Shortstop is the position that is nearest and dearest to my heart. It is arguably the premier position in baseball. It’s less of an argument that it is the premier position at the lower levels of baseball. It’s pretty standard for the best player or best athlete to play shortstop on most Little League, high school, college and minor league teams. I would like to say that’s the reason I primarily manned shortstop during my playing days, but that wasn’t really the case. I was rarely the best player or athlete on any of the baseball teams I played on. But I usually played shortstop because I could field the position better than most. This was mainly due to how much I practiced and worked at it. One of my favorite activities as a kid was to throw a tennis ball against the side of our house and then field it. Over and over again. I spent countless hours fielding grounders and broke more than a few windows in my quest to become a better shortstop. I would make up little mini-games in my head and pretend I was a different Major League shortstop every round of throws and fielding. A lot of those players will make an appearance on the following list of The Top Shortstops… Of My Lifetime.

10. Rafael Furcal

Rafael Furcal was one of the most exciting shortstops to watch play in the 2000’s. Furcal was fast, he switch hit, he could drop down a bunt with the best of them, and most memorably for me, he had an absolute hose piece making throws across the diamond. Furcal broke into the majors in 2000, making the improbable jump from A ball to the bigs after an injury to incumbent Braves shortstop, Walt Weiss, before the season. He proceeded to ignite the offense and endear himself to fans throughout Braves country, hitting .295 and stealing 40 bases on his way to winning NL Rookie of the Year. He was a mainstay at short in Atlanta for five seasons before leaving for the Dodgers in free agency in 2006. Furcal played 5 and half seasons in LA and was then dealt to the Cardinals at the deadline in 2011, where he helped St. Louis win a title that same year. All in all Furcal had a solid big league career, making 3 All-Star teams and capturing the one aforementioned title. I’ll always remember Furcal as the Atlanta rookie that came out of nowhere, beating out bunt singles, swiping bags and throwing seeds from short to first.

9. Jose Reyes

Next up we have another speedy, switch-hitting shortstop, Jose Reyes. Reyes played the majority of his career for the New York Mets. Debuting in 2003, he spent the first 9 seasons of his career in New York and enjoyed his most success while playing in the Big Apple. During his first stint there he was named to 4 All-Star teams, won a batting title (.337 in 2011), a Silver Slugger, and led the NL in stolen bases 3 consecutive seasons from 2005 to 2007. He departed Queens in 2012 and took his talents to South Beach to play for the Marlins for one season before heading north of the border to Toronto. He made a brief stop in Colorado and eventually returned to the Mets to finish his career. All that travel was fitting for a player who made it base to base so quickly. He ended his career with 517 career steals, good for 32nd on the all-time list and 9th on mine.

8. Trea Turner

The present MLB landscape has several established star shortstops. Bo Bichette, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Francisco Lindor, to name a few. There is also a crop of exciting up and coming shortstops like Oneal Cruz, Bobby Witt Jr., Wander Franco and Anthony Volpe just entering the league. Trea Turner is kind of like a bridge between these two groups and is the only current shortstop to slide onto my list. Much like the prior to entrants on the list, Turner is built for speed. He put his wheels on display during his freshman year at N.C. State, swiping 57 bags and putting the baseball world on notice. And notice they did, as Turner was drafted 13th overall by the San Diego Padres in 2014. Turner was traded to the Washington Nationals in December of that year and went on to make his MLB debut for them in August of 2015. He would play for the Nationals until the 2020 deadline, when he was dealt to the Dodgers in a blockbuster trade involving another OMLT list alumnus, Max Scherzer. He spent 2 and half seasons in LA before signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Phillies this off-season. Turner is still building his legacy but he cemented his spot on my list with his human slip-and-slide routine on the base paths and his performance during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. His slides look so smooth sometimes that they often look like CGI and all he did in the WBC was tie the tournament record with 5 HRs. Including a game winning grandslam in the quarterfinals and a big HR in the finals against eventual champion Japan. So far Turner has been named to 2 All-Star teams, won a Silver Slugger, a batting title and a World Series ring in 2019 with Washington. It will be interesting to see how his career plays out in a hitter friendly park in Philadelphia and it also remains to be seen if he sticks at shortstop or moves to 2nd, 3rd or even to the outfield later in his career.

7. Troy Tulowitzki

Tulo could have just as easily been nicknamed Tool-o because he had all the tools and put them on display beautifully during his 13 year Major Leauge career. This can be backed up by his 5 All-Star selections, 2 Gold Gloves and 2 Silver Sluggers. At the height of his career from 2010-2015 Tulowitzki was arguably the best shortstop in baseball, putting up big numbers on offense and spinning web gems on defense. As with all Rockies players, his offensive numbers will always come into question because of home games at Coors Field. While it’s true his career OPS is over .100 points higher in home games, his counting stats are very similar in both home and away games. In my opinion, Tulo could, and did, hit anywhere he played and as a baseball player you can’t choose where you play. At least not during the first four or five years of your career. I enjoyed Tulowitzki for the player he was and what he brought to the field on a daily basis.

6. Hanley Ramirez

Han-Ram was another shortstop that could do it all. Power? Check. 271 career HRs. Speed? Check. 281 career stolen bases. Hit for average? Check. A .289 career batting average. Add it all together and you have a five tool phenom who made 3 All-Star teams, won 2 Silver Sluggers, a NL batting title (.342 in 2009) and Rookie of the Year (2006). Ramirez played the bulk of his career in Miami with the Florida Marlins where he established himself as one of the best young shortstops in the game. Knowing he was a big fish in a small pond, and continuing with the Marlins tradition at the time, Hanley was traded to the Dodgers in 2012 before he could make it to free agency with Florida. He played in LA for 2 and a half seasons before signing with the Red Sox in free agency prior to the 2015 season. He finished his career with an uneventful stop in Cleveland with the Indians in 2019. Hanley was always one of my favorite players to watch. He had style. He had charisma. He has the number 6 spot on my list.

5. Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod was one of the most polarizing and controversial players in MLB history. Rodriguez was the first overall pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 1993 draft. He made his debut the following year and in 1996 was named the team’s starting shortstop and made good on that nod of confidence by becoming the AL batting champion at the young age of 20. A-Rod was my favorite player back then. I was a sophomore in high school and it was unfathomable to me that a kid just a few years older than me was having such success in the majors. He would enjoy much more success throughout his tumultuous big league career. Rodgriguez was a 14 time All-Star, 3 time MVP, won 10 Silver Sluggers, 2 Gold Gloves, produced a 40-40 season in 1998 and a World Series title with the 2009 Yankees. Perhaps as well chronicled as his on the field numbers were his off the field headlines. He signed the richest contract in MLB history with the Texas Rangers after the 2000 season. Before the 2004 season he was traded to the New York Yankees and moved to third to accommodate Yankee Captain, Derek Jeter, even though by most accounts A-Rod was the better defensive player. I opted to include A-Rod as a shortstop because that’s what he really was, even though by the time he finished his career he’d played basically half of his games at third. Later in his career A-Rod’s reputation was harmed immeasurably by his admittance to using steroids. I prefer to remember Rodriguez as the can’t miss shortstop prospect that didn’t miss. At least on the field.

4. Nomar Garciaparra

Perhaps the player who is most thankful that the pitch clock wasn’t around during his career, Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar’s methodical and meticulous pre-pitch routine could be a little time consuming, but it’s hard to argue with the results. Garciaparra could hit. He proved this to be true by making a name for himself in college at Georgia Tech, where he was a 2-time All-American and batted .427 his junior year. He was drafted in the first round by the Boston Red Sox and made his MLB on August 31, 1996. Which happened to be my 16th birthday. Upon his arrival in Boston Nomar continued to do what he did best. Hit baseballs. He made the All-Star team and was named Rookie of the Year in 1997. He led the American League in batting average in 1999 (.357) and 2000 (.372). Altogether Nomar made 6 All-Star teams and won 1 Silver Slugger. He played most of his career in Boston along with his former Georgia Tech teammate, catcher Jason Varitek. Needless to say I was kind of a big Boston fan during those years. After his time in Boston, Nomar would go on to play with the Cubs, Dodgers and Athletics. But to me he’ll always be a Red Sock. And more importantly, a Yellow Jacket.

3. Ozzie Smith

There’s no denying that I was head over heels for Ozzie Smith as a youngster coming up playing shortstop. The Wizard of Oz earned his nickname by making magical plays from the shortstop position. He made the difficult plays look routine and made the impossible plays actually happen. I emulated my own shortstop play after Ozzie even though his defensive prowess could never be duplicated. I had an Ozzie Smith model Rawlings glove that I used from the time I started Little League when I was 9 years old until it finally gave out on me during warm ups before the last high school game of my sophomore season. That glove served me well for roughly 8 years and Smith served the game of baseball well for 19 years of his own. A lengthy career that included 15 All-Star selections, 13 Gold Gloves, 1 Silver Slugger and 1 World Series title with the 1982 Cardinals. I don’t know where my old glove ended up but I do know that Ozzie Smith ended up exactly where he belongs. In the Hall of Fame.

2. Derek Jeter

Now batting for the Yankees, Number 2, Derek Jeter. Number 2. The Captain. Mr. November. Derek Jeter. No player on this list or maybe in MLB history had as many clutch playoff moments as Derek Jeter. It seemed like the Yankees were in the postseason every fall and Jeter was always coming up with a big hit or game-saving defensive play. For a lot of Jeter’s career and even still somewhat now, Jeter was labeled as overrated simply because he didn’t put up the eye popping counting stats of some of his contemporaries. But in my opinion, it’s hard to argue with 14 All-Star selections, 5 Silver Sluggers, 5 Gold Gloves, and 5 World Series Championships. Oh and he also won Rookie of the Year in 1996 and collected over 3,000 career hits. His 3,000th hit was particularly memorable, a HR in Yankee Stadium off David Price, who at the time was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Another thing I like to remember about Jeter is the “tip of the cap” Nike RE2PECT ad that ran leading up to his final game. It was particularly powerful and I remember it giving me goosebumps the first time I saw it. It was made even more powerful when Jeter’s young nephew actually tipped his hat to Derek in his final game. A great sports moment for a great shortstop.

1. Cal Ripken Jr.

Cal Ripken played baseball. Everyday. For an MLB record 2,632 consecutive games. That’s roughly 16 and a quarter years without missing a game at one of the most physically demanding positions in the sport. And Cal didn’t just play baseball. He played it well. During a Hall of Fame career that included the 1982 AL Rookie of the Year Award, 2 AL MVPs, 19 All-Star games, 8 Silver Slugger, 2 Gold Gloves, and a World Series ring. If you tuned into an Orioles game at any time during the 80’s or 90’s you saw Cal Ripken playing shortstop. And the nation tuned in on September 6, 1995 to see Ripken break Lou Gehrig’s once thought unbreakable consecutive games streak. There was quite a buildup to the record and the Orioles hung huge numbers from the B&O Warehouse beyond right field in Camden Yards and counted up each game as Cal closed in on the record. The game was nationally televised on ESPN and it happened to fall on a Wednesday. Which was traditionally pizza night at my Grandma’s house. I sat with slices in hand and witnessed Ripken break the record. It’s one of those sports moments that I’ll always remember where I was when it happened and I’ll always remember Cal Ripken as The Top Shortstop…Of My Lifetime.