Post-1947 team
So I was just thinking about what the best team ever would be. In my opinion, it's very difficult, but not impossible, to judge players of different eras. You take all the white men who put up crazy numbers in the 20's, you've got Ruth, Gehrig, Hornsby, Hack Wilson, George Sisler, Jim Bottomley, all of whom made countless All-Century Teams a few years back. And while they were great players, they played in an offensive era, and they didn't face black players. Before the 20's, in the deadball era, Hall of Fame pitchers put up wins and ERA totals that will never be matched, from Cy Young to Grover Alexander, from Walter Johnson to Christy Mathewson. That's why I limited myself to players post-1947, because they began to play at higher levels than ever, against all the best players.
I could go on. And I want to write something in the near future about the size of MLB ballparks. Hopefully I'll get around to that.
I'm not saying this would be the best lineup ever (although it is impossibly good), it's just one that I would just love to see play on the field.
PO Batter (Bats Yr-Ag AVG OBP SLG HR-SB)
1 RF Ichiro Suzuki (L 2004-30 .372 .414 .455 8-36)
2 2B Jackie Robinson (R 1949-30 .342 .432 .528 16-37)
3 CF Willie Mays (R 1955-24 .319 .400 .659 51-24)
4 LF Ted Williams (L 1949-30 .343 .490 .650 43-1)
5 1B Albert Pujols (R 2003-23 .359 .439 .667 43-5)
6 3B Mike Schmidt (R 1980-30 .286 .380 .624 48-12)
7 C Johnny Bench (R 1970-22 .293 .345 .587 45-5)
8 SS Ozzie Smith (S 1987-32 .303 .392 .383 0-43)
Pitcher (Throws Yr-Ag ERA IP W-L SO-BB)
1 Bob Gibson (R 1968-32 1.12 304.7 22-9 268-62)
2 Sandy Koufax (L 1965-29 2.04 335.7 26-8 382-71)
3 Pedro Martinez (R 1997-25 1.90 241.3 17-8 305-67)
4 Randy Johnson (L 1999-35 2.48 271.7 17-9 364-70)
5 Roger Clemens (R 1986-23 2.48 254.0 24-4 238-67)
CL Mariano Rivera (R 2005-35 1.38 78.3 7-4 80-18)
I could go on. And I want to write something in the near future about the size of MLB ballparks. Hopefully I'll get around to that.
I'm not saying this would be the best lineup ever (although it is impossibly good), it's just one that I would just love to see play on the field.
PO Batter (Bats Yr-Ag AVG OBP SLG HR-SB)
1 RF Ichiro Suzuki (L 2004-30 .372 .414 .455 8-36)
2 2B Jackie Robinson (R 1949-30 .342 .432 .528 16-37)
3 CF Willie Mays (R 1955-24 .319 .400 .659 51-24)
4 LF Ted Williams (L 1949-30 .343 .490 .650 43-1)
5 1B Albert Pujols (R 2003-23 .359 .439 .667 43-5)
6 3B Mike Schmidt (R 1980-30 .286 .380 .624 48-12)
7 C Johnny Bench (R 1970-22 .293 .345 .587 45-5)
8 SS Ozzie Smith (S 1987-32 .303 .392 .383 0-43)
Pitcher (Throws Yr-Ag ERA IP W-L SO-BB)
1 Bob Gibson (R 1968-32 1.12 304.7 22-9 268-62)
2 Sandy Koufax (L 1965-29 2.04 335.7 26-8 382-71)
3 Pedro Martinez (R 1997-25 1.90 241.3 17-8 305-67)
4 Randy Johnson (L 1999-35 2.48 271.7 17-9 364-70)
5 Roger Clemens (R 1986-23 2.48 254.0 24-4 238-67)
CL Mariano Rivera (R 2005-35 1.38 78.3 7-4 80-18)