No matter how long this league lasts and even well after it has gone, the exploits of Rogers Hornsby will always rank right at the pinnacle of its history. Since joining the MLB ranks in 1915 he has dominated like few others, and hangs up his glove with an array of stats that will make your head spin.
A 332 BA (9th best at present), 3239 hits (4th), 565 doubles (3rd), 183 triples (8th), 321 HR (4th), 1748 RBI (2nd), 1246 walks (5th) - all of which adds up to 7 Wagner-Lajoie Medals and 138 bWAR, second only to Tris Speaker. After giving his all and then some over 14 seasons for a pretty ordinary Cardinals club, nobody could deny him deserving that elusive Championship Ring with the Tigers a few years back and he is a dead-set first ballot lock when he becomes eligible for HoF enshrinement in five years' time.
Andy "Lefty" Cooper was his teammate on a lot of those Cards teams, and again later at Detroit, although not for the '29 title - an honour that sadly eluded him to the end. He finishes his career with a 255-170 record and a touch over 87 pWAR, with 4 Johnson-Waddell Medals to his credit. Again, I think he'll get to C-Town first go, although he's not quite the dead cert Rajah is.
And finally, while Harry "Slug" Heilmann's numbers might not pop off the screen like Rajah's, he certainly deserves his spot in this group. Given he played all but 15 of his 2569 MLB games for Detroit - he was a teammate of Rogers' in '29 - I find it impossible to understand how they haven't retired his number. A career 309 hitter, Slug racked up 2830 hits including 547 doubles, 158 triples and 187 homers while driving in nearly 1500 runs and amassing nearly 70 WAR - all franchise highs for the Tigers. He's far from guaranteed a plaque at the Hall, but I assure you he'll be getting my vote every year until he does or he's done.
