The Hall of Fame admits only a very select group of the greatest players in baseball history. Even within that limited club, there is a much smaller circle that is extra special: the One-Teamers.
Even for a Hall of Famer, playing an entire career for the same MLB franchise is rare. But that club has expanded recently with the induction of Todd Helton (Rockies) and Joe Mauer (Twins) into the Hall in 2024. In coming years, it will have the chance to grow even more, as recently retired one-team players like Buster Posey (Giants), Yadier Molina (Cardinals), Joey Votto (Reds) and Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) become eligible.
One day, that group might also include José Ramírez. The Guardians' cornerstone third baseman has played all 13 seasons of his career in Cleveland, and he just signed a seven-year extension to keep him there through 2032.
Ramírez is on a Hall of Fame track -- he's a seven-time All-Star, six-time Silver Slugger and six-time top-five MVP finisher. If he stays with the Guardians, and keeps up his pace, he'll be looking at enshrinement in Cooperstown as a one-team player.
As it stands now, the total number of Hall of Famers who played for only one American League or National League team is 59 -- or less than one-quarter of all Hall members who were elected as players.
Those 59 players represent 21 different franchises. Here is a breakdown of those players by team, along with a look at whether the nine other franchises could join the list anytime soon.
(Note: This list includes Cap Anson, who spent time with two clubs in the short-lived National Association before joining the Cubs in the National League. It also includes Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella, who both appeared in the Negro Leagues prior to making the jump to the Dodgers. However, it does not include Willard Brown, who played only one AL season for the St. Louis Browns -- now the Orioles -- but spent the rest of his career in the Negro Leagues.)
Astros: Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio
It’s remarkable that the Astros not only have two players on this list, but that they spent 15 seasons together as teammates (1991-2005, or the entirety of Bagwell’s time in the big leagues). It took an infamous trade to bring the leaders of the Killer B’s together: Bagwell, a New England native, was drafted by the Red Sox in 1989 but traded to the Astros in August 1990, a year before he made his Major League debut. In Houston, Bagwell slugged 449 home runs while Biggio collected 3,060 hits.
Braves: Chipper Jones
Some other Braves franchise legends lost the one-team label at the tail end of their careers, including Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, John Smoltz and Warren Spahn. But Chipper was a Brave from the time Atlanta made him the top overall pick in the 1990 Draft, through a World Series championship in 1995 and an NL MVP Award in 199, up to his retirement at age 40 after earning his eighth All-Star selection in 2012.
Brewers: Robin Yount
Yount debuted with the Brewers as an 18-year-old on Opening Day in 1974 and remained with Milwaukee for the next 20 seasons despite a couple of forays into free agency. He won two AL MVP Awards and recorded 3,142 hits for the Brew Crew.
Cardinals: Bob Gibson, Stan Musial
This list could grow once Yadier Molina joins the 2028 Hall of Fame ballot, but for now, it’s hard to think of a much more iconic duo of a pitcher and position player than this. Stan the Man piled up 3,630 hits and won three NL MVP Awards, while Gibson struck out 3,117 batters and reeled in two NL Cy Young Awards. They combined for 39 seasons with St. Louis, including five (1959-63) when an aging Musial and young Gibson overlapped.
Cubs: Cap Anson, Ernie Banks
It’s hard to miss this list by a smaller margin than Ryne Sandberg, who began his career with six plate appearances for the 1981 Phillies before being traded to Chicago, where he spent the rest of his career. There was no such issue for Banks, who earned the name "Mr. Cub" as he became a beloved figure across 19 MLB seasons in which he bashed 512 home runs.
Dodgers: Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson
What a quintet. Interestingly, these five legends all started their careers when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, and only Drysdale and Koufax spent a significant amount of time in Los Angeles. But there will be a true L.A.-only Dodgers Hall of Famer soon enough when Kershaw, who capped off his career by winning his third World Series title, joins the ballot in 2030. Of the Dodgers' current five, did you know that Robinson could have dropped off this list when a potential trade to the rival Giants emerged during the 1956-57 offseason? But Jackie retired instead.
Giants: Carl Hubbell, Travis Jackson, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Ross Youngs
The Giants departed New York for San Francisco before the 1958 season, and by that point, each of these five Hall of Famers had been retired for at least 10 years. The last one standing was Ott, who mashed 511 homers between 1926-47. Of course, it was easier to have a great player spend his entire career with a certain team back before free agency entered the sport in the 1970s. That being said, Buster Posey should bring some fresh blood to this Giants contingent when San Francisco's star catcher joins the 2027 ballot.
Guardians: Bob Feller, Addie Joss, Bob Lemon
José Ramírez might have this group in his sights, but for now, it consists of three right-handed pitchers. Two of them (Feller and Lemon) teamed up atop the Cleveland rotation for several years in the 1940s and 50s, starting four of six games during the franchise’s most recent World Series triumph in 1948. Joss’ one-team status is sadly tied into his tragic story: After nine seasons with Cleveland, he died two days after his 31st birthday in 1911, following a brief illness. Sixty-seven years later, the Veterans Committee elected Joss to the Hall while waiving the rule requiring 10 Major League seasons.
Mariners: Edgar Martinez
A number of legendary players have suited up for Seattle over the years, but only the beloved Edgar and his .312 career average did so for his entire career before making it to the Hall. It remains to be seen if Félix Hernández will someday garner enough support to join him there.
Orioles: Jim Palmer, Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson
The longer you play, the more difficult it is to remain with a single team. Well, that wasn’t an issue for this incredible trio. The three-time Cy Young winner Palmer, the Iron Man Ripken and the 16-time Gold Glover Robinson logged a combined 63 Major League seasons, every single one of them with Baltimore. At least one of those three Hall of Famers was an Oriole every year from 1955-2001.
Padres: Tony Gwynn
Banks was Mr. Cub, and Gwynn was Mr. Padre. A two-sport star at San Diego State, Gwynn stayed local when the Padres drafted him in 1981. Twenty years after that, he wrapped up a career that saw him nab 15 All-Star selections, eight batting titles and 3,141 hits with a .338 career batting average.
Phillies: Mike Schmidt
The man with a strong argument as the greatest third baseman of all time won 10 Gold Glove Awards at the hot corner, while leading the NL in home runs eight times and totaling 548 career homers. And Schmidt did it all in the City of Brotherly Love.
Pirates: Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Pie Traynor
Of these four one-team position players who made it from Pittsburgh to Cooperstown, three were contemporaries. Clemente (1955) and Mazeroski (1956) debuted in back-to-back years, and Stargell joined them at the end of the 1962 season. Over the course of their overlapping careers, the Pirates won three World Series titles.
Reds: Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Bid McPhee
McPhee was done playing before the turn of the 20th century. But Bench and Larkin combined to give the Cincinnati faithful two long-tenured, home-grown future Hall of Famers throughout the 1970s, 80s and 90s -- a period that also netted a trio of championship rings. Thanks to Joey Votto, who has a good chance to reach Cooperstown when he joins the 2029 ballot, the career Reds Hall of Famers could soon number four.
Red Sox: Bobby Doerr, Jim Rice, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski
Setting aside 1945 (when Williams and Doerr were both serving in the military during World War II), these four players gave the Red Sox at least one single-team Hall of Famer -- and often more than one -- in each season from 1937 through 1989. Williams, the last .400 hitter, and Yaz, who notched 3,419 career hits, are two of the top 25 position players in MLB history by Wins Above Replacement.
Rockies: Todd Helton
Colorado officially became the 21st franchise to have a Hall of Fame plaque all to itself when Helton’s was unveiled in Cooperstown in July 2024. A five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, three-time Gold Glover and the 2000 MLB batting champion, Helton finished his career with a .316 batting average and 369 home runs for the Rockies.
Royals: George Brett
As far into a Draft as 29th or 30th overall, a team would hardly dare dream of snagging a future Hall of Famer. So it’s quite amazing that Brett and Schmidt went with consecutive picks in those two spots, in 1971. And neither ever left the team that selected them. Brett collected 3,154 hits for Kansas City while winning an AL MVP Award in 1980 and a World Series championship in 1985.
Tigers: Charlie Gehringer, Al Kaline, Alan Trammell
Generations of Tigers fans were able to root for a one-team Hall of Famer thanks to these three, whose careers combined to touch each decade from the 1920s through the '80s. Many would argue that there should be a fourth name on this list, but Lou Whitaker (Trammell’s longtime double-play partner) is regarded as one of the Hall’s most glaring omissions.
Twins: Walter Johnson, Joe Mauer, Tony Oliva, Kirby Puckett
Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators, wrapping up his legendary 417-win career more than 30 years before the franchise departed from D.C. for Minnesota. Oliva arrived soon after, but it took him many years to eventually make the Hall of Fame via the Golden Days Era Committee in 2022. Mauer, Puckett and the Big Train were all first-ballot Hall of Fame selections.
White Sox: Luke Appling, Red Faber, Ted Lyons
All three of these players starred in Chicago in the first half of the 20th century, with Faber and Lyons both starting nearly 500 games on the mound for the Sox. Appling won two batting titles as a shortstop but hit only 45 career homers -- plus one more ... off Warren Spahn ... at age 75.
Yankees: Earle Combs, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig, Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, Mariano Rivera, Phil Rizzuto
The Bronx Bombers have four more players on this list than any other franchise, and nearly enough to field a legitimate lineup: Dickey behind the plate, Gehrig, Jeter and Rizzuto around the infield, Combs, DiMaggio and Mantle around the outfield, Ford starting on the mound and Rivera looming in the bullpen.
Franchises without a single-team Hall of Famer
Angels: Will Mike Trout finish his career in Anaheim? If so, then it’s only a matter of time before the Halos have a one-team Hall of Famer.
Athletics: For all of the greats who have worn an A’s uniform, few have worn only an A’s uniform. It’s far too early to say if a current A's player fits the bill, but 22-year-old Nick Kurtz just had a smash debut with 36 home runs and the AL Rookie of the Year Award.
Blue Jays: With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. now signed to a massive 14-year, $500 million contract that would keep him in Toronto until 2039, he has a chance to give the Jays their first one-team Hall of Famer someday.
D-backs: It’s still extremely early, but Corbin Carroll is already a Rookie of the Year winner and two-time All-Star through his age-24 season, and he has an eight-year deal to stay in Arizona through 2030. We'll see what happens after that.
Rangers: Many of their current stars came from elsewhere, but perhaps one day we’ll talk about an up-and-coming star like Wyatt Langford in this light.
Rays: There haven’t been any truly long-tenured, Rays-only players in the franchise’s relatively short history, but Junior Caminero just slugged 45 home runs as a 21-year-old.
Marlins: Ditto for the Marlins. And remember: 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara pitched briefly for St. Louis before being traded to Miami.
Mets: Recent franchise superstars like Jacob deGrom and Pete Alonso have now left New York. Will David Wright pick up any Hall of Fame momentum after narrowly surviving his first ballot with 6.2% of the vote? Wright jumped up to 14.8% on his third ballot in 2026.
Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman and Stephen Strasburg stayed in Washington for their whole careers, but injuries curtailed their careers before they could build serious cases for Cooperstown. Bryce Harper and Juan Soto both left D.C. The Nats' most promising young star is James Wood, who just hit 31 homers and made his first All-Star team at age 22.