Best hitters in the world

Last week, we looked at the best pitchers in the world. Now, it's time to take a look at the best hitters in the history of Gleeman World. We'll be looking purely at offensive contributions, so positional considerations don't matter. If you're interested in the best all-around player in world history, it's pretty much a race between a couple of NL center fielders.

Anyway, here are the top dozen hitters over the first five seasons, from No. 12 to No. 1.

12. Brian Wilson doesn't have the power of some of the others on this list, but his career on-base percentage is third-best in the world. For his career, he's hit .327/.413/.524 with 108 homers, 447 runs and 404 RBIs in 743 games.

A two-time Silver Slugger at catcher, Wilson's best season came in season 1, when he hit .340/.438/.564 with 23 homers, 92 RBIs and 98 runs scored. What makes his production even more impressive is that he's spent three seasons playing in pitcher's parks and has never had a home park that helps hitters.

11. Charlie Stevens is similar to Wilson, but with a little more power and a slightly lower OBP. For his career, Stevens has hit .321/.407/.551 with 160 homers, 441 runs scored and 521 RBIs in 717 games. His advantage over Wilson would be bigger except for the fact that he's played four seasons in a hitter's park.

An All-Star and Silver Slugger at DH in season 1, Stevens actually had his best performance in season 5, when he hit .347/.444/.573 with 29 homers, 104 runs scored and 122 RBIs and set career highs in runs, hits, doubles, walks, batting average, OBP and OPS.

10. Trey Fonville has gotten better each full season he's been in the majors, culminating in his AL MVP runner-up campaign in season 5. For his career, Fonville has hit .299/.376/.597 with 210 homers, 517 runs scored and 635 RBIs in 676 games.

A three-time All-Star and one-time Silver Slugger, Fonville could be even higher on this list in another two or three seasons. As is, he's coming off three consecutive 50-plus homer, 115-plus run, 130-plus RBI seasons.

9. Toby Joseph hasn't been flashy, but he gets the job done. He's hit .317/.398/.589 with 210 homers, 572 runs scored and 657 RBIs in 776 games. He's never hit 50 homers, but he's topped 38 every season and has 130-plus RBIs in four of his five seasons.

The AL MVP and Silver Slugger at 1B in season 1 and a two-time All-Star, Joseph has actually been at his best the past three seasons, hitting at least .326 with an OBP of at least .404 and a SLG of at least .572 each season.

8. Bernard Rhodes has only shown big-time home run power once, but he's never collected fewer than 70 extra-base hits in a season and he's also never had a batting average below .325. For his career, Rhodes has hit .337/.404/.595 with 201 homers, 569 runs scored and 619 RBIs in 774 games.

A two-time All-Star, Rhodes had by far his best performance in season 5, when he posted the second-highest average in world history at .379. Along with that came a .453 OBP and .643 SLG. And he controlled the strike zone about as well as possible with 75 walks against only 35 strikeouts.

7. Rickey Dixon is something of an unsung star in Chicago, getting overshadowed by a certain center fielder and starting pitcher, but there's not questioning how important his bat is to the Jayhawks. In his career, he's hit .312/.409/.597 with 209 homers, 504 runs and 655 RBIs in 738 games.

A three-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger, Dixon's seasons have ranged from very good (.923 OPS in season 3 and .929 in season 5) to excellent (1.071 OPS in season 4 and 1.096 in season 1). He's posted a batting average as high as .350 (season 4) and topped 50 homers once (51 in season 1).

6. Bryan Beckett is amazingly consistent on offense, posting an OPS between .987 and 1.044 every season and hitting 41-49 homers every year. For his career, the one-time MVP and four-time All-Star has hit .307/.396/.613 with 229 homers, 701 runs and 679 RBIs in 755 games.

If you're wondering why Beckett's ranked ahead of Dixon even though they have nearly the same career OPS and Dixon's is based on the high OBP, it's because Beckett contributes with his legs as well. In addition to being one of the most feared hitters in the game, he has 129 steals in 140 attempts for an 86.6 percent success rate.

5. Matt Governale holds the single-season record with 77 home runs and is one of three players with multiple MVP awards. Also a three-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger, he's hit .324/.398/.660 with 284 homers, 682 runs scored and 689 RBIs in 770 games.

Governale made his big league debut early in season 1 and had a good but not spectacular rookie season. Since then, he's hit .326 while averaging 63 homers, 148 runs and 153 RBIs, missing just three games in those four seasons.

4. Hector Santos doesn't have quite as good a peak season as Governale, but he's been much more consistent over the five seasons. For his career, he's hit .328/.398/.665 with 272 homers, 653 runs and 738 RBIs in 769 games.

A four-time All-Star and five-time Silver Slugger, Santos is without a doubt the best player who hasn't won an MVP award. His worst season was season 1, when he posted a 1.024 OPS with 44 homers 128 runs and 129 RBIs. He's hit at least 54 homers, driven in at least 144 runs and posted an OPS of at least 1.047 every season since.

3. Fritz Rushford is the only three-time MVP, and much of that is because he's the second-biggest on-base threat in the world. For his career, Rushford has hit .341/.442/.613 with 172 homers, 629 runs and 626 RBIs in 791 games, all while playing his entire career in pitcher's parks.

A three-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger, he might rank even higher on this list had he not fallen off a bit in season 5. He posted an OPS between 1.066 and 1.100 in each of his first four seasons before dropping to .939 in season 5. And while he hasn't shown nearly as much home run power as most of the other guys on this list, he does have four seasons with 40-plus doubles.

2. Edwin Hogan may be the best pure hitter in the world. A two-time MVP, three-time Silver Slugger and four-time All-Star, he's hit .364/.454/.654 with 186 homers, 542 runs and 629 RBIs in 655 games.

Hogan holds the league record with a .383 batting average in season 3, and he checks in at third and fourth on the list with .376 and .367 marks in seasons 2 and 4. His .364 career batting average is 21 points higher than Rushford in second place. There are just two reasons he's not No. 1 on this list. One, he's missed an average of 31 games a season. Two, he's played his entire career in the best hitter's park in the league.

1. Unlike Chipper Velandia, who has spent his entire career playing in a pretty severe pitcher's park and still managed to hit .329/.408/.685 with 274 homers, 591 runs and 694 RBIs in 739 games.

A four-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger, Velandia won his first MVP award in season 5 when he hit .334/.399/.759 with 72 homers, 135 runs and a league-record 181 RBIs. That wasn't even his best season, however, as he posted a ridiculous 1.193 OPS in season 3. Not only is he the only player to top the 1.150 mark twice, but Governale's the only other hitter who's even done it once.

As good as he's been, it's scary to think about what Velandia's career might look like if he played in a park that helps hitters.