Every team looks to have a speedy table setter at the top of its lineup to set the table and serve as a catalyst offensively, and there have been some great speedsters over the years, starting with guys like Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock.

However, on the other end of the spectrum there have been some incredibly slow players through the years, guys that turn doubles into singles and clog up the basepaths.

Some were great power hitters to overcome their lack of speed, while others were hindered by it and simply backups. Regardless, here are the 25 slowest players in baseball history.

No. 25: Rusty Staub

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 190

Career At-Bats: 9,720

Career Steals: 47

Career Triples: 47

Staub had a fantastic career that spanned 23 seasons, as he compiled a career line of .279 BA, 292 HR, 1,466 RBI, beginning his career as an everyday player at just 19 years old.

Even as a youngster, though, he had little foot speed, and while he had a 12-steal season in 1970, he was also caught 11 times that season, and throughout his career he was one of the slowest runners in the game.

No. 24: Russ Nixon

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 195

Career At-Bats: 2,504

Career Stolen Bases: 0

Career Triples: 19

Nixon holds the distinction of having the most career at-bats without successfully stealing a base, as he was 0-for-7 during his 12-year career.

He was not an overly slow runner, with a decent number of career triples, but his overall lack of base-stealing ability earns him a place on this list.

No. 23: Adrian Gonzalez

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 225

Career At-Bats: 3,212

Career Steals: 2

Career Triples: 9

Gonzalez is one of the top hitters in the game today, and his trade to the Red Sox was among the biggest moves of the off season, as he will finally move to an offense with some other pieces around him.

That said, dating back to when he was taken first overall in the 2000 MLB draft, he has been incredibly slow, stealing just 14 bases in six seasons in the minors and then not recording his first big-league steal until 2009.

No. 22: Frank Thomas

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 240

Career At-Bats: 8,199

Career Steals: 32

Career Triples: 12

Hard to believe that he was a former running back at Auburn, as Thomas was in fact a terrific athlete overall. However, speed was not one of the assets that he brought to the baseball diamond.

With over 8,000 at-bats in his career, and with 4,550 total bases and a .301 career batting average, Thomas spent plenty of time on base during his 19-year career, but he never stole more than seven bases in a season, and that was when he was still in prime shape.

No. 21: Greg Luzinski

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 220

Career At-Bats: 6,505

Career Steals: 37

Career Triples: 24

"The Bull," as he was known, was one of the top power hitters of the 1970s and was widely regarded as the strongest player in the league at that time.

However, his strength made him bulky and clumsy on the bases, and he was a fairly safe bet for a single, a strikeout or a home run, but little else.

No. 20: Mo Vaughn

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 225

Career At-Bats: 5,532

Career Steals: 30

Career Triples: 10

While Vaughn always carried a decent amount of bulk on his 6'1" frame, he was actually fairly agile in his early days, even stealing 11 bases during his 1995 MVP season.

However, by the end of his career, his weight ballooned to the 275-pound range, and he was nothing more than a liability in the field and at the plate.

No. 19: Ramon Castro

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 240

Career At-Bats: 1,372

Career Steals: 2

Career Triples: 0

Castro is your prototypical backup catcher. He can hit a little, is good at handling a staff and has a little bit of power.

He is also your prototypical slow baserunner, and thanks to his big frame, he is not only slow but clumsy as well on the bases, and it is probably for the best that he only plays once a week.

No. 18: Jason Phillips

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 180

Career At-Bats: 1,382

Career Steals: 0

Career Triples: 0

Phillips was a valuable player who could catch and play first base while providing some pop. Not to mention he rocked a pretty sweet pair of goggles.

For being a relatively small guy compared to most catchers, he was surprisingly slow. He was 0-for-5 in his career on stolen base attempts, and that was almost certainly five more attempts than he should have had.

No. 17: Matt LeCroy

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 225

Career At-Bats: 1,388

Career Stolen Bases: 0

Career Triples: 1

One look at the stout LeCroy was all you needed to tell that he was not a man that was going to burn up the basepaths, and he was thrown out on all four of his career stolen base attempts.

Before he retired, LeCroy was the active leader for the most at-bats without a stolen base, and he stands at seventh on the all-time list.

No. 16: Edgar Martinez

Height: 6'0"

Weight: 170

Career At-Bats: 7,213

Career Steals: 49

Career Triples: 15

While the 49 career steals look rather gaudy compared to the rest of this list, and he even had a career best of 14 steals in 1992, during the second half of his career he was largely recognized as the slowest player in baseball.

While his Hall of Fame candidacy will be something that is debated in the years to come, his lack of speed is something that everyone can agree on.

No. 15: Smoky Burgess

Height: 5'8"

Weight: 185

Career At-Bats: 4,471

Career Steals: 13

Career Triples: 33

Burgess was the very definition of stocky, and despite his frame, he was actually a very good hitter and was a six-time All-Star to boot.

However, he was incredibly slow, as one would expect simply from looking at him, as he never had more than three steals in a season and was actually caught 14 times in his career on top of the 13 attempts he was successful with.

No. 14: Johnny Estrada

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 209

Career At-Bats: 2,079

Career Steals: 0

Career Triples: 0

Estrada made noise as a member of the Braves in 2004, when he hit .314 in his first full season, making the All-Star team and winning the Silver Slugger, and he has been a solid offensive catcher since.

However, he is as plodding as they come, even for a catcher, and he has yet to even attempt a stolen base in his career, while also going without a triple despite being a very good hitter.

No. 13: Sean Casey

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 215

Career At-Bats: 5,066

Career Stolen Bases: 18

Career Triples: 12

As far as his size, Casey is one of the smaller guys on this list at just 215 pounds, and he was a fantastic fielder with great footwork around the bag at first base.

However, "The Mayor," as he was known, plodded along the basepaths in such a way that there are a number of actual mayors who could smoke him in a footrace.

No. 12: David Ortiz

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 240

Career At-Bats: 5,730

Career Stolen Bases: 19

Career Triples: 16

Ortiz is a lumbering man, and watching him run is not a pretty sight. That said, he is a fairly good baserunner given his overall lack of speed.

He has recorded at least one triple every year since 2000 and already has one this year, while his career high for steals came in 2007, when he swiped three bases.

No. 11: Yadier Molina

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 230

Career At-Bats: 2,721

Career Steals: 21

Career Triples: 2

Molina is hands down the best defensive catcher in baseball right now, and he is a terrific situational hitter, but aside from his brother, he may be the slowest player in baseball today.

He is actually a very good baserunner, which has resulted in 17 steals over the past two seasons, but there is no doubt he is incredibly slow.

No. 10: Matt Stairs

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 200

Career At-Bats: 5,145

Career Steals: 30

Career Triples: 13

Stairs has made a career of being a left-handed bat off the bench who steps up to the plate trying to do one thing and one thing alone, and that is hit a home run.

Now 43 years old and playing with the Nationals, he has obviously lost a step or two, but in his case he didn't have a step to lose in the first place. He has stolen a total of seven bases since 2005, and that is still more than most would have expected.

No. 9: John Olerud

Height: 6'5"

Weight: 205

Career At-Bats: 7,592

Career Steals: 11

Career Triples: 13

Olerud was one of the best hitters of the 1990s, but he set a record with nine seasons in which he had at least 400 at-bats but did not register a steal.

Olerud was a slick fielder and had one of the smoothest swings in the game, but speed was by no means a part of his game.

No. 8: Alvin Davis

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 195

Career At-Bats: 4,240

Career Steals: 7

Career Triples: 10

Mr. Mariner was the first true star player in the Mariners' fairly short history, as he won Rookie of the Year in 1984 with a .284 BA, 27 HR, 116 RBI season.

However, Davis had zero speed, and after swiping five bases his rookie year, he stole just two more bases the rest of his career.

No. 7: Jim Thome

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 250

Career At-Bats: 8,012

Career Steals: 19

Career Triples: 26

Thome is among the best sluggers to ever play the game, with 590 career home runs, and he is still dangerous at the age of 40 playing for the Twins.

However, he was slow when he first broke into the league at 20 years old, and now 20 years later he is one of the slowest players in all of baseball.

No. 6: Gus Triandos

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 205

Career At-Bats: 3,907

Career Steals: 1

Career Triples: 6

Triandos was one of the best offensive catchers of the 1950s, reaching double digits in home runs for seven straight seasons from 1955-1961, but he was incredibly slow.

He only topped 20 doubles twice in his career, despite his considerable power, and his one career steal speaks to the type of baserunner he was.

No. 5: Ed Herrmann

Height: 6'1"

Weight: 195

Career At-Bats: 2,729

Career Steals: 6

Career Triples: 4

Catchers are generally among the slowest players on the field, with the exception of guys like Russell Martin and Jason Kendall, but Herrmann was a different kind of slow.

Power was really the only asset he brought to the plate, as he was a .240 career hitter with a .310 on-base percentage, although he did manage to make an All-Star team in 1974.

No. 4: Willie McCovey

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 198

Career At-Bats: 8,197

Career Steals: 26

Career Triples: 46

McCovey was the prototypical power hitter during his career, launching 521 home runs, as he was a consistent force in the middle of the Giants lineup.

However, he was already slow to begin with to start his career, and he ran into knee problems near the end of his career and was virtually unable to run, making him one of the slowest players ever.

No. 3: Bengie Molina

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 190

Career At-Bats: 4,812

Career Steals: 3

Career Triples: 6

A footrace between the Molina brothers would be quite a sight, but Bengie has quite an impressive track record of being incredibly slow.

His peers echoed those sentiments in a 2006 Sports Illustrated poll, when 56 percent of the players surveyed chose Molina as the slowest player in all of baseball.

No. 2: Cecil Fielder

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 230

Career At-Bats: 5,157

Career Stolen Bases: 2

Career Triples: 7

Fielder was a man built for one thing, and that was hitting home runs, and he did that like few players did in the early 1990s, hitting 51 bombs in 1990, among other impressive seasons.

However, if the ball didn't leave the yard, Fielder also clogged up the basepaths like few players ever have. Aside from his ridiculously low stolen base and triple numbers, he also never topped 25 doubles in any of his 13 seasons, as it was hard enough for him to make it the 90 feet to first base.

No. 1: Ernie Lombardi

Height: 6'3"

Weight: 230

Career At-Bats: 5,855

Career Steals: 8

Career Triples: 27

The career triples are deceiving, as Lombardi played in an era when the triple was far more common, and Lombardi is widely considered the slowest player to ever play the game.

He ground into an impressive 261 double plays in his career, and the stat was not even kept during the beginning of his career, but despite his lack of wheels, he was a great average hitter, winning a pair of batting titles and posting a career .306 average.

He was so slow that the infielders would play in the outfield grass, yet he still hit for such a high average, as he really is one of the most underrated hitters of all time, but also the slowest player in MLB history.