The best right fielders in baseball history

Some of baseball’s best sluggers played the majority of their careers in right field. Let's count down the five greatest right fielders in MLB history.

5. Tony Gwynn

One of the best hitters in baseball history, "Mr. Padre" led the National League in batting average eight times over his 20-year career and struck out, on average, just 29 times per 162-game season. Gwynn was a 15-time All-Star, a seven-time Silver Slugger, and a five-time Gold Glove recipient.

4. Roberto Clemente

One of the most beloved icons in sports, Clemente was a sensational all-around talent. The four-time NL batting champ was an All-Star in 12 of his 18 big-league seasons and won 12 Gold Gloves, which is tied for the most by any outfielder (with Willie Mays).

Clemente’s finest season was in 1966, when he hit 29 home runs and drove in 119 RBIs (both career highs) to go with a .317 batting average, which resulted in his only regular-season MVP Award. He won World Series MVP in 1971.

Clemente joined the 3,000-hit club in his final regular-season at-bat in 1972. Later that year, Clemente was killed in an plane crash, while he was trying to assist earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

3. Frank Robinson

Robinson's accomplishments on the field draw few parallels.

He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1956 and won MVP awards in 1961 and 1966. The latter was a result of his Triple Crown-winning campaign, which saw him hit .316, with 49 home runs and 122 RBIs.

Robinson won an MVP with the Reds and with the Orioles, and is the only player to win the award in both leagues. He also became the first African American manager in MLB history in 1975, and he was the first African American to win MLB Manager of the Year in 1989.

2. Babe Ruth

Ruth came up as a pitcher and often played left field instead of right, but one of baseball’s two greatest sluggers cannot be excluded from this list.

Ruth is the all-time leader in OPS (1.164) and OPS+ (206). The Yankee legend’s 60-home run season from 1927 and 714 total longballs over 22 years still rate as some of the highest outputs in the history of the game.

"The Sultan of Swat" would have more career accolades, but the MVP Award (he only won once) back then was not what it is today. Ruth took part in the inaugural All-Star game in 1933 at age 38 and retired two years later.

1. Hank Aaron

Sluggers tend to struggle with consistency, but that was never the case for the greatest right fielder in baseball history. An All-Star in all but two of his 23 big-league seasons (his 1954 rookie campaign and 1976 swan song), "Hammerin’ Hank" finished in the top three in MVP voting six times, including his 1957 triumph, in which he led the majors in home runs (44) and RBIs (132).

His home run total (755) is still regarded by many as the true MLB record, but he is the undisputed all-time leader in total bases (6,856) and RBIs (2,297). In his 21 years as a member of the Braves, Aaron led the NL in home runs and RBIs four times and won the batting title in 1959. 

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