All New York Team
Back in 1999 MLB announced its "All-Century Team". Since it's the off-season and I'm bored, I decided to do the "All New York Team". For their All-Century team they first chose 100 players, fans voted and the top 25 became the team, with a panel of experts chosing 5 more to make it 30.
A team really only has 25, but choosing 100 from a single city to start with is a lot, so I'm going to do it a little differently. I will also have 30 people, it will be 25 players and a 5 person coaching staff. So managers are included in the 100.
This is not a weak list. Of the 100 people only 22 are eligible but not in the Hall of Fame.
So first, here's the 100 people that I decided to start with:
*Signifies Hall of Famer
Catchers
Yogi Berra*
Roger Bresnahan*
Roy Campanella*
Gary Carter*
Bill Dickey*
Buck Ewing*
Elston Howard
George Kelly*
Thurman Munson
Mike Piazza
Jorge Posada
1st Base
Roger Connor*
Lou Gehrig*
Keith Hernandez
Gil Hodges
Don Mattingly
Johnny Mize*
Bill Terry*
2nd Base
Frankie Frisch*
Joe Gordon
Tony Lazzeri*
Willie Randolph
Jackie Robinson*
Shortstop
Dave Bancroft*
George Davis*
Travis Jackson*
Derek Jeter
Pee Wee Reese*
Phil Rizzuto*
John Montgomery Ward*
3rd Base
Wade Boggs*
Fred Lindstrom*
Graig Nettles
Alex Rodriguez
David Wright
Outfield
Earle Combs*
Joe DiMaggio*
Rickey Henderson
Monte Irvin*
Reggie Jackson*
Wee Willie Keeler*
Mickey Mantle*
Roger Maris
Willie Mays*
Bob Muesel
Jim O'Rourke*
Mel Ott*
Babe Ruth*
Duke Snider*
Darryl Strawberry
George Van Haltren
Zach Wheat*
Bernie Williams
Dave Winfield*
Ross Youngs*
Starting Pitchers
Jack Chesbro*
Roger Clemens
David Cone
Whitey Ford*
Lefty Gomez*
Dwight Gooden
Burleigh Grimes*
Ron Guidry
Waite Hoyt*
Carl Hubbell*
Catfish Hunter*
Tim Keefe*
Jerry Koosman
Sandy Koufax*
Rube Marquard*
Christy Matthewson*
Joe McGinnity*
Don Newcombe
Herb Pennock*
Andy Pettitte
Allie Reynolds
Amos Rusie*
Tom Seaver*
Dazzy Vance*
Mickey Welch*
Joe Williams*
Relief Pitchers
John Franco
Goose Gossage*
Sparky Lyle
Tug McGraw
Jesse Orosco
Mariano Rivera
Hoyt Wilhelm*
Mananagers
Walt Alston*
Leo Durocher*
Ned Hanlon*
Miller Huggins*
Davey Johnson
Billy Martin
John McGraw*
Joe McCarthy*
Wilbert Robertson*
Casey Stengel*
Joe Torre
My Roster
Lineup:
SS - Derek Jeter
3B - Alex Rodriguez
RF - Babe Ruth
1B - Lou Gehrig
DH - Mickey Mantle
LF - Willie Mays
CF - Joe DiMaggio
C - Bill Dickey
2B - Jackie Robinson
Bench:
C - Yogi Berra
C - Roy Campanella
1B - Bill Terry
IN - Tony Lazzeri
OF - Mel Ott
OF - Duke Snider
OF - Reggie Jackson
Starters:
Christy Matthewson
Whitey Ford
Lefty Gomez
Tom Seaver
Carl Hubbell
Red Ruffing
Relievers:
Mariano Rivera
Goose Gossage
Hoyt Wilhelm
Coaching Staff
Manager - Joe McCarthy
Hitting Coach - John McGraw
Pitching Coach - Joe Torre (he was a catcher)
1st Base Coach - Casey Stengel
3rd Base Coach - Miller Huggins
In the end I decieded to go with just three relief pitchers as only these three deserved to be on a team with names this great. So many Hall of Famers (1st ballot as well) did not make the team, it didn't feel right to take relievers so much worse just because they're relief pitchers. (MLB's All-Century didn't have any relievers).
7 comments:
Great idea. I assume you're only factoring in contributions in a New York uniform, and that's why Clemens and Rickey didn't make the team. I know that's a loaded outfield, including the bench, but I would think there would be a place for the greatest leadoff man ever, especially when you've got Jeter mis-cast there. But if you're only factoring in time in NY, then it makes sense to leave him off.
I would probably DH Ruth and put Willie Mays in CF, leaving DiMaggio and Mantle in the corners, but you can't really go wrong either way. I suppose it makes sense to keep Ruth in the field in case you need him to pitch in the late innings - that way you don't lose the DH spot in the lineup... or do you? How would that work?
I'm a bit confused about the rules as well. I think Mays has a great case as being the best player ever, but (not counting his time with the Mets), he only played in New York for 7 years. Was he more valuable during that time than Mel Ott's entire career? (No matter what, Ott should be on the team over Reggie, who only played in New York for 5 years, and probably wasn't as good as Ott anyway.)
I'm not sure why you chose Dickey over Berra - you really think Dickey was a better player?
And I know I have a semi-irrational dislike of DiMaggio, but I'd go with Mays in center.
If you want to get real creative, you can put Monte Ward in as an OF/P and save yourself one roster spot (Babe Ruth, too, of course).
I'm a bit confused by Warren's comments. Mel Ott is on the team, so I'm not sure why you're comparing him versus Reggie who is also not in the starting lineup.
I did do it as contribution to New York for making the 25-man roster. After that I just chose the best starting lineup I could.
I stand by my choice of Dickey as catcher. I think he gets overlooked too often. A catcher with a .313 lifetime average. And he got no break from catching. Berra played in the outfield too, especially in the 60s. Every game Dickey played (with the exception of pinch-hitting) was at catcher.
The other reason I took him over Berra in the lineup was his .382 OBP compared to Berra's .348. There SLG was almost identical (4 points higher for Dickey). With this lineup's ability to drive in runs, I wanted Dickey on base for it.
I just realized, of the 30 players/managers to make the final roster, only ARod is ringless.
Well, he's got 10 more years to make it right.
On Mel Ott, I'm an idiot and didn't see his name on the 25-man roster.
Dickey may have hit .313 for his career, but he played in an era where the average hitter hit .281. Hitters only managed a .263 average during Berra's career.
Berra did play the outfield some, but I was surprised to see that it was only 260 games. He caught almost the exact same number of games as Dickey (1699 vs. 1708). And the MVPs don't hurt :)
Depending on how old the A-Rod of this team is, you could consider putting A-Rod at SS and Nettles at 3B. That might be better than Jeter and A-Rod, depending on how much you value Nettles' defense, and how bad a fielder you think Jeter is.
Well, it is a short name.
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