MARCO'S BASEBALL BLOG-O-ROONIE
THE “MOUNT RUSHMORE” DEBATE:
MLB has asked fans to choose the “Mt. Rushmore” of each
team...the 4 players who represent each team best throughout their
history.
I now reprint my picks for the original eight teams of the American
League in conjunction with scathing repudiations of the imbecilic
picks of mere fans.
Then I'll do the National League.
YANKEES: easy...Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle.
...but in the foothills are Berra, Ford, Jeter and Rivera.
*no arguments here! The fans agreed!
RED SOX: harder...Cy Young, The Thumper, Yaz, Ortiz
foothills: Pedro Martinez,(Big Asterisk* Clemens)
*the fans picked
Pedro Martinez over Cy Young. Pedro's 5 years (starting with Montreal
in 97 when he had an ERA of 1.90) are indeed as dominant as any
pitcher has ever had. Considering the hitter's era he pitched in,
Pedro was the most dominant pitcher of all time in the 99 and 2000
seasons.
But how do you
keep Cy Young off Mt. Rushmore? Pedro pitched 7 seasons for the Sox,
Cy pitched 8. Cy actually pitched more for the National League
Cleveland and St. Louis franchises. So I guess I'll let it pass. I
love Pedro, but you will see a trend of ignoring the great players of
earlier eras. Today's fans have no sense of history.
ST.LOUIS BROWNS/BALTIMORE ORIOLES: George Sisler (hit .400
twice), Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray
foothills: Jim Palmer
*fans put Palmer
in and completely ignored the fact that the franchise started in ST.
Louis with the Browns. So no Sisler.
WASHINGTON SENATORS/MINNESOTA TWINS: Walter Johnson, Harmon
Killebrew, Rod Carew, Kirby Puckett
foothills: Bert Blyleven (under-appreciated), Jim Kaat
*ring the alarm
bells! Fans did NOT put Walter Johnson in. They put Tony Oliva in but
not Walter Johnson, the consensus best pitcher of all
time...especially if you go by longevity. Now I know I'm dealing with
New Age ignoramuses!
DETROIT TIGERS: Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer,
Al Kaline
foothills: Alan Trammel, Miguel Cabrera
*fans jumped the
gun by putting Miguel Cabrera in instead of Gehringer. Maybe by the
time he's done, but it's too early. Somebody look up Gehringer's
record. 14 stellar seasons. Lifetime .320/.404/.480 and played the
best defense of his time. Won a couple of World Series too.
CLEVELAND INDIANS: Nap Lajoie, Tris Speaker (The Grey
Eagle...always liked his nickname), Bob Feller, Satchel Paige (I know
he only played a couple of years for them when he was about 50 but
hey, some team should have room for the greatest pitcher of all time
on Mt. Rushmore. Who would you rather have, Rocky Colavito?)
foothills: Lou Boudreau, Rocky Colavito
*fans put in
Vizquel and Jim Thome instead of Nap Lajoie and Paige. Okay, I was
having fun with Paige (see story at end of today's blog) but they
actually called the Indians the “Cleveland Naps” when Lajoie
played. Top 5 of second basemen all time.
PHILADELPHIA/KANSAS CITY/OAKLAND ATHLETICS: Jimmie Foxx, Lefty
Grove, Reggie Jackson, Ricky Henderson
foothills: Home Run Baker, Al Simmons, Catfish Hunter, Dennis
Eckersley
*of course! Who
ever heard of Lefty Grove? Not the Athletics fans! They put Eckersley
in there. Dumb! Grove was a Top 10 pitcher of all time.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Eddie Collins, Luke Appling, Nelson Fox,
Frank Thomas
foothills: Big Ed Walsh (deadball era pitcher who won 40 games in
1908 while pitching 464 innings! Lifetime
ERA? 1.84)
*idiot fans put Konerko, Baines
and Minoso ahead of
Appling, Fox and Eddie
Collins. Collins is easily in the top three second baseman of all
time. Top thirty of all players all time! Can you say that about
Konerko or Baines? According to Bill James, Collins was among the
best defensive second sackers of all time, was the best bunter of all
time, invented the hit and run, caused the infield fly rule to be
invented to keep him from doubling up base runners on dropped pop
ups, stole 731 bases, batted .333 lifetime with a .424 lifetime On
base. White Sox fans...go stand in the corner!
NATIONAL
LEAGUE ORIGINAL EIGHT:
BOSTON/MILWAUKEE/ATLANTA BRAVES:
Warren Spahn, Hank Aaron,
Chipper Jones,Greg Maddux
foothills: Kid Nichols(averaged over 30 wins a year in the 1890s),
Hugh Duffy (batted .440 in 1894...great center fielder), Ed Mathews
(very close at third with Jones), Phil Niekro, Tom Glavine, John
Smoltz
*Spahn
and Aaron are slam dunks...fans agree with me
NEW
YORK/SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS: Christy
Mathewson, Mel Ott, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey
foothills: Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal, (DISQUALIFIED: BARRY
BONDS...no steroid Frankensteins allowed on Mt. Rushmore!)
*stupid
fans don't even mention Christy Mathewson...one of the original Hall
of Famers and a great pitcher for the Giants for years and years. 6
ex post facto Cy Young awards. Shame! One of the first great American
baseball heroes and a consensus top twelve pitcher. Same with Mel
Ott...a great, great outfielder and 500+ home run hitter with a high
average and on base percentage. Fans had Bonds and Posey. Too soon on
Posey...see above for Bonds.
BROOKLYN/LOS
ANGELES DODGERS: Dazzy
Vance, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax
foothills: Zach Wheat, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella
*I
don't expect the fans to remember Dazzy Vance who was one of the best
pitchers of the twenties. He dominated and had ERA's about two runs
lower than the league for the decade of the twenties. Played for bad
teams...still won 7 straight strike out titles, 3 ERA titles.
Fans
liked Drysdale who was a great pitcher but overrated because he
pitched in the pitcher's paradise of Dodger Stadium in the worst
hitter's era of all time.
Pee
Wee is a Hall of Famer who played from 1940 til 1958...the era of
greatness for the Dodgers. He was the captain, the shortstop, the
lead off man, the team leader in every way. He put his arm around
Jackie Robinson's shoulders and let the world know that not every
Southern Man was a racist. A very important Dodger.
PHILADELPHIA
PHILLIES: very
tough choices here...Grover Alexander, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn,
Mike Schmidt
foothills: Ed Delahanty, Sliding Billy Hamilton, Steve Carlton
*fans
ignored the old timers of course...even Alexander who is probably one
of the top five all time pitchers. Alex won 245 games just in the
decade of the teens (nine years with 1918 off so he could go get
gassed in the trenches of World War One.) total of 373 wins all time.
Led in victories 6 times, innings pitched 7 times, complete games 6
times, shutouts 7 times pitching in one of the great hitter's parks
of all time. He threw 16 shutouts in 1916! (Read that again!) Alex
led in strike outs 6 times and ERA 5 times. He had WARs over 10 3
times! His Whips WERE unreal...etc. etc...he would have won 4 Cy
Youngs ex post facto. (Cy himself would have only won 5!)
Adjust
for era all you want...Grover was a pitching God.
Richie
Ashburn was the heart and soul of the Phils in the fifties. (led in
hits 3 times, walks 4 times, triples twice, batting twice and on base
4 times. Games played 7 times ...that's important) A great leadoff
man and right up there with Willie as a great center fielder. As
important to Philadelphia as Al Kaline was to Detroit.
Fans
also had Schmidt and Roberts along with Carlton (5 strike out titles,
1 ERA title)...who I love but who wasn't quite as dominant as Roberts
and Alexander in their respective eras.
CINCINNATI
REDS: Frank
Robinson, Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan
foothills: Ernie Lombardi, Barry Larkin
*fans
chose Barry Larkin over Robinson. Obviously they forgot that Robinson
won them a pennant and was dominant for ten years in a Reds uniform
before they inexplicably traded him to Baltimore where he won the
triple crown in 66. Barry Larkin was a great team leader and
shortstop. But Robinson was very close to Willie and Hank as a hitter
in that era and was way better than everybody else. Bill James lists
him as the 24th
best player OF ALL TIME.
PITTSBURGH
PIRATES: Honus
Wagner, Ralph Kiner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell
foothills: Arky Vaughn (top five shortstops of all time), Paul Waner
(300 hit club)
*fans
voted for Mazeroski who will always be a God in Pittsburgh. Over
Kiner. Kiner was super productive as a home run hitter who walked a
lot and carried a bad team for years. He couldn't run, field or
throw. Maz was a pathetic hitter with a terrible on base percentage
but was the best fielding second baseman of all time. Turned the
double play better than anyone before or since. Has the highest
fielding rating OF ANY PLAYER ALL TIME AT ANY POSITION. So I guess it
can be a good argument. But if Maz hadn't hit that one home run...
CHICAGO
CUBS: Mordecai
“Three Finger” Brown, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg
foothills: Cap Anson*, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Sammy Sosa*
*fans
picked Santo and Williams but not Brown or Gabby. I expected that.
Brown was one of the two best pitchers of his era along with Christy
Mathewson. He beat Matty head to head in those early days of the
great rivalry between the Giants and the Cubs...the only time that
the Cubs ever won World Series. I just think that the best player on
those early Cubs teams should be on Mt. Rushmore for them. And Brown,
pitching with a mutilated hand...was one of the best pitchers ever.
Gabby
helped the Cubs win a couple of pennants in the twenties and
thirties. He was the leader at catcher. Williams and Santo are both
worthy candidates and great players...among the best. Sammy Sosa*...I
just can't go there.
Cap Anson is a special and sinister case. He played (mostly first
base) from 1871 to 1897...led the league in rbis 8 times...batting 4
times. First man to ever get to 3000 hits. What made him special was
that he was largely responsible for keeping the National League
together in those early years...thus getting professional baseball
going. Normally he'd be considered a titan of the game and a prime
candidate for Mt. Rushmore. But...Anson, more than any other man, was
most responsible for keeping black players out of major league
baseball. There have been other racists in baseball for sure, but
this was the man who actively worked to get a permanent ban on black
players... a ban that lasted until 1947.
Get down off that mountain Cap.
ALL
TIME NEGRO LEAGUE MT. RUSHMORE: John
Henry “Pop” Lloyd,
Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, Satchel Paige
foothills: Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, Martin Dihigo, Rube Foster,
Smokey Joe Williams and about ten others.
(Remember this is the best players from the whole league...not just
one team)
Lloyd was a shortstop and Ruth called him the best player he ever
saw. Charleston was known as “the black Ty Cobb” and was an Alpha
Star par excellence. You've heard of Josh Gibson...probably the
greatest right handed power hitter ever. Once hit a ball out of
Yankee Stadium...Hit some 700 homers in Negro League play.
Outstanding catching skills.
And Satchel? Well, here's a story for you:
Vin Scully tells this story:
“One of the things that Bill Veeck did as a promotion, he signed Satchel Paige, who was very close to being 50 years old and still pitched very well in Triple-A. On that ballclub, back in 1956, was Whitey Herzog — now a Hall of Fame manager.
But Whitey was an outfielder, and they were playing in Rochester, New York, and Herzog was out in the outfield and he noticed a promotional thing in the Rochester ballpark. There was a hole in the fence in center field, and above it was a sign — “If you hit the ball in the air through the hole, you get $10,000.”
So Herzog went back into the clubhouse, got a bunch of balls, went out to center field and tried to throw a ball through the hole. And he couldn’t do it. So then when he went back in before the game started, Whitey was talking to Satchel Paige. And he said, “Satch, you see that hole out there in center field?”
And Paige said, “Yes, wild child.”
He said, “I’ll bet you a bottle of bourbon that you can’t throw the ball through that hole.”
So the next day, before batting practice, Herzog got a bunch of balls and he took Satchel Paige out. Herzog marched off 60 feet, 6 inches from the hole. He gave Satchel Paige the ball.
And Satchel said, “Wild child, does the ball fit through the hole?”
And Whitey Herzog said, “Satch, it sure does.”
He said, “Then you have a bet.”
So he held the ball up and looked over the ball like he was aiming a rifle. Now, Paige winds up and throws. The ball goes into the hole, spins around, and pops out again. And Herzog thinks, “Holy mackerel! He’ll never come any closer than that.”
Paige picks up the next ball, aims: right through the hole. Clean as a whistle. He said, “Wild child, I will take that,” and walked off the field.”
Answer to the stumper question:
What brothers hold the major league record for most home runs by sibling players?
Answer: Hank Aaron and Tommie Aaron. Hank hit 755 and Tommie hit 13!
Next post before I leave for New Mexico at the end of July!
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