The Top 11 #11s Of All-Time

By career WAR, only while wearing the number 11.

1. Edgar Martinez
2. Barry Larkin
3. Luis Aparacio
4. Toby Harrah
5. Jim Fregosi
6. Bill Freehan
7.Carl Hubbell
8. Doug DeCinces
9. Lefty Gomez
10.Dizzy Trout
11. Dixie Walker

The top active number 11s are Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Zimmerman. Currently ranked number 13, Rollins would appear to be a good bet to crack the Top 11 -- provided he keeps the double-ones throughout the rest of his career.

Note how the top 5 is dominated by shortstops. Career DH Edgar Martinez is the sole non-shorty among them. (Toby Harrah ended up playing more games at third base than short in his career, 1,099 to 813.)

Just missing the Top 11 was Hall of Famer Paul Waner, who had his number 11 retired by the Pirates. If Pittsburgh had adopted uniform numbers a year earlier, he would have edged out Dixie Walker for the final spot on the list.

When Barry Larkin first came up with the Reds, he wore number 15. He wore it in both 1986 and 1987 before switching to 11 for the 1988 season. Had he debuted with the 11 on his back or even switched a year earlier, he would be number one all time, not Edgar Martinez.

The best player to ever wear #11 -- even for just a portion of his career -- is Rogers Hornsby, who did so with the St. Louis Browns when he was past his prime. He only registered 58 plate appearances sporting number 11 as he was concentrating on his managing duties by then.

(Without this page at Baseball-Reference.com, compiling this list would have taken three years of research instead of three hours.)