Best Player 1960s

Best player 1960s. Who was the best Major League player during the decade of the 1960s? We're going to figure it out by taking a look at some major offensive categories.

Once again, we are only going to look at every day players. We can decide who the best pitcher was another time. And this will also be based on hitting. All of these players were tremendous defensive players.

We will start with the big one. Who hit the most home runs in the sixties? It may surprise you to learn that Harmon Killebrew did. Killer went deep 393 times. Henry Aaron was right behind him with 375 round tripper and Willie Mays was third in the decade with 350 home runs. Frank Robinson added 316.

Another important category to look at is runs batted in. Hank Aaron led the way by knocking in 1,107 runs during the 1960s. Killebrew was second with 1,013 and Frank Robinson was third with 1,011. Mays drove in 1,003 runs in the sixties and Roberto Clemente had 862.

Clemente had the most hits in the decade with 1,877. Aaron comes in second with 1,819 hits. Brooks Robinson collected 1,692 hits during the 1960s and Mays had 1,635.

Now let's take a look at batting average. Again, Clemente was tops with a .328 batting average during the 1960s. Pete Rose followed second at .309 and there is Aaron again at .308. Frank Robinson batted .304 for the ten years and Mays hit .300.

Back to another power number. Slugging percentage. Hank Aaron was first at .565 followed by Frank Robinson with .560. Mays slugged .559 and Killebrew was fourth with a .546 slugging percentage.

Brooks Robinson played in 1,578 games in the sixties. He is first. Aaron was second playing in 1,540 games followed by Ron Santo and Mays.

The last thing we will look at is runs scored. Hank Aaron scored the most by crossing home plate 1,091 times during the 1960s. Willie Mays was second with 1,050 runs. Frank Robinson scored 1,013 times and Clemente 916.

So what do we have here. Of the eight offensive categories Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are the only players in all categories. But Frank Robinson and Harmon Killebrew had a pretty good decade, too. And of course Roberto Clemente had the most hits and highest batting average.

And also, Frank Robinson won two Most Valuable Player awards in the 1960s. One in each league. He is still the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues.

And, every one of these players are in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Based on all of this though, I think the conclusion should be that Hammerin Henry Aaron was the best player during the decade of the 1960s. As a life long Roberto Clemente fan I secretly know that he was the best. But we will go with Aaron for now.

Let me know what you think.

Steve Ramer

Check out my hand painted baseball bats

Return From Best Player 1960s To Baseball Articles