Who are the best MLB players without a ring?

Indeed, the fact that we are easily able to come up with a top 10 list of some of the best Major League Baseball players to never win a World Series is proof that the list is longer than you’d think.

Baseball is very much a team sport. It’s not so easy to make it all the way with just one star - you have to have good pitchers, hitters, and defense. That means there are several baseball legends throughout history who have won MVP awards, Cy Young awards, played in All-Star games, set records, and even ended up in the Hall of Fame, and yet…they never did get that World Series ring.

Top 10 best MLB players to never win a World Series

10. Mike Piazza

MLB Career: 16 seasons (1992-2007)

Teams: Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics

World Series appearances: 1

Mike Piazza was in the league for 16 seasons. He had 2,127 hits and 427 home runs with a .308 batting average. Not only that, but Piazza changed the catcher position for good - he proved that a player can both control the pitcher and bat with power. He played in five postseasons and made it to the World Series once, in 2000, but lost to the New York Yankees. He was named to 12 All-Star Games, named the All-Star Game MVP in 1996, has 10 Silver Slugger Awards at catcher, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

9. Juan Marichal

MLB Career: 16 seasons (1960-1975)

Teams: San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series appearances: 1

Juan Marichal played Major League Baseball for 16 seasons with a record of 243-143 and a 2.89 ERA with 2,303 strikeouts. He was a dominant, right-handed pitcher who, at just 24 years old, out-pitched Yankees star Whitey Ford in his World Series debut. He won 20+ games six times in his career (in the 60s, that was much harder to accomplish). Marichal never won the Cy Young Award but finished eighth in voting in 1971 and appeared in all nine All-Star games, plus received MVP votes in seven seasons. He went to the World Series in 1962 with the San Francisco Giants, pitching four scoreless innings, but they ended up losing to the New York Yankees. He also went to the National League Championship in 1971, but lost there too, to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

8. Ichiro Suzuki

MLB Career: 19 seasons (2001-2019)

Teams: Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins

World Series appearances: 0

Ichiro Suzuki played for 19 seasons and had 3,089 hits and over 500 stolen bases as a .311 hitter and MLB record-holder for most hits in a single season (262 in 2004). He was good from the start, winning Rookie of the Year and AL MVO in his first season in the league. He was a 10-time All-Star and had at least 208 hits every single year between 2001 and 2010. Despite the fact that he had a career 4,367 hits (including his time in the Japan Pacific League), he never made it to a World Series. He will be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2025.

7. Tony Gwynn

MLB Career: 20 seasons (1982-2001)

Teams: San Diego Padres

World Series appearances: 2

One of the best left-handed hitters of all time, Tony Gwynn played 20 seasons in MLB and all 20 were with the San Diego Padres. He was a singles and doubles hitting machine, finishing with a career 3,141 hits and a .338 batting average, never hitting below .309 in a full season. Gwynn won eight NL batting titles, was honored as Silver Slugger seven times, was voted MVP in 12 seasons, played in 15 All-Star games, won four Gold Glove awards, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. He played in the postseason three times, reaching the World Series twice, but lost to the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and the New York Yankees in 1998. Gwynn passed away from cancer in 2014 at the young age of 54.

6. Ernie Banks

MLB Career: 19 seasons (1953-1971)

Teams: Chicago Cubs

World Series appearances: 0

Ernie Banks, widely regarded as the greatest Chicago Cubs player of all time, never even even made it to the post season. He spent 19 seasons with the Cubs and in that time he had 2,583 hits, including 512 home runs, batting .274, and had 1,636 RBIs. He received MVP votes in 11 seasons, won back-to-back NL MVP awards in 1958 and 1959, appeared in 11 All-Star games, led the Majors in RBIs twice, and entered the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility (1977), just the 13th player to ever do so. The cursed Cubs went from 1908 to 2016 without a World Series win, even with Banks on the team.

5. Nap Lajoie

MLB Career: 21 seasons (1896-1916)

Teams: Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Naps

World Series appearances: 0

In Nap Lajoie’s time in the league, baseball was pretty different from how it is now, but Lajoie is still one of the best players in history. He played for 21 seasons, batting over .350 ten times and finishing with a career batting average of .338 and a total of 3,242 hits and 1,599 RBI. He received MVP votes in 1911 and 1913 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1937. Despite all of that, Lajoie never even played in the postseason, let alone won a World Series.

4. Ken Griffey Jr.

MLB career: 22 seasons (1989-2010)

Teams: Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox

World Series appearances: 0

Ken Griffey Jr. was dominant in every way, including speed, hitting, and defense. He played for 22 seasons, collecting 2,781 hits with 630 home runs with a batting average of .284. Griffey Jr. was Rookie of the Year in 1989, received MVP votes in nine seasons, winning it in 1997. He was a 13-time All-Star and won the Gold Glove 10 times. He played in the postseason three times, but never made it past the AL Championship series. One of the best defensive outfielders of all time and one of just six members of the 600-HR club, Griffey Jr. was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016 despite never making it to a World Series.

3. Barry Bonds

MLB career: 22 seasons (1986-2007)

Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants

World Series appearances: 1

Barry Bonds is a bit of a controversial player on the list due to the steroid issues during his career, which have left a permanent asterisk by his name on all “greatest MLB players” lists. Even still, he was always a star athlete. Bonds holds the record for home runs in a season with 73 and in a career with 762. He is a seven-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, and eight-time Gold Glove winner and finished his career with 2,935 hits and 514 stolen bases. Due to the steroid use, Bonds was never inducted into the Hall of Fame, but was still one of the greatest in the game in his 22 seasons in the league. Despite all his accomplishments, he never won the World Series. He played in seven postseasons and the 2002 World Series with the San Francisco Giants, when they lost to the Anaheim Angels.

2. Ted Williams

MLB career: 19 seasons (1939-42, 1946-60)

Teams: Boston Red Sox

World Series appearances: 1

Ted Williams played for 19 seasons, winning two Triple Crowns and two MVP awards, receiving MVP votes in 18 seasons. He is a 19-time All-Star and led the league in batting six times, home runs four times, and RBIs four times. Williams, AKA the Splendid Splinter, lost three seasons when he served in the US military during World War II. Despite losing three seasons, Williams finished with 2,654 hits and 521 home runs, 1,839 RBIs, and a .344 batting average. He is one of just four players in MLB history to log over 2,000 walks. He led the league in walks eight times and hit at least .400 in a season three different times. His .482 career on-base percentage is the highest OBP in league history. In 1941, Williams batted .406, which made the shortlist of greatest single-seasons by a hitter in professional baseball history. He made it to one World Series with the Red Sox, but they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.

1. Ty Cobb

MLB career: 24 seasons (1905-1928)

Teams: Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Athletics

World Series appearances: 3

Ty Cobb spent 24 seasons in MLB and collected 4,189 hits and a record .366 batting average during that time. He is the all-time leader in career batting average to this day and also set up to 90 other records during his time. He also still holds the record for combined runs scored and batted in at 4,065. He is sixth all-time in wins above replacement (WAR). Cobb led MLB in batting on 12 different occasions, including nine seasons in a row between 1907-1915. Cobb won MVP in 1911, receiving votes in the following three seasons as well. Cobb was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936, receiving 98.2% of votes, the most for any player until 1992. He had the chance to win the World Series three years in a row, playing in the series from 1907-1909 with the Detroit Tigers, but they lost all three seasons to the Chicago Cubs two years in a row and then the Pittsburgh Pirates.