All-Time Teams - Seattle Mariners, or, A History of Abject Failure and/or Disappointment

Oh, the Mariners! My team of teams. I loved them as a young boy, my interest in baseball waned, then came back with a vengence. Through it all, I've kept my allegiance to this sucker of a team. With our tridents held high, let us set sail on the seas of Mariner-dom and pick out the mightiest of sailors.

Catcher: Dan Wilson
1. Highlights: Well, Wilson was always a fan favorite. He was also pretty consistent for a catcher. I'd rather be able to say something more about the "best" catcher in M's history, but there you have it.

2. Career Best: Career season was 1996, where he put up a .285/.330/.444 line, with 18 hrs and 83 RBI, all career highs. Also finished with a .995 fielding percentage behind the plate.

3. Summary: Like I said, kinda bad for the best ever, but Wilson was a solid backstop for 2 waves of great Seattle teams (mid 90s, early 2000s), was an excellent defensive catcher, and managed every year to not suck. In Seattle, that means success!!!

First Base: Alvin Davis

1. Highlights: Beating out Tino Martinez and John Olerud, both of whom had short tenures in Seattle, Davis started out with a bang in 1984 (RoY) and strung together 8 solid years at first.

2. Career Best: .305/.424/.496 line with 156 OPS+ in 1989, 29 HRs and 37 doubles in 1987.

3. Summary: Solid, reliable, but not terribly flashy. OPS+ stayed above 100 until his last season in Seattle. Finished with 160 HRs and a career .280/.380/.450 line, which is remarkable if only for showing a remarkable discipline to finish one's career with such round numbers.

Second Base: Bret Boone

1. Highlights: One of the driving factors in the M's epic 2001 regular season. Had a solid string of 4 seasons from 2001 through 2004, before suffering an epic collapse in 2005.

2. Career Best: That 2001 season, losing the MVP race to Ichiro despite a .331/.372/.578 line with 37 hrs and 141 RBI, all career highs.

3. Summary: Undoubtedly a Roid monster, he exploded from a poor-to-mediocre talent to a MVP candidate with power, speed and versatility, only to deflate quickly and come crashing to Earth. Still, his 2001 has to be one of the best seasons by a 2B in the last 20... definitely among the top 5.

Third Base: Edgar Martinez

1. Highlights: 6 year stretch in the late nineties of hitting at least .320, hitting at least 22 hrs, and posting OPS+ of 150 or higher.

2. Career Best: I think it'd have to be 1995, where he won the AL batting title, leading the AL in OBP, hit .356/.479/.628, and hit 29 HRS.

3. Summary: A little bit of cheating here... Edgar really belongs at DH, as he spent an overwhelming majority of his career there. But the M's really have no good 3Bs in their history, and Edgar was just so good that I decided to look upon his pre-hamstrung hamstring days with favor.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez

1. Highlights: While he didn't put up the Herculean numbers he would eventually tally in Texas and New York, Seattle's #1 overall pick in 1993 got goin in a hurry for the Mariners. Despite only playing here for 3500 PAs, in the top 10 in every major offensive category.

2. Career Best: 1996, his first full season, where he finished second in the MVP voting to Juan Gonzalez, despite putting up arguably better numbers. Finished batting .358/.414/.631, with 36 HRs and 123 RBI.

3. Summary: This is the guy any good Mariner fan loves to hate, but his impact on the game in Seattle (perhaps in general) is undeniable. He put up good season after good season, stayed out of trouble, and before jumping ship for the highest paycheck, did all we could ask of him.

Outfield: Ken Griffey, Jr.

1. Highlights: In the top 5 of every meaningful offensive category in Seattle history (and in the top 3 of most of those), The Kid played with a swagger and grace never before seen in Seattle. This picture (and everything behind it) singlehandedly saved baseball in Seattle.

2. Career Best: His monster 1997 year won him the MVP - 56 hrs, 147 RBI. However, I'd argue that his 1994 was the more ridiculous season - 40 hrs, .323/.402/.674 in 110 games. His run from 1993 through 2000 (save an injury filled 1995) is pretty spectacular.

3. Summary: This guy was on the way to being the best ever, and prior to jumping ship from Seattle in a fairly disgraceful manner, he lived up to every bit of potential everyone saw in him. Manning centerfield better than anyone in his generation, putting up power numbers with apparent effortlessness, this guy was among the most well-rounded players in the modern era.

Outfield: Ichiro Suzuki

1. Highlights: The new face of the Mariners, the master of the awesome sports quote ("To tell the truth, I'm not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."), a strange athletic phenomenon, and really one of the more underrated players (in my opinion). Career .331 BA, record holder for hits in one season with 262, and a cannon of an arm.

2. Career Best: 2004, 262 hits, .372 BA, 36 stolen bases. Just a monster of a year - especially considering he started in April/May at .255. 3 months batting over 400, 4 months with 50+ hits. Crazy.

3. Summary: 1278 hits in Japan, 1692 hits in the majors. Dude is a hit machine - I really think that he'll pass Pete Rose in hits total (which obviously won't count, but still...). He's just a unique individual, a great player, and almost impossible to defend against.

Outfield: Jay Buhner

1. Highlights: Couldn't hit for average to save his life, his strikeouts sent stiff breezes blowing throughout the Kingdome (creating some form of cyclone phenomenon - may have been responsible for this), but boy did that ball fly off his bat.

2. Career Best: 1996, where he hit 44 HRs, 138 RBI and struck out a mere 159 times. Worth noting was his career high in strikeouts, which is an impressive 175 Ks in 540 AB.

3. Summary: Bone, as he is affectionately known, is a crazy bastard. Read this story to find the portion about Jay Buhner - believe me, the whole article is great, but Jay's portion is awesome. Truly a power hitter, also had a cannon of an arm, and anchored the bottom half of the M's lineup for several years.

Designated Hitter: John Olerud

1. Highlights: A Washington native, he was welcomed home with open arms to finish his career. Well, he had stints with the Yanks and Sox after he left Seattle, but still. Notable for his steady production (often around .300, lots of doubles and 20 hrs) and for wearing a batting helmet on the field (the result of having an aneurysm while on the field at WSU), he may also be the whitest man ever.

2. Career Best: His best season in Seattle came in 2002, with a .300/.403/.490 line. He accounted for 7.2 RC/9, and in his usual quiet way, knocked in 102 runs on 22 HRs.

3. Summary: Make no mistake, Olerud's finest days were prior to his stint in Seattle. I'd guess that he'll easily make the Blue Jays all-time team and, while he was there for a very short time, may make at least the bench in New York for the Mets. That said, Olerud was a key component of the 2000-2004 M's.

Pitchers: Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer, Mark Langston, Freddy Garcia, Felix Hernandez Closer: Kazuhiro Sasaki

1. Highlights: Well, not much to say here... The Big Unit was a machine in his times in Seattle, and Moyer is the polar opposite type of pitcher, but reinvented his career remarkably well. This is not a great rotation, by any stretch, but when all of these guys were on their game, they'd get some guys out.

2. Career Best: Randy Johnson's 1997 (20 wins, 2.28 ERA, 291 Ks) is up there, as is Moyer's 21 wins in 2003. Freddy probably gets in here because he was good, but he was playing with the offensive Juggernaut that was the 2001 M's. Saves: 45, Kaz Sasaki in 2001.

3. Summary: I guess I've said enough. These guys could all strike some guys out. Bad Sunglasses is gonna give me shit for including Felix Hernandez, but I believe. I've drank (drunk? well, consumed anyway) the Kool-Aid. When he is on, boy, get out of the way. Let's hope we can re-sign him and he can lead us to a victory. Also, how can you not root for a closer who retired from the league because, basically, he was an alcoholic and an inveterate womanizer?

Bench: Harold Reynolds, Mike Cameron, Raul Ibanez, Dave Valle and Phil Bradley

Bullpen: Mike Schooler, J.J. Putz, Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Nelson, Norm Charlton

Batting Order:

1. Ichiro (L)

2. Edgar Martinez (R)

3. Ken Griffey, Jr (L)

4. Alex Rodriguez (R)

5. Bret Boone (R)

6. John Olerud (L)

7. Jay Buhner (R)
8. Alvin Davis (L)

9. Dan Wilson (R)

Conclusion: It's a sad lot in life to root so heartily for such a disappointing team. Even when we set the modern baseball record for wins in a season, we can't beat the Damn Yankees. And we are in the midst of the most epic breakdown this season. But I still love this loser of a team, and we'll be back. Mariners in '09! (or, more realistically, '10).

The 2008 NBA Draft-The Way It Should Be

So after a watershed year for the NBA, we will see if the lessons learned have been absorbed in time for the draft tonight. Usually the draft is a great opportunity for ridicule, but after two blockbuster trades sent two teams going nowhere to the Finals, there's finally a possibility that the GMs have caught on to what's been obvious to everyone else the past 15 years. Namely European big guys are soft, the guards are better, if a player doesn't perform at a high level in college it's not because he was in the wrong system, he doesn't have it. And the number one thing: if you pick a player in the lottery under 6'7", he'd better be able to shoot and handle the ball, and if you pick a player over 6'8", he'd better be able to score in the paint and rebound.

That being said, the teams will still find a way to fuck it up. So, for posterity's sake, here's how I think the draft should go down.

1. Chicago: Michael Beasley

So two things: 1. Taking the hometown hero to save the Pro team has only worked for LeBron. Most have flamed out under the pressure. Rose is from Chicago and will be under tremendous stress if picked here. 2. The Bulls need scoring in a big way and that's what you get from Beasley. They especially need interior scoring as their two returning High point getters are jump shooters, Deng, and Gordon. Rose gives them leadership and an ability to penetrate. He's not a great passer a la Paul, and without tutelage like Deron Williams got from John Stockton in Utah, don't expect him to log 8-10 assists things.

2. Miami: Derrick Rose

He's best off here, and so is Miami. With Rose and Wade on the perimeter, Miami could have the same kind of outside attack as the back-to-back championship Piston teams of the 80's, with Rose playing Dumars to Wade's Isiah. Wade's ability to create will cover for Rose's lack of assists.

3. Minnesota: Roy Hibbert

If Chicago and Miami brain-fart and Beasley is available here, of course, they take him in a dream scenario for the Wolves. But he won't be available, so God help them from OJ Mayo, the foregone bust of this draft. All of their recent picks have been 1, 2,or 3s. They need help on the inside for Al Jefferson. Someone to rebound, defend, block shots, and shoot a high percentage when the ball finds him open. And who does that in this draft? Roy Hibbert. Feel free to kill for this pick now, but in three years when we look back at this draft, he will be a top five pick.

4. LA Clippers (from Seattle): Jerryd Bayless

This team needs backcourt help in the worst way. They are rumored to be getting this pick only if OJ Mayo hasn't been taken, in which case Seattle will. The aforementioned rule of hometown hero rules out Westbrook here. So I'm going with Bayless. He's got the height to defend, unlike Augistin, and he's a pure point, unlike Gordon. Like Hibbert, he probably will be taken after a bunch of other guys at his position, but 3 years from now he'll be neck and neck with Rose for the top Point Guard in this draft.

5. Memphis: Kevin Love

This team looks terrible, and it is, but there is hope. Conely at point and Gay at small forward is a decent foundation. Neither one is a leader or the face of the franchise. Love would fit both niches, as well as score on the block, rebound, play better defense than he'll get credit for and keep the ball moving in what, if you throw Miller in there, is a potent offense.

6. New York: Russell Westbrook

A great fit. Westbrook would make everybody on this team better and wouldn't have to worry about scoring, with Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford hogging the ball. The Knicks are too dumb and unlucky to get this player though.

7. Seattle: Marreese Speights

They need help everywhere except for small forward, Kevin Durant, and he's a perimeter forward, so I'm going inside (of course they are looking for a point). Another surprise as there are two or three centers rated ahead of him. This guy has size and his FG is over 60%. Lopez by comparison is under 50%. Otherwise their numbers are comparable.

8. Milwaukee: Mario Chalmers

Another team with a desperate need for a point guard. Luckily for the Bucks, this draft is loaded with point guards. I took Chalmers over Augistin because of Chalmers' versatility, height, and great defensive ability.

9. Charlotte: Danilo Gallinari

They already have a swing forward in Wallace, but Gallinari is a great fit for their roster and would allow them to play a Phoenix type of game.

10. New Jersey: Darrell Arthur

Strong quick, plays defense, runs the floor, and can hit a 10 footer. Now that the Nets have Yi, they need somebody to play inside, and Arthur is the best inside power forward outside of Kevin Love.

Texas Rangers All-Time Team

The one-time Washington Senators, essentially forced out of our Nation's capital in disgrace, settled in the relative wastelands of Texas and have spent the better part of 35 years trying to live down that disgrace. What lies before you now is a lineup with some real gems, but a whole lot more average players, and possibly one of the 5 worst pitching lineups ever. To be fair, the pitchers in the lineup are mostly fine (3 HoFers and all), but were Rangers late in their career and faded into the sunset with some mediocre seasons.

This is a study of a team who, like modern day Oakland, seems to pull great prospects up, groom them and then send them to bigger markets. Witness the Yankee/RedSoxifying of MLB...

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez (R)
1. Highlights: 8 year stretch over .300 BA, MVP winner in 1999, putting up career bests in just about every category (see next line).
2. Career Best: 1999 was a great year for him, .332/.356/.558 35 HRs, 113 RBI, 25 stolen bases. Career highs in all counting categories. BA: .347 and Slg: .667 in 2000.
3. Summary: Not even a close call here. 10+ solid seasons at catcher, excellent defensively (10 Gold Gloves in a row, only 2 seasons under .990 fielding percentage), and general team leader.

First Base: Rafael Palmeiro (L)
1. Highlights: His testimony before the House of Representatives... oh wait... He actually hit 321 homers and put up a solid career in the 10 years he played in Arlington.
2. Career Best: .324 BA in 1999, 47 hrs (twice, 1999 and 2001), 148 RBI in 1999. 159 OPS+ in 1999.
3. Summary: Honestly, Palmeiro should be in the Hall. Steroids or not, dude put up some great numbers and was remarkably consistent for 15 years. While contemptable as a person for lying to Congress and throwing Tejada under the bus, he is redeemed by his stats. Also, many points for an excellent moustache (one of many on this Rangers squad).

Second Base: Julio Franco (R)
1. Highlights: This man is not human... seriously, this man was a position player for 23 seasons. Plus, he took like 3 years off entirely. He is 48 years old and played in 50+ games last year. Among his many many many teams, he spent 5 years in Texas in the early 90s.
2. Career Best: .341/.408/.474 line in 1991 was his Texas career high, and 2 years of 27 and 2 years of 31 doubles in 5 seasons (talk about consistency, eh?).
3. Summary: Not necessarily his best stretch of offensive output, but really, there's not much competition in Texas (Soriano was only there for 2 years, Mark McLemore and Ian Kinsler suck).

Third Base: Buddy Bell (R)
1. Highlights: 4 time All Star and 6 straight Gold Gloves holding down 3rd in the late 70s.
2. Career Best: .329/.379/.428 line in 1980 were his best year in Texas, with 18 hrs and 101 RBI also a zenith of his performance there.
3. Summary: Second in a line of Bell baseball boys, he had a largely unremarkable tenure in Texas, but he strung together more solid seasons than Hank Blalock in his injury plagued run and had a more well rounded game than Dean Palmer.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez (R)
1. Highlights: He is number 6 on the Rangers all time HR chart, despite only spending 3 years here. Should say something about his performance here. These 3 years, though, are some of his best, and actually got an MVP in his last year there for the 2003 Rangers, even though they finished in last place.
2. Career Best: .318/.399/.622 were his highs for this period, achieved in 2001. Hit 57 hrs and 142 RBI in 2002. Silver Slugger and All Star all three seasons.
3. Summary: While I still have lingering anger over the manner in which A-Rod so summarily left a generous Seattle behind, he got what he deserved in Texas. Meaning, accolades he could pile on his significant mantle to be polished every October.

Outfield: Juan Gonzalez (R)
1. Highlights: Two time MVP, two-time Ranger (89-99, 2002-03), hit 40+ hrs 5 times. Clearly the best hitter in Texas history given the duration of his stay and sheer magnitude of his stats.
2. Career Best: 169 OPS+ in 1993 set a career high, and his 157 RBI was the third highest total in the 1990s (behind Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa).
3. Summary: Injuries plagued Juan Gone's career, but had he stayed healthy, he's a sure-fire Hall of Famer. He would have easily reached 500 HRs (ended up with 434), and his .295/.343/561 line is nothing to shake a stick at.

Outfield: Ruben Sierra (S)
1. Highlights: Another Ranger who came up through their system, flourished young and then went on to play for a ton of other teams, Sierra was quite the phenom in the late 80s and early 90s. Ups and downs through his early career, but stayed above .260 and around 20 hrs consistently, with some great up seasons.
2. Career Best: Definitely 1989, where he narrowly lost the MVP to Robin Yount back when the Brewers were in the AL. His .307/.357/.502 were career bests, and his 25 HR and 116 weren't bad either.
3. Summary: Strong start to a career that led him to 8 other teams, he'll probably be remembered more as a stop-gap than a force to be reckoned with, but he strung together a number of good years.

Outfield: Rusty Greer (L)
1. Highlights: Very under the radar player, but in the late 90s-early 00s, he put together some solid, though not flashy numbers.
2. Career Best: Three times over 100 runs, capped at 112 runs in 1997. His .321/.405/.531 in 1997 remains his most well rounded season.
3. Summary: Really, not much more to say here. Lifelong Ranger, he quietly did his job, and then like all old cowboys, quietly rode off into the sunset. Oh also, he appears to be destined for aristocracy, as his birth name is Thurman Clyde Greer III. Not bad...

Designated Hitter: Mark Teixiera (S)
1. Highlights: Ah, he of the strangely placed, strangely pronounced 'X'. What is it with my teams and the letter X? Foxx, Teix... I suppose I'll have to take the Red Sox and any team with a Felix (Seattle?). Teixiera exploded on the scene in 03, put up 4 good seasons and hit the road running to Atlanta to complete his Yankees audition.
2. Career Best: .301/.379/.575, 43 HR 116 RBI line in 2005 all set personal highs for him while in Texas. Consistently between 7 and 8 RC/G.
3. Summary: New York Yankees, meet your future First Baseman.


Pitchers: Charlie Hough, Nolan Ryan, Kenny Rogers, Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry Closer: John Wetteland
1. Highlights: Not many... Jenkins came in second in the Cy Young race in 1974, Nolan Ryan struck out 301 batters at the age of 42 (Ryan was 42... not 301 42 year olds...)
2. Career Best: Wins - Jenkins with 25 in 1974, Ks - Ryan with 301 in 1989, ERA was Jon Matlack with 2.27 in 1978. Saves - Francisco Cordero with 49 in 2004.
3. Summary: Pretty rough... 3 Hall of Famers, but all at the tail end of their careers. While the offense had some spark, this pitching staff was not one to overpower.

Bench: Will Clark, Michael Young, Alfonso Soriano, Dean Palmer, Jim Sundberg (wow... backup catcher doesn't get much lower than this...)

Bullpen: Francisco Cordero, Tom Henke, Jeff Russell, Bobby Witt, Kevin Brown

Batting Order:
1. Franco (R)
2. Greer (L)
3. Rodriguez (R)
4. Gonzalez (R)
5. Palmeiro (L)
6. Teixiera (S)
7. Rodriguez (R)
8. Sierra (S)
9. Bell (R)

Conclusion: What to say about the former employees of our esteemed President? They were forced to leave Washington in disgrace because of the young upstarts up the road. They've lived out the rest of their days in relative obscurity, occasionally coming to the surface with efforts to redeem themselves, only to be bounced back into the cellar by glaring weaknesses. Yeah, the Rangers past history are about what I predict their former boss's future to be...

The All-Time New York Yankees

Catcher: YOGI BERRA

1. Highlights: Three MVP's, fifteen straight All Star appearances, ten straight years with twenty or more HR's, lead the league in most AB's per strikeout in 1950.

2. Career Best: Yogi's two best seasons,1950 and 1956, were before his first MVP and after his last. 1950 stands out: 151 G (as a catcher!), 116 RS, 192 H, 30 2B, 28 HR, 124 RBI, .322 BA, .383 OBP, .533 SLG, 318 TB, and the aforementioned least K's per AB's.

3. Summary: Was Bench better? Conventional wisdom says yes, yet Yogi leads Bench in every single offensive category except HR. Bench was a better catcher but an examination of the numbers says not by much; part of Bench's legendary defense behind the plate seems to stem from his height. Bench was to the catcher position what Ripkin would be to the Shortstop position. Although Berra does lead in every offensive category, and Bench in most defensive categories, the difference is often so close as to be negligible. Except in career strike-outs: Berra: 414, and Bench:1278. I'm taking Berra.

First Base: LOU GEHRIG

1. Highlights: Won the Triple Crown in 1934, two time MVP, played in the first six All-Star Games, led the majors in OBP five times, led the majors in SLG twice, led the majors in RS four times, led the majors in TB four times, led the majors in RBI five times, led the majors in HR three times, led the majors in BB three times, led the league in Extra Base Hits four times, led the majors in 2B twice, led the majors in triples, hits and BA once.

He also played in a record 2,130 consecutive games, later broken by Cal Ripkin. He only had more than eighty strike-outs once in his long career. Thirteen straight years with more than one hundred RS. Had two hundred hits eight times. Had double digits in doubles, triples, and homers seven straight seasons. Thirteen straight seasons with over 110 RBI. Had one season over 180 RBI, three over 170 RBI, and seven over 160 RBI. Thirteen straight seasons with an OBP over .400. Fifteen straight seasons with a SLG over .500, with nine seasons over .600, and three seasons over .700 topping out at a whopping .765 in 1927. Twelve straight seasons hitting .300 or better with a high of .379 in 1930; beating his back to back seasons of 1927 and 1928 when Gehrig hit .373, and .374 .

Lou Gehrig is best remembered for delivering one of the greatest public speeches in American history.

2. Career Best: In 1927 Lou Gehrig had 218 hits, 52 doubles, 18 triples, 175 runs batted in, 47 home runs, a .371 batting average, a .474 on base percentage, and a .765 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: The greatest First Baseman who ever lived.

Second Base: TONY LAZZERI

1. Highlights: Hit .300 five times and had a SLG over .500 three times. Five seasons with double digits in doubles, triples, and home runs. Seven 100 RBI seaons.

2. Career Best: 1929- 101 runs scored, 193 hits, 37 doubles, 11 triples, 18 home runs, a .354 batting average, a .429 on base percentage, and a .561 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: Is in the Hall Of Fame and probably doesn't deserve to be there.

Third Base: ALEX RODRIGUEZ

1. Highlights: Two time MVP, five time All-Star, led the league in slugging three times, led the league in runs scored twice, led the league in home runs twice, and led the league in RBI once. Five straight years with at least 100 runs scored, 20 doubles, 30 home runs, 100 RBI, and a .500 SLG.

2. Career Best: 2007- 143 runs scored, 31 doubles, 54 home runs, 156 runs batted in, 24 stolen bases, a .314 batting average, a .422 on base percentage, and a .645 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: We should've known when the reports came out last year that he was hanging around Pete Rose. And by the way the man CHOSE to wear the number 13. Alex you always seemed to think you were above the constraints of mortal men. To quote Bob Dylan "Temporary Like Achilles".

Shortstop: DEREK JETER

1. Highlights: Eleven years with 100 runs scored, six years with over 200 hits, 25 doubles or more every year of his career, double digits in home runs and stolen bases every year of his career, hit .300 or better ten times while never hitting below .291 in his career, led the league in runs scored and hits, Rookie of the Year, All-Star MVP, and World Series MVP.

2. Career Best: 1999- 134 runs scored, 219 hits, 37 doubles, 24 home runs, 102 runs batted in, a .349 batting average, a .438 on base percentage, and a .552 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: With all the scandals around baseball Mr. Cool looks better, and better.

Outfield: BABE RUTH

1. Highlights: 1 MVP, 2 All-Star games, 1 batting title, in ten World Series games hit .326 .467 .744, led the league in OBP 9 times, led the league in SLG eleven straight years, led the league in RS seven straight years, led the league in HR ten years, led the league in RBI five years, and led the league in OPS eleven straight years. In fourteen years hit under .300 twice.

Hit over .350 eight times, and over .370 six times. Hit over 40 home runs eleven times, and over 50 four times. 13 one hundred RBI seasons. 16 seasons with an OBP over .400, and five seasons over .500. 15 seasons with a SLG over .500, 12 seasons over .600, 9 seasons over .700, and 2 seasons over .800. Broke the single season home run record four separate times. When Ruth hit 54 home runs in 1920 the next closest man, George Sisler, hit 19.

2. Career Best: Although popular with fans baseball people of his time had an ambivalent relationship with Ruth. His only MVP season came in 1923 when he hit .393; representing the old-timers idea of a great ball player as opposed to his greater power years.

His best year to me, and his numbers make it a matter of taste, is 1921. Ruth scored 177 runs, had 204 hits, 44 doubles, 16 triples, 59 home runs, 171 runs batted in, a .378 batting average, a .512 on base percentage, and a .846 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: Is Ruth the greatest ever? Tough to say. He never played in an integrated league. By comparison, Williams missed years in the wars, and played in an integrated league part of his career. Bonds used P.E.D.'s. No one else should really be in the conversation.
Could he play in today's game? Of course he could and he'd be a Hall of Famer; as a left handed starter.

Outfield: MICKEY MANTLE

1. Highlights: A Triple Crown, led the league in triples in 1955, 16 time All-Star, 3 time MVP, led the league in runs 6 times, led the league in HR and SLG 4 times a piece, led the league in OBP 3 times. Had an OPS over 1.000 eight separate times. All time leader for switch hitters in OBP, OPS, and Home Runs.

2. Career Best: 1956, Mantle's first MVP season-132 runs scored, 22 doubles, 52 home runs, .353 batting average, .464 on base percentage, .705 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: Admitted to getting drunk with Billy Martin before many ball games. The main reason the Yanks traded Billy away. How do you think that would go over these days? And why isn't it brought up when the Mick's legacy is discussed? When he needed a liver transplant after destroying his own with decades of alcoholism, NYC unethically and disgustingly moved him to the top of the recipient list. Rarely gets mentioned either. Some guys are just born with Halos. My Father's favorite player.

Outfield: JOE DIMAGGIO

1. Highlights: 13 time All-Star, 3 time MVP, led the league in triples, and led the league in AVG, SLG, HR, and RBI two times a piece. Eight seasons with double digits in doubles, triples and home runs. Nine 100 RBI seasons. Seven 30 HR seasons. In 13 seasons batted under .300, and slugged under .500 only twice a piece. Hit safely in 56 straight games.

2. Career Best: This was tough. Joe routinely missed twenty games to injury, give or take, almost every year of his career. I'm going with one of only three years he played close to a full season:1937- 151 runs scored, 215 hits, 35 doubles, 15 triples, 46 home runs, 167 runs batted in, a .346 batting average, a .412 on base percentage, and a .673 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: Another Halo guy. The amount of doubles and triples tells you how well he ran the bases. Strangely he only had 30 steals in his career, which is more of an era thing, as the stolen base almost died in the thirties and forties. Only played five years in an integrated league and lost three prime years to WWII. Married Marilyn Monroe when it meant something. Immortalized in prose and song by Hemingway, and Paul Simon respectively.

Designated Hitter: ROGER MARIS

1. Highlights: 2 straight MVP's, 3 straight All-Star games, 3 straight 30 HR, 100 RBI seasons. Broke the unbreakable Babe Ruth's single season home run record.

2. Career Best: 1961- 132 runs scored, 61 home runs, 142 runs batted in, a .269 batting average, a .372 on base percentage, and a .620 slugging percentage.

3. Summary: All through 1961, Baseball Managers chose to pitch around Mantle, and go after Maris. Roger made them pay all year long. No one wanted Maris to be the one to break the Babe's record; seemingly even himself at times. But he did it, and no amount of Halo induced vitriol or P.E.D. inflated numbers can ever take that away from him. Good for you, Roger.

PITCHERS: Whitey Ford, Jack Chesbro, Lefty Gomez, Ron Guidry, Bob Shawkey, Mariano Rivera, Goose Gossage

1. Highlights: Guidry's 1.74 ERA, 248 strikeouts, 9 shutouts, and .208 ERA+. Chesbro's 451 innings pitched, 48 complete games, 41 wins and 0.937 WHIP. Mo Rivera's 53 saves.

2. Career Best:
Whitey Ford's 1964- 244 IP, 17-6 record, 8 shutouts, 12 complete games, 172 strikeouts, 2.13 ERA, 1.099 WHIP, 170 ERA+.

Jack Chesbro's 1904- 454 IP, 41-12 record, 6 shutouts, 48 complete games, 239 strikeouts, 1.82 ERA, 0.937 WHIP, 148 ERA+.

Lefty Gomez's 1937- 278 IP, 21-11 record, 6 shutouts, 25 complete games, 194 strikeouts, 2.33 ERA, 1.171 WHIP, 191 ERA+.

Ron Guidry's 1978- 273 IP, 25-3 record, 9 shutouts, 16 complete games, 248 strikeouts, 1.74 ERA, 0.946 WHIP, 208 ERA+.

Bob Shawkey's 1920- 267 IP, 20-13 record, 5 shutouts, 20 complete games, 126 strikeouts, 2.45 ERA, 1.237 WHIP, 156 ERA+.

Goose Gossage's 1978- 134 IP, 27 saves, 122 strikeouts, 2.01 ERA, 1.087 WHIP, 180 ERA+.

Mariana Rivera's 2008- 70 IP, 39 saves, 77 strikeouts, 1.40 ERA, 0.665 WHIP, 317 ERA+.

3. Summary: Doesn't match up to the lineup. Best All Time Bullpen though.

BENCH: Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Reggie Jackson

BULLPEN: Waite Hoyt, Red Ruffing, Dave Righetti, Fritz Peterson, Mel Stottlemyre.

Batting Order:
1.Jeter-R
2.DiMaggio-R
3.Ruth-L
4.Mantle-S
5.Gehrig-L
6.Rodriguez-R
7.Berra-L
8.Maris-L
9.Lazzeri-R

Conclusion: The lineup includes possibly the best player ever (Ruth), the best First baseman ever (Gehrig), the future Home Run King at 3rd base (A-Rod), probably the best catcher ever(Berra), the best switch hitter ever (Mantle), and a guy with a 56 game hitting streak (DiMaggio). It also holds two players to hold the single season home run record. Six MVP's and eight Hall of Famers in the lineup. Two MVP's and four Hall of Famer's on the bench. They are the Yankees.

The Washington Senators All-Time Team

The best line I came across about the Washington Senators also pretty much sums up their entire existence, and I'm quoting from baseball-reference.com: "The Senators were officially the Washington Nationals from 1905-1955, but the fans never recognized them as such". I mean how bad does your Baseball team have to be for the fans to give you the most derogatory nickname they can think of: The Senators.

The Senators were declared cursed beyond repair in 1960 and moved to Minnesota in an effort to increase the misery of that glacial alcove overlooking the frozen hells.

To everyones surprise, nostalgia crept into peoples hearts over the lost Senators; with their lone World Series win and their lone All-Timer Walter Johnson. That "nostalgia" was fueled by MLB's attempt "to stave off threats of lifting its antitrust exemption" by enraged members of Congress, who needed something to do instead of going to work. So even though the new team was called the Senators, played in the same division, and didn't miss a season, they were considered a new Washington Senators franchise. But they played just like the old Senators: god awful.

By the time the Senators left for good in 1971, the Country had moved on, and baseball had become a little square. The real Congressmen and Senators, who needed something to do instead of going to work, were spending all their time these days in the illegal casinos and strip-clubs. Nobody cared when the new Senators moved to Texas of all places. Without this move, which in the future would allow George W. Bush to hold a can't miss executive job, their wouldn't have been a Cheney Presidency. Go Senators.

Catcher:MUDDY RUEL

1. Highlights: Three straight .400 OBP seasons.

2. Career Best: .316 AVG, .411 OBP, .389 SLG. 1 HR--You read that right. Hey. it's the Senators.

3. Summary: Started with the Yanks, but they had some guy named Dickey behind the plate. Decent defender behind the dish, and had a great eye at the plate.

First Base: JOE JUDGE

1. Highlights: Hit .300 or better nine of the fourteen full seasons he played for the Senators. Ten straight seasons with over twenty doubles.

2. Career Best: .333 AVG, .416 OBP in '20, and .509 SLG in '30. Hit ten HRs in '22, and '30.

3. Summary: Solid average hitter who played a lot: 15 straight seasons with over 100 games started. Did everything well except hit home runs; sort of a rich man's Sean Casey.

Second Base: BUDDY MYER

1. Highlights: 1935, a top twenty season for a second baseman: 115 RS, 215 Hits, 100 RBI, and career highs in AVG, and SLG.

2. Career Best: .349 AVG in '35, .454 OBP in '38, .468 SLG in '35. 38 doubles, and 16 triples in '32. 6 HRs in '38.

3. Summary: Just missed out on a lot of HOF magic numbers, but the guy's a second baseman who played 17 seasons and retired with over a .300 AVG. He's a borderline Hall of Famer if there ever was one.


Third Base: BUDDY LEWIS

1. Highlights: Hit double digit doubles, triples, and home runs in '39. Scored 100 runs four times.

2. Career Best:.333 AVG, and .423 OBP in '45 ( only 69 ABs), .478 SLG in '39.

3. Summary: Short career and a crappy fielder. He did hit .300 almost half the seasons he played ( 4 out of 11). The second Buddy on this list in what was an occasional Buddy to Buddy start of a double play: insert joke here.

Shortstop: CECIL TRAVIS

1. Highlights: In 1941, Travis poster career highs in every major category except stolen bases. He went to The War the next year. When he came back, Travis was a shell of the player he was before, and ended up retiring two years later. A lot of guys during the forties could say the same.

2. Career Best: .359 AVG, .410 OBP, .520 SLG, 106 RS, 218 H, 39 Doubles, 19 Triples, and 101 RBIs all in 1941.

3. Summary: Played in the era where everybody's AVG was through the roof, but still the guy hit over .300 for his career. He was shipped over to Europe during The War, where he got frostbite on two of his toes. If he hadn't left for WWII he might have made a HOF push who knows. He did have more hits than anybody in '41, including Ted and Joe.


Outfield: GOOSE GOSLIN

1. Highlights: Won the batting title in '28 hitting .379. His RC/G that year was a 10.9, a massive number. Had a OPS+ number over 100 for 16 straight years. Hit over .300 for seven straight years. Had double digits in doubles, triples, and home runs, for five straight years. Also had over 100 RBIs, and over a .500 SLG for five straight years.

2. Career Best: .379 AVG, .442 OBP, and .614 SLG, all in '28. 37 doubles in '27. 20 triples in '25

3. Summary: A Hall of Famer and deserves to be. Another guy who seems to do everything on a baseball diamond well. Did he put up his numbers during one of the high water marks for offense? He did. Could he play today? He'd be an All-Star.

Outfield: HEINIE MANUSH

1. Highlights: Won the batting title in '26, and came in second twice, and third twice, mostly with Detroit. Four straight years with over 30 doubles (41, 41, 32, 42), over 10 triples, and over a .300 AVG with the Senators.

2. Career Best: .349 AVG, .392 OBP, and .523 SLG in '34. Had some years in Detroit that were bigger.

3. Summary: A Hall of Famer, he was traded for Goose Goslin in '36 in the rare HOF swap. Aged a little better than Goslin. Goslin had the better years.

Outfield: ROY SIEVERS

1. Highlights: 6 straight years with 20 or more HRs ( in Griffith Park that's something). Hit 42 Hr in '57.

2. Career Best: .301 AVG, .388 OBP and .579 SLG in '57. '27 doubles in '56.

3. Summary: The year Sievers hit 42 HRs the Senators pulled the left field fence in to 350 feet, turning what had been the ultimate pitchers park (until Petco) into a righty power park. If they'd done it sooner, or left it there for more than a year, Sievers is probably a HOF with 500 HRs. He's the only Senator to ever have 27 or more HRs in a season.

Designated Hitter: MICKEY VERNON

1. Highlights: When he made the bigs he was the youngest player in the majors. When he retired he was the oldest player. He played 20 seasons even though he missed another two to WWII! In '53 he had over 200 hits, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs. Hit over 27 doubles every year, his first ten years with the Senators. Never struck out more than 66 times in any of his twenty seasons.

2. Career Best: .353 AVG in '46, .403 OBP twice ('46 and '53: also .403 with Boston one year. Crazy), .518 SLG '53. 14 Triples and 24 HRs in '54. 51 doubles in '46.

3. Summary: The man loved to play baseball. Debuted in '39 and the son of a gun is still kicking. Good for you Mickey.

Pitchers: WALTER JOHNSON, DUTCH LEONARD, GEORGE MOGRIDGE, TOM ZACHARY, FIRPO MARBERRY

1. Highlights: Walter Johnson: ERA+ season 259, ERA+ career 147, SHO season 11, SHO career 110, complete games season 38, complete games career 531, SO season 313, SO career 3509, innings season 371, innings career 5914, WHIP season 0.780, WHIP career 1.061, Wins season 36, Wins career 417, ERA season 1.14, ERA career 2.17.

2. Career Best: see above

3. Summary: There are some good starters besides Walter, but nothing special. But Walter takes this staff to another level.

Bench: Rick Ferrell, Ossie Bluege, Joe Cronin, Eddie Yost, Joe Kuhel

Bullpen: Camilo Pascual, Bob Porterfield, Early Wynn, Case Patten, Bob Groom


Batting Order:

1. Myer-L
2. Travis-L
3. Goslin-L
4. Sievers-R
5. Manush-L
6. Vernon-L
7. Judge-L
8. Lewis-L
9. Ruel-R

Conclusion: Power challenged line-up but they could hit. Walter would give them a chance every time he pitched. They'd lose every game he didn't probably.

Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals All-Time Team

Ah, our misunderstood French speaking friends to the north, how they lament the loss of their once great, well good, band of up and comers over a nice cool glass. not too cold mind you, of Kina Lillet.

Their loss is the Capital of Americas gain; in so much as the gutting of a competitive team and shipping it south to the swamps to play like woebegone triple AAA'ers in front of our lobbyist pampered Congress-people, can be a gain.

Catcher: GARY CARTER

1. Highlights: Out of the ten years Carter spent as the starting catcher only three had a fielding percentage under.990, and those three were, .985(his first year starting), and .989 twice. Started over 140 games behind the plate six times. 91 runs scored and 97 RBIs in '82.

2. Career Best: .294 AVG in '84, .381 OBP in '82, .525 SLG and 31 HRs in '77, and 37 doubles in '83.

3. Summary: Hall of Famer, played a ton behind the dish ( can't be over-stated),great balance of defense and plate production, a top five All-Time Catcher.

First Base: ANDRES GALARRAGA

1. Highlights: Breakout year of 1988, when he posted highs in runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, rbi, and stolen bases.

2. Career Best: .305 AVG, and .361 OBP both in '87. .540 SLG and 7.0 RC/G both in '88.

3. Summary: His best years were in Colorado, and Atlanta, with Coors Field, and possibly other factors, helping his performance. That '88 year is a great baseball year ( minus the over 100 strike-outs).

Second Base: JOSE VIDRO

1. Highlights: The 2000 season when he put up a top ten post-war offensive season by a second baseman: 101 runs scored, 200 Hits, 51 doubles, 97 RBI's.

2. Career Best: .330 AVG in '00, .397 OBP in '03, .540 SLG and 24 HRs in '00.

3. Summary: While with the Expos, Vidro was an offensive All-Star. Slow and only an average defender at best.

Third Base:TIM WALLACH

1. Highlights: '87 his only season with 100 RBIs(123) and a.500 SLG( .514).

2. Career Best: 89 runs twice ( in '82, and '87), 185 hits in '90, 42 doubles twicw ( in '87 and '89), 28 HRs in '82, .298 AVG, and a .343 OBP, and a.514 SLG in '87.

3. Summary: Really a bad fielder, this is actually a weak position for the Expos, and a above average offensive third base. He did make 5 All-Star teams.

Shortstop: ORLANDO CABRERA

1. Highlights: '01 Cabrera started all 162 games at Shortstop and posted a career best, as an Expo, .986 fielding percentage. Offensively '03 where he posted career highs in every offensive category except triples and RBIs.

2. Career Best: 47 doubles, 17 home runs, .297 AVG, .347 OBP, .460 SLG in '03

3. Summary: A little lacking defensively for a shortstop but above average offensively, Orlando is an above average player who has never made, nor deserved an All-Star spot.


Outfield: VLADIMIR GUERRERO

1. Highlights: There are more than a few, although his legacy needs at least one in October. Had over 10 outfield assists in every year, (7) he played for the Expos. Five straight years with over 100 R, 180 H, 100 RBI, 30 HR, .300 AVG, .550 SLG.

2. Career Best: 131 RBI in '99. 45 doubles in '01. 40 SB in '02. 11 triples, 44 homers, .345 AVG, .664 SLG in '00. .426 OBP in '03.

3. Summary: Just an amazingly talented athlete. Posted in career highs in different years for different categories, a tell-tale sign of a complete player. Hall of Fame numbers. Hall of Fame player.

Outfield: TIM RAINES

1. Highlights: Only had one season where he struck-out more than 70 times (83 Ks in '82) Six straight years with 70 or more steals, and 30 doubles. Seven straight years with a SLG over .400 from the lead-off position.

2. Career Best: .334 AVG in '86, .429 OBP and .526 SLG in '87. 38 doubles in 84. 13 triples in '85. 133 runs scored in '83. 194 hits in '86. 18 HR in '87.

3. Summary: Made six straight all-star teams and in my estimation, suffers in HOF consideration because he's a lead-off guy. Put the man in the Hall!

Outfield: ANDRE DAWSON

1. Highlights: Rookie of the Year in 1977. 12 years(10 with the Expos) with 20 or more doubles. 7 straight years with 20 or more steals. 16 straight years(10 with the Expos) with an OPS+ over 100. Came in second in the MVP voting in '81 even though he only played 103 games.

2. Career Best: .308 AVG in '80, .365 OBP and a .553 SLG in '81. 189 hits, and 32 HR in '83. 107 runs in '82. 113 RBI in '83.

3. Summary: People remember him as a Cubbie and he did win his MVP there, but the guy was an Expo. Don't those numbers seem small for The Hawk? He posted career highs in HR, RBI, and SLG that first year in Chicago, but otherwise his best years and numbers are all Canadian. And they seem small. Wasn't he regarded as one of the best hitters of the eighties? His outfield mate in Montreal, Raines, has better numbers; seems a better player in retrospect. Has baseball evaluation come this far that we can dismiss the consensus of the past? Dawson's numbers haven't aged well: never had 200 hits, only scored 100 runs twice, and then there's the OBP, just way to low for to be considered an elite player. He did play 100 games or more for 16 straight seasons where he sported an OPS+ of 100 or more. That's what he should hang his sabermatic hat on.


Designated Hitter: LARRY WALKER

1. Highlights: 44 doubles, 2 triples, and 19 home runs in 103 at bats his last year in Montreal: '94. That was the strike year. The Expos were in first place headed for at least a spot in the NLCS and Larry Walker could've hit another 6 doubles and 11 homers giving him a 50, 30 season; a Musial season. He'd have some in Colorado instead.

2. Career Best: .322 AVG, .394 OBP, .587 SLG all in '94 again. 23 HR in '92.

3. Summary: Larry is a little like DiMaggio in that he put up great numbers when he was healthy which wasn't much; a season here a season there. Both guys seemed like magnets for nagging injuries. When Larry Walker played he hit the ball as well as anybody, and better than most.

Pitchers: STEVE ROGERS, PEDRO MARTINEZ, DENNIS MARTINEZ, BILL GULLICKSON, BRYN SMITH--Closer: JOHN WETTELAND

1. Highlights: Well, Pedro in 1997: 1.90 ERA, 0.932 WHIP, 11.37 K/9, 305 total Ks, 219 ERA+. And the rest:

2. Career Best: Pedro's numbers above and Rogers 19 Wins in '82, Wetteland 43 SV in '93. Rogers 301.7 IP in 1977.

3. Summary: Pedro elevates this staff as he is a top twenty Starter in MLB history.

Bench: Moises Alou, Rondell White, Brian Schneider, Ryan Zimmerman, Marquis Grissom
Bullpen: Jeff Reardon, Javier Vazquez, Mel Rojas, Chad Cordero, Pascual Perez

Batting Order:
1. Raines-S
2. Vidro-S
3. Guerrero-R
4. Walker-L
5. Carter-R
6. Dawson-R
7. Galarraga-R
8. Cabrera-R
9. Wallach-R

Conclusion: Lots of righties. That's a pretty darn good outfield. Vlad's a HOF, and the other two are just miss guys( although Dawson's looking iffy-er). Rogers was a good starter and Pedro's Pedro. This team's better than you think.

All-Time Teams - Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics

Today, we take a look at the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics... Gotta love a team that really wanted to move all the way to the West Coast, but that just seemed to far to do at once. Who amongst us hasn't taken a breather in Kansas City?

Catcher: Mickey Cochrane
1. Highlights: MVP winner in 1928, where he put up .293/.395/.464 line. Though, to be fair, taking second that year was some dude called Heinie Manush. That name is just rough all over.
2. Career Best: three year stretch of batting better than .330 from 1929-31, hit 21 hrs and 112 RBI in 1932.
3. Summary: Hall of Famer, 5 times in the top 20 MVP voting, had an OPS+ over 100 in every year of his career but one (and that one was only a 98...).

First Base: Jimmie Foxx
1. Highlights: Hall of Famer who put up some ridiculous numbers in Philadelphia. 302 hrs as an Athletic, while sporting a .339/.440/.640 line in his time with the club. Career .640???? that's insane!
2. Career Best: Back-to-back MVP seasons in 1932 and 33, with a .364/.469/.749 line and 58 hrs, 169 RBI in 1932; .356/.449/.703 line and 48 hrs, 163 RBI in 1933.
3. Summary: Not much needs to be said... that 1932 seasons is one of the best seasons in baseball history, ranking up there with The Babe and Big-Head Bonds.

Second Base: Eddie Collins
1. Highlights: Hall of Famer who spent about half his career with the A's before becoming a member of what would be come the notorious 1919 Black Sox.
2. Career Best: MVP season in 1914, with a .344/.452/.452 line... weird to see an identical slugging and OBP number, eh.
3. Summary: Career .337 hitter for the A's, and really has no meaningful competition at this position.

Third Base: Eric Chavez
1. Highlights: He put up 4 straight 29+ HR seasons, with OPS+ over 125 each year in the early 2000s. In all, 7 straight 20HR seasons.
2. Career Best: 2001, where he had a sparkling .288/.338/.540 line with 32 HRs and 118 RBI, all while winning the Gold Glove for his defense at the hot corner.
3. Summary: This was a tough one, neck and neck between Chavez and Home Run Baker. It's just too hard to pick this one on offensive stats, as Chavez played in the steroids era and Baker in the deadball era. So I'll give a tip of the cap to defense here, as Chavez is a 6 time Gold Glove winner.

Shortstop: Miguel Tejada
1. Highlights: AL MVP in 2002, 3 straight 30+ HR seasons. Solid athlete
2. Career Best: 2002, Tejada amassed career highs with an impressive .308/.354/.508 line, 34 hrs and 131 RBI.
3. Summary: Solid player for his duration in Oakland, and like all good Oakland players, left when the A's decided they couldn't/wouldn't pay him anymore.

Outfield: Rickey Henderson
1. Highlights: Wow this guy was fast. Seriously. Played for Oakland in 4 separate stints over his career, finishing with over .400 OBP, almost 1300 runs, almost 1800 hits, and 867 stolen bases.
2. Career Best: 130 stolen bases in 1982 set a modern-day record for most in a season. Otherwise, one of his aberrent power seasons in 1990 was a career high, batting .325/.439/.577, 188 OPS+, 28 HRs and 65 SB. What a season.
3. Summary: Career leader in Runs and Stolen Bases, this man defined the leadoff position for the better part of 2 decades.

Outfield: Reggie Jackson
1. Highlights: Mr. October achieved a lot of his fame and fortune after leaving Oakland, but he cut his teeth in those wonderful Yellow and Green unis.
2. Career Best: As a 23 year old in 1969, he hit 47 hrs, 118 RBI and had an OPS+ of 189, all career highs. This coming one year after striking out 171 times in 553 AB.
3. Summary: 4 times in the top 5 for MVP voting while an A, winning in 1973. Generally, he was a quintessential power hitter - home run or strikeout, the occasional double off the wall. I'll take him for my outfield any day.

Outfield: Jose Canseco
1. Highlights: More well known as a Juicer... no wait, THE Juicer, Canseco put up some monster years early in his career, and like Rickey, couldn't stay away, playing for Oakland on 2 separate occasions.
2. Career Best: Baseball's first 40 hr - 40 SB man, he won the MVP in 1988 for his .307/.391/.569, 42 hr, 124 RBI, 40 SB season.
3. Summary: Rookie of the Year, 1988 MVP, 4 times in the top 20 MVP voting. Before his mouth and his ego got in the way, and before the steroids did their inevitable damage to him, he was a helluva ball player.

Designated Hitter: Mark McGwire
1. Highlights: Canseco's protege in Roids, this guy exploded onto the scene in 1987 with 49 HRs in his rookie season and rarely looked back.
2. Career Best: In 1996, he hit for power (52 hrs, 113 RBI), but actually kept his average above .300 for the first full season in his career, drawing 116 walks in teh process. Finished with an awesome .730 SLG.
3. Summary: Sure he was a roid monster, but he really didn't start looking too freakish til the end of his time in Oakland, and for 8 seasons, he consistently hit for power (30+ hr every season but one) and was generally a force to be reckoned with.

Pitchers: Rube Waddell, Eddie Plank, Lefty Grove, Catfish Hunter, Dave Stewart, Chief Bender, Tim Hudson, Closer: Dennis Eckersley
1. Highlights: Chief Bender put up a 23-5 record with a 1.58 ERA in 1910. Rube Waddell put up 349 K's in 1904, as he put up 39(?!) complete games.
2. Career Best: ERA: 1.30, Jack Coombs in 1910; WHIP: Catfish Hunter, 0.910 in 1972; K's: Waddell, 349 in 1904; Saves: 51, Dennis Eckersley in 1992.
3. Summary: It's a 107 year old franchise, for God's sake... I'll put up a 7 man rotation if i want. I mean, there are 4 hall of famers in there, Hunter dominated in the mid-70s, Stewart was in the top-5 Cy Young voting for 4 years straight, and Tim Hudson won over 70 percent of his decisions as an Athletic. Plus between Catfish and Eck, you got yourself two pretty sweet moustaches there...

Bench: Bob Johnson, Socks Seybold, Nap Lajoie (hit .420 one year... crazy!!), Terry Steinbach, Home Run Baker
Bullpen: Rollie Fingers, Eddie Americus Rommel, Rick Honeycutt, Bob Welch

Batting Order:
1. Henderson (R)
2. Collins (L)
3. Foxx (R)
4. McGwire (R)

5. Jackson (L)
6. Canseco (R)
7. Chavez (L)
8. Tejada (R)
9. Cochrane (L)

Conclusion: The A's are not much for depth at a few positions (C, 2b, SS), but they boast among the fastest and strongest lineups that I can think of. Not a weak link in there. And that pitching staff is pretty ridiculous too...

California/Anaheim/Los Angeles/Greater Southern California Angels All Time Team

So I figured I'd start with my West Coast bias and plow through the AL West to start. First off are the Halo Havers, the Flying Fellow, the Winged Wonders, the Angels of Greater Los Angeles.

Catcher: Bengie Molina, who isn't great, but put up four solid seasons in his 6 w/ the Angels and benefits from no other good catchers in Angels' history.

First Base: Rod Carew, who was better in Minnesota, but had a good run and finished in the top 2 in AVG and OBP.

Second Base: Bobby Grich, who is in the top 10 of many offensive categories and was a 3 time All Star.

Third Base: Troy Glaus. Steroids or not, he had a few monster years there...\

Shortstop: Jim Fregosi - more popular perhaps for his managerial stint, but was a 5 time All Star and only marginal standout of a dull group.

Left Field: Garrett Anderson - Career-long Angel, stands with a .295/.325/.468 line and is near the top of almost every offensive category.

Centerfield: Vladimir Guerrero - man can flat out hit the ball.

Right Field: Tim Salmon - Standout among a few followers, near the top of all major categories, hit nearly 300 hrs.

Designated Hitter - Chili Davis... not just because his name is Chili, but mostly.

Bench: Jim Edmonds, Wally Joyner, Fred Lynn, Bob Boone (somebody's gotta be a backup catcher) and Brian Downing.

Pitching:

Starter - Nolan Ryan. Enough said.

Starter - Chuck Finley - 6 15+ win seasons, another 4 with 10 plus, career ERA under 3.70.

Starter - Dean Chance - only with the club for a few seasons, but that 1964 season is crazy good.

Starter - Frank Tanana - neck and neck with Langston, but had more solid seasons.

Starter - John Lackey - the brightest of a new crop of aces in Southern California.

Closer - Troy Percival - 300+ saves, great WHIP, H/9, BB/9. All-around stud.

Bullpen - Frankie Rodriguez, Scot Shields, Brendan Donnelly, and that's it. If we needed a couple long relievers, I'd throw in Langston and Blyleven (for the one really good year he had there).

Next up, we'll head north to the Oakland Athletics!

Baseball All-Timers--Tampa Bay Rays Edition

So leading up to the All-Star game, and probably beyond, Zaqq and I have decided to rank the All-Time rosters for every Major League team.

Daunting task you say? Not for men with time on their hands, and Large Red-eyes at their disposal.

I figured start small, and who's smaller than the Tampa Bay Rays( not counting this year).

: )Fun Facts : ): The Rays have the worst franchise winning percentage in MLB history. They have never even had a .500 season. They are the only MLB team to never play in the postseason. These things are about to change.

Catcher: TOBY HALL
1.Highlights: four straight seasons with 20 doubles.
2.Career Bests: .287 AVG in '05, .315 OBP in '05, .380 SlG in '03, and a .992 fielding in '04.
3.Summary: Played three full seasons and part of another. Now a backup with the White Sox.

First Base: FRED McGRIFF
1.Highlights: Basically the '99 season where he posted highs of 32 HR, .310 AVG, .405 OBP, and .552 SLG.
2. Career Bests: The aforementioned stats plus a 33 doubles season in '98.
3. Summary: Nice coda to one of the nearest just missed Hall of Fame careers (493 HRs).

Second Base: MIGUEL CAIRO
1. Highlights: 28 stolen bases, and 18 doubles in 119 games in 2000.
2. Career Bests: .295 AVG, .335 OBP, and a .368 SLG all in '99. 26 doubles in '98.
3. Summary: Will be overtaken by Iwanmura after this year is over. Is currently batting second for one of the all-time stinker teams: the '08 Mariners.

Third Base: AUBREY HUFF
1. Highlights: a great 2003 season when he should have made the All-Star team (198 hits,47 doubles,3 triples,34 home runs,and 107 rbi's).
2.Career Bests: .313 AVG in '02, .367 OBP, and .555 SLG both in '03.
3.Summary: Solid player with an All-Star caliber season in there. Not a good fielder in any aspect, and now a full time DH.

Short Stop: JULIO LUGO
1. Highlights: Hit a career high 15 homers after coming over from Houston after 22 games in 2003.
2.Career Bests: .295 AVG,.362 OBP, and .403 SLG in 2005.
3.Summary: Not a very good player. For someone with his size, and defensive position you'd like to see more SBs and triples. SS is also a defensive position, and Lugo has never been a very good defensive player either. Currently stealing money from the Boston Red Sox.


Outfield: CARL CRAWFORD
1. Highlights: 4 seasons with over 50 SBs. 3 straight seasons with double digit doubles, triples, and home runs (and just missed a fourth by one triple).
2.Career Bests: .315 AVG, and a .355 OBP both in '07. .482 SLG in '06. 19 triples and 59 stolen bases in '04.
3.Summary: An All-Star Caliber player for four years running. At this point is the best Ray of all-time. Could start for any current MLB team.

Outfield: RANDY WINN
1. Highlights: Played a full season in 2002 after four straight shortened seasons.
2.Career Bests:.298 AVG in '02,.362 OBP in 2000,.461 SLG in '02.
3.Summary: Hurt a lot; a Tampa outfielders theme. The definition of an average everyday player, except for above average doubles numbers.

Outfield: ROCCO BALDELLI
1. Highlights: His first season in the majors he played start to finish. Because of injury has yet to do so again.
2.Career Bests: .289 AVG '03, .326 OBP in '03 and'04, .436 SLG in '04.
3.Summary: Until he got snake bit, was being called a poor man's Joe D. Now he's just a sad story, and may never play again.

Designated Hitter: JONNY GOMES
1.Highlights: '05 when his splits against righties and lefties were close to even. Since then he has sat a lot against the opposing teams best right-handers.
2.Career Bests: .282 AVG, .372 OBP, .534 SLG all in '05. 21 doubles, and 20 home runs in '06.
3.Summary: There were actually a lot of candidates here, but most of them only played one full season with the Rays. I'm thinking Canseco, and Pena ( Pena will be somewhere on this list after this season, as will BJ Upton, and the year after Evan Longoria.)


Pitchers: SCOTT KAZMIR, ROLANDO ARROJO, JAMES SHIELDS, VICTOR ZAMBRANO--Bullpen: Danny Baez

Highlights:Surprisingly Cuban defector Arrojo's 1998; also the inaugural season for the Rays. His '98 season as it ranks all-time for the Rays: 202 innings pitched is fourth, second in ERA but first in adjusted ERA, first in wins ( at only 14), and second in WHIP at 1.287.
2.Career Bests: ERA Scott Kazmir 3.48 '07, WHIP James Shields 1.107 '07, IP Tanyon Sturtze 224.0 '02, SO Scott Kazmir 239 '07, Saves Roberto Hernandez 43 '99.
3.Summary: Pathetic. ( 239 Ks is pretty good actually)

Bench: Greg Vaughn, John Flaherty, Travis Lee, Ben Grieve, Jorge Cantu.
Bullpen: Roberto Hernandez, Tanyon Sturtze, Joe Kennedy, Travis Harper, Edwin Jackson.

Batting Order:
1. Crawford-L
2. Baldelli-R
3. Huff-L
4. McGriff-L
5. Gomes-R
6. Winn-S
7. Lee-L
8. Cairo-R
9. Hall-R

Conclusion: Worst franchise in the history of baseball. That bullpen is so bad it wouldn't even be a good bullpen for the '08 AL East, much less an All-Time Roster!!!

But fret not Rays fans. You have a young team that is in the hunt for a playoff spot. And also the Nationals are out there to take over your ineptitude.

Quick Thoughts

With zombie-like persistence, I return from the dead (undead?) to make a post... If I were a lesser person, I'd blame my lack of posts on the ubiquitousness of NBA playoff activity and my inability to follow that. But I'm not. I'm just lazy. There, I said it.

So I did not make BS's prediction come true - I did not get through a whole Lakers-Celtics game... However, I did catch the second half of Game 4, which was just ridiculous. Those Celtics just put on a clinic on how to play hoops. Felt great cause I do now and always had an irrational loathing/hatred of the Lakers. Probably stems from their constant dominance of my former sweethearts, the Sonics. But like the Sonics themselves, I've moved on from Seattle and basketball to the legal system... coincidence?

Baseball has managed to depress the hell out of me this year, and yet make me endlessly captivated. My Mariners are just unbelievably terrible. For the love, we have Jose Vidro(!!!) of all people batting 3rd! For a good summary of my thoughts on this, i suggest you look at two things. First, the fact that Vidro is currently in third to last place in the Major Frickin Leagues in OPS - trailing only Freddy Sanchez and Jason Bartlett. And second, go here http://ussmariner.com/2008/06/18/open-letter-to-mclaren-on-lineups/. Very eloquent pleading on behalf of the best Mariners blogger out there (well, both DMZ and Dave from USSMariner are great).

But the benefit of my Mariners sucking is that I can pay more attention to other teams. Like the seemingly plague infested Yankees - seriously, dude, is there something in the Yankee Stadium dugout that causes injuries? Maybe that Ortiz jersey in the new stadium is spreading some witch-like hex on all in the South Bronx that make upwards of 500,000 (surely every person in the South Bronx, right?)...

Or the DeeRays... I think it was their association with Beelzebub that was holding them back. Here's hoping they get the wild card. I think I may actually shit my pants if they win the division over the Sox, so I'll just root for the playoffs.

My prediction of DBacks over Injuns is looking questionable, due to the Indians abject failure to hit the ball. That pitching staff was looking ruhdonkulous for a while, but VMart and Hafner hitting a combined 4 hrs??? Who saw that coming? Cubbies are looking strong, but I fully expect a late season slide and Lou Piniella's head to literally explode somewhere between the dugout and second base, where he would have ripped out second base and actually eaten the whole damn thing. Highlights at 11!

And finally, early prediction for next year? Reds win the Central, Texas makes the playoffs (after making one or two big pitching pickups this off-season), Mariners still suck balls, the Rays mature and actually beat the Yanks and Sox outright, but the Yankees renew their bargain with the devil and, unlike the Rays, work it to their advantage and win the series. To be revisited...

Congrats Celtics

In honor of a hugely satisfying, and entertaining finals, I present the all-time Celtics (and Lakers) teams.



CELTICS
PG: Bob Cousy
SG: John Havlicek
SF: Larry Bird
PF: Dave Cowens
C: Bill Russell

Bench:

Sam Jones
Paul Pierce
Kevin McHale
Reggie Lewis
Dennis Johnson
Robert Parish
Cedrick Maxwell

Great team with an all -time bench.


LAKERS
PG: Magic Johnson
SG: Jerry West
SF: Kobe Bryant
PF: Wilt Chamberlin
C: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Bench:
Shaquille O'Neil
Elgin Baylor
James Worthy
Norm Nixon
Gail Goodrich
Nick Van Exel
Bob McAdoo

Best first team by far of any NBA team. Best all-time bench as well but but not by much.

and one more for the hell of it.

76ers
PG: Allen Iverson
SG: Julius Erving (Dr.J)
SF: Charles Barkley
PF: Moses Malone
C: Wilt Chamberlin

A better starting five than Boston. Hell, you could make the case that this is the best starting five of all time. I'll tell you what, you'd better hit your first shot against this team because they are getting every rebound. Not a great defensive starting team.

Bench:
Hal Greer
Andrew Toney
Maurice Cheeks
Dolph Schayes
Billy Cunningham
Bobby Jones
Darryl Dawkins

Weaker bench than the Celt and Lakers. Still, they got three Hall of Famers on the pine.

NBA Finals Predictions

First and foremost there's no way for this series to live up to the hype surrounding it. But it is still the most compelling finals match-up since the first Bulls/Jazz series. My predictions are always off, except when they aren't, but it decants my vintage to do it, so here goes.


Lakers win in game seven by eight points in a devastating body blow victory.

Gasol's offense will be the deciding factor in a Laker's title, but Kobe's late game heroics will win him the MVP.

Kevin Garnett will have at least one "Chris Webber" moment that will forever be referenced when discussing his career.

The best players in this series for the Lakers--Gasol, Kobe, Fisher, Vujacic, Odom.

The best players in this series for the Celtics--Pierce, KG, Rondo, Perkins, Posey.

The magnitude of the Lakers winning a game seven at the Boston Garden,while simultaneously Phil Jackson ties Red Aurbach for most finals won by a coach will end up being only surpassed in misery for Bostonians by the 86 WS, and the Patriots phoneing in the last game of their heretofore undefeated season and getting beaten by the NY Giants.

Neither team will make it back to the finals next year. The Celtics will be one year too old, and the addition of Andrew Bynum back to the line-up will create roster playing time issues, and bring the dysfunction back to the Lakers.

The highest rated game of the series will garner an 18 share; just a huge number for the NBA at this point.

Kobe will find a way to turn people off.

There will be a couple fabricated and overblown scuffles as the participants feel obligated to live up the chippy past of the rivalry.

Zaaq will almost watch an entire game, and will find himself with nostalgic feelings for NBA.

Quick Hits June Edition

Things have been busy here, what with the witch burnings, and hop-scotch( not to mention the witch-scotch and hop burns ), so I thought "what a great time for some incomplete ideas"!

Big Brown will win the Belmont, becoming the first horse since Affirmed to win the Triple Crown.


Bad year for Cleavland so far. The Cavs sputtered against Boston and the Indians have quietly had one of the worst producing lineups in baseball. Lebron can go to the Nets but can the Indians get back with Balco?

Joba should be starting. I'm impressed with the Yanks thinking outside of the box; making the transition from reliever to starter without a minor league demotion.

Washington is the worst team in the majors and it is not even close. They might have the worst line-up, the worst starting pitching, and the worst bullpen in all of baseball. Quite the triple crown of infamy.

The Mariners should fire their GM. They are wasting the prime years of one of the most unique players in baseball history. If not, MLB should intervene and force Seattle to trade Ichiro to a contender.

I don't know who is winning the World Series this year, but I do know it won't be Boston.

Rasheed Wallace completely failed the Pistons in game 6 against Boston. Four points with one attempt to post-up the entire game: pathetic. They should trade him now while he still has value to someone like Washington, or Phoenix.

Paul Pierce is hard not to like. He is also very slow. Kobe drinks his milkshake.

San Antonio needs to get Duncan some inside help now. The way the Spurs are currently constructed he is their number one inside scorer, and rebounder, and defender. There has never been a team in the history of the NBA where a player has had to carry that kind of load inside, and go on to win a championship.

The Hornets need to sign a big free agent who can score or they're going backward next year. For all of the talk of David West being the most underrated player in the NBA, the playoffs proved why he's been an acquired taste: his lack of reliable scoring, even with the best point guard on the planet, Chris Paul, setting him up.


The Utah Jazz were a top four team this year, and just a unique group of players. They had a seven footer center, Okur, who wanted to be a two guard and shoot threes, an undersized power forward, Carlos Boozer-ridiculously listed at 6'9"-, who only posts up, and a point guard who's as strong as most forwards. Just a truly bizzaro line-up. I don't think they can ever win it all, unless they bring in Don Nelson(not happening) or get more conventional positionally.

The NHL is still dead. And by dead I mean buried and skeletal never to return. They get their dream match-up for this year's finals and no one cares. NBC carries the games and they got a better rating for their midnight poker series. Wow.

It's amazing how Kobe always find a way to undermine his own success. He's at the cusp of his first title without Shaq, he just won his first MVP, and what does he do? He gives an interview where he gets all pissy about being compared to MJ, and to top it off credits, the Laker's success this year to his ability to finally "instill my DNA into the rest of the team". And no, I didn't make that quote up. And yes, insert your prison jokes here. Or OJ jokes. I mean the possibilities are endless. Just a complete turd sniffer that guy.

The Rays are for real the Marlins are not. Look for Olson and Uggla to be traded after the All-Star break, and the Rays to make the playoffs. (Props to Zaaq for calling that)

Granted I'm a Boston-hater but the level of ESPN schilling ( no pun intended) for the Sox and especially the Pats has risen to Fox news levels. The main offenders are Karl Ravech and Peter Gammons; just the host of Baseball tonight and it's main commentator, but the whole network suffers from its isolated location as a broadcast site. Even Turner broadcasting in its heyday had enough minority viewpoints in Atlanta to give it a sense of jurisprudence. Not the backwater of Bristol, where clam chowder is used to baptise the inbred New Englanders leading to the inevitable dropped "r"'s in the speech patterns.

KG missing two free throws in game 6 when the verdict was still in doubt is just more evidence that his value is overblown. He is a top 100 player all time at best. He is not a top fifty player; no matter what happens the rest of these playoffs. He is one of the weakest Defensive Player of the Year award winners ever. Gasol will torch KG in the post, and if the refs come close to calling the games both ways, then Garnett will spend every game on the bench in foul trouble, or guarding Lamar Odom. A dubious honor for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

The Bulls take D. Rose first in the NBA draft. He's the right choice. And after the 2005 draft debacle, where the teams with the top two picks both passed on Chris Paul and Deron Williams (the two best point guards in the league already)just as the new no hand-checking rule switched the league from big man dominance to perimeter dominance; there's a chance, albeit small, that Chicago actually makes the right choice.

Clinton doesn't want and won't receive a Vice-President offer. And it won't matter.
Obama wins and she runs and wins for NY Governor in 2010.

John Edwards- Att. Gerneral, Joe Biden- Sec. of Defense, Bill Richardson Sec. of State,

and Kathleen Sebelius as Vice President.



You heard it here first, loudest.