6 WARP3

Pretty cool for a 2b, right? Well, not only did he hit and run, but Alomar was an excellent defender. He has won 10 GG awards, and won a GG in all of the mentioned seasons except 1997.

Alomar cleared 30 Win Shares in a season 5 times and led the league 3 times. He hit. 313 in the postseason (230 AB). Coming to 2004, he had 373 Win Shares in his career, an outstanding total.

Why has it not stood out more? Well, one of the reasons people haven’t had time to dive into greatness, since retiring this decade. Additionally, Alomar quickly faded, ending five seasons below par, a fresher image in fans’ minds than his MVP-caliber seasons. Roberto was also good at everything, stealing, hitting and defending, but he never stood out. Many people can now remember his name, but not recognize him as one of the best of all time.

Barry Larkin, SS- Barry Larkin was born on April 28, 1964 in Cincinnati, Ohio, the city where he would succeed as a professional baseball player. Larkin is the third-biggest shortstop of all time, the second-biggest if you rule out A-Rod. Yet Larkin is often forgotten, and if remembered, left out when discussing the all-time greats. Barry was another center infielder who could hit, pitch and base, all impressive for an SS.

For his career, Larkin finished with a line of: .295 / .371 / .444 / .815 / 116 + with 379 SB at 83% success rate, .291 EqA and 939 BB at 817 K. WARP3 career of 121.8

Those numbers are good, but when you consider that it was made from shortstop, it really stands out. Here is a graph showing how the short stop position exploded, once Larkin was in decline:

Throughout his career, the average shortstop hit just .256 / .317 / .361, while Larkin hit .295 / .371 / .444, a 20.2% OPS difference. Very few players dominate a position like that for that long, and only two big-name shortstops from the past 30 years have outperformed the rest of the position more offensively than Larkin.

Not only was his bat an SS lead, he was a quality defender, taking home three Gold Glove Awards. His best seasons were 1995-1998, with 1997 interrupted due to injury.

1995: .319 / .394 / .492 / .886 / 133 + with 15 HR and 51 SB against 5 CS. He won the Golden Glove.

1996: .298 / .410 / .567 / .977 / 154 + with 33 HR and 36 SB against 10 CS. He won the Golden Glove.

1998: .309 / .397 / .504 / .901 / 134 + with 17 HR and 26 SB against 3 CS.

Larkin should be a HOF’er. And yes, he was better than Mr. Cal Ripken Jr. Despite having a ton more HR and 2b, Ripken’s slugging percentage is only .03 higher, while he is behind Larkin in OBP, OPS, OPS +, SB, EqA, RC / G, and that’s not to mention Larkin was the best outfielder.

Like Alomar, Larkin is a recent player, so his name is familiar to him. But it should be more than a household name. Larkin was a fantastic short stop that should eventually get a plate in Cooperstown.

Frank Baker, 3b – Frank “Home Run” Baker was born on March 13, 1886 and would become a famous baseball player for the Philadelphia Athletics. He’s not in the same class as Schmidt, Matthews, and Brett, but Baker is typically a 3b that people forget because he played in the dead ball era. In fact, it was arguably the best 3b of the pre-war era.

Despite playing in an era of great ballparks and dominance of pitchers due to rules and regulations, Baker managed to hit .307 / .363 / .442 / .805 / 135 +. At the height of his career in 1912, Baker hit .347 / .404 / .541 / .945 / 173 +. That same year, the American League ERA was 3.34 and there were fewer than 9 hits per game. In context, Baker was excellent and would have had better slugging stats had he played in a different era.

Ralph Kiner, OF- Ralph was born in October 1922 and was a baseball legend for the Pittsburgh Pirates before retiring due to injuries. Currently an announcer, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.

Kiner is forgotten because he only played ten seasons, nine with more than 500 AB. However, he was one of the greatest smashers of his generation, and he would surely have hit 500-600 HRs if he could have played until thirty.

Kiner finished with the .279 / .398 / .548 / .946 / 149 + line with 369 HR’s. But look at his best three seasons.

1947: 51 HR, .313 / .417 / .639 / 1.056 / 171 +, 9.9 RC / G, .343 EqA

1949: 54 HR, .310 / .432 / .658 / 1.090 / 186 +, 10.7 RC / G, .351 EqA

1951: 42 HR, .309 / .452 / .627 / 1.079 / 184 +, 10.7 RC / G, .355 EqA

Average line: 49 HR, .311 / .434 / .641 / .1075 / 181 +, 10.4 RC / G, .350 EqA

Just amazing. Ted Williams created a list using his secret formula and concluded that Ralph Kiner was the 20th best hitter of all time. It’s a shame he doesn’t get that kind of compliment.

Harry Heilman, OF- Born in 1894 in the city of San Francisco, the man known as ‘Slug’ was one of the best sluggers in baseball history, but many people do not even recognize his name. He played for Detroit during the dead and live ball eras.

The final statistics of his career are simply incredible. He hit .342 / .410 / .520 / .930 / 148 + with 856 BBs at 550 K. Heilman’s best season came in 1923, at the age of 28. Heilman hit .403 / .481 / .632 / 1.113 / 194 + with 44 2b, 18 HR and almost double the BB’s as K’s.

Why was he not known? Maybe it was because he played a long time ago, but Heilman is someone who should be revered as one of the best of all time.

Al Simmons, OF- On May 22, 1902, Simmons was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Sporting News once ranked him the 43rd greatest player of all time.

He wasn’t a great base runner or fielder, but Simmons is a name that never comes up when it comes to the all-time greats. Simmons starred in Oakland at its peak, hitting .376 / .419 / .639 / 1.058 / 165 + with 25 HRs and .322 from 1927-1931. During that span, it wobbled more than .600 three times, including .708 in 1930.

Simmons dropped to a running line of .334 / .380 / .535 / .915 / 132 + with 539 2b and 307 HR.

Unpleasant.

Addie Joss, SP- Joss was born in 1880. The reason Joss is forgotten is because he played dead ball and died early, at the age of 31. But if it weren’t for the tragic death, he could be considered as good as Christy Mathewson.

In 2,327 innings, Joss allowed 1,888 hits, 19 HR, 364 BB, had a 1.89 ERA, 142 ERA and a 0.968 WHIP.

He had a below 2.00 ERA in five of his eight full seasons. He was the all-time race leader in WHIP with .9678. He had the second-best ERA of all time of 1.89. Joss pitched a perfect game in 1908 and another no-hitter in 1910. He won 160 games in less than 9 full seasons. He would have had a longer career, but the disease shortened his life at 31. Think about that again. He finished his career with a 1.89 ERA and 0.9678 WHIP! That comes in 2300 innings in his career. And in an age of spit balls, Joss achieved his success without altering the ball in any way.

Look at their peak years

1906: 282 IP, 1.72 ERA, 220 H, 43 BB, 151 ERA +, 0.93 WHIP

1907: 338 IP, 279 H, 54 BB, 1.83 ERA, 137 ERA +, 0.98 WHIP

1908: 325 IP, 232 H, 30 BB, 1.16 ERA, 205 ERA +, 0.80 WHIP

1909: 242 IP, 198 H, 31 BB, 1.71 ERA, 149 ERA +, 0.94 WHIP

And yes, in 1904 he also had a great season:

192 IP, 160 H, 30 BB, 1.59 ERA, 160 ERA +, 0.98 WHIP

Look at your 1908 season again. Over 300 IP but only 30 BB and he maintained a 1.16 ERA! He was so good that he was able to put up a 205+ ERA when the league’s ERA was 2.39, the league’s best ERA during his career.

These men were all giants of the game and should be recognized as giants of the game.