Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 55,499
Likes: 906
V
Legend
OP Offline
Legend
V
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 55,499
Likes: 906
Okay, there are a lot of older dudes who used to love baseball, but no longer do. Some older guys never stopped following MLB. There are a couple of younger guys who follow baseball. This is meant to be realistic and subjective at the same time. For example, don't say Jim Thome was should be the guy at first base, but I get how someone might prefer Brooks Robinson over Schmidt at 3rd base. In other words, it's your all your all-time favorite baseball team that is at least realistic. If this goes well, I will start an NBA and NFL team thing, too.

Oh, I am not asking you guys to do this, but I am only going to list players I actually watched. For example, I won't add Babe Ruth because I never watched him live.

C: This probably won't go over well, but I really liked Pudge Rodriguez. Just a great teammate and all-around catcher. Bench had the numbers, but I could not stand the dude.

!B: Eddie Murray. Controversial pick for sure. But, I think the dude was a an all-around player who excelled in the clutch.

2B: Joe Morgan. Hit for power. Ran the bases. Gold Glove winner. Glue for the Big Red Machine. I hated the Reds because I loved the Pirates when both were great. Joe Morgan scared me more than any other player on that team.

3B: Mike Schmidt. This was tough because of Brooks Robinson and Wade Boggs. But Schmidt's power was hard to ignore. Tough call.

SS: Ozzie Smith. Best defensive player I have ever seen.

OF: [Note, I am not going to divide it by left, center, and right.]

OF: Roberto Clemente. My favorite player of all time. Hit line drives. Great arm. Hit for average. Great in the clutch. Played the game w/style.

OF: Willie Mays. Greatest all around player to ever play the game.

OF: Hank Aaron. Home run king for a long time. He was underrated as a field and actually had a great arm.

RHP: Bob Gibson: Hard as nails. His dominance led to MLB lowering the height of the mound.

RHP: Juan Marichal. Rodger Clemons and probably Tom Seaver were better than him during my viewing era, but I liked this dude and didn't care for the other two, especially Clemons. Marichal had that high leg kick and was dominant in the '60s.

LHP: Sandy Koufax. A shining star who burned bright and burned out much too fast. Best pitcher I ever saw.

LHP: Steve Carlton: "Lefty" was a tall, strike-out throwing machine. He did it for a long time.

Reliever 1: Mariona Rivera: Dude did it time after time.

Reliever 2: Dennis Eckersley. Another dude who did it over a long period of time.

Manager 1. Jim Leyland. Got more out of his team than anyone I ever saw.

Honorable mention: Sparky Anderson, Tommy Lasorda, Tony LaRussa.

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
Legend
Offline
Legend
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
Based solely on people I’ve vividly remembered playing the game:

C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Craig Biggio
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
OF - Ken Griffey Jr
OF - Barry Bonds
OF - Mike Trout

SP - Pedro Martinez
SP - Greg Maddux
SP - Randy Johnson
SP - Justin Verlander
SP - Roger Clemens

RP - Mariano Rivera
RP - Trevor Hoffman
RP - Billy Wagner

Manager - Joe Torre


"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 55,499
Likes: 906
V
Legend
OP Offline
Legend
V
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 55,499
Likes: 906
Damn.............I should have added Bonds.

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
Legend
Offline
Legend
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
Originally Posted By: Versatile Dog
Damn.............I should have added Bonds.
when you’re talking all time (or even the last 50 years or so) it gets really tough. Probably especially at OF and SP


"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 38,474
Likes: 795
B
Legend
Offline
Legend
B
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 38,474
Likes: 795
C Johnny Bench
1B Albert Pujols
2B Ryne Sandburg
SS Cal Rypkin
3B Brooks Robinson
OF Willie Mays
OF Ricky Henderson
OF Roberto Clemente

SP Greg Maddox
SP Bob Gibson
SP Nolan Ryan
SP Roger Clemens

RP Rollie Fingers
RP Mariano Rivera


Manage...I have a thing for Bobby Cox


Last edited by Ballpeen; 10/21/20 08:36 AM.

If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.

GM Strong




[Linked Image]
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 13,205
Likes: 234
D
Legend
Offline
Legend
D
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 13,205
Likes: 234
I'm going to go ahead and do my all time Indians team. I'm also going to specify the OF positions because they require diferent skill sets. For example, a CF needs to cover ground and take good routes to balls in the gap, and a RF has to have a big arm to make the throw to 3B. (In any case, you've got it covered with Mays or Griffey.) I'm a traditionalist in terms of team make up: I believe in good defense and speed up the middle and power at the infield and outfield corners.

Dave's All Time Cleveland Indians (1960-2020)
(HM = Honorable Mention)

C Sandy Alomar (HM - Victor Martinez)
1B Jim Thome (HM - Travis Hafner)
2B Roberto Alomar (HM - Carlos Baerga)
SS Omar Vizquel (HM - Francisco Lindor)
3B Matt Williams (HM - Graig Nettles, Buddy Bell, Travis Fryman, Jose Ramirez)
LF Albert Belle (HM - Joe Carter)
CF Kenny Lofton (HM - George Hendrick, Grady Sizemore)
RF Rocky Colavito (HM - David Justice)
DH Manny Ramirez (HM - Rico Carty, Travis Hafner)

RH SP's Gailord Perry (censor won't allow his actual name, LOL), Corey Kluber (HM - Luis Tiant)
LH SP's Sam McDowell, CC Sabathia (HM - Cliff Lee)

RH Closer Cody Allen (HM - Jose Mesa)
LH Closer Brad Hand (HM - Dave LaRoche)

Mgr Terry Francona (HM - Mike Hargrove)

Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
Legend
Offline
Legend
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 70,571
Likes: 507
My Yankees team (since I can remember):

C - Jorge Posada
1B - Tino Martinez
2B - DJ LeMahieu
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
OF - Bernie Williams
OF - Paul O’Neill
OF - Aaron Judge
DH - Jason Giambi

SP - Roger Clemens
SP - David Cone
SP - Garrett Cole
SP - Andy Pettitte
SP - David Wells

RP - Mariano Rivera
RP - David Wetteland
RP - Ramiro Mendoza

Manager - Joe Torre


"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,494
Likes: 52
Hall of Famer
Offline
Hall of Famer
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 4,494
Likes: 52
C - Johnny Bench/Thurman Munson
1B - Albert Pujols/Jeff Bagwell
2B - Joe Morgan/Craig Biggio
SS - Derek Jeter/Ozzie Smith
3B - Mike Schmidt/Chipper Jones
OF - Tony Gwynn/Carl Yastremski
OF - Ken Griffey Jr./Kirby Puckett
OF - Reggie Jackson/Rickey Henderson
DH - Edgar Martinez/Frank Thomas

SP - Randy Johnson/Tom Glavine
SP - Steve Carlton/Pedro Martinez
SP - Roger Clemens/Greg Maddux
SP - Nolan Ryan/Clayton Kershaw
SP - Tom Seaver/Justin Verlander

RP - Mariano Rivera/Kenley Jansen
RP - Dennis Eckersley/Lee Smith
RP - Trevor Hoffman/Craig Kimbrel


#gmstrong

Live, Love, Laugh
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 42,413
Likes: 501
C
Legend
Offline
Legend
C
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 42,413
Likes: 501
C - Ivan Rodriguez is the best of my lifetime but Joe Mauer deserves a mention
1B - Pujols and it’s not close
2B - Robinson Cano with Roberto Alomar and Chase Utley close behind him
3B - Adrian Beltre is fourth all-time in WAR for third basemen
SS - A-Rod is the clear choice here
LF - Barry Bonds is the best player any of us has ever seen
CF - Mike Trout is already a top 50 player of all time and he’s not 30
RF - Tony Gwynn

P - Pedro Martinez’s peak is better than any other pitcher ever. In his best season his ERA was two runs better than the league average.

Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 10,931
Likes: 1778
Legend
Offline
Legend
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 10,931
Likes: 1778
I missed some of the greats mentioned here as I'm just a bit too young (feels weird to say that at 53 lol). I'll list players that I watched play (with one exception), and think were the best, followed by my favorite.

C - Ivan Rodriguez / Javy Lopez
1B - Pujols / Will Clark
2B - Roberto Alomar / Ryne Sandberg
3B - George Brett / Mike Schmidt
SS - Ozzy Smith / Omar!
LF - Barry Bonds / Bo Jackson
CF - Mike Trout / Griffey Jr (my man Kenny Loften a close second)
RF - Roberto Clemente (that's my "exception", no real explanation needed) / Andre Dawson

Starting Pitcher: Pedro Martinez - I have never seen another pitcher throw a ball that defied all laws of physics. / Nolan Ryan - my first real "favorite player" that wasn't an Indian. (Between my love for him and Ryne Sandberg, my third son was named "Ryan" wink )

Reliever: Dennis Eckersley - in 1990 he had more saves than baserunners... 48 saves with a 0.61 ERA. / Dennis Eckersley!

Manager: Sparky Anderson / Tony La Russa


HERE WE GO BROWNIES! HERE WE GO!!
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
L
Legend
Offline
Legend
L
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
I’ll participate before I read the thoughts of other posters.

C: Johnny Bench. Hit with power, was a big-game player and May be the best ever defensive catcher. Gary Carter is #2 in my books.

1B: Pujols (or Gehrig).

2b: Roberto Alomar. Was outstanding on D, and was big in the clutch. His game-tying homer in the 1992 ALCS against Oakland turned them into a team that knew how to win.

Blue Jays fan remember Joe Carter’s walk-off series-winning homer in 1993, but Alomar’s ninth-inning bomb a year earlier, to help beat the bully A’s, was bigger.

SS: I know a lot if people would go with Derek Jeter, but I’ve never seen a shortstop like Ozzie Smith. His teammates would swear that his glove, over the course of a season, would save his team 80-90 runs.

3b: Mike Schmidt. Worked to become a gold glover, and had lots of power at the dish.
Brooks Robinson my number 2.

RF: Roberto Clemente. No need to explain.

CF: Ken Griffey, Junior. Had all the tools, and was a class act.

LF: we gotta make room for the Babe, right?


Ruth.


[Linked Image from i28.photobucket.com]

gmstrong

-----------------

2023: The year we got a legit D.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
L
Legend
Offline
Legend
L
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
I never thought of pitchers when I saw the thread title, but I’d go with Greg Maddux (RHP) and Randy Johnson (LHP).

I’d take Rivera out of the bullpen for the closer’s role; “Exit light, enter night”.


[Linked Image from i28.photobucket.com]

gmstrong

-----------------

2023: The year we got a legit D.
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
L
Legend
Offline
Legend
L
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 12,802
Likes: 268
Lol, it’s funny when I go through other posts on this subject; I overlooked Rickey Henderson.

I’d have to put him on the team somehow. Greatest lead off hitter and flat-out one of the best ballplayers of all time.


[Linked Image from i28.photobucket.com]

gmstrong

-----------------

2023: The year we got a legit D.
DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Your All-Time Baseball Team

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5