All Time Best Teams

Inger, it's funny to think about a guy like Gus Niarhos.  He had fewer than 700 major league ABs, was out of baseball before you or I were following the sport, and yet here we know his name and remember it fondly.  A friend of mine who was for years the head of the Greek lobby in the US would talk about Niarhos (or any other player of Greek ancestry -- oh how he loved the Orioles, a battery of Pappas and Triandos, and could reminisce tearfully about the exploits of Alex Grammas or Bill Sudakis).  You might have thought he was Bill Dickey.

Mike Hershberger for sure.  Another good defensive Sox OFer was Gene Stephens.

In looking things up, I was somewhat surprised that the White Sox actually have a winning record as a franchise.  Of the sixteen original teams, I would rank them definitely in the second tier as far as their history goes.  In many ways a stepchild, even in their own city.  But here we all have some warm memories of the Pale Hose.  Which, BTW, is definitely one of the coolest unofficial names for any team.

Here's to you, Richard Dotson.

Good recall!  The Phillies had an announcer named Gene Kelly (no, not that one) who would say "Don't set the table, Mabel, we're going extras" when the game went into extra innings.  Maybe that's why the Phillies didn't keep him very long.

When Joe Nuxhall called the Reds games, he would sign off with "This is the old left-hander, rounding third and heading for home."  Corny, I know, but still not as grating as Hawk Harrelson's "he gone" or John Sterling's "It is high, it is far, it is gone." 

No credit due to me. First, it was Utah’s idea. Then, Pipps and Desousa have been doing plenty of heavy lifting. Those added memories that reach beyond the theme of the thread are what really set this project apart. The more folks that join in the better, but there’s also gratification in knowing that we have folks like yourself reading along as well.

I’m thankful for B-R. There was a day when all of this had to fill up a considerable number of the limited number of folders in my brain. Aldo, no more page flipping like in the days of the Baseball Encyclopedia.

Here’s to you Gus Niarhos, Danny Napoleon, Tony Suck, and everyone ever born with the surname Aspromonte!!!

No rush on this stuff, Inger.  It kind of feels like the Prom Committee, deciding who will take care of what.  Anyway, since it's my brother's favorite team, I will take a crack at the Detroit Tigers.  But, like you, it's going to take me a few days because I'm kind of spoken for in the short term.  I sure wouldn't want to shortchange Ray Oyler or Aurelio Rodriguez or Ken Szotkiewicz.  Plus I will consult with my bro to make sure I have it right.

Yeah, the Tigers just off the top of my head should put a pretty potent squad out there, at least on offense.  No shortage of HOFers.  I don't mind taking a few turns with the target on my back.  I would never get too upset about critiques of a baseball team selection.  That reminds me, what were you thinking taking Jose Abreu over Frank Thomas? (j/k)

No, my brother has no connection with Detroit other than buying a few Fords over the course of his life.  I think he went with the Tigers as a kid because he loved that Gothic D on the uniform and was an Al Kaline fan.  Personally, I like it myself as well.  Always a fan of the classic uniforms, none of which to my mind equal the dignified and tasteful pinstripes, or that interlocking NY taken from a design by Tiffany himself.  I also always liked the timelessness of the Cardinals uniform and also find the Dodgers to be classic in their straightforwardness.   Giants, Red Sox, even the Mets -- good clean lines.  I love that the Yanks never put names on the back, and the Sox and Giants go halfway by not putting the names on for home games.  But I guess that is a discussion for another time (like the middle of January.)

Okay. I committed that blasphemic act with the following thoughts in mind. I was doubting myself, but now I’m becoming a bit more stubborn about it. While Thomas had a lusty 156+ OPS which is indeed other-worldly, I took into consideration that he DH’d in over 1300 games, while playing IB in under 1000 games. There were several reason for that, not the least of which was that he was not a good fielder. At all. He was not athletic, and ran the bases like Greg Luzinski and Adam Dunn made a baby together and sent him to train to run bases with Jorge Possda and Bengie Molina. That means that his time to first base was about 45 seconds when he ran in the proper direction.

Taking that into mind and considering that though we made no arrangements for nor agin the DH, I figured that Frank would get a ton of AB, including playing some first base when our young genius manager felt that Abreu needed rest, usually the day after he hits two home runs.

As for Abreu, his OPS + of 139 ain’t exactly Alpo, and he can st least see his toes when he’s looking down, which means he can pick the ball out of the dirt next to them...

All of that said, no disrespect meant for Fat Frank... er, I mean, Mr. Thomas, and Abreu is still active and piling on stats, so the book is not closed. I confess to sometimes being freakishly anal about defense and it’s importance, as well as being concerned about things like baserunning speed that is meaningless to some.

But that’s all a part of what’s so great about this excercise. You can look at my roster, make the adjustments you think would make it better. Then we could run the two rosters through a computer simulation 100 seasons. Then, we might have a clue who did the best job.

C’mon... Nobody wants to fight harder over Chet Lemon? I was embarrassed to post him to be honest, but with all the defensive specialists the Dox have employed out there. And with Lemon being an under rated defender that could at least hit as well as a 2018 Yankee with runners in scoring position... well... there he is...

"Freakishly anal"....Hmmm....may I suggest the word "meticulous"?