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 Your Take Interesting arguments highlight eclectic group of lineups
Posted: Monday August 16, 1999 03:39 PM
When Sports Illustrated's Kostya Kennedy compiled his list of the most important baseball players by position, we asked you to respond based on that list. After receiving hundreds of responses, we've put together a varied compilation of selected suggestions. Some responses have been edited (c'mon people, do you really like to read e-mails all-capped?).
I disagree with some of the players you selected. For example at pitcher
Koufax was one of the greatest players without a doubt but he did not mean
as much to baseball as others like Paige or Cy Young. The way baseball is
played today someone could come along and hit 71 home runs in a season or
hit 57 consecutive hits or a young player like Alex Rodriguez, Junior,
Andruw Jones could
play 25 years and hit 756 home runs, but nobody will ever win 500 games in
their career NEVER not even if they play 25 years without injuries and in a
four-man rotation. I think Cy Young is the only choice at pitcher. Also I
will like to say that Ripken is also a great player but if you ask any
pitcher who would they like to have at short they would all say the same
answer Ozzie Smith.
I do not care who else you put on there but the best pitcher of all time is
Nolan Ryan and the best catcher is Johnny Bench.
A guy that is being overlooked is Eddie Murray. He's one of only three guys
with 500 homers and 3,000 hits. A model of consistency he received more MVP
votes than any player in the '80s although he never won it. It is safe to
say (and Cal has said it himself) that Ripken would not be the player he is
without Murray. It is hard to go against Gehrig or McGwire after last year
but if I were starting a team Eddie would be my first baseman.
How do you put someone like Pete Rose on there. He bet on the his team and
the game of baseball. He is a disgrace to the game. And how do you leave
Ted Williams off your team. He is the greatest hitter ever to live and he
might have hit 700 homers if he didn't lose those years to the War.
My lineup would be:
Of course, this is only my opinion. The game would have to be in an AL
park so I could add a DH to make my choices a bit easier. I think that
Morgan, Gehrig, Ruth, Aaron, and Schmidt are the only possible choices at
their positions. There are plenty of other great players; Mays, Dimaggio,
Wagner, Ripkin, Robinson, Rose, Berra, Bench and so many others, that other
positions were hard to decide. But Ted Williams was probably the best pure
hitter to ever play, and Mantle was simply awesome. I choose Yount over
Ripkin only because I feel that Yount was the first shortstop in many, many
years to put up great offensive numbers while still being a great defensive
player. Also, I even though it is still early in his career, Mike Piazza
is the best offensive catcher to play the game and if it is only for one
game, his defense is not as important because with Bob Gibson on the hill,
it won't be a long game. Boy, this sure made me have to think.
1. Rickey Henderson,
LF
This would be the greatest team ever. It's not simply the greatest at each
position which would mean all sluggers (ala Ted Williams, Mike Schmidt,
Ernie Banks, Rogers Hornsby), but it is simply the greatest all around
team. Rickey is the best leadoff hitter ever, so who can argue with that.
Joe Morgan is a great five-tool player, perfect in the second spot. Babe
Ruth and Lou Gehrig, aside from the obvious are the greatest 3-4
combination ever. Willie Mays was the greats five-tool player ever.
George Brett at third over Mike Schmidt because there is enough power
already and I'd rather have a .305 hitter with some power than a .267
hitter with a lot of power. Johhny Bench, greatest catcher ever. Honus
Wagner, great on offense as well as defense. Walter Johnson: greatest
pitcher ever. 110shutouts, over 400 wins, and would have many more if not
for awful Senators (he lost more games 1-0 than any other pitcher). This
lineup has great speed, great hitting, and great power, as well as superb
defense. This would be the greatest "team" ever, not just the
best at each position.
I went for a team with great defense, and an ability to create runs with speed and good hitting. I wanted good "guys", guys that came to the park every day ready to play, and play hard. Being a young guy, and with little footage of early players, I based my opinions on stories and statistics for many players. I know people will scoff at my decisions to leave the likes of Ruth, Cobb, DiMaggio and Mantle off my team, but I was conscious of putting together a real "TEAM" aspect, and sometimes I believe these guys were above their teammates in stature and attitude. They are still among the greatest individual talents ever, no doubt. I struggled with omissions like Aaron, Jackie Robinson, Schmidt, and, the greatest glove I've ever seen, Ozzie Smith. I also left a great many of the modern era's stars off my team. I believe their greatness will be put into better perspective in another generation down the line. It was hard to pass on Griffey Jr., Ivan Rodriguez, Cal, and the best hitter I've ever seen, Tony Gwynn.
Finally, pitching. I have heard so many tales of Cy Young that I just
couldn't pass him up. But, if I could pick a five-man rotation and a
closer, I'd add Walter Johnson, Satchel Paige, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, and
Rollie Fingers. Again, tough to pass on two of my favorite players, Sandy
Kofax and Greg
Maddux. So that's it. I'll put my team up against anybody. Who wants to
play?
P -- Cy Young (the record that won't be broken) RF: Roberto Clemente. Perhaps the best all around player in the game.Strong arm, great speed, team leader, fierce competitor, premier hitter, and excellent clutch player (stellar world series stats). CF: Willie Mays. Combination of speed, power, and baseball intelligence is unprecedented. Easy choice! LF: Ricky Henderson. In his prime, unquestionably the best leadoff hitter in history and of course he would be mine too. Regardless of who's catching, Ricky would dominate the base paths ... Great power in lead off position too and any lack of defensive ability will be compensated by his speed and Mays in CF. 3B: Mike Schmidt. Gold Glove 3rd baseman and hall of fame power. Fierce competitor and played big in big games. SS: Ozzie 'the wizard' Smith. With my lineup I can purely go defensive here at perhaps (next to catching) the toughest position in baseball to play. Great team leader and durable. 2B: Roberto Alomar. The most underrated player in many many years. All around phenom with hall of fame type of skills. A magician on defense; brilliant baseball instincts; great speed; solid situational hitter who can hit for avg., power, and RBI. 1B: Ted 'the splendid splinter' Williams. Arguably the best ball player to ever grace the diamond ... enough said. C: Johnny Bench. The best hitting catcher of all time. Rugged and fierce team leader with a bazooka for an arm. His ability to handle pitchers and call a game was VERY underrated. DH: Hank Aaron. If numbers is what its about than Hammerin' Hank was UNQUESTIONABLY the best hitter, if not player of ALL time.
P: Nolan Ryan. In his prime ... untouchable. Lost so many games because of
the below average teams he was a part of. With this lineup he'd have 400+
wins.. Outfield: Willie Mays. He did it all -- hit, run and field. Babe Ruth -- No explanation needed. Hank Aaron -- 715 Infield: Third Base -- Frank Robinson. SS -- Cal Ripken. Second Base -- Ernie Banks (best hitting second baseman). First Base -- Lou Gehrig. Catcher -- Johnny Bench.
Pitcher: Walter Johnson
-- Doug Powell , Deerfield, Wis.
(P) Roger Clemens -
5 time Cy Young
Being 28 years old, I didn't have the privilege to see or hear about all of
these players, however I feel it necessary to design my 20th century team
with players that impacted the game of baseball from all eras ('50s, '60s,
'90s, '30s, '70s etc.) I could not complete the team without having Babe
Ruth and Jim Rice on my team. So I decided to platoon them at the DH/OF
position. Babe Ruth being the greatest player ever to play the game of
baseball and Jim Rice, who was my childhood hero, even though he didn't
send me an autograph picture when I was 10 years old, and Tony Dorsett
did!!
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