The Greatest Latino Baseball Players Of All Time

Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals had what is arguably the greatest hitting performance in a World Series game. Ever. This begs the question, could Pujols be considered as the greatest Latino baseball player of all time? Better than Juan Marical or Alex Rodriguez? Better than Rod Carew?

Better even than Roberto Clemente? Fightin' words.

Latino baseball players have long been some of the best ballplayers in the game. High leg kicking San Francisco Giant Juan Marichal won over 25 games three times in his career, had 30 complete games in 1968 when he went 26-9, and finished his career with 243 wins, 2303 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA.

If you're looking at pure numbers, Alex Rodriguez would have to be at the top. Three time MVP, 629 career homeruns, 2775 career hits, and a career .302 BA. And the man is still going. Even after a down year in 2011, if he stays healthy he could catch Barry Bonds for the career homerun crown.

Clemente? Career .317 BA. 3000 career hits. MVP. 12 time gold glove. 12 time allstar. Hall Of Famer. World Series MVP. Beyond the numbers Clemente was an icon of humanity who's life was cut short in an airplane accident that was delivering earthquake relief aid to Nicaragua on December 31, 1972.

Then there's Pujols. Currently fighting for a World Series title against the Texas Rangers where he put in a hitting performance for the century. Since beginning his career, Pujols has been Mr. Consistent, hitting over 30 homeruns in each of his 11 seasons, over 100 RBI in 10 consecutive seasons, and batting over .300 in his first 10 seasons, narrowly missing an 11th with a .299 BA in 2011.

There are also the upstarts vying to make their mark in the annals of baseball lore. Jose Reyes, Miggie Cabrera, King Felix Hernandez, Hanley Rameriz, Johan Santanta and more.

In no particular order we've put together a list of who we consider to be the greatest Latino baseball players of all time.

So who's the greatest Latino ballplayer that's lived? Pick the slide of who YOU think is number one. Give a player a higher star rating to move them higher in the rank.

Comments

[rbaca]

05:03 PM on 12/05/2011

Ted William's mother was Mexican; hence he is a Mexican American. I believe Reggie Gutierrez Jackson qualifies too. Ted Williams is listed as the first Hispanic in the baseball Hall of Fame. Some of the Latinos you cite are Latino only in their homeland but do not necessarily have any affinity with U.S. based Latinos. Latinos are not a race; hence, we must be inclusive.

[bypie6]

10:56 AM on 11/22/2011

This article forgot to mention one "Latino" (or half-latino), Reggie Jackson.
His mother was a Panamanian.
What? "Half-Latinos" doesn't count as "Latinos"?
You mean to tell me, you have to be a full-blooded "Latino" to be a "Latino"?
Wasn't Roberto Clemento --- whom I consider one of the best "Latinos" of all time --- mixed with African blood? Oh, well.

[Michael Kogut]

09:30 PM on 11/16/2011

Pedro Martinez anyone? My favorite player and the best pitcher I have ever seen (keep in mind that I am only 20 years old). As far as the greatest latino baseball player of all time, for me it's a tie between Ted Williams and Roberto Clemente.

[Frankko]

10:42 PM on 11/11/2011

Ted Williams was Mexican-American so why do the American press keep hiding this fact? They don't want people to know that the best pure hitter of all time was Mexican?

[arecibo48]

02:26 PM on 10/31/2011

Pujols is a great player and has many years left to become great. However, the best Hispanic player is Roberto Clemente. He could do it all; run, hit and catch. He was a great humanitarian.

[vmar]

03:09 PM on 10/30/2011

Martin Dihigo one of the truly greats. your list shows a lack of historical depth

[andy2ca]

02:39 AM on 10/30/2011

I tend to agree with you on some things. Today's accomplishments by any athlete is viewed with suspicion. Rightfully so. That was never the case in the era of some of these greats. What i see as troubling is the stick we use to measure these individuals. Today's athlete are no greater than the greats of the past. What is different is the exposure that ESPN and other outlets bombard us with. spinets and highlights. Michael Jordon is not the greatest basketball player; he is however the most dynamic player on the court. Chamberlain and Russell are the two best basketball players of all time. Both with strength and weakness. MJ brought in the highlight reel.

[SuperMex]

02:19 PM on 10/29/2011

I think Roberto Clemente was most likely the Greatest Latino Baseball Player of all time. I personally use to love to watch (on TV) run the bases. Like stretching a single into a double and double into a triple. He was a spray hitter with some good pop and is arm was second to none. Sadly the media never gave him the type of notoriety that he deserved instead they labeled Roberto eccentric. Roberto Clemente gets my vote as the Greatest Latino Baseball Player of all time.

Ted Williams would be my second choice. Although it wasn't until after he retired as a player that he acknowledged his Mexican and Latino roots. He is after all the last player to bat over 400. We must not forget that he also served our Great Nation in WWII and Korea as a fighter pilot. His total military service to our country was 3 1/2 years.

[cdiasmd]

09:01 AM on 10/28/2011

how about being the best non-hyphenated ball player of all time? Hank Aaron...Jackie Robinson...Lou Gerhig...why do we HAVE to identify w/ people that are a certain ethnicity? are we THAT insecure?

[carlosiic]

04:27 PM on 10/28/2011

Don't forget Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, LA Babe Ruth , PU Honus TA Wagner; QUE José TE Canseco, PA Roberto Alomar, RIO McGuire, Barry Bonds... just to name a few

[rsargerod]

09:19 PM on 10/29/2011

Do you know the true history of where baseball actually came? It was acually invented before Columbus or Americo discovered America by naitives of the Caribean - Known as the Taino's; and was also before it became criket...So we latinos do take pride in the Sport as one our greates contribution to game of Baseball. Oh by the way, back then it was BATEY in TAino Language.

[cdiasmd]

08:24 AM on 10/30/2011

Baseball came from French origins in the 1300's and developed in England (stoolball 1500s). Cricket was invented in England.

[SonnyBono]

07:07 AM on 10/28/2011

Albert Pujols is a great player but the greatest Latino player is No. 21 of your Pittsburgh Pirates, Roberto Clemente - not only a great hitter but an even better outfielder with a rocket arm - there are old tapes of Dodger Willie Davis diving back into first base because Clemente got to the ball and was throwing behind him to try and pick him off. His home run totals were not comparable to others because Clemente was a line drive hitter and he played his home games in a park only slightly smaller than Rhode Island. He could also throw the ball from right to third on the fly to catch anyone crazy enough to challenge his arm. Willie Mays is still probably the greatest of all time but Roberto Clemente is right up there with the Say Hey Kid - because like the Kid, Roberto could do it all.

[LickMyDecalsOffBaby]

10:08 PM on 10/27/2011

oops...double post...of course, the great Chico Escuala should be part of the discussion.

[SonnyBono]

05:14 AM on 10/28/2011

Hey, good one for remembering the "great" Chico Escuela - just the right attitude for this site.

[LickMyDecalsOffBaby]

08:05 PM on 10/27/2011

Ivan Rodriquez is the greatest catcher of all time, and he's the greatest Latino player of all time, with Roberto Clemente a close second. You could argue either way with these two.

[SonnyBono]

05:26 AM on 10/28/2011

Greatest catcher? You are forgetting Johnny Bench and Josh Gibson among others. Besides wasn't Ivan Rodriquez part of the steroid bunch with the Texas Rangers along with Alex Rodriquez and others?

[argentino]

07:32 AM on 10/28/2011

Greatest catcher of all-time? Johnny Bench...

Greatest Latino player? Roberto Clemente, Juan Marichal...

[Cousin Earl]

08:40 PM on 10/27/2011

Clemente.

[bmwracer]

03:41 PM on 10/27/2011

Pujols???

NO.

Roberto Clemente by a mile.

[argentino]

07:32 AM on 10/28/2011

Clemente had it all...

[JustinP213]

02:38 PM on 10/27/2011

Clemente