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Thread: Who would make your all-time 25 man roster?

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    Who would make your all-time 25 man roster?

    Here is mine:

    C- Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds
    1B- Willie McCovey, San Francisco Giants
    2B- Joe Morgan, Cincinnati Reds
    SS- Alex Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners/Texas Rangers
    3B- Mike Schmidt- Philadelphia Phillies
    LF- Barry Bonds- San Francisco Giants
    CF- Willie Mays- San Francisco Giants
    RF- Ken Griffey Jr.- Seattle Mariners
    DH- Babe Ruth- New York Yankees

    OF- Hank Aaron- Atlanta Braves
    OF/DH- Ted Williams- Boston Red Sox
    C- Josh Gibson- Negro Leagues

    SP- Sandy Koufax- Los Angeles Dodgers
    SP- Bob Gibson- St. Louis Cardinals
    SP- Clayton Kershaw- Los Angeles Dodgers
    SP- Greg Maddux- Atlanta Braves
    SP- Pedro Martinez- Boston Red Sox

    P- Steve Carlton- Philadelphia Phillies
    P- Jim Palmer- Baltimore Orioles
    P- Tom Seaver- New York Mets
    P- Warren Spahn- Atlanta Braves
    P- Dwight Gooden- New York Mets
    P- Randy Johnson- Arizona Diamondbacks

    SU- Dennis Eckersley- Oakland Athletics
    CL- Mariano Rivera- New York Yankees

    The toughest decision was Aaron or Ruth at DH.

    Notice some big omissions: Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Reggie Jackson, Yogi Berra, Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby, George Brett, Eddie Mathews, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks, Ty Cobb, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Hank Greenberg, Roger Clemens, et al.

    I am a bigger fan of some of those than others. I think guys who just missed are Clemente, Robinson, Jackson, and Brett.

    Interested to see other thoughts.
    Last edited by SJ24; 07-12-2016 at 11:54 AM.

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    C - Bench
    1B - Gehrig
    2B - Hornsby
    SS - Wagner
    3B - Schmidt
    RF - Ruth
    CF - Mays
    LF - Williams

    Bench - Piazza, Aaron, Cobb, Bonds, Ozzie Smith

    SP - Koufax
    SP - Young
    SP - Pedro
    SP - Gibson
    SP - Maddux

    RP - W. Johnson
    RP - Seaver
    RP - Mathewson
    RP - Spahn
    RP - Grove
    SU - Rivera
    CL - R. Johnson

    ETA: If we have a DH, I'm putting Ruth there and moving Bonds into RF. I hate having Aaron out of the lineup, though.

    I think your inclusion of McCovey over Gehrig is arguably the craziest thing ever posted on this board.
    Last edited by smootness; 07-12-2016 at 12:20 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by smootness View Post
    C - Bench
    1B - Gehrig
    2B - Hornsby
    SS - Wagner
    3B - Schmidt
    RF - Ruth
    CF - Mays
    LF - Williams

    Bench - Piazza, Aaron, Cobb, Bonds, Ozzie Smith

    SP - Koufax
    SP - Young
    SP - Pedro
    SP - Gibson
    SP - Maddux

    RP - W. Johnson
    RP - Seaver
    RP - Mathewson
    RP - Spahn
    RP - Grove
    SU - Rivera
    CL - R. Johnson

    ETA: If we have a DH, I'm putting Ruth there and moving Bonds into RF. I hate having Aaron out of the lineup, though.

    I think your inclusion of McCovey over Gehrig is arguably the craziest thing ever posted on this board.
    Lou Gehrig was 6' 200 lbs. No way he plays 1B in today's age. He was also facing all white players and worse pitching. Notice I only have Babe and Ted Williams on the roster from that far back.

    McCovey was 6'4 and thin, yet he still was cranking out 40 dingers in his prime. He would be a perennial All-Star 1B today. A good argument for 1B would be Pujols or Miggy, but not Gehrig.

    I constructed this roster in the context of winning the most possible games in a single season in the modern era.

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    Gehrig was one of the greatest hitters of all-time. I can only judge players in the era they played, and Gehrig was far more separated from the other players in his era than McCovey was in his. But anyway, my statement was mostly a joke. I believe it, but it doesn't really matter, this is all for fun.

    But if we're going with only players since integration, my team becomes this:

    C - Bench
    1B - Pujols
    2B - Morgan
    SS - ARod
    3B - Schmidt
    RF - Aaron
    CF - Mays
    LF - Bonds

    Bench - Piazza, Musial, Rickey Henderson, Griffey, Ozzie

    SP - Koufax
    SP - Pedro
    SP - Gibson
    SP - Maddux
    SP - Seaver

    RP - Spahn
    RP - Clemens
    RP - Carlton
    RP - Kershaw
    RP - Ryan
    SU - Rivera
    CL - R. Johnson

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    Quote Originally Posted by SJ24 View Post
    Lou Gehrig was 6' 200 lbs. No way he plays 1B in today's age. He was also facing all white players and worse pitching. Notice I only have Babe and Ted Williams on the roster from that far back.

    McCovey was 6'4 and thin, yet he still was cranking out 40 dingers in his prime. He would be a perennial All-Star 1B today. A good argument for 1B would be Pujols or Miggy, but not Gehrig.

    I constructed this roster in the context of winning the most possible games in a single season in the modern era.
    This is why I think these things are fairly pointless and hugely subjective (but fun to speculate about).

    Yes, Gehrig only played against White players, BUT baseball was THE dominant sport of the time and everyone played. What was the percentage of players who EVER played at any level vs the percentage who actually made it. There were less teams. There were only day games. They used one ball over and over. The equipment was different as was medicine and travel.

    It's hard to gauge player worth ve different eras.

    Would Papa Bell have had a legendary career if he HAD been able to play in the ML? Maybe, maybe not. You can never really know but everyone takes the position that of course he would.

    Would Babe Ruth hit over 700 HR in todays game? Could he even remain playing without being banned for life today?

    Each era has their hero's.

    But, I would say that chances are that I could take an All-Star team from today (my choice) and have a decent chance of beating an All-Star team made up of players from the beginning of baseball to say 1985 because nutrition, training, magic drugs, medicine, etc are all much better today than they have ever been before.

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    Quote Originally Posted by smootness View Post
    Gehrig was one of the greatest hitters of all-time. I can only judge players in the era they played, and Gehrig was far more separated from the other players in his era than McCovey was in his. But anyway, my statement was mostly a joke. I believe it, but it doesn't really matter, this is all for fun.

    But if we're going with only players since integration, my team becomes this:

    C - Bench
    1B - Pujols
    2B - Morgan
    SS - ARod
    3B - Schmidt
    RF - Aaron
    CF - Mays
    LF - Bonds

    Bench - Piazza, Musial, Rickey Henderson, Griffey, Ozzie

    SP - Koufax
    SP - Pedro
    SP - Gibson
    SP - Maddux
    SP - Seaver

    RP - Spahn
    RP - Clemens
    RP - Carlton
    RP - Kershaw
    RP - Ryan
    SU - Rivera
    CL - R. Johnson
    It's all in fun, but here goes my 5 deep since 1900 (Pick your own 25):

    C: Bench, Piazza, Berra, Campy, Carter
    1b: Gehrig, Foxx, Pujols, Thomas, Bagwell
    2b: Hornsby, Morgan, Collins, Gehringer, J. Robinson
    SS: Wagner, ARoid, Ripken, Ozzie, Vaughan
    3B: Schmidt, Mathews, Brett, Larry, Boggs
    LF: Williams, Bonds, Musial, Rickey, Yaz
    CF: Mays, Cobb, Mick, Junior, edit: Speaker over Duke
    RF: Ruth, Hammer, F. Robinson, Ott, Reggie
    RHP: W. Johnson, Mathewson, Seaver, Maddux, Clemens
    LHP: Grove, R.Johnson, Carlton, Koufax, Spahn
    Relief: Rivera, Eck, Gossage, Wilhelm, Fingers
    Last edited by JCarbo76; 07-12-2016 at 02:37 PM.

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    So Pete Rose didn't make anyone's list? seems like he could have fit at a few different positions.. especially if you are going 5 deep

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    Quote Originally Posted by JCarbo76 View Post
    It's all in fun, but here goes my 5 deep since 1900 (Pick your own 25):

    C: Bench, Piazza, Berra, Campy, Carter
    1b: Gehrig, Foxx, Pujols, Thomas, Bagwell
    2b: Hornsby, Morgan, Collins, Gehringer, J. Robinson
    SS: Wagner, ARoid, Ripken, Ozzie, Vaughan
    3B: Schmidt, Mathews, Brett, Larry, Boggs
    LF: Williams, Bonds, Musial, Rickey, Yaz
    CF: Mays, Cobb, Mick, Junior, Duke
    RF: Ruth, Hammer, F. Robinson, Ott, Reggie
    RHP: W. Johnson, Mathewson, Seaver, Maddux, Clemens
    LHP: Grove, R.Johnson, Carlton, Koufax, Spahn
    Relief: Rivera, Eck, Gossage, Wilhelm, Fingers
    There's pretty much nothing to disagree with there. Do better next time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bravesfanMatt View Post
    So Pete Rose didn't make anyone's list? seems like he could have fit at a few different positions.. especially if you are going 5 deep
    Great player but not an inner circle HOFer. Longevity was his game. Essentially a better version of Craig Biggio.

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    Quote Originally Posted by thewupk View Post
    Great player but not an inner circle HOFer. Longevity was his game. Essentially a better version of Craig Biggio.
    I agree completely and make two points; 1) His single best season from a WAR standpoint, is 1973, when his WAR was 8.2. That is tied for the 232nd best of all time among position players. He doesn't have another season in the top 500. 2) He didn't really have a position. He played more games at 1B than anywhere else. IMHO, he's not one of the top 15 1B of all time.

    Not to dispute the value of longevity, but other guys had extremely long careers, too, like Aaron, Yaz, Rickey, et al. Pete is a full cut below them, IMHO.

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    I think it's funny when people say Honus Wagner was better than Alex Rodriguez. Heck, I'd take Corey Seager right now over prime Honus.

    I also would take about 20 2B over Rogers Hornsby. Robinson Cano, Robbie Alomar, et al.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JCarbo76 View Post
    It's all in fun, but here goes my 5 deep since 1900 (Pick your own 25):

    C: Bench, Piazza, Berra, Campy, Carter
    1b: Gehrig, Foxx, Pujols, Thomas, Bagwell
    2b: Hornsby, Morgan, Collins, Gehringer, J. Robinson
    SS: Wagner, ARoid, Ripken, Ozzie, Vaughan
    3B: Schmidt, Mathews, Brett, Larry, Boggs
    LF: Williams, Bonds, Musial, Rickey, Yaz
    CF: Mays, Cobb, Mick, Junior, edit: Speaker over Duke
    RF: Ruth, Hammer, F. Robinson, Ott, Reggie
    RHP: W. Johnson, Mathewson, Seaver, Maddux, Clemens
    LHP: Grove, R.Johnson, Carlton, Koufax, Spahn
    Relief: Rivera, Eck, Gossage, Wilhelm, Fingers
    Walter Johnson's strength was his fastball that topped out at 92 mph, and you are going to take him over Pedro Martinez?

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    Mike Hessman and 24 other guys.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    Mike Hessman and 24 other guys.
    Including Jerry Royster, Rafael Belliard, and Bruce Benedict perhaps???
    Has there EVER been a statement and question a certain someone should absolutely never have made and asked publicly more than...

    Kinda pathetic to see yourself as a message board knight in shining armor. How impotent does someone have to be in real life to resort to playing hero on a message board?

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    Hard to quantify the very best at every position and impossible to have a 25-man roster and not leave many great players off. Not necessarily picking who I think is "the best" at all of these.
    C - Johnny Bench
    1B - Lou Gehrig
    2B - Jackie Robinson
    3B - Brooks Robinson
    SS - Cal Ripken Jr.
    OF - Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams
    DH - Babe Ruth

    Bench

    C - Yogi Berra
    IF - Pete Rose
    IF - Ozzie Smith
    OF - Hank Aaron
    OF - Joe Dimaggio
    OF - Ty Cobb
    OF - Ken Griffey Jr.

    SP - Nolan Ryan
    SP - Sandy Koufax
    SP - Bob Gibson
    SP - Greg Maddux
    SP - Randy Johnson

    No order on those.

    RP - Mariano Rivera
    RP - Dennis Eckersley
    RP - Trevor Hoffman
    RP - Goose Gossage
    RP - Billy Wagner

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    C- A.J. Piersienski
    1B- Scott Thormon
    2B- Keith Lockhart
    SS- Jesse Garcia
    3B- Vinny Castilla
    LF- Garrett Anderson
    CF- Melky Cabrera
    RF- Raul Mondesi

    SP- Shane Reynolds
    SP- Albie Lopez
    SP- Kyle Davies
    SP- Andy Ashby
    SP- Livan Hernandez

    RP- Dan Kolb
    RP- Scott Kamienecki
    RP- Mike Bielecki
    RP- Don Wengert
    RP- MacKay McBride
    RP- Ray King
    RP- Chris Reitsma

    C- Corky Miller
    1B/3B- Wes Helms
    UTL- Mike Mordecai
    PH- Greg Norton
    OF- Trinidad Hubbard

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    Quote Originally Posted by clvclv View Post
    Including Jerry Royster, Rafael Belliard, and Bruce Benedict perhaps???
    Don't forget the immortal Biff Pocaroba!

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    C - Chipper Jones
    1st - Chipper Jones
    2nd - Dan Uggla
    3rd - Chipper Jones
    SS - Chipper Jones
    CF - Chipper Jones
    RF - Chipper Jones
    LF - Chipper Jones

    SP - Chipper Jones
    SP - Chipper Jones
    SP - Chipper Jones
    SP - Chipper Jones
    SP - Chipper Jones

    RP - Chipper Jones
    RP - Chipper Jones
    RP - Chipper Jones
    RP - Chipper Jones
    RP - Chipper Jones
    RP - Chipper Jones

    Bench - Chipper Jones
    Bench - Chipper Jones
    Bench - Chipper Jones
    Bench - Chipper Jones
    Bench - Chipper Jones
    Bench - Chipper Jones

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    Quote Originally Posted by SJ24 View Post
    I think it's funny when people say Honus Wagner was better than Alex Rodriguez. Heck, I'd take Corey Seager right now over prime Honus.

    I also would take about 20 2B over Rogers Hornsby. Robinson Cano, Robbie Alomar, et al.
    Cool. You didn't stipulate anything, you just asked for an all-time 25-man roster. That makes it sound like you're just asking for the best of all time. Of course Corey Seager is better prepared to have success in today's game than Honus Wagner would be if you just picked him up from 1900 and dropped him in 2016.

    It's like arguing that Matt Kuchar would beat Bobby Jones. Ok?

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    Quote Originally Posted by clvclv View Post
    Including Jerry Royster, Rafael Belliard, and Bruce Benedict perhaps???
    You're forgetting Gil Garrido.

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