Rogers Hornsby was an easy choice for greatest second baseman when the 1970 Rold Gold card set was produced. The same card was used in the 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats set.
These cards are great. The old uniforms work well with the border chosen for these cards.
His statistics are hard to match. He led the league in every major category multiple times - R (5 times), H (4), 2B (4), 3B (2), HR (2), RBI (4), BB (3), BA (7), OBP (9), SLG (9), TB (7).
Ty Cobb only led the league in homers once, with nine. He also never led the league in walks.
Babe Ruth never led the league in hits, doubles or triples. He led in batting average only once.
Hornsby, Cobb and Ruth combined to make a total of two all-star teams. Does anyone know why this is so low?
Hornsby also said something else about hitting - "Don't read. It'll hurt your eyes."
Stan Musial managed to lead in each category except homers. Willie Mays never led in doubles or RBIs. Hank Aaron missed three categories in his career. Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle also missed leading in two categories.
Lou Gehrig managed to lead the league in each of these categories at least once. I'm guessing others might have also done so, especially someone who either won a triple crown or had a few amazing years.
For those who think a lot of the current players, Mike Trout has not led the league in six of these categories and Miguel Cabrera hasn't led in four.
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