The Top 100 NPB Players of All-Time (2022)

[@GaijinBaseball]

Correction: 18:17 Orix Buffaloes - not Nishitetsu Lions. whooops. There's always one thing Correction 2: Seibu Lions SS Sosuke Genda actually qualified for this list, his score of 105.8 would put him at 96.

[@fuktrumpanzeeskum]

Where are you getting the WAR stats for Japanese players?

[@GaijinBaseball]

@@fuktrumpanzeeskum NPBstats.com and Deltagraphs.

[@406ABarBs]

I started paying attention to the NPB 2 weeks ago thanks to Pro Baseball Spirits 2024-2025. Now, I'm a huge fan. I've watched this video 8 times already. You did an absolutely incredible job on this video and deserve way more subscribers/views.

[@406ABarBs]

Hideki Matsui was one of my favorite players growing up. I had no idea how great he was in Japan. I'm also glad to see Kazuo Matsui had a good career in Japan. Kaz Matsui was the first player I got a jersey of.

[@supersasukemaniac]

28:41 that Hara bat flip, that was done in anger.

[@AlexsAssortedBricks]

28:11 is the greatest bat flip in npb history

[@kj9093]

I appreciate your work on this and presenting this. I am just becoming a big NPB fan this year and I really like learning about some of the all-time greats.

[@JulianWyllie]

Wow this was incredible. I appreciate that you added some history lessons in that weren't just about baseball. Really incredible research and effort here.

[@406ABarBs]

I hope Kensuke Kondoh joins this list eventually.

[@Pussaychop]

¡Fantastic work! Hats off to Gaijin Baseball.

[@ScottieBoy99902]

Fantastic work as always. I continue to be blown away by the amount research you do for these.

[@CutterHistorical]

dont disagree, Im glad ure doing this in the first place

[@hanshintigersenglishnews]

illicit: forbidden by law, rules, or custom elicit: evoke or draw out (a response, answer, or fact) from someone in reaction to one's own actions or questions Source: Spelling Police

[@jslaurie11]

Awesome vid!! I lot of new info I never knew about

[@Asshat237]

As an American of Japanese descent I just started learning about the NPB from you and I must agree with you. Cowardly, ridiculous, and zenophobic would be accurate ways to describe Tuffy Rhodes not being in the Hall of Fame.

[@GreenHornet553]

This may be an obscure request Gaijin Baseball, but could you do a video on the brief baseball career of pro wrestling legend Shohei Baba? I was looking through his stats one time and he actually had a really decent rookie campaign going 12-1 as a pitcher in 13 starts for Yomiuri. I think the obscure story of Shohei Baba the pitcher would be something interesting to look at and a big what if had he not had his eyesight deteriorate. Also excellent list.

[@michaelng2706]

Love your work!

[@jcmcdaniel99]

So basically Yuki Yanagita is the Mike Trout of the NPB

[@GaijinBaseball]

That's the best way of putting it yeah

[@Yusni-bc2cm]

Imagine if Mike won four straight World Series

[@johnnyBwilson]

This video is great! Well done.

[@kaijudirector5336]

Sidenote, 28:13 is such a great shot of the stands. Props to the cameraman!

[@DrFrickenFrack]

This was exhaustedly researched. You deserve a likesubscribecomment from a passing viewer. Cheers!

[@musicforever9098]

Im about to start watching I know it’s gonna be a good one!!

[@juanjosesanchezbracamontes]

Simply amazing!! Love it badly. My only issue was with Harimoto at 13th place. And Ichiro at 10th.

[@zkiiffs9]

Too high or low?

[@WC6]

Nitpick: Yoshio Itoi played for the Orix Buffaloes from 2013-16, not the Nishitetsu Lions. EDIT: And hell yes Tuffy belongs in the Hall.

[@jamestunnell3359]

You’re a saint for this

[@underhandcloud1414]

Amazing video! Did you use fWAR, rWAR, or a different WAR calculation for this list?

[@GaijinBaseball]

Sorry for the super late response, but I believe the site I used base their calculations on fWAR.

[@convonduero3683]

No shohei?

[@Uiabird]

Warren Cromartie "High School" You have to include his nickname after becasue... Reasons. Yes reasons.

[@filipinowhiteboy]

I feel like there was a manga called Cromartie.....something. Is that what you're referring to? I wouldn't know as I haven't read it. Only heard of it.

[@frenchie1900]

Good to see Kazuhisa Inao getting the recognition he deserves 👏 #ライオンス

[@cyjan85]

serious question: would any of these players make top 100 best baseball players of all time list? The only list with NPB player was from The Athletic in 2020: Sadaharu Oh was at 85. I wonder whats your opinion and what was the difference in class between best NPB and best MLB players?

[@GaijinBaseball]

The Top 10 should all be on that list. Also Oh at 85 was comically low

[@mikepastor.k6233]

Well, Matsui is good but not great. Ichiro is great. I think the top 5 would be very good to great as MLB league players. These were dedicated athletes and some American players didn't tear it up over there. Also, a shout out Cecil Fielder as a Tiger fan who had like one or two great season's over in Japan before signing with Detroit.

[@daryllcorbett9668]

Hey, what about Kimiyasu Kudoh, he was a 14x time Japan Series Champion, 2x MVP, lots of All Star appearances, and numerous accolades, he has to be at least top 20 in this list maybe even top 10, big miss on this list but great video nonetheless

[@GaijinBaseball]

I have Kudoh ranked 208 with a score of 57.9, I have the full list in the description. My system tended to punish people who played longer than they should've. And the fact that Kudoh played 29 years really hurt him. Plus, he's one of the most overrated pitchers in NPB history imo. He didn't deserve his 1993 MVP, that should've gone to Hatsuhiko Tsuji, Koji Akiyama or Kazuhiro Kiyohara. Don't put too much weight on championships and all-star appearances. All-Star games are popularity contests, and championships are about being at the right place at the right time, see Masahiko Mori. Only 4 of his 29 seasons were what you might call "all-star caliber", and 1999 was his only "elite" season. Most of the time he was just a servicable starter.

[@daryllcorbett9668]

@Gaijin Baseball oh sorry, my bad, but why is he so low in the list? He's a legend , I know the others above him are too, but I think he should be top 50 at least, but like I said great video, some awesome players here 🙂

[@daryllcorbett9668]

@Gaijin Baseball I respect your opinion, that's fair, I just rated him higher because he was one of my favourite pitchers, also being a Daiei Hawks fan might have been the reason too 🙂

[@Truschoolsports]

Will Yoshibou Yamamoto make this list once he leaves Japan??

[@ringo3911]

I did the math a couple of months ago, he would rank 31st, in between Shinnosuke Abe and Tuffy Rhodes.

[@gustavoinsua2107]

Where is the only Latin American player/manager in Japan HOF, Venezuelan Alex Ramirez? He at least had to be in the list

[@記録動画保管庫]

as a one of japanese, i cannot agree with this ranking. the following player (tetsuya yoneda , keiji suzuki , choji murata, hiromitsu ochiai, kazuhiro kiyohara ) should be on higher rank .

[@ultradevo]

Where's Greenwell?

[@ebasdanil175]

Forza Giants❤❤

[@とら-o4v]

山田久志と野口二郎が入らんのかぁ

[@ぴーのぴろしき]

イチローが10位はないやろ。 そもそもメジャーとの差がくそでかかった時代の選手と比べられても

[@filipinowhiteboy]

Where would you rank him?