My All Time Team
I've been toying with this idea for a few years. Anywhere, here's my all time team. We would play in the modern AL.C - Josh Gibson - Yogi is my back up catcher, but I believe Gibson was the greatest catcher of all time. Not only was he solid defensively, but he may have been the greatest right handed hitter who ever lived. Enough people who saw him sure thought so.
1B - Lou Gehrig - the ultimate Yankee. Representing patience and power he is now known more for the tragic way he died than for the havoc he wrought batting behind Ruth. I'm not splitting them up.
2B - Rogers Hornsby - Bill James has spent a lot of time trying to show that Joe Morgan is better than than Hornsby. Sorry Bill, I just don't buy it. Hornsby was the only hitter in baseball who had a season in the `20's where his value was greater than Babe Ruth's. Joe Morgan is an idiot, but he was a great player, I just don't believe he was greater than Hornsby. My team isn't really gonna steal many bases, anyway, so Rogers gets the job.
3B - Alex Rodriguez - Sorry Schmidty, you got passed.
SS - Honus Wagner - Actually, I could play Wagner at 3rd if ARod proves to be better at short in Spring Training. Wagner was simply awesome, for a long time, and ironically, his training methods were heavily scrutinized at one point, too.
LF - Mickey Mantle - I'm playing Mickey in left cause this team has a DH, and his speed will play well in left. I'm also thinking of batting him and his huge OBP first in my batting order.
CF - Oscar Charleston - Charleston was a Negro League superstar who was defensively sensational (played shallow, let nothing drop) and was a tremendous hitter. Some observers thought he was better than Mays and DiMaggio, or at least on their level. Well, for now they are on my bench and Charleston plays CF.
RF - Babe Ruth - playing right and batting 3rd, the Bambino.
DH - Ted Williams - the second best hitter in history, if not the first. I'm not troubling him by asking him to field. I want him batting. And when he's not batting, I want him looking at tape and all the other new fangled things we have now to help hitter between PA's.
SP - Satchel Paige - Probably the best ever.
SP - Lefty Grove - Possibly the best ever.
SP - Pedro Martinez - Satchel's spiritual descendant, possibly the best ever.
SP - Roger Clemens - Representing the power righties.
SP - Randy Johnson - I'm taking him over Koufax because of durability.
CL - Mariano Rivera - won't have many save opportunities
SU - Goose Gossage - no crowding the plate!
SU - Sparky Lyle - crafty leftiness in the hizzy.
That's 16 and I have room for 9 more. Berra's the back up catcher. Willie and Joe are on the bench and spotting the OF's and DH. Jackie Robinson is my UT. That's 20. I think I'd like Koufax in my bullpen. That's 21. We need a lefty bat off the bench and I think that will be Stan Musial. I guess, Walter Johnson could handle long relief, and I'd like to have Seaver around in case Roger's groin acts up. My 25th man is between Jimmy Foxx and Hilton Smith, a Negro League pitcher who may have even been better than Satch. I'm not prepared to decide on that now.
posted by Kalel9 @ 8:44 AM
8 Comments:
Oscar Charleston? I thought I knew something about the history of the game. He must have been special to bump Willie and Joe. I see a little homerism in some of your picks, but overall, not bad.
Where do you see homerism? Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle are three of the greatest hitters in history. ARod is better than Schmidt.
Are you talking about the bullpen?
I grew up with the Mick as my favorite of all time but I'm not sure he beats out Willie. I also believe that all of the relievers being Yanks might be questionable...there have been many great ones. Your infield is perfect. The starting pitching can always be debated but I agree about Koufax, his career was too short.
Willie played longer, but Mickey was a better player and won more. I don't understand why anyone would rank them any other way. Mickey had 4 or 5 seasons that were better than Willie's best. Mickey's career OPS+ is 172, Willie's is 156. I'm going with the Mick every time.
I loved the Mick. Imagine how good he would have been without the centerfield leg injury and with less alcohol. I can't bring myself to argue for Willie because I spent my younger days always arguing for Mickey. They were both great players.
They sure were and Willie and Joe D are both on my 25 man roster.
clemens is an interesting selection ... not sure where i fall out on that one
I was deciding between him and Seaver and decided to go with what my feeling was before all the roid stuff.
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