Ranking The Top 10 Giants Of All-Time: Position-by-Position
By zacklosel
# 4 – Right Field – Mel Ott
Career: .304 AVG / 511 HR / 1860 RBI
Accolades:
1951 Hall of Fame inductee
Eleven-Time All-Star (1934-’44).
9th most career walks (1708).
12th in career RBI (1860).
With his stature, he didn’t look the part, but Mel Ott was absolutely a power hitter, with sharp defense to boot.
Primarily a right fielder (Ott started 2125 games in right field), the man many referred to as New York’s answer for Ty Cobb spent his whole career as a player with the Giants, from 1926-1947.
Ott was a special player for his New York club, as he was a leader in many ways; six times he led the National League in walks. He became the first National League player to have at least eight seasons with 100 RBI or more. More impressively, however, he owns the record for being the youngest player in MLB history (20) to hit for the cycle, which he did on May 16th, 1929.
In addition to being a sensational all around player, the Louisiana native took over managing duties for the club from 1942-1948 but continued to help his team on the field during that same time, as he stayed on as a player/manager until the 1947 season when he retired.
An integral part of the Giants 1933 World Series title run (he blasted a solo shot in the first inning of Game 1), Ott will always be considered one of the franchises all-time greats.