Now that the baseball season is winding down, it got me to thinking who the best players of all time were. I naturally find myself gravitating to the live-ball era, as that most closely resembles the modern game. And it was very hard to choose some of the positions, as I admit my knowledge is not as deep as I would like it to be. So here, is my list, starting with the single best player of all time: Right Field : Babe Ruth Center Field : Willie Mays Left Field : Ted Williams First Base : Lou Gehrig Second Base : Jackie Robinson Short Stop : Cal Ripken Jr. Third Base : Mike Schmidt Catcher : Johnny Bench I chose each position based on what they played the most. For instance, I would rather have had Henry Aaron than Ted Williams but Aaron mostly played right field. Pitching was even harder for me to choose, as I think the whole wins/losses thing is hyper-inflated in value, especially in the modern game, and do you chose for the season or post season, game 7, etc. Also, the role of the pitcher has changed, with the days of complete games gone forever. Thus, I picked someone that was fierce on the mound, would scare the crap out of the opposing batters and had a killer instinct like no other and would go the distance: Pitcher : Bob Gibson Skipper : Joe Torre Only he, imho, could manage that dugout of pure alpha males and ego. If you could field a team of players, from any era, what would yours be?
DH is for [ussies pay] But, throw in the DH and I will place Henry Aaron in that position. Stan WAS the Man, however. Helluva ball player.
C Johnny Bench 1B Lou Gehrig 2B 42 3B Miguel Cabrera SS Honus Wagner RF Babe Ruth CF Ken Griffey Jr. (I'm partial here) LF Ted Williams DH some overweight ***** P Sandy Koufax Manager Tommy Lasorda
C- Mickey Cochrane 1B- Jimmie Foxx 2B- Roberto Alomar 3B- Eddie Mathews SS- Barry Larkin LF- The Splendid Splinter CF- Mickey Mantle RF- Roberto Clemente DH- Stan Musial SP- Sandy Koufax Whitey Ford Christy Mathewson Pedro Martinez Walter Johnson RP- Mariano Rivera Manager- Casey Stengel
SP Pete Kozma C Pete Kozma 1B Pete Kozma 2B Pete Kozma 3B Pete Kozma SS Pete Kozma LF Pete Kozma CF Pete Kozma RF Pete Kozma DH Pete Kozma RP Pete Kozma
No need to be an apologist. Griffey was a hell of a player, and in an era of dirt and scandal, nothing has ever, ever been linked to him to my knowledge. I will be honest, I am going to have to look this guy up. EDIT: Nice! I will admit, my lineup is very biased towards offensive power. I did waiver on Ripken vs Ozzie Smith, if that saves me any. EDIT #2: Upon more research, guy was incredible at the plate as well. His 119 HRs is what jumped out before, but upon more diving, cat could hit.
Griffey was one of those guys that never played for a team I liked but I couldn't help but love his game. He was one of those guys that would make me stop whatever it was I was doing when he was at bat.
C-Ivan Rodriguez 1B-Lou Gehrig 2B-Rogers Hornsby SS-Ernie Banks 3B-Mike Schmidt LF-Barry Bonds CF-Ken Griffey Jr RF-Ted Williams SP-Pedro Martinez (biased) CP-Mo Rivera.
[video=youtube;aC-AqWYKixE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC-AqWYKixE[/video] He was one of the best of all time, however! I am seeing one constant, however, and that is Ted Williams. Lack of great left fielders, or he is just that much better than the other Left Fielders? GahLee, Barry Bonds. Where does that generation fall, I wonder? He was a first ballot HoF'r before 1999, but after that year, the steroids just ruined his legacy.
C- Pat Borders 1B- John Olereud 2B- Roberto Alomar 3B- Ed Sprague SS- [penis] Schofield LF- Rickey Henderson CF- Devon White RF- Joe Carter DH- Paul Molitor SP- Juan Guzman Pat Hentgen Jack Morris Al Leiter CP- Duane Ward Manager- Cito Gaston
