Today, we're taking a look at our 2000's NL All-Decade team. Selecting this team will officially wrap up our All-Decade selections (until 2021, that is). This team was actually relatively easy for us to agree on with the exception of starting pitching. There was some dissension in the infield, particularly 2B and 3B. It came down to Jeff Kent or Chase Utley at second base. Chase was probably the better all-around second baseman of this decade, in terms of talent and ability in all facets of the game. However in close calls, we have almost always erred on the side of the player that spent more time playing in that decade. Chase didn't play his first full season until 2005 so we went with Kent. We encountered a similar problem at third base. David Wright was a tremendous player, hitting .309/.389/.518 to go along with four all-star appearances and two silver sluggers. Talent-wise, he was as good as anyone in the 2000's at the hot corner but he didn't make his debut until 2005. It really came down to Chipper Jones and Scott Rolen. While Rolen had the better glove (winning six Gold Gloves at 3B in the 2000's), we gave the nod to Chipper who posted a .960 OPS for the decade (and an incredible OPS+ of 147) and showed up on seven MVP ballots. Surprisingly, Chipper made the fewest all-star appearances of the three players that we considered at this position, which speaks to how underrated he was.
In the outfield, we came to consensus rather quickly. The only name that we considered that didn't make the cut was Matt Holliday, who debuted in 2004 and benefited from Coors. Two names that might surprise some are Jim Edmonds and Andruw Jones. Edmonds quietly posted a .937 OPS for the decade and won six consecutive Gold Glove awards; perhaps the best all-around outfielder on this team. Andruw Jones, like Edmonds, won multiple Gold Gloves in this decade (eight, to be exact). Jones wasn't a great contact hitter but he had power, he played tremendous defense, and he showed up on five MVP ballots in the 2000's.
As mentioned earlier, selecting our starting pitchers for this decade was by far one of the toughest decisions we have had to made. It came down to a "pick two" of Greg Maddux, Carlos Zambrano, Tom Glavine, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy and Livan Hernandez. The only name that we agreed on from the get-go was Roy Oswalt who was the decade leader in wins with 137. There was a little hesitancy to slot Johnson in here because he did make our 1990's AL squad and spent two years in the AL. Yet Randy Johnson's three Cy Young awards and his other-worldly numbers in the early 2000's were good enough to earn him a spot on our roster. Despite the fact that he played two seasons in the AL (and he missed some time in three other seasons), Johnson won 109 games to go along with a 3.03 ERA and 1.095 WHIP. Even his his 40's, Johnson was good and those numbers serve as evidence as to why the Big Unit is probably a top 5 all-time pitcher. After settling on Oswalt and Johnson, it came down to the length versus prime debate. On one side were Maddux and Glavine who were consistent yet somewhat declining (and notably, already made our 90's roster). On the other, you had Peavy and Webb who won Cy's and posted solid numbers in short stints due to injury. Knowing this debate would be tough, we also threw in Big Z and Livan because they spent more time in the NL in the 00's but didn't have the hardware. You'll likely laugh at Livan but he won 129 games in the NL in the 2000's. In fact, his 129 wins for the decade is the 11th highest win total of any pitcher for this pitcher unfriendly decade. To earn back some legitimacy, we quickly eliminated Livan from consideration but I thought his name was worth mentioning in this post.
Admittedly, at first, Big Z didn't strike me as "our guy" but upon closer inspection, you'll see why we think he deserved to earn a spot on this team. Rather than dig deeper, I'm going to give you the numbers and let you tell me where we went wrong.
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Here's our squad, tell us what you think.
C - Brian McCann
1B - Albert Pujols
2B - Jeff Kent
SS - Jimmy Rollins
3B - Chipper Jones
IF - Todd Helton
OF - Jim Edmonds
OF - Barry Bonds *
OF - Lance Berkman
OF - Andruw Jones
SP - Roy Oswalt
SP - Randy Johnson
SP - Brandon Webb
SP - Carlos Zambrano
RP - Trevor Hoffman
This 2000's AL squad was tough to square up. We had a fairly easy time agreeing on a majority of the team but ran into some difficult road blocks in the infield and outfield. There were some underrated players that put up solid numbers during the decade that you don't really think about.
Paul Konerko and Michael Young just missed the cut in the infield despite multiple all-star appearances and great numbers. While we haven't used a DH in the past, we felt that David Ortiz (who posted a triple slash line of .283/.378/.554 while belting 307 home runs in the decade) was worthy of the nod over Young and Konerko. We might have reached a little bit with Teixeira and we never really had consensus with this pick. We recognized the fact that he played parts of two seasons in the NL and that didn't play his first game until 2003 but we also acknowledged that he was the best all-around first baseman in the AL while he was there in the 2000's and felt that he deserved to represent the AL.
Truth be told, this is probably one of the better all-around outfields of any decade. Ichiro Suzuki, Manny Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero rank among the best of all time in the outfield and Magglio Ordonez posted a .902 OPS for the decade. Maggs was a late addition to this roster but after looking closely at the numbers, it would have been really difficult to leave him off of this team. Three silver sluggers, five top-25 MVP finishes and an OPS+ of 132 tells you the type of player that Maggs was in the 2000's. With Manny* and Ichiro being shoe-ins, that set the stage for a "pick one of" Torii Hunter of Vladimir Guerrero. The short- we went with Vladdy. The long- leaving off Torii Hunter was as painful as any decision we've made. Hunter won nine Gold Gloves in the decade and was probably as deserving a representative as anyone we picked. Had Vlad the Impaler played the entire decade in the AL, there would have been no question here but Vlad did spend four seasons in the NL in the early part of the decade so the decision was a little more complex. In the end, we went with Vlad because we felt like he needed to represent a team in this decade; there are four guys on this team that could retire today as potential first ballot Hall of Famers and Vlad is one of them. In the 2000's, he won an AL MVP, had six top 10 MVP finishes (four while playing in the AL) and won six silver slugger awards (four consecutive in the AL). And he did it clean.
We agreed on the pitchers rather easily. Mo' is the greatest closer of all-time and he made his name saving big games for the Yankees in the 2000's. The one name that was mentioned that didn't make the cut among our starting pitchers was Barry Zito. Despite posting a respectable 3.55 ERA in the AL in the 2000's and winning a Cy, we went with CC Sabathia because he was the most consistent for the entire decade (and he has the Cy to match). Sabathia finished in the top 5 in Cy voting three seasons in the 2000's (compared to just one for Zito). If you factor in Zito's NL years, it's not even close; Sabathia was the better pitcher but we recognize the fact that Zito's prime years in the AL in the early 2000's were worthy of recognition.
Without further adieu, here's our team. Tell us what you think.
C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Mark Teixeira
2B - Brian Roberts
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
IF - David Ortiz
OF - Ichiro Suzuki
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Magglio Ordonez
OF - Vladimir Guerrero
SP - Johan Santana
SP - Roy Halladay
SP - CC Sabathia
SP - Mark Buehrle
RP - Mariano Rivera
We're getting close to wrapping up our all-decade teams. This decade has presented us with some challenges. As Mc mentioned in the 1990's AL post, we tried to independently evaluate each player and position given the facts and circumstances. With regards to the use of performance enhancing drugs, we weighed the numbers of known users against alternates that we assumed were clean (or apparently benefited less). We used an "eye" test to ascertain how much the player may have benefited from using performance enhancing drugs; while we can't know for certain whether players like Barry Larkin and Mark Grace took drugs, there is nothing there to suggest that they did and if they did, their use did not result in any significant mind-boggling enhancement in production. Some players, like Barry Bonds, were great players without the drugs while some players were great players because of the drugs. That distinction is a big reason why we chose to omit some while keeping others. It really is a case by case decision, when it comes to picking these teams. The selection of a player doesn't imply that we think their numbers should be evaluated on a fair plane to those that didn't cheat to get ahead, it just means that we recognize that it's impossible to know for sure who took what and how much they took during this particular era. There are big assumptions being made here; don't let that get in the way of what this exercise is about. We have attempted to produce a roster that best represents the National League in the 1990's; the best players that best represent this decade.
This was also the first decade that we had to think about the Coors factor. We had to pass up on some well deserving names and like it or not, we factored in their Coors adjusted stats.
Vinny Castilla and Andres Gallaraga were certainly worthy of consideration in the infield but we went with Mark Grace, who led the decade in hits and
Matt Williams, who we felt was one of the best all-around players at his position. In the outfield, we bypassed Marquis Grissom and
Moises Alou for
Larry Walker as we felt that he did enough away from Coors to warrant the consideration over the speedster, Grissom, and one of the more under appreciated players of this decade, Alou.
The starting pitching came down to a pick two of
John Smoltz,
Curt Schilling and Kevin Brown. While Brown was certainly the most dominant of the three during his time spent in the NL (he posted a remarkable 2.50 ERA, 1.180 WHIP to go along with a 66% winning percentage), he only spent four seasons in the NL in the 1990's so the sample size was small and the cumulative nod went to Schilling and Smoltz. When you looked at his time spent in the AL in the 1990's, it gave you a better picture of who he really was, as the numbers were normalized a bit (3.25 ERA, 1.226 WHIP). Schilling and Smoltz were every bit as good as Brown for the entire decade but what made it hard is that Brown's prime years were the four years he spent in the NL. In the end, we went with the cumulative numbers of Schilling and Smoltz. We were also swayed looking ahead, recognizing that it is going to be tough for either pitcher to make a squad in the 2000's. Smoltz and Schilling were great pitchers deserving of an all-decade nomination.
Picking a relief pitcher also proved to be difficult. My knee-jerk reaction was that it would be
Trevor Hoffman or Lee Smith (the two guys that rank number 2 and number 3, respectively, on the all-time saves list) but Mc threw out John Franco and upon further review, it was agreed upon that Franco was probably the best pick. Franco had more saves than Lee and Hoffman in the NL in the 90's and was a beacon of consistency. He posted a sub 3.00 ERA for the decade and though he didn't have a 40 or 50 save season, he did post seven seasons in the decade of 20 saves or more.
So here's our full roster, let us know where we missed.
IF - Mark Grace
OF - Larry Walker
RP - John Franco
In retrospect, the advent of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the 1990s has muddied up how we view the top level players of the era. Statiscial feats and player valuation have to be measured against the likelihood the person cheated by using PEDs. Thus far, these players have traditionally fallen into three categories. The first category represents players that have either failed a drug test or admitted to using PEDs (Rafael Palmeiro, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire). The second category of player involves guys that are widely believed to have used albeit without concrete proof or admission (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Juan Gonzalez). Finally the third category involves players that are deemed guilty by association as they played with guys that were thought to have used PEDs (Jeff Bagwell, Ivan Rodriguez). Truth be told, with the exception of guys that copped to it or openly failed tests, there is no sure-fire way to know who cheated and who didn't. At FBJ, although we have our opinions on who most likely used and who didn't, we're reserving our judgements for our Hall of Fame considerations. For the purposes of the best decade teams, we opted to pick the best player given the stats and the impact to his team. So here is our 1990s AL Team...
C - Ivan Rodriguez
1B - Frank Thomas
2B - Roberto Alomar
3B - Robin Ventura
SS - Cal Ripken Jr.
IF - Mo Vaughn
OF - Ken Griffey Jr.
OF - Kirby Puckett
OF - Albert Belle
OF - Juan Gonzalez
SP - Roger Clemens
SP - Randy Johnson
SP - David Cone
SP - Mike Mussina
CL - Jeff Montgomery
Three current HOF (Alomar, Ripken, and Puckett) and arguably 4 more close to locks (Thomas, Rodriguez, Johnson, and Griffey). Pudge might have trouble with PED implications, but the other three are pretty clean in the court of public opinion. Juan Gone and Albert "Joey" Belle are lumped into the PED group, but again we went with best players during the decade. Kenny Lofton and Joe Carter were bandied about as potential members of this team. Jimmy Key was considered on the pitching side and nearly nudged Cone off the team. Some clear omissions are Edgar Martinez and Paul Molitor. In lieu of picking a DH on our All Decade Teams, we've added an extra IF spot and OF spot on all our past teams. During the 90s, however, both Martinez and Molitor played almost exclusively DH, a position not eligible for our teams. Jeff Montgomery over Eckersley was due to longevity in the league. Montgomery spent the entire decade (successfully) with the Royals whereas Eck spent his final year in St. Louis and ended the decade in 1998.
Today, we're taking a look at the NL representatives for the 1980's All-Decade team. This team was probably our easiest all-decade team to compile since embarking on this journey. Truth be told, the 1980's crop just wasn't as deep as some of the decades that came before it. It also seems as though there were more league swapping players in the 1980's, perhaps a result of the emergence of free agency. Despite the lack of depth, there is still plenty of talent on the 1980's NL roster; the team features seven Hall of Famers and a roster full of guys with arguments. The only point of contention among position players was the dreaded utility infield position. We begrudgingly settled on Tim Wallach, unable to find a more deserving player. Hersh had fun throwing out names like Andy Van Slyke, Steve Jeltz and Juan Samuel. The only other deserving name that I could come up with was Jack Clark. In the end, we went with Wallach because he was a little more versatile and a better fielder. Whether that choice was correct is certainly debatable but that's our guy and we would challenge you to tell us why we're wrong (or go ahead and find a better name).
For the 80's NL pitching staff, there were a few guys that jumped out at us before we hit a roadblock for our fourth starter. We went with Mike Scott over Nolan Ryan and Bob Welch because Scott did win a Cy in the decade (the only one out of the three with the hardware) and while Welch might have a better overall resume, by the numbers, it's tough to overlook the fact that Welch was arguably the third best starter on his own team for most of the decade. Ryan had the strikeouts but the 1980's weren't his best decade and the numbers were close enough that we felt comfortable going with Scott, here (Ryan made our 1970's AL Squad). The rotation doesn't boast a single Hall of Famer but Gooden, Valenzuela and Hershiser were as good as any pitcher to ever toe the mound, in their primes.
Without further adieu, here's our squad. Tell us what you think:
C - Gary Carter
1B - Keith Hernandez
2B - Ryne Sandberg
3B - Mike Schmidt
SS - Ozzie Smith
IF - Tim Wallach
OF - Tony Gwynn
OF - Andre Dawson
OF - Tim Raines
OF - Dale Murphy
SP - Orel Hershiser
SP - Fernando Valenzuela
SP - Dwight Gooden
SP - Mike Scott
RP - Bruce Sutter
Looking at this team, what I find most interesting is that there are four guys that had great prime years and one who was about as consistent as they come - none with shrines in Cooperstown. All five players have found themselves on the outside looking in (Hernandez, Murphy, Hershiser, Gooden and Valenzuela). That is the most that I can remember from any of our previous teams. I would be surprised if none of them earned induction by way of the veterans committee down the road. Besides the numbers, each of them has a very intriguing story to go along with their arguments; Fernando-Mania is one of the greatest chapters in baseball lore, Doctor K (Dwight Gooden) took the baseball world by storm, Keith Hernandez is still considered by many to be the greatest defensive first baseman of all-time, Dale Murphy has his two MVP's and Orel Hershiser is a life long baseball guy (the kind of guy that typically finds his way into Cooperstown, eventually). Great players with great primes who didn't amass the cumulative numbers (they didn't have those "ok" stick-around years... they fell off and fell off hard). My $0.02.
Today, we're crafting our 1980's American League team. When I think of 1980's baseball, I think of quirky uniforms and the "Junk Era" of baseball card collecting but baseball in the 1980's was about much more than that. In the 1980's, baseball fans saw Pete Rose become the all-time hits king. Baseball fans also saw the infamous pine tar incident and Kirk Gibson's unforgettable World Series home run. Iconic moments in baseball history contributed by iconic players and a good time to be a baseball fan.
The 1980's AL lineup would likely match up with some of the best lineups we've put together. In total, 8 of the 10 position players on our team are enshrined in Cooperstown. We had to leave off Paul Molitor - you know you've got a good lineup when the Ignitor doesn't make the cut Molitor amassed over 3,000 hits for his career... unfortunately for Paul, the two guys that made our roster ahead of him in our infield did, as well. The other issue that we ran into for selecting our infield was at 2B. We had a difficult time deciding between Lou Whittaker and Willie Randolph. Neither player stood out but both were solid second basemen and worthy of the nomination. In the end, Sweet Lou had the better resume and thus made our team. The outfield was fairly easy for us to iron out - four Hall of Famers. The starting rotation was very difficult and it came down to a pick two out of Bret Saberhagen, Frank Viola, Ron Guidry and Jimmy Key. We didn't really have consensus but at the end of the day, Saberhagen's 2 Cy Young's were tough to overlook (despite his lack of consistency - on one year, off the next) and Guidry was the guy that we felt deserved the final spot. Without further adieu, here is our 1980's All-Decade team. Enjoy!
C - Carlton Fisk
1B - Don Mattingly
2B - Lou Whittaker
SS - Cal Ripken, Jr.
3B - Wade Boggs
IF - Eddie Murray
OF - Jim Rice
OF - Rickey Henderson
OF - Robin Yount
OF - Dave Winfield
SP - Dave Stieb
SP - Jack Morris
SP - Bret Saberhagen
SP - Ron Guidry
RP - Dan Quisenberry
We started the process of choosing a 1970's NL team about a week ago. As mentioned in our previous All-Decade selection piece, these teams are getting more and more difficult to choose and we'll get into the specific debates of this team later in this post. The 1970's NL squad, overall, is very strong and there were many names on this 1970's NL team that were easy to choose because of the greatness of the players that played during the 1970's. Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt and Joe Morgan were arguably the best at their respective positions, all-time. The infield would match up well against most all-franchise and all-decade teams and the top of the rotation would rival some of the better ones out there (Seaver and Carlton are as good as it gets).
We left some good pitchers off of this list but the debate for the last spot on our rotation came down to J.R. Richard and Don Sutton. Sutton, a Hall of Famer, earned his Cooperstown enshrinement primarily because of his longevity, pitching 23 seasons in the big leagues, amassing 324 wins. Sutton was a very good pitcher who was sometimes great but almost always overshadowed. Richard, by contrast, sputtered the first half of the decade before finding success in 1976. That year, he won 20 games while posting a 2.75 ERA. J.R. dominated the rest of the decade and his 313 strikeouts in 1979 remains an Astros single-season franchise record. In my opinion, there is no question as to who you would rather have in a big game in his prime - J.R. Richard was one of the most dominant that has ever pitched. The question is, who is the better representative for the decade. As mentioned, Richard didn't really hit his stride until 1976 while Sutton pitched every season compiling 166 victories to just 110 losses while posting a 3.07 ERA and 1.108 WHIP. Very respectable and deserving of the nod.
For the position players, the major sticking points were in the outfield and at shortstop. In the outfield, it came down to a pick three of Dave Parker, Lou Brock, Cesar Cedeno, Greg Luzinski and George Foster. My initial thoughts were that the outfield would be Brock, Foster and Parker but interestingly, Cedeno might have actually been the most decorated and well rounded of the group in the 70's. He held a .289 BA in the 70's to go along with 148 HR, 427 SB, 671 RBI, 777 R an OPS+ of 128 and five Gold Gloves. Quite impressive. After deciding on Cedeno, our efforts focused on the three remaining big bats, Parker, Luzinski and Foster. Parker was the most dominant of the three and although he missed a little bit of time in the decade, we felt that he deserved to make the team because he did play in 8 seasons in the 70's and he was arguably one of the top 5 hitters in this decade, in his prime. For that reason, Cobra was well deserving of the nod. The final outfield spot became power versus speed - Foster/Luzinski or Lou Brock. Brock was winding down his illustrious career in the 70's and his final few seasons were a bit weak compared to what he did in the early part of the decade but what he did in the early part of the decade made him a worthy recipient, in our minds. He stole an 68 bases per season, on average between 1970 and 1976, including his 118 base swipes in 1974 (fourth best all-time). Brock, the Hall of Famer, also hit +.300 seven seasons in the 1970's and showed up on the MVP ballots six times. Foster was probably the next best choice in our minds but his inconsistency early on was hard to overlook. He didn't really hit his stride until 1976 and truly broke out in 1977, his MVP campaign in which he hit .320 with 52 HR and 149 RBI. Prior to that, he hit .263 with an average of 18 HR per 162 games. It was a tough call and I'm sure there will be plenty of people that disagree but we felt that Brock was the right pick.
And this is where things got fun... there were really two shortstops that stood out in the National League in the 1970's - Larry Bowa and Dave Concepcion. Admittedly, my knee-jerk reaction was that Dave Concepcion was the better pick. On the surface, they were both light-hitting shortstops with slick gloves so the first thing that jumps out at you is Concepcion's Gold Gloves (five GG's to Bowa's 2) however, when you look at some of the underlying numbers, there is an argument to be made that Bowa may have been the better shortstop in the 1970's. In fact, the argument was made by Bowa who hung an interesting nickname on Dave Concepcion - Elmer. The story goes (see page 89) that Bowa once asked Concepcion if his name was Elmer. Before Concepcion could answer, Bowa produced a couple of newspaper box scores... underlined, E - Concepcion. The nickname stuck with Concepcion; his most intimate colleagues (Joe Morgan, included) still refer to him as Elmer, today. All kidding aside, Bowa led the league in fielding percentage five times in the 70's and only finished outside of the top 5 once in the decade. Concepcion, by comparison led the league once and finished outside of the top 5 five times. Bowa only completed one season in the 1970's where his fielding percentage was lower than .975. Concepcion had two seasons in the 1970s' where his fielding percentage was higher than .975. Bowa also turned more double plays in the 70's and had 500 more assists as a shortstop. To be fair, Concepcion's strength was his range and he was a better shortstop in terms of getting to balls deep in the hole; he led the league in range factor twice in the 70's compared to just once for Bowa. I think that the conclusion that I draw with regards to fielding is that Bowa was more sure-handed and perhaps a bit safer whereas Concepcion had better range and was perhaps a bit riskier. As mentioned earlier, neither were particularly strong hitters - Concepcion had 70 HR in the 1970's to Bowa's 11 but Bowa had 74 triples to Concepcion's 31 and nearly 300 more hits. In total, Bowa had more total bases than Concepcion in the 1970's and more stolen bases. Bowa was also revered for his bunting and sac hitting abilities; a better situational hitter. Bowa had 116 sac hits in the 1970's to Concepcion's 48 and he grounded into 49 fewer double plays. I'd And then there's the "grit" factor. Bowa was known as a fierce competitor and a spark plug; never afraid to speak his mind. He was a bit of a lightning rod - he wore out his welcome in Philadelphia and never found favor in Chicago. In terms of career, there is no doubting that Concepcion was the better player but in Bowa's prime years, the 70's, he was right there with Davey. In fact, and I will leave you with this, Bowa showed up on four MVP ballots in the 1970's compared to just two for Concepcion.
Here's our team. Let us know what we missed.
C - Johnny Bench
1B - Steve Garvey
2B - Joe Morgan
SS - Larry Bowa
3B - Mike Schmidt
IF - Pete Rose
OF - Willie Stargell
OF - Cesar Cedeno
OF - Dave Parker
OF - Lou Brock
SP - Tom Seaver
SP - Steve Carlton
SP - Phil Niekro
SP - Don Sutton
RP - Mike Marshall
Yesterday, we started the process of choosing a 1970's AL squad for our All-Decade Team and today, I'm happy to report that we have some consensus! As we are getting deeper into this, it's becoming more and more difficult to agree and the teams are getting harder to iron out.
We did some finagling with this team to get Thurman Munson and Carlton Fisk on the squad- this is one of the only teams we've done with a catcher at the flex infield position (the Yankees had Berra and Dickey, I think). All told, there are 11 hall of famers on this squad and the pitching is extremely strong. As I mentioned, there was debate at almost every position. We debated whether Bert Campaneris and his steals deserved to make the team or if we were better suited going with Toby Harrah, who had the most pop or Mark Belanger and his Gold Gloves. In the end, we felt that Rick Burleson was the most well rounded AL shortstop in the 1970's. The flex infielder evolved several times as we tossed out names like George Scott, Graig Nettles, Sal Bando, Boog Powell, John Mayberry and Brooks Robinson. In the end, we decided to use two catchers and George Brett at third. Despite the fact that Brett only played limited time in the decade (coming up late 1973), his numbers stack up with the best AL third basemen in the 1970's. We left a few worthy pitchers off of our list; guys like Luis Tiant, Jim Kaat and Vida Blue just missed the cut but considering that the four starters that made our team are all enshrined in Cooperstown, it's hard to argue with our list. And lastly, two of the greatest closers in baseball history played in the AL during the 1970's and since we could only pick one, Goose Gossage just missed out.
Without further adieu, here are our selections for the 1970's AL All-Decade team. Enjoy!
C - Thurman Munson
1B - Carl Yastrzemski
2B - Rod Carew
SS - Rick Burleson
3B - George Brett
IF - Carlton Fisk
OF - Reggie Jackson
OF - Amos Otis
OF - Fred Lynn
OF - Jim Rice
SP - Jim Palmer
SP - Catfish Hunter
SP - Nolan Ryan
SP - Gaylord Perry
RP - Rollie Fingers
Today, we're taking a look at the 1960's NL Squad. In my opinion, this team rivals any other team that we have put together. The pitching rotation is probably the best of any all-time or all-decade team and for that reason alone, it is tough to argue otherwise. The four pitchers on this team rank among the most dominant in baseball history and we had to pass on a lot of worthy representatives because of that. Consider this, the four players that we picked to represent this team accounted for 650 wins in the 1960's alone, 6 career Cy Young Awards, 2 MVP trophies and all of them boast a career ERA below 3.00. The outfield is also one of the most decorated outfields you will find, boasting four "no doubt about it" Hall of Famers. The infield might lack some star power at the corner infield positions but all four infielders on this team were very good defensively and overall there is not one player on this team that didn't receive a 10% vote for Cooperstown (20% if you don't count our relief pitcher, Roy Face). Ron Santo, Maury Wills and Joe Torre are guys that many will say belong in Cooperstown and the rest of the squad is already enshrined (except Face... sorry Roy, don't mean to single you out).
So here's our 1960's NL squad. Enjoy!
C - Joe Torre
1B - Orlando Cepeda
2B - Bill Mazeroski
SS - Maury Wills
3B - Ron Santo
IF - Willie McCovey
OF - Willie Mays
OF - Hank Aaron
OF - Roberto Clemente
OF - Frank Robinson
SP - Bob Gibson
SP - Sandy Koufax
SP - Juan Marichal
SP - Don Drysdale
RP - Roy Face
The 1960's AL team was a fun one for us to put together. This team was chock full of underappreciated players; guys that played the game the right way. This team would likely not match up well against some of the other all-time teams that we've put together in terms of talent but I would bet that it would rank among the scrappiest all-time teams that we've ever compiled. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of talent; Carl Yazstrzemski and Harmon Killebrew would have anchored this lineup well and defensively, this team boasts some of the best all-time defensive players at their respective positions. With Brooks Robinson, the Vacuum Cleaner, and Little Louie Luis Aparicio patroling third base and shortstop, respectively, it's safe to say not that not much would have gotten through the left side of the diamond. In the outfield, we favored Rocky Colavito over Mickey Mantle, amidst slight disagreement but the rest of the names were agreed upon rather quickly.
The pitching staff was very difficult to iron out as it turned into a classic "prime or longevity" debate. In the end, we went with the guys that had the most hardware; McLain's two Cy Young Awards and MVP were enough to earn him a nod and Whitey Ford had more hardware as well making him the first pitcher to earn a spot on two all-decade teams. The hardest name to leave off this list was Jim Kaat. Kaat won more games (142) in the 1960's than any other pitcher in the American League and he won eight Gold Glove awards in the 1960's but he he was a notch below the rest of the arms on our staff, in terms of talent. We favored Mel Stottlemyre and his three twenty-win seasons over Kaat, as well. Again, talent-wise in the 1960's, Stottlemyre was up there among the best and if not for injuries, he would have likely found his way into Cooperstown.
Here's our list - tell us what you think.
C- Elston Howard
1B- Norm Cash
2B- Bobby Richardson
3B- Brooks Robinson
SS- Luis Aparicio
IF- Harmon Killebrew
OF- Rocky Colavito
OF- Carl Yastrzemski
OF- Tony Oliva
OF- Al Kaline
SP- Dean Chance
SP- Whitey Ford
SP- Dennis McLain
SP- Mel Stottlemyre
RP- Dick Radatz
If we were pitting our all decade teams against each other in a tournament, I'm not certain any other decade could stand toe to toe with the 1950s NL team. This is a dominating and stacked lineup and pitching staff chock full of Hall of Fame members. The 1950s, and 1960s for that matter, were a true golden age of baseball. There were powerhouse players on just about every team, and the absurdity of salaries and "business-like" aspects of the game had not taken shape like today. It's still America's Pastime, and the popularity of baseball has never been greater. However, from handed down stories to documentary footage to my imagination of the era, it seems like it was a more pure time for baseball. Following is our 1950s NL team which has very few holes in it. Let us know if we missed anyone.
C - Roy Campanella
1B - Stan Musial
2B - Jackie Robinson
3B - Eddie Mathews
SS - Ernie Banks
IF - Gil Hodges
OF - Hank Aaron
OF - Willie Mays
OF - Duke Snider
OF - Richie Ashburn
SP - Warren Spahn
SP - Robin Roberts
SP - Lew Burdette
SP - Johnny Antonelli
CL - Hoyt Wilhelm
As we move through the decades, we are beginning to find putting the team together far more difficult. A couple of reasons might exist to explain why this is happening. First, the 50s (and 60s) introduced a huge crop of future hall of famers, so the talent pool increased significantly. Also, with this decade, we're starting to get more into players we know more about, or perhaps have even seen (...cough...Hersh...cough...). At the very least, more stories were handed down from the previous generation that we heard first-hand from relatives. There were definitely more disagreements for this all decade team, and they're only going to get tougher as we progress. Here's the team of the 50s for the American League.
C - Yogi Berra
1B - Mickey Vernon
2B - Nellie Fox
3B - Al Rosen
SS - Harvey Kuenn
IF - Ray Boone
OF - Ted Williams
OF - Mickey Mantle
OF - Minnie Minoso
OF - Jackie Jensen
SP - Bob Lemon
SP - Early Wynn
SP - Whitey Ford
SP - Billy Pearce
CL - Ellis Kinder
The Indians back then were the 1950s equivalent of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels. Two Indians made the team, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, and a third, Mike Garcia, was up for consideration. Oh yeah, they had a guy named Bob Feller too, but he began to tail off towards the middle of the decade. Still, three Hall of Famers for part of the decade makes for a pretty good pitching staff. Jackie Jensen also made the cut over Hall of Famer Al Kaline. Jensen had a really good decade, and we think Kaline is better suited to the 60s team.
As with its AL counterpart, many National Leaguers lost large amounts of playing time to World War II. Soon after normalcy returned to baseball, a major milestone was reached that would change the game forever. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and brought about a major change in America's past time. Both Jackie and Ralph Kiner straddled two decades, not playing out either in entirety. For that reason, and the leeway losing 3+ years to war, we included both. One player to just miss the cut was Mr. Double No Hit, Johnny Vander Meer. Apart from his amazing, unbeatable, feat, Vander Meer did not quite have as good a decade as the other four. Here's the NL team.
C - Walker Cooper
1B - Johnny Mize
2B - Jackie Robinson
3B - Bob Elliot
SS - Pee Wee Reese
IF - Frank McCormick
OF - Stan Musial
OF - Ralph Kiner
OF - Pete Reiser
OF - Enos Slaughter
SP - Mort Cooper
SP - Johnny Sain
SP - Rip Sewell
SP - Bucky Walters
CL - Hugh Casey
Putting together the American League 1940s team was a little challenging due to a certain major event that occurred for the U.S. between 1941 and 1945. We've documented a few instances where military service has hampered a player's career stats, creating a what might have been scenario. Likewise, picking an all decade team when many great players missed nearly a third or more of it proved difficult. Given that, some leeway from our readers would be greatly appreciated.
Some that didn't make the cut but deserve credit include Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Hank Greenberg in the field, and Dutch Leonard on the mound. Doerr was seemingly the only back up for Ted Williams during the decade, and his numbers were very close to getting him on this team. Same is true for Johnny Pesky, who put up some great numbers after the war. Indeed, if you value runs and hits over power, then maybe Pesky is on your team. Hank Greenberg may be the most unlucky player we will come across as far as making an all decade team. In the 1930s, he was stuck behind Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx. Talk about tough to crack the lineup. He didn't quite play enough games in the OF to qualify there either. Like many others, he traded baseball service time for military service time. Upon returning to baseball, he was mixed between OF and 1B, and didn't quite qualify (per our requirments) for either position. Finally, Dutch Leonard, despite having a .500 record for the decade, made 4 all star games and had 4 top 20 MVP finishes. Now, onto the team! Here's the 1940s AL team of the decade.
C - Birdie Tebbets
1B - Rudy York
2B - Joe Gordon
3B - George Kell
SS - Lou Boudreau
IF - Vern Stephens
OF - Ted Williams
OF - Joe Dimaggio
OF - Tommy Heinrich
OF - Charlie Keller
SP - Bob Feller
SP - Hal Newhouser
SP - Allie Reynolds
SP - Spud Chandler
SP - Joe Page
Mr. Page has perhaps one of the most unfortunate nicknames in baseball history (The Gay Reliever). Certainly, the term meant something completely different in the 1940s. Boudreau, Williams, Dimaggio, Feller, and Newhouser are all locks for this team. There is some potential for open debate regarding other selections.
Continuing with our all-decade teams, today we are taking a look at the NL 1930's squad. The 1930's was not particularly kind to pitchers. In fact, there were only two decades that were worse for pitchers (the 2000's and the 1890's) so it is not surprising that the 1930's NL squad is chock full of hall of famer hitters. Not nearly as potent as the AL 1930's team, the 1930's NL squad does boast some of the most underappreciated and overlooked players of all-time. Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Paul Waner, Gabby Hartnett and Joe Medwick might not be household names but they certainly belong in the discussion when ranking the greatest of all-time at their respective positions. Speaking of overlooked, Arky Vaughan might be one of the most underappreciated players of all-time. We're working on an in-depth player profile for Vaughan but consider this - his career batting average (.318) on-base percentage (.406) and slugging percentages (.453) are all better than both Derek Jeter and Cal Ripken, Jr. The pitching staff might have a tough time matching up with other decades but Hubbell provides a solid ace and Dean was really good before his arm fell off. Here's our list... enjoy.
C - Gabby Hartnett
1B - Bill Terry
2B - Billy Herman
SS - Arky Vaughan
3B - Pie Traynor
IF - Dolph Camilli
OF - Mel Ott
OF - Paul Waner
OF - Joe Medwick
OF - Chuck Klein
SP - Carl Hubbell
SP - Dizzy Dean
SP - Lon Warneke
SP - Paul Derringer
RP - Dick Coffman
The 1930's shaped a generation more than any other decade in American history. For children, growing in the 1930's was nothing short of life altering. The Great Depression provided a landscape of struggle and unforgettable pain but in the background, baseball was the one constant. Baseball reduced ticket prices and offered lavish promotions to keep crowds coming but no teams folded and some of the greatest players in baseball history played during the 1930's. One of the toughest parts about creating the 1930's all-decade list is leaving off some of the greatest players that you never heard about in the Negro Leagues - players like Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige and Jud Wilson who were undoubtedly worthy of all-decade nomination. To keep it simple, we are sticking to our AL/NL format (maybe we'll do a Negro League team down the road).
This team had some speedbumps, mainly at 1B, 3B and OF. At 1B, we had to leave off Hank Greenberg, which is as close to a travesty as you'll find. Greenberg was a tremendous player; he won 2 MVP's (one in the 30's) and is 7th all-time in OPS. Unfortunately for Hammerin' Hank, his competition at 1B (Gehrig and Foxx) in the 30's rank 3rd and 6th on that same list and they account for 4 MVP's during the 30's alone between the two of them. I made an argument to play Jimmy Foxx at 3B because he started three all-star games at that position and played a handful of games there but to keep with the integrity of the team, we decided against it. If I was a GM, there is no doubt which direction I would go but naming a player the best player at a position when he only played 50 games at that position goes against the fiber of this team. Outfield was tough because there were six or seven guys that could have arguably made the team; we kept off guys like Dimaggio and Ruth that did most of their damage in other decades. Hal Trosky and Ben Chapman just missed the cut. We also struggled to pick between Joe Cronin and Luke Appling; basically a pick 'em. Without further adieu, here's our 1930's AL All-Decade team.
C - Bill Dickey
1B - Jimmy Foxx
2B - Charlie Gehringer
3B - Red Rolfe
SS - Luke Appling
IF - Lou Gehrig
OF - Earl Averill
OF - Al Simmons
OF - Goose Goslin
OF - Indian Bob Johnson
SP - Lefty Grove
SP - Lefty Gomez
SP - Red Ruffing
SP - Wes Ferrell
RP - Jack Russell
Finishing out the Roaring 20s, we bring to you the National League squad. Safe to say there aren't as many big names on this team as the Amarican League counterparts. Shortstop was a particularly tough choice for the fact that there weren't many standout choices. Dave Bancroft, HOF, was barely edged out. Paul Waner was also left off the team. Not because he wasn't worthy, but only playing 4 years in the decade, we felt he didn't have enough service time in the 20s for our purposes. As a side note, two players on our list were traded for each other. Shouldn't be too hard to figure out who they were. Here's the list for your dissection.
C - Bob O'Farrell (Cubs/Cardinals/Giants)
1B - Jim Bottomley (Cardinals)
2B - Rogers Hornsby (Cardinals, Giants, Braves, Cubs)
3B - Pie Traynor (Pirates)
SS - Rabbit Maranville (Braves, Pirates, Cubs, Robins, Cardinals)
IF - Frankie Frisch (Giants, Cardinals)
OF - Kiki Cuyler (Pirates, Cubs)
OF - Zack Wheat (Robins)
OF - Cy Williams (Phillies)
OF - Hack Wilson (Giants, Cubs)
SP - Dazzy Vance (Robins)
SP - Burleigh Grimes (Robins, Pirates)
SP - Dolf Luque (Reds)
SP - Eppa Rixey (Reds, Phillies)
CL - Bill Sherdel (Cardinals)
Check out www.baseball-reference.com for the statistics of these players.
Upon exhausting our list of All-Time Franchise teams, see the tab above, we've set our sights on putting together teams of the decade. There are a few guidelines we established upon making the teams. First, we decided to start in the 1920s as we've generally focused post 1920. We may go back and do a teens list at the end. Second, players can, and will, appear on multiple decade teams. Third, for the most part (exceptions will undoubtedly be made), the player had to play a majority of that decade. Finally, we put weight on career numbers within that decade over name recognition. For example, Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched in the 1920s, but his hay day was the teens, so he didn't quite make the list. Exceptions are/were made if there simply were no contemporaries at the position. We added a few positions for these lists including an extra infielder, and extra outfielder, and 2 extra starting pitchers. We did away with the DH in lieu of these changes. Even more than franchise team lists, these are highly subjective, but we think we've mostly found common ground. As always, we'd love your opinions as well!
C - Mickey Cochrane - Philadelphia Athletics
1B - Lou Gehrig - New York Yankees
2B - Eddie Collins - Chicago Whitesox/Philadelphia Athletics
3B - Jimmy Dykes - Philadelphia Athletics
SS - Joe Sewell - Cleveland Indians
IF - George Sisler - St. Louis Browns
OF - Babe Ruth - New York Yankees
OF - Ty Cobb - Detroit Tigers
OF - Harry Heilmann - Detroit Tigers
OF - Al Simmons - Philadelphia Athletics
SP - Urban Shocker - St. Louis Browns/New York Yankees
SP - Herb Pennock - Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees
SP - Stan Covaleski - Cleveland Indians/Washington Senators
SP - Waite Hoyt - New York Yankees
CL - Firpo Marberry - Washington Senators
Check out www.baseball-reference.com for complete statistics on all these players.
