Richie Ashburn is the All Time MVP

Check this out.  In the 10 years I have records on him, Richie Ashburn, the defensive wizard with a high on base, has never been on a losing team.  Not once!  Seven times he helped guide a franchise to 90 or more wins, including 108 win  Franklin Lakes Pillpoppers in ATB 7.

To find this stat, I created a baseball +/- score.  It is truly meaningless, or at least mostly meaningless, but a fun little stat nonetheless.  I looked at each player and simply gave them positive credit for being on a winning team, and negative credit for being on a losing one.  The more wins above .500 in a given year, the more credit.

Here is the top 15 of All Time:
129 Wins: Richie Ashburn (10 Seasons)
125 Wins: Al Grabowski (11 Seasons)
120 Wins: Ted Williams (11 Seasons)
119 Wins: Jeff Gray (10 Seasons)
116 Wins: Reggie Smith (10 Seasons)
103 Wins: Oscar Charleston (9 Seasons)
99 Wins: Johnny Podres (7 Seasons)
98 Wins: Rob Murphy (11 Seasons)
97 Wins: Teddy Higuera (10 Seasons)
95 Wins: Bill Bernhard (10 Seasons)
94 Wins: Dave Bancroft (7 Seasons)
93 Wins: Gabe White (11 Seasons)
91 Wins: Orator Shaffer (6 Seasons)
90 Wins: Harry Brecheen (11 Seasons)
90 Wins: Buck Leonard (9 Seasons)

Most of those are very good players, but only Ted Williams would be considered an ATB elite.

Let's look at the data slightly differently.  Here are the top 15 in terms of average +/- per season:

15.2 Wins: Orator Shaffer (6 Seasons)
14.1 Wins: Johnny Podres (7 Seasons)
13.4 Wins: Dave Bancroft (7 Seasons)
13.2 Wins: Ross Youngs (6 Seasons)
12.9 Wins: Richie Ashburn (10 Seasons)
11.9 Wins: Jeff Gray (10 Seasons)
11.8 Wins: Pud Galvin (6 Seasons)
11.6 Wins: Reggie Smith (10 Seasons)
11.6 Wins: Bob O'Farrell (7 Seasons)
11.4 Wins: Oscar Charleston (9 Seasons)
11.4 Wins: Al Grabowski (11 Seasons)
11.2 Wins: Lenny Dykstra (6 Seasons)
11.0 Wins: Pat Jarvis (8 Seasons)
10.9 Wins: Ted Williams (11 Seasons)
10.7 Wins: Rusty Staub (6 Seasons)

By this measure, Ashburn drops a few spots and Orator Shaffer takes the lead.  Oscar Charleston also makes an appearance.

Shaffer is an interesting case.  In 6 seasons, his teams have exceeded 97 wins 5 times, including a wonderful 111 win campaign last year from his Spanish Harlem Pinata Beaters.

Again however, the elite players of ATB are largely absent.  Here is a view for those players most commonly referred to as the best of the bes, the top 11 draft picks from last season:

1) 103 Wins: Oscar Charleston (9 Seasons)
2)  61 Wins: Barry Bonds (11 Seasons)
3)   6 Wins: Babe Ruth (11 Seasons)
4)  28 Wins: Honus Wagner (11 Seasons)
5)  42 Wins: Pedro Martinez (11 Seasons)
6)  13 Wins: Mickey Mantle (11 Seasons)
7)  28 Wins: Fred Dunlap (6 Seasons)
8) -26 Wins: Lou Gehrig (11 Seasons)
9)   3 Wins: Ross Barnes (4 Seasons)
10) 41 Wins: Greg Maddux (11 Seasons)
11)-95 Wins: Rogers Hornsby (11 Seasons)

Ugly isn't it?  Only Charleston is remotely close to the top 10 overall.

Finally, here are the worst career +/- scores:
-122 Wins: Bob Feller (8 Seasons)
-107 Wins: Don Mattingly (10 Seasons)
-107 Wins: Jimmie Foxx (11 Seasons)
-105 Wins: Steve Carlton (9 Seasons)
-104 Wins: Ichiro Suzuki (9 Seasons)
-97 Wins: Bob Gibson (11 Seasons)
-96 Wins: Tom Seaver (10 Seasons)
-95 Wins: Eddie Guardado (7 Seasons)
-95 Wins: Rogers Hornsby (11 Seasons)
-91 Wins: Ryne Sandberg (10 Seasons)
-90 Wins: Whitey Ford (7 Seasons)

There are some famous, but also bad, players on this list.  Feller, Mattingly, Carlton, Ichrio, Gibson, Seaver, Sandberg and Ford are all MLB greats.  They also happen to be drafted every year despite some serious ATB shortcomings.

Don't make too much of these lists however.  It's only for our enjoyment - I am still happy to have Babe Ruth, even if he's only been on a winning team in 4 of 11 seasons.  Said another way, only Brad P and Justin P have been able to go to the playoffs with Ruth as their franchise player.  Incredible.