Note: this article is part of a series.
Every sports fan dreams about her or his all-time team. The eternal arguments are fascinating: Peyton Manning or Tom Brady? Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith? Wilt Chamberlain or Bill Russell? Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant? In no sport is this more true than baseball, a game whose fans have always embraced its rich tradition. This summer, four Sports Central columnists collaborated to select their all-time MLB teams, with a twist: we picked our teams in a competitive draft, so no player appears on more than one team.
The participants were Diane M. Grassi, Bill Hazell, Jeff Kallman, and Brad Oremland. We chose players in a traditional fantasy-style snaking order, so that whoever picks last in one round goes first in the next round. Draft order was determined by coin flip, with the order being Jeff, Brad, Diane, and Bill in odd-numbered rounds, and Bill, Diane, Brad, Jeff in even-numbered rounds.
The teams we drafted are designed to take the field. Don't let the fantasy-style draft fool you: we haven't conducted any fantasy season to determine a "winner" — beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Each team has 14 players: catcher, first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, left fielder, center fielder, right fielder, five starting pitchers, and a relief ace. Each writer chose a batting order and pitching rotation.
Before the draft, we made two difficult decisions about this project:
1. We limited the draft to MLB players.
2. We chose to give accused steroid-users the benefit of the doubt.
All of us acknowledge that some players of historical stature never played in the majors. The shameful history of racial discrimination and the rising international popularity of the game mean that many great players spent most or all of their careers in other leagues. No one doubts that the Negro Leagues, in particular, produced players worthy of this project, but eventually we decided that including other leagues turned a simple project into a complicated one. For ease of comparison, our draft only includes major league players.
The Steroid Era poses immense problems for all baseball fans, and never more than in all-time discussions. While there are some players almost everyone believes are guilty, some degree of suspicion hangs over every player from the last 20 years. Is it really an all-time draft if you don't choose any current players? After some discussion, we decided that the best solution was simply to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. For purposes of this project, we have assumed that one of the following three things is true:
1. Everyone in Major League Baseball uses performance-enhancing drugs now.
2. No one in Major League Baseball has used performance-enhancing drugs.
3. Some players have used PEDs, but they don't impact performance.
I'm not sure any of those three things are really true, but those are the assumptions we're going with, to make sure this was a true "all-time" draft rather than one that ended around 1990. When you see players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens on the draft lists, please keep in mind that we're assuming these guys accomplished their feats more-or-less fairly. With those points out of the way, here are the results:
Jeff Kallman Brad Oremland Diane M. Grassi Bill Hazell 1 Yogi Berra Babe Ruth Joe DiMaggio Walter Johnson 2 Sandy Koufax Honus Wagner Carl Yastrzemski Willie Mays 3 Mike Schmidt Johnny Bench Brooks Robinson George Brett 4 Jackie Robinson Lefty Grove Frank Robinson Lou Gehrig 5 Juan Marichal Stan Musial Joe Morgan Roberto Alomar 6 Mickey Mantle C.Mathewson Gary Carter Roberto Clemente 7 Hank Aaron Barry Bonds Pete Rose Roger Clemens 8 Bob Gibson Cy Young Tom Seaver Ivan Rodriguez 9 Randy Johnson Pete Alexander Nolan Ryan Whitey Ford 10 Greg Maddux Warren Spahn Goose Gossage Mariano Rivera 11 Ted Williams Ty Cobb Steve Carlton Pedro Martinez 12 Cal Ripken Jr. Bob Feller Ron Guidry Ken Griffey, Jr. 13 Rollie Fingers Eddie Collins Ozzie Smith Alex Rodriguez 14 Willie McCovey Chipper Jones Catfish Hunter Don Drysdale
Obviously, a number of great players weren't chosen during the draft, and not just those without MLB experience. In fact, immediately following the draft, the four of us quickly began pointing out certain surprising omissions. At catcher, in particular, a number of great players got passed over, though I certainly wouldn't argue against any of the four we chose. The most surprising absence, to me, was Jimmie Foxx at first base. Rogers Hornsby is commonly ranked as the greatest second baseman of all time, and none of us took him. No one picked Ernie Banks. Or consider the all-star outfield we didn't choose: LF Rickey Henderson, CF Tris Speaker, and the right fielder of your choice: Tony Gwynn, Reggie Jackson, Mel Ott, Manny Ramirez...
On the mound, we passed over any number of terrific pitchers. The ones who were specifically mentioned following the draft included a pair of great relievers, Dennis Eckersley and Tug McGraw. We also had lively discussions about our enthusiasm for two current players no one drafted, but whom all of us agreed would eventually be worthy of this kind of project: Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols. Those guys are doing some amazing things.
Here are the rosters, listed by position:
Jeff Kallman Brad Oremland Diane M. Grassi Bill Hazell C Yogi Berra Johnny Bench Gary Carter Ivan Rodriguez 1B Willie McCovey Stan Musial Pete Rose Lou Gehrig 2B Jackie Robinson Eddie Collins Joe Morgan Roberto Alomar SS Cal Ripken, Jr. Honus Wagner Ozzie Smith Alex Rodriguez 3B Mike Schmidt Chipper Jones Brooks Robinson George Brett LF Ted Williams Barry Bonds Carl Yastrzemski Ken Griffey, Jr. CF Mickey Mantle Ty Cobb Joe DiMaggio Willie Mays RF Hank Aaron Babe Ruth Frank Robinson Roberto Clemente SP Sandy Koufax Lefty Grove Tom Seaver Walter Johnson SP Juan Marichal C.Mathewson Nolan Ryan Roger Clemens SP Bob Gibson Cy Young Steve Carlton Whitey Ford SP Randy Johnson Pete Alexander Ron Guidry Pedro Martinez SP Greg Maddux Warren Spahn Catfish Hunter Don Drysdale RP Rollie Fingers Bob Feller Goose Gossage Mariano Rivera
Those are four great teams. Have a favorite? Disagree with our picks? All week, Sports Central will be publishing articles about the teams, starting tomorrow, when Jeff will explain why he chose the players on his team and why he thinks he's got the best roster. The rest of us will follow suit. Bookmark this page, and we'll update the links below each day, so that you can read each writer's explanations about her or his team, and chime in with your comments.
Wednesday, July 8: Jeff Kallman's Team
Thursday, July 9: Brad Oremland's Team
Friday, July 10: Diane Grassi's Team
Monday, July 13: Bill Hazell's Team
July 23, 2010
Andrew Jones:
I would have drafted Rod Carew at 2B before Morgan and Alomar, but understand his absence. Gary Carter at catcher is also a tad baffling to me. I think Mike Piazza would have been a better pick.
It also hurts not to see Rickey Henderson not on this list, but nobody could possibly argue with the outfielders that were drafted. Perhaps you could add a pinch runner and pinch hitter to the list?