A Brief History of Bay Area MLB Left Fielders

By Rich Campbell

In the last few months in this space, we have looked at the best shortstops, third basemen, second basemen, and first basemen to have played in the Bay Area. This month we begin the outfield portion of this series and look back at the best to ever play left field in Oakland and San Francisco, including to of the very best to ever play the game.

The list below is based on the number of games played with the franchises. The WAR (Baseball Reference version) presented is the value accumulated by each player in their time in the A’s/Giants, not their career overall. Let’s get started:

Barry Bonds, Giants, 15 seasons, 1976 games, 112.5 WAR, 7.5 WAR per season

Barry Bonds, son of Barry Bonds and godson of Willie Mays joined the Giants as a 28-year-old in 1993 after playing seven seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He arrived with a pair of MVP Trophies (and a ridiculous second-place finish to Terry Pendleton in 1991).

In his years in San Francisco, he amassed statistics and accumulated awards that make him one of the best players in the history of baseball. A few highlights: won the MVP in his first season in San Francisco and then reeled off four more MVPs in a row from 2001-04, during his age 36 to 39 seasons; won nine Silver Sluggers in San Francisco (12 in his career); won five Gold Gloves as a Giant (eight in his career); set the single-season and career home run records; in 2004 received 120 intentional walks.

Those who saw him play will never forget what he accomplished, though PED allegations have kept him from being elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He retired in 2007 as a Giant and is the all-time leader in three categories: walks, intentional walks, and home runs with a career WAR of 162.8.

Barry Bonds batting for the San Francisco Giants during a game against the Cincinnati Reds in 2006.Photo byKevin Rushforth

Rickey Henderson, A’s, 14 seasons, 1704 games, 72.7 WAR, 5.2 WAR per season

Rickey – a first-name-only Hall of Famer – is one of the greats to ever play any position, and spent the vast majority of his time in left field. Focusing only on the Oakland portion of his career, it consisted of two major periods: 1979 to 1984 and 1989 to 1995. In the first stint, he made four All-Star teams, finished second in MVP voting in 1981 (to former Athletic Rollie Fingers), led the league in steals five times, and set the single-season record with 130 steals in 1982. He also earned a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in those years.

In the second stint in green and gold, Rickey won his MVP award (1990) and hoisted the only World Series Trophy the A’s have won in the last 50 years (1989). He also garnered another Silver Slugger and a pair of All-Star appearances between 1988 and 1995, in addition to leading the league in steals twice more. At age 39, he returned to Oakland in 1998 and led the league for the final time in steals (66) and walks (118), before concluding his career with stops with the Mets, Mariners, Padres, Red Sox, and Dodgers and retiring after the 2003 season at the age of 44, as the all-time leader in steals (1,406) and runs (2,295) and 111.1 WAR.

While born in Chicago, Rickey was raised in Oakland, attending Oakland Tech High School. The hometown hero received the ultimate honor when the A’s named the field at the Oakland Coliseum Rickey Henderson Field in 2017.

After (a brief) look at the careers of Bonds and Rickey, it is hard for any other players to measure up. A few additional noteworthy Bay Area left fielders:

Joe Rudi, A’s, 11 seasons, 1107 games, 21.3 WAR, 1.9 WAR per season

Rudi was an important piece of the three-peat A’s teams of 1972-74. In fact, he finished second in AL MVP voting in 1972 and 1974. He thrice represented the A’s in the All-Star game.

Jeffrey Leonard, Giants, 8 seasons, 789 games, 9.5 WAR, 1.2 WAR per season

Leonard played in San Francisco from 1981-88 and made a single All-Star appearance for the Giants, and twice received down-ballot MVP votes.

Kevin Mitchell, Giants, 5 years, 624 games, 19.2 WAR, 3,8 WAR per season

Mitchell was NL MVP in 1989 when the Giants faced the A’s in the World Series. He made the All-Star team that season and in 1990 in San Francisco, the only appearances of his career.

Worth Mentioning:

A trio of players have won the Rookie of the Year Award while playing in the Bay Area: Gary Matthews (1973, Giants), Jose Canseco (1986, A’s) and Ben Grieve (1998, A’s). Canseco went on to play more games in right field, so will appear in the upcoming article on that position.

Rich Campbell is a Marketing Professor at Sonoma State University by day and A’s fan by night. He has previously been a sports business contributor at Forbes.com and his academic writing has appeared in Sport Marketing Quarterly. You can find him on Twitter @RichCampbelPhD.