Babe Ruth

This season brings the 40-year anniversary of the legendary Hank Aaron breaking fellow Hall of Famer Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. In fact, April 8, 1974—40 years ago today—is the exact date on which Aaron hit No. 715 to pass The Babe.

The sports memorabilia world is still buzzing over an auction result that can rightly be considered an upset.  For the first time ever, a 1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth rookie card sold for more money than the famed T206 Honus Wagner. 

In professional baseball, knowing how to run the bases is something that is taken for granted.  It is assumed that anyone can figure out how to run around the diamond-shaped path on a baseball field's infield.  

So, when players make mistakes on the basepaths, they stand out more than things like errors, or wild pitches, or other mistakes because everyone watching knows that even they could do that.  Sometimes these base running blunders are laughable, but sometimes they can change the course of baseball history.

With 27 World Championships, the New York Yankees have dominated the MLB for nearly 100 years.

By employing some of the best hitters in the history of baseball, New York's continuing professionalism mixed with the shear ability to consistently win has become the epitome of their championship swagger.

This is NOT a list of the two greatest hitters for each team. This is a list of the greatest individual seasons for two hitters on each team. 

Steroids are ignored. Barry Bonds is on this list. So is Alex Rodriguez (twice, actually, and not with the Yankees). Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, and other known or assumed users are here. 

Listed by division, not ranked by greatness. 

Many consider the 1927 New York Yankees the greatest MLB team ever assembled.

Most of this credit is given to the heralded “Murderer’s Row” lineup including Hall of Fame inductees Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and Earle Combs—though having two Hall of Fame pitchers in Herb Pennock and Waite Hoyt certainly didn’t hurt.

Others would argue for the 1961 Yankees—a star-studded roster in its own right with Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard, and Whitey Ford.

Last season, Jose Bautista shocked the baseball world by coming out of nowhere to launch 54 home runs as a member of the Blue Jays, setting a franchise record, and leading all of baseball in longballs.

In the process, he registered the 42nd season in which a player has hit at least 50 home runs. It is a feat achieved by only 26 different players, and is one of the most revered clubs in all of professional sports.

There have been many accomplished hurlers in the history of Major League baseball—many of whom threw from the right.

There have not, however, been quite as many great left-handers in the history of the sport.

In the ensuing list, I will attempt to rank whom I think are the 10 greatest in history, with respect to eras, longevity, legend, and shear greatness.

Before we get going, I'd like to name a few who did not make the cut.

Honorable Mentions: 

Only 10 percent of the population is left-handed. Despite a world against us (looking at you notebook spirals), being left-handed has its advantages. One place in particular is on the baseball field.

St. Louis muscleman Albert Pujols has done a pretty good job of imprinting himself on Major League Baseball's collective consciousness these past several months as followers of the grand old game have been compelled to consider a radical change of venue for the stand-out Cardinal first baseman.