Sam Crawford Marquee Hall of Fame 1957

Wahoo, Nebraska, sent him to Cincinnati in 1899, and from 1903 he spent fifteen seasons in Detroit's outfield, hitting line drives into outfields with no reachable fence. He drove in 1,519 runs and led the American League in runs batted in three times. He led the National League in home runs in 1901 and the American League in 1908.

He and Cobb played side by side from 1905 and did not get along, and Cobb's reputation absorbed most of the credit for what the Detroit offense did. The Tigers won the pennant in 1907, 1908, and 1909, and lost the World Series all three times. Crawford finished with 2,961 hits, 39 short of 3,000.

Six times he led his league in triples, more often than anyone else, and his 309 remain the record. He played his last game in 1917 and was not elected to the Hall of Fame until 1957, by which time few voters had seen him play. He lived until 1968.