Best baseball team ever

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

Once again Musial is forgotten. Has to be considered as one of the outfielders. Look at Musial vs. Clemente and it's not even close.

Musial isn't being forgotten, trust me. He's one of my all-time favorite players, and as far as I'm concerned, there might not be a better man to ever play the game. And my top 5 favorite baseball cards of all-time? '58 Topps Clemente, T206 Johnson portrait, 1934 Goudey Lou Gehrig #37, 1956 Topps Ted Williams, and the 1953 Bowman Color Stan Musial.

But unfortunately, tough choices have to be made in putting a team together. I'd love to have Mickey Mantle, Christy Mathewson, Jimmy Foxx and a few others on my 25 man roster. I'd love to have Stan the Man, too. But when it comes to Musial, I don't know where to put him, because he didn't just play one position. He started 989 games at first, 868 games in left field, 680 games in right field, and 305 games in center.

Could I put him in left over Ted Williams? Sure, I could. You can't go wrong with either man. In right field? No, I wouldn't put him over Clemente. Roberto Clemente was simply a better outfielder than Musial. Clemente had one of the strongest arms in the game's history, and since I'm facing some of the best teams of all-time, I'd want a guy in right with a gun for an arm. dWAR might not be the best metric ever, but it's good for quick references. Musial had a -9.3 dWAR for his career. Clemente had a 12.1 dWAR for his. And while the Gold Glove didn't exist while Musial played, it did when Clemente played, and there's never been an outfielder to win more than the 12 Gold Gloves Clemente had (only Willie Mays tied him).

I'll probably revise this in the next week or so, and Musial will be one of the players I seriously consider. He's one of the top ten non pitchers of all-time, in my opinion. But I know that I need versatility, and a player like Robin Yount, who could play both shortstop and center field, gives me more versatility than Musial, even though Stan was the superior hitter.

Don't be surprised to see #6 on my next 25 man squad.