Pittsburgh Pirates Top Five Shortstops

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2. Arky Vaughan (1932-1941)

Arky Vaughan may be one of the best shortstops in baseball history. According to the highly subjective ELO ranking on baseball-reference.com, Vaughan is considered the 31st best player in baseball history, and ranks only behind Honus Wagner (more on him next slide), Robin Yount and Cal Ripken at short. That is some truly excellent company.

His offensive production certainly would make him worthy of such a ranking. During his time with the Pirates, Vaughan produced a .324/.415/.472 batting line, hitting 84 home runs and 128 triples. His excellent 1935 season saw Vaughan produce a .381/.491/.607 batting line, leading the National League in each category. Vaughan also led the National League in triples and on base percentage three times and runs twice.

Arky Vaughan was not exactly great defensively, but he was not a disaster either. While he was one of the league leaders in errors almost every year, he still managed to make a solid amount of plays. He led the National League in assists from 1938 through 1940, and in putouts in 1936, 1938 and 1939. Vaughan may not have been a Gold Glove shortstop, but he was serviceable enough defensively.

On virtually any other team, Arky Vaughan would be sitting atop the rankings. However, he was only the second best shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, despite a career that ended with his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Next: The greatest shortstop in baseball history