Who would make your all-time 25 man roster?

SJ24

SJ24

New member
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.
 
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.
 
smootness said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
SJ24 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
smootness said:
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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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
 
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
 
JCarbo76 said:
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
Click to expand...

There's pretty much nothing to disagree with there. Do better next time.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
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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Great player but not an inner circle HOFer. Longevity was his game. Essentially a better version of Craig Biggio.
 
thewupk said:
Great player but not an inner circle HOFer. Longevity was his game. Essentially a better version of Craig Biggio.
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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.
 
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.
 
JCarbo76 said:
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
Click to expand...

Walter Johnson's strength was his fastball that topped out at 92 mph, and you are going to take him over Pedro Martinez?
 
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
 
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
 
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
 
SJ24 said:
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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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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