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C- Joe Torre...when he shied away from a homeplate collision, he was that chicken catcher Torre.
1b-Will "The Thrill" Clark....classic smooth swing, greatest game face of all time while batting, witty fellow off the field, his answering machine at home greeted callers with "The Thrill Is Gone.."
2b...Rogers Hornsby...mostly because he seems to be the most neglected megastar. '21 through '25 he batted over .400 for the five seasons. Only player ever to hit 40 or more homeruns while batting .400 or better. He apparently was ten kinds of an SOB, but he could sure hit.
SS...Alfredo Griffin...a horrible, horrible outmaking machine for the Blue Jays, A's and others, but still an incredibly entertaining player due to his comic opera wild swings at the plate, and his "Oh my God, he isn't going to try and....." style of baserunning.
3B....Butch Hobson.....the ultimate kamikaze player. Ran into walls, dove into dugouts, tumbled into the stands, there was no such thing as a play inconsequential enough that Butch wasn't willing to risk his entire career to make. The score of the game was irrelevant, Butch had only one speed, full out do or die. He was the tough sort who insisted on playing no matter how badly he was hurt, and proved it in 1978 when despite a serious shoulder injury, he played in 147 games and made an astonishing 43 errors, most of them bad throws, really really bad throws.
OF....Rickey Henderson....without question, the most entertainingly eccentric player on the field I have ever witnessed There was the game going on, and there was RickeyWorld, and sometimes they intersected.
OF...Willie McGee....another All Ugly Hall of Fame first ballot selection, Willie had been blessed by nature with a head which was too small for his chest, and a chest which was too small for his trunk..plus a face not even a mother could love. He came to the plate dragging his bat like he was heading for his own execution, his face appeared to be in great physical pain once he assumed his stance...and then there was that little blink and you miss it short stroke of his, followed by a line drive, followed by Willie's bowlegged dash down to first.
OF....Ellis Valentine....best arm I have ever seen in action. Saw him throw out Darrel Evans at first on what should have been a single.
LHP...Carl Hubbell...best pitcher I ever had in any of my Strat-O-Matic leagues. Went 24-2 one season for one of my clubs with nine shoutouts.
RHP...Allen Ripley...just 23-27 in five undistinguished seasons for the Red Sox, Giants and Cubs, but what I loved about him was that he didn't trust any of the Giant infielders to make a play, he was off the mound and attempting to snare every ball hit on the ground, every time. More often than not he would reach a ball and deflect it away from someone who could have made the play. Ripley was with SF during Johnny Lemaster's tenure at short, as well as the period when the team thought it could convert Bill Madlock into a secondbaseman, so I can't blame Ripley his lack of confidence.
Reliever...Jim Corsi....because he looked so very much like a mob hitman.
Coach...I take it you mean manager? ...My friends and I got more mileage out of making fun of Art Howe than any other manager, so I'll go with Art. Art seldom had much to say about anything other than championing the obvious. We always looked forward to his official State of the Team announcement each Spring. "We've got some players this year" Art would explain, "we're gonna get some hits." Or "We've got some hitters here, we're going to score some runs." One year he was uncharacteristically bold "We've got a team here, we're gonna win some games."
And he was always right...they did get some hits, they did score some runs, they did win some games. He also had his tried and true solace for every loss...."We gave em a battle."
DH...Ron Wright....the worst MLB career of all time. Played in one game as the DH for the Mariners in 1982 and in three plate appearances, struck out, hit into a double play, and hit into a triple play. Three at bats....six outs. He was immediately sent back to the minors and never made it back to MLB.
I tend to only like players on the team's that I'm a fan of (A's and Indians) so I thought it'd be interesting to attempt to choose only from those teams. Now, since I grew up an Indians fan during their 1990's hayday, I will be biased toward them.
C At first I thought this was hard, but 1997 was big for Sandy Alomar Jr who ices it easily with his walk-off game-winning HR in the 1997 All Star Game in Cleveland and then more importantly, with a huge game-tying HR in Game 4 of the ALDS when the Indians faced elimination vs the Yankees. The Indians go on to rally and win that game, win game 5 en route to the World Series. Runner up: Kurt Suzuki
1B Jim Thome. This cat is going to get 600 HR's and even though he's approaching retirement, he still hit .282 last year. Thome could disappoint. I can't recall how many times I had to watch him strike out, but when he connected, it was magic. Hearing Tom Hamilton's infamous HR call, "Aaawaaaaay back, GONE!" reminds me most of the rockets that would come off Thome's bat. And who didn't love his point to the bleachers and his subtle crotch grab? Runner up: Daric Barton
2B Mark Ellis. Okay, that's a weird one from the A's side. I could have selected Carlos Baerga or of course, Roberto Alomar, but Ellis has a certain way about him. He's terrific defensively and he's super clutch. Plus, I always felt that Baerga lost points with his domestic abuse issues and Robby's spitting in the face of John Hershbeck made me feel queesy, but they're the runner's up.
SS Without question, it's Omar Vizquel - one of the greatest defensive short stops of all time. I will never forget the double play duo that was him + whoever was currently playing 2nd base - most notably, when paired with Roberto Alomar.
3B Kevin Kouzmanoff - yeah, this is an odd one too. But I love defense. I also love the occasional ridiculous HR. He provides both. Other choices could have lead me to: Jim Thome (early days), Matt Williams, or Travis Fryman.
OF Manny Ramirez. Am I the only one still around that loves the fact that this guy is an absolute nutjob? One of the purest swings and best hitters I've ever seen in the game, period. When I was a kid, I'd chew up pretzels and move them to the side of my mouth and pretend I was using tobacco chew just like Man-Ram.
OF Kenny Lofton. Nostalgia again. He'd walk, steal second, steal third, make diving plays in center. And like Thome, he's a lifer.
OF Ryan Sweeney. If Sweeney can ever stay healthy, he's got the ability to hit .300 and drive in 85RBIs every single year. I was given one of his jerseys, so I have to root for him.
LHP Cliff Lee
RHP Trevor Cahill.
Reliever: Paul Shuey. Yeah, Paul Shuey. He was never able to put it all together but I always hoped he could. When it was on, his splitfinger was one of the deadliest in the game.
Manager: Charlie Manual. Back in his Cleveland days, Charlie's post-game comments would sound something like this: "Wull, wull J-J-Jim, Jimmay [Thome] hit the ball wayl tonight, h-he gave us a shot to win the bullgame. Can't fault Jimmay. Came up a little short but wull go out there tomorrow and try again."
C Johnny Bench
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Joe Morgan
SS Ernie Banks
3B Mike Schmidt
OF Willie Mays
OF Hank Aaron
OF Mickey Mantle
LHP Sandy Koufax
RHP Tom Seaver
Reliever Dennis Eckersley
Manager Joe Torre DH Frank Thomas
C Bench
1B Don Mattingly
2B Sandberg
SS Cal Ripken
3B Mike Schmidt
OF Willie Mays
OF Hank Aaron
OF Mickey Mantle
LHP Steve Carlton
RHP Greg Maddux
Reliever Dennis Eckersley/Mariano Rivera
Manager Earl Weaver/Lou Piniella DH Edgar Martinez
C Josh Gibson
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Rogers Hornsby
SS Ernie Banks
3B Mike Schmidt
OF Willie Mays
OF Babe Ruth
OF Mickey Mantle
LHP Steve Carlton
RHP Cy Young
Reliever Mariano Rivera
Manager Connie Mack DH Would not have one
I though the first post said to pick your all time favorite players, not pick your all time All Star teams, which seems to be the basis of the last three posts.
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