Best baseball team ever

[CrazyDiamond]

Friends and I were doing this at work

PuT together your best starting nine baseball team. It's very tough but fun. Only one at each position. It can be any player from any team. Current, retired or deceased

Very tough when you get to outfield and starting pitcher

[CrazyDiamond]

The fun part is realizing the amazing players you leave out

[EvilKing00]

1- cobb cf
2 - wagner ss
3 - ruth rf
4 - williams lf
5 - Gehrig1b
6- bench c
7 - mike schmidt 3b
8 - hornsby 2b

Bench
C- piazza
Mid infield- collins
Of - bonds & rickey henderson

Staff

1 - sandy Koufax
2 - Pedro Martinez
3 - Walter Johnson
4 - Mathewson
5 -Greg Maddux

[CrazyDiamond]

Good list! This started so many debates at work.


I agree with most but I had Gehrig at first. Thought about having babe start at pitcher to get hank Aaron in right field

[RTK]

Outfield of Aaron, Mays, Ruth
Williams would be DH if there was one
Josh Gibson as catcher
3rd - Mike Schmidt
1st - Gehrig
SS - Ripken (?)
Pitchers - Young, Paige, Mathewson


...have to think about the rest

Hornsby would fit at 2nd
Jackie Robinson would make a good utility guy off the bench
and I'd add Maddux to the pitching staff


...damn...what about Mantle?

[npa589]

I love these types of discussions:

1. Ty Cobb CF
2. Jackie Robinson 2B
3. Ted Williams LF
4. Lou Gehrig 1B
5. Roberto Clemente RF
6. Honus Wagner SS
7. Johnny Bench C
8. Brooks Robinson 3B
9. Walter Johnson P, Cy Young P, Greg Maddux P, Randy Johnson P, Christy Mathewson

Oh, and I know who I left out...but, with this type of lineup, I really think defense would be rather crucial to make it as great a team as it could be. It was hard for me to leave DiMaggio off the list as well.

[bn2cardz]

Pitcher - Walter Johnson
Catcher - Josh Gibson
1B - Lou Gehrig
2B - Rogers Hornsby
SS - Honus Wagner
3B - Nap Lajoie
L.F.- Babe Ruth
C.F. - Tris Speaker
R.F. - Ty Cobb

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by CrazyDiamond

Good list! This started so many debates at work.


I agree with most but I had Gehrig at first. Thought about having babe start at pitcher to get hank Aaron in right field

your right gherig should be at 1b no idea how I left him off - must of been a rough day - line up will be amended!

[Jantz]

I haven't seen his name mentioned yet or maybe I missed it, but one player I would definitely have in my lineup would be Joe Sewell.


Jantz

[AMBST95]

CF: Mays
RF: Ruth
LF: Bonds
1B: Gehrig
2B: Hornsby
3B: Schmidt
SS: Ripken
C: Bench
SP: Koufax

[7nohitter]

CF: Ellis Burks
2B: Marty Barrett
LF: Ted Williams
1B: Carl Yastrezmski
DH: David Ortiz
3B: Wade Boggs
SS: Nomar Garciaparra
C: Carlton Fisk
RF: Dwight Evans

SP: Bruce Hurst, Lefty Grove, Babe Ruth, Cy Young

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

CF: Ellis Burks
2B: Marty Barrett
LF: Ted Williams
1B: Carl Yastrezmski
DH: David Ortiz
3B: Wade Boggs
SS: Nomar Garciaparra
C: Carlton Fisk
RF: Dwight Evans

SP: Bruce Hurst, Lefty Grove, Babe Ruth, Cy Young

Ellis Burks over Tris Speaker???

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by 7nohitter

CF: Ellis Burks
2B: Marty Barrett
LF: Ted Williams
1B: Carl Yastrezmski
DH: David Ortiz
3B: Wade Boggs
SS: Nomar Garciaparra
C: Carlton Fisk
RF: Dwight Evans

SP: Bruce Hurst, Lefty Grove, Babe Ruth, Cy Young

never realized the sox were so historically weak at 2B

[howard38]

Originally Posted by ooo-ribay

never realized the sox were so historically weak at 2B

Bobby Doerr.

[packs]

C: Jimmie Foxx
1B: Gehrig
2B: Hornsby
SS: Wagner
3B: Miguel Cabrera
LF: Joe D
CF: Cobb
RF: Ruth
P: Walter Johnson

[glynparson]

1B- Lou Gehrig
2B- Joe Morgan
3B- Mike Schmidt
SS- Honus Wagner
RF- Babe Ruth
CF- Willie Mays
LF- Barry Bonds
C- Johnny Bench
Sp- Walter Johnson

Rp- Mariano Rivera
Utility- Pete Rose
DH- Ty Cobb

The Line Up

Honus Wagner
Willie Mays
Lou Gehrig
Barry Bonds
Babe Ruth
Mike Schmidt
Johnny Bench
Joe Morgan
Walter Johnson

Line Up with DH

Ty Cobb
Honus Wagner
Lou Gehrig
Barry Bonds
Babe Ruth
Willie Mays
Mike Schmidt
Johnny Bench
Joe Morgan

[jiw98]

Post war line-up
1st- E. Murray
2nd- R. Alomar
3rd- M. Schmidt
SS- C. Ripkin Jr.
RF- T. Williams
CF- W. Mays
LF- B. Bonds
C- Y. Berra
RHP- G. Maddux
LHP- R. Johnson
RP- M. Rivera

This list only includes players that are already retired. There are current players that could be considered, but I went with the final product.

[sycks22]

C - Gibson
1B - Gehrig
2B - Hornsby
3B - Schmidt
SS - Wagner
OF - Mays
OF - Cobb
OF - Ruth

SP - Walter Johnson
RP - Rivera

DH - Foxx

[Sean]

Originally Posted by glynparson

1B- Lou Gehrig
2B- Joe Morgan
3B- Mike Schmidt
SS- Honus Wagner
RF- Babe Ruth
CF- Willie Mays
LF- Barry Bonds
C- Johnny Bench
Sp- Walter Johnson

Rp- Mariano Rivera

I just found this thread. Glyn, you have the exact same line up that I have. But I would lead-off Morgan.

[brewing]

Considering only starting 9. Here's mine of players not listed.

C Piazza
1B Greenberg
2B E Collins
3B Mathews
SS Trammell
LF Henderson
CF Mantle
RF Crawford
SP Mathewson


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[earlywynnfan]

how about this: take away the top-3 rated at each position (per Bill James, I guess) and THEN pick a team! No Wagners, Ruths, Gehrigs!

Ken

[djson1]

I really think it's too tough to pick these dream teams unless you go by decades since the game has changed so much. Also, once you get into the '90s and '00s, many of the top guys were on steroids...so, it's a level playing field to pick a team from just that roids era.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

how about this: take away the top-3 rated at each position (per Bill James, I guess) and THEN pick a team! No Wagners, Ruths, Gehrigs!

Ken

Great idea, here goes:

C- Rodriguez
1B- Thomas
2B- Collins
SS- Yount
3B- Boggs
RF- F. Robinson
CF- Dimaggio
LF- Henderson
P- Koufax, Seaver

[VoodooChild]

I always answer these types of questions the same. I can only go with players I've actually seen with my own eyes. Following the rules of the OP and only listing the starting nine (no bench players), this would be my lineup:

1. Pete Rose 2B
2. Tony Gwynn RF
3. Ken Griffey Jr. CF
4. Mike Schmidt 3B
5. Frank Thomas 1B
6. Bo Jackson LF
7. Johnny Bench C
8. Ozzie Smith SS
9. Greg Maddux SP

[clydepepper]

How 'bout some love for the best pitcher I ever saw- Pedro Martinez

He wasn't as durable as many of the greats, but when he dominated, only the best could even come close.

[the 'stache]

Oh good lord. This is going to be tough.

Here's my starting lineup:

1. Rickey Henderson, LF
2. Honus Wagner, SS
3. Lou Gehrig, 1B
4. Mike Schmidt, 3B
5. Babe Ruth, P
6. Johnny Bench, C
7. Ken Griffey Jr, CF
8. Roberto Clemente, RF
9. Rogers Hornsby, 2B

I'll work on finalizing my roster.

[aljurgela]

I really think that Oscar Charleston needs to be in CF... at least on the pre-war team.

That is my 2 cents

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

C - Bench
1B - Gehrig
2B - Hornsby
SS - Wagner
3B - Schmidt
RF - Ruth
CF - Mays
LF - Cobb
P - Koufax

This was really tough. Something seems wrong about leaving Hank Aaron off the team but I can't find a place for him without a DH. Batting order would be much difficult. Here is a stab at that.

1 - Cobb
2 - Hornsby
3 - Ruth
4 - Mays
5 - Gehrig
6 - Wagner
7 - Schmidt
8 - Bench
9 - Koufax

I tried to stagger my lineup so there aren't too many lefties in a row. Again, the order would be much different with a DH.

[Runscott]

Impossible task

of - Cobb
ss - Wagner
1b - Gehrig
of - Ruth
c - Bench, Gibson
2b - Lajoie, Hornsby, Robinson (platooning)
of - Williams, Mays, Dimaggio, Speaker, Mantle (in no order)
3b - Schmidt
p - Johnson
p - Koufax
p - Mathewson
mgr - Anderson
bench coaches - McGraw, Mack (has to wear baseball uniform)
mascot - Bennett

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

^ I love the inclusion of Billy Wagner. He was one of the most dominant pitchers I have ever seen. Also, some of the biggest legs.

[the 'stache]

Alex, I used to have nightmares about him. The Brewers and Astros played a lot when he was in Houston, obviously. Well, his lifetime splits against the Brewers are downright frightening.



Now these numbers go beyond his tenure with the 'stros, as I can't figure out how to narrow a pitcher's splits to multiple years on baseball reference yet. But this should give you a pretty good indication of just how dominant he was against us.

1.62 ERA. 11.9 K/9 IP. 0.840 WHIP.

Yeah. Billy was impressive, to say the least. And while building my team, I wanted at least one dominant lefty that could come out of the pen.

Imagine being a left handed hitter, and having to face Koufax or Carlton for 8 innings, and then having Wagner come out in the ninth. Lefties against "Lefty" hit .233. Against Koufax, lefties hit .207. And against Wagner, lefties hit .189.

Checkmate. Wagner was just awesome. And if there's any left-handed Hall of Fame reliever, it's him. Look at his last season, for God's sake. At 38 years of age in 2010, he was 7-2 with a 1.43 ERA. He saved 37 games, struck out 104 in 69 2/3 IP, and had a WHIP of 0.865. He struck out 13.5 per 9 IP. That's insane!

He was 47-40 with a 2.35 ERA for his career, saving 422 games, striking out 1,196 in 903 innings. 11.9 K/9 IP for his career, and a 4:1 K:BB ratio for his career (and 4.73 in his final season).

That's Cooperstown worthy, imo. And if Rivera goes in, then Wagner deserves to, also. Compare their career numbers. Rivera saved a lot more games (652 to 422), but they had almost identical ERAs (2.21 for Rivera to 2.31 for Wagner), and Wagner actually had a better WHIP for his career (0.998 to 1.000). And K/9 IP? Wagner blows him out of the water. Rivera whiffed 8.2/9 IP, and again, Wagner clocks in at 11.9. The difference, of course, is their post season performances. Rivera was unhittable. The few post season games Wagner played in, he didn't perform well. But if we're talking regular season dominance, Wagner was Rivera's equal. Rivera converted 89% of his save chances, which is mind blowing. But Wagner, at 86%, was right with him. And that's playing without the New York Yankees behind him.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

Alex, I used to have nightmares about him. The Brewers and Astros played a lot when he was in Houston, obviously. Well, his lifetime splits against the Brewers are downright frightening.

.

He was amazing. I remember going to see the Astros play the Braves when I was a kid. I think I was the only kid that was more excited to see Wagner than Biggio. I still have his "To Alex" autograph in my collection.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

^ I love the inclusion of Billy Wagner. He was one of the most dominant pitchers I have ever seen. Also, some of the biggest legs.

I totally agree. He had Seaver-like legs. Next to Koufax, Bill was my all-time favorite lefty.