Tony Gwynn, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr, may have been the best players of the era,
but Harold Baines, Jim Thome, Larry Walker, and David Ortiz
were powerful lefthanded batters who also made the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fred McGriff was a lefthanded throwing first-baseman who played 19 years in the majors (1986-2004), with six different teams including the Toronto Blue Jays and the Atlanta Braves. He finished with 493 home runs (28th all time), 1550 runs batted in, and a .284 batting average.
Rafael Palmeiro was a lefthanded throwing first-baseman and outfielder who played 20 years in the majors (1986-2005), mostly with the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles. He finished with 2831 games played (18th all-time) 1663 runs scored (33rd all-time), 585 doubles (7th all-time), 569 home runs (12th all-time), and 1835 runs batted in (16th all-time). He was Major League Player of the Year in 1999.
Carlos Delgado was a lefthanded throwing first-baseman who played 17 years in the majors (1993-2009), 12 years with the Toronto Blue Jays, 4 with the New York Mets, and 1 with the Florida Marlins. He finished with 473 home runs (32nd all-time), 1512 runs batted in, and a .289 batting average. He had 3 different seasons with more than 40 home runs and 130 runs batted in. He was the Major League Player of the Year in 2000.
Jim Edmonds was a lefthanded throwing outfielder who played 17 years in the majors (1993-2010) 8 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, 7 with the Anaheim Angels, and 4 years with other teams. He finished with 393 home runs, 1199 runs batted in, and a .284 batting average. His greatest attribute was his defense, as he won the Gold Glove 8 times, and was constantly making catches featured on the TV highlight reels.
Todd Helton was a lefthanded throwing first-baseman who played 17 years in the majors (1997-2013) with the Colorado Rockies. He finished with 592 doubles (16th all- time), 369 home runs, 1406 runs batted in, a .316 batting average, a .414 on-base percentage (26th all-time) and a .539 slugging percentage (34th all-time).
Ichiro Suzuki was a righthanded throwing outfielder who played 18 years in the majors (2001 to 2018), mostly with Seattle. He finished with 3062 hits, 1420 runs scored, 509 stolen bases, and a .311 batting average. He had 10 straight years with over 200 hits, and 13 straight years with over 600 at bats. He won 10 gold glove awards, 2 batting titles, lead the league in at bats 8 times and in hits 7 times. He made the all-star team 10 times, and he won the AL Most Valuable Player award in 2001, and is sure to make the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible.
(played mostly since 1990)
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