This article is part of a series. Also see: Introduction | Jeff Kallman's Team | Brad Oremland's Team | Diane Grassi's Team
There's a reason they save the best for last.
My strategy was based on a couple of theories. One being that I wanted a team of well-rounded position players who could do it all. Five-tool guys with no discernible weaknesses. I wanted defense, speed, athleticism, power hitting, high average. The works. That mission was indeed accomplished, particularly with my outfield of Ken Griffey, Jr., Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente. Alex Rodriguez was chosen at short when Ozzie Smith or Ernie Banks could have been had. As tempting as it was to take the Wizard and enjoy his sublime defensive play, Ozzie just was not strong enough throughout his career in the batters box.
I also took into account that because we were going to look the other way at the steroid era, I had somewhat of a bias towards modern players more so than I normally would. My infield includes Alex Rodriguez, Roberto Alomar, and Ivan Rodriguez, as well as the aforementioned Griffey, Jr. in left. Two modern-era pitchers, Pedro Martinez and Mariano Rivera, also cracked my roster for a total of six steroid-era players out of 14. One notable I found is that the list of greats and Hall of Famers to play second base is the least impressive out of all the positions. This opens the door for someone like Alomar.
The pitching staff is based on intimidation. With the Big Train Walter Johnson heading the staff, striking fear into the likes of even Ty Cobb, followed by Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and Don Drysdale all had reputations as hard-headed head-hunters. Should anyone get too comfortable in the box, they will see a high hard one headed their way. The legendary closer Mariano Rivera never does this, but he simply intimidates with effectiveness, and the uncanny ability to work lefties better than right-handers because of his confounding cutter.
So here is the vaunted layout of my roster, one through nine and one through five.
Lineup
1. Roberto Alomar (S) — 17 seasons, .300 avg, 210 HR, 1,135 RBI, 2,724 hits, 474 SB
2. Roberto Clemente (R) — 18 seasons, .317 avg, 240 HR, 1,305 RBI, 3,000 hits
3. Willie Mays (R) — 22 seasons, .302 avg, 660 HR, 1,903 RBI, 3,283 hits
4. Lou Gehrig (L) — 17 seasons, .340 avg, 493 HR, 1,995 RBI, 2,721 hits, 2,130 consecutive games played
5. Alex Rodriguez (R) — 16 seasons (and counting), .304 avg, 57 HR, 1,651 RBI, 2,446 hits
6. Ken Griffey Jr (L) — 21 seasons (and counting), .286 avg, 621 HR, 1,798 RBI, 2,727 hits
7. George Brett (L) — 21 seasons, .305 avg, 317 HR, 1,595 RBI, 3,154 hits
8. Ivan Rodriguez (R) —19 seasons (and counting), .300 avg, 302 HR, 1,247 RBI, 2,664 hits, 1,128 assists
9. Walter Johnson (R) — 21 seasons, .235 avg, 24 HR, 255 RBI, 547 hits
Defense
C Ivan Rodriguez — 13 Gold Gloves (1992-2001, 2004, 2006, 2007)
1B Lou Gehrig — predates Gold Glove award
2B Roberto Alomar — 10 Gold Gloves (1991-1996, 1998-2001)
3B George Brett — 1 Gold Glove (1985)
SS Alex Rodriguez — 2 Gold Gloves (2002-2003, both at SS)
LF Ken Griffey Jr. — 10 Gold Gloves (1990-1999)
CF Willie Mays — 12 Gold Gloves (1957-1968)
RF Roberto Clemente — 12 Gold Gloves (1961-1972)
SP Walter Johnson — predates Gold Glove award
Rotation
1. Walter Johnson (R) — 21 seasons, 417-279 W-L, 2.17 ERA, 3,508 K, 110 shutouts
2. Roger Clemens (R) — 24 seasons, 354-184 W-L, 3.12 ERA, 4,672 K
3. Whitey Ford (L) — 16 seasons, 236-106 W-L, 2.75 ERA, 1,956 K
4. Pedro Martinez (R) — 17 seasons, 214-99 W-L 2.91 ERA, 3,117 K
5. Don Drysdale (R) — 14 seasons, 209-166 W-L 2.95 ERA, 2,486 K
Closer
Mariano Rivera (R) — 15 seasons (and counting), 69-51 W-L, 2.29 ERA, 977 K, 505 saves
So without further ado, onto the choices and the justification of it all.
Roberto Alomar, 2B — Spitting in the face of all the old time second basemen is this choice for Roberto Alomar. For most of his career, Robbie set the defensive and offensive standards for excellence and could play the ideal lead-off hitter role, even though he was often batted second because of his power. Alomar's 10 Gold Gloves are the most by any second baseman in history and his 4 Silver Slugger awards are second only to Ryne Sandberg.
There was no ground ball or liner to the right side that Alomar could not get to and no double play he could not turn. His '92 ALCS MVP award was solidified when he turned around Game 4 by hitting a stunning two-run, game-tying homer off ace closer Dennis Eckersley in the top of the ninth. The eventual Jays win would put them ahead three games to one in the series and was a major step towards Toronto's first championship. Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda, who retired long before Alomar's era, claimed Roberto was the greatest second baseman he had ever seen.
Roberto Clemente, RF — What couldn't this man do? Yes, we know him as a great ambassador of the game, a pioneer and role model for Latino players, and a true class act with a heart of gold who died young while trying to supply food for Nicaraguan earthquake victims. That being said, that's not why he's here. Clemente was an athletic freak with a throwing arm as devastating in both velocity and accuracy as any outfielder in history.
Clemente hit .300 or better in 13 of his 18 seasons, ending his career at .317 and most likely still had a lot of great baseball left in him. Clemente also famously got hit number 3,000 in what turned out to be his final major league game. His Game 7 home run in the 1971 World Series (a tight, 2-1 win over Baltimore) spearheaded his Series MVP award and second of two championships for Clemente. The 1966 regular season MVP was also claimed by Clemente, as well as 12 consecutive Gold Gloves to solidify his all-around defensive prowess.
Willie Mays, CF — Known for defensive genius in the outfield. It seemed anyone who saw him play knew there was no one better at his position. While he competed with Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider in New York, I gave Mays the nod because he hit more home runs and still was not known for striking out as often as Mantle. Mays won 12 consecutive Gold Gloves and was an all-star for 20 straight seasons. He won a Rookie of the Year in 1951, as well as regular season MVPs in '54 and '65.
Above all though, Mays will be remembered most for robbing Vic Wertz with his famous over-the-shoulder catch. The Giants' sweep of 111-win Cleveland in that year's series was Mays' only championship, thanks to a catch that, according to announcer Jack Brickhouse, "must have looked like an optical illusion to a lot of people." The same could be said about the Say Hey Kid's entire career.
Lou Gehrig, 1B — The self-proclaimed Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth was far more than just that. The Iron Horse, among other things, put the talented Wally Pipp on the trading block to Cincinnati after the first time he was benched for Gehrig in 1925. Lou never made the same mistake, and once he had the job at first base, never came out of the lineup for 15 years and 2,130 games, until he became weakened by ALS, the disease that would later be named after him.
Along the way, Lou won the AL MVP award twice, in 1927 and 1936. He won the elusive Triple Crown in 1934, an award that has not been attained by a hitter in 42 years. He also won six World Series through the '20s and '30s. Playing second-fiddle all his career to the stars of first Ruth, then Joe DiMaggio (despite having overall better numbers at the plate than Joe D.), Gehrig shines in this lineup in the coveted cleanup spot. And why not? His record 23 grand slams seem to imply he was made for this.
Alex Rodriguez, SS — The lineup shifts from one Yankee infielder to the next. Although this incarnation of Rodriguez, the shortstop, is more remembered as a Mariner and a Ranger. A-Rod has athletic grace, range, and fluidity on a sturdy frame strong enough to hit a barrage of towering home runs that still hasn't been stopped.
For all his much publicized psychological issues, A-Rod is clearly on pace to be the greatest homerun hitter ever. He should finish with at least 800 as he has shown no signs of slowing down or declining as of his 16th season. Rodriguez has garnered an endless string of awards, winning MVP in '03, '05, and '07, winning two Hank Aaron awards for best hitter, as well as three Player of the Year awards that encompass both leagues. He won two Gold Gloves and 10 Silver Slugger awards. A-Rod will undoubtedly go down as the most complete and thoroughly talented ballplayer ever to play shortstop.
Ken Griffey, Jr., LF — Look at this. Griffey and A-Rod batting back-to-back in the lineup just like in the good old 1990s in Seattle. Before A-Rod reached greatness, Ken Griffey, Jr. was the greatest individual talent and biggest baseball star of the 1990s. Griffey, Jr. specialized in spectacular diving catches on a hard, unforgiving Kingdome turf. He took countless home runs away by scaling the wall and showing off that perfectly-timed vertical leap, and he had one of the sweetest and purest natural swings ever.
With Seattle, The Kid won 10 straight Gold Gloves and seven silver slugger awards, an All-Star Game MVP in '92, and a regular season MVP in '97. His performance in the 1995 ALDS against the Yankees quite possibly saved baseball in Seattle (even if it broke my 12-year-old heart) and took them to the only ALCS in their history, all with metal screws still in his wrist from surgery. While his career is winding down today, he still stands now with a staggering total of 621 home runs. Griffey, though, gets bumped over to left in deference of Mays.
George Brett, 3B — Playing in an era of many great third basemen (Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Graig Nettles), George Brett hit for a higher average than all of them, and his defense was not that far behind (although perhaps the stiff competition accounted for him only winning a single Gold Glove in 1985). None of those men in the parentheses ever to hit .390 in a season like Brett did in 1980, en route to an MVP award for that season. The rivalry with the Yankees through the '70s and '80s brought out the rugged best in him, as Brett regularly torched the Yankees in postseason play with tons of home runs into Yankee Stadium's short porch in right, aside from all the chippy base-running play and fights he was right in the center of.
Yet it never seemed to be enough, at least until 1980, when they swept the Bombers. George would win his only championship in 1985, a season in which he also captured ALCS MVP honors in the seven-game series against Toronto. It was the Royals GM John Scherholz who once said, "George Brett could fall out of bed on Christmas morning and hit a line drive."
Ivan Rodriguez, C — Today he is not conventionally thought of as one of the greatest catchers of all-time. I believe over time he will be more greatly appreciated and spoken of among the other legends. No catcher's throwing arm was more feared than I-Rod, who would routinely pick unaware or lazy runners off first base with snap throws after any given pitch. He has now compiled a staggering career total of 1,128 assists; that's more than Johnny Bench, Carlton Fisk, Thurman Munson, or Yogi Berra. In 19 seasons, Pudge is still fifth all-time in home runs by a catcher. As of June 17th of this year, he has now caught more games than any player in major league history.
Pudge won an AL MVP in 1999, the NLCS MVP in 2003 in his seven-game series against the Cubs. In fact, he was the heart and soul of that Marlins team that made their stunning World Series title run in '03, Rodriguez' lone title. We may not be saying it or thinking of it now, but someday it will be much more common for baseball fans to make the case that Ivan Rodriguez, especially by the numbers, was the greatest all-around catcher of all-time. We have him batting eighth.
Walter Johnson, SP — The Big Train had a quirky sidewinding delivery for those patient and able to find old grainy films on him, but it was an incredibly dominant one at that. He was a deadball era warrior that pitched and completed far more games than any modern player could fathom. His 110 shutouts are an all-time record that will probably never be broken. Ty Cobb recalled his first time seeing Johnson as a rookie and being stunned at his velocity, saying, "Every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park."
Johnson won MVP twice, in 1913 and 1924, as well as three pitcher's triple crowns, in '13, '18, and '24. His Senators/Nationals rarely had good seasons around him, but he played a large part in their two pennant-winning seasons in '24 and '25. It was Johnson who came on in relief in the seventh game of the '24 Series and got the win, for his only series title. He was also ranked by the Sporting News in 1999 as the greatest pitcher in baseball history (No. 4 among all players), and so he gets the nod as my ace.
Roger Clemens, SP — Letting the numbers and accomplishments speak for themselves, Roger Clemens put together the most staggering resume for any post-deadball era pitcher. His seven Cy Young awards (1986, '87, '91, '97, '98, '01, and '04) may one day become another one of those unbreakable records. He also won an MVP in 1986, a rare feat for a pitcher since the creation of the Cy Young award. That year against the Mariners, he struck out 20 batters in a game (a feat he would repeat 10 years later in Detroit), and pitched lights-out in Game 7 of the ALCS against California to get Boston into the World Series.
Clemens would eventually win titles with the Yankees, in 1999 and 2000. In the 2000 ALCS, he struck out 15 Mariners in a one-hit shutout and set the tone with two brushback pitches to Alex Rodriguez. When he played, he was known as an old-school, hard-throwing Texan with an incredible work ethic and drive to be the best. In doing so, he hung around long enough to compile a staggering 354 wins in an era of the five-man rotation.
Whitey Ford, SP — The Chairman of the Board got to be the ace of a staff on six World Championship Yankee teams throughout the glory days of the '50s and '60s. His winning percentage of .690 is the highest of any pitcher with 300 career decisions. His World Series MVP performance of 1961 is often overlooked because that was the year of Roger Maris hitting 61 home runs. For 39 years, Ford held the World Series record for wins with 10 (which still stands), as well as consecutive scoreless innings at 33 2/3 until a fellow Yankee would surpass him, but more on that later. To this day, Whitey remains the greatest starting pitcher for the greatest franchise of all-time.
Pedro Martinez, SP — The dominant counterpart and often foil to Roger Clemens in the thick of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry of the late-'90s-'00s. On the mound, Pedro had a fearless, fiery gunslinger attitude that belied his small stature. Much like Clemens, Pedro never shied away from plunking or knocking down batters when he felt it to be necessary, and even once threatened to plunk Babe Ruth, should someone wake the Bambino from his grave.
Pedro won Cy Young awards in '97, '99 and, '00, with '99 being his single greatest year. He went 23-4 with a 2.07 ERA, won the All-Star Game MVP as the AL's starter and delivered a surreal relief performance in Game 5 of the ALDS in Cleveland that postseason: six innings of no-hit, shutout ball in what had been an 8-7 slugfest up until that point. Pedro of course played a role in breaking Boston's Curse of the Bambino in 2004, leading to his only championship. Last but not least, in 17 seasons of play, Pedro is the only pitcher on this staff with under 100 losses.
Don Drysdale, SP — If Clemens and Pedro had a tendency of plunking batters, they learned it from this guy; the godfather of the hit batsman (154 career to be exact). When Drysdale hit you, it usually wasn't an accident. He had the talent and ability to overcome most of the men he put on base. This tough guy even managed to hit 29 career home runs when he came to the plate, including one year in 1965 in which he was the Dodgers' only .300 hitter.
Drysdale famously teamed with Sandy Koufax to form an unstoppable one-two punch that thrived in '63 and '65, when he won his two championships for L.A. In '62, Drysdale won the Cy Young award, as well. Roger Clemens actually quoted Drysdale as saying, "my favorite pitch is my second knockdown pitch, that way the hitter knows the first one wasn't a mistake." Indeed, he has served as a key inspiration to tough-guy pitchers everywhere.
Mariano Rivera, CP — How better to close out a game than with the Hammer of God? Rivera features one main pitch, his cut fastball, and yet he has overpowered hitters for a decade and a half with it to become the unquestioned greatest closer of all-time. In 1996, Twins manager Tom Kelly lamented that Rivera "needs to be in a higher league ... he should be banned from baseball, he should be illegal." That was 505 saves ago, before Mo even became a closer.
While many great closers over the years have paved the way for Rivera, Mariano has perfected the position. From 1998-2000, Rivera ended the World Series with a save each year, accounting for three of his four championships. Rivera won the Rolaids Relief award in '99, '01, '04, and '05. He won the World Series MVP in 1999 and an ALCS MVP in 2003 with 3 innings of scoreless relief in Game 7. It was Mariano who broke Ford's aforementioned postseason scoreless innings streak in 2000. His postseason ERA in 76 games is a sparkling 0.77, the best of all-time, as well as his 34 postseason saves. It is these postseason numbers where Rivera really created his legend. Never has any pitcher in the game been better at getting three outs.
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