Yikes. Mike Hampton is one of two of the worst things to happen to the Rockies. Neagle is the other, though he was at least funny on KBPI, the local rock station; I still break out that Locke Room cd sometimes. Could maybe rank Hampton as a pinch hitter though?
Ellis Burks should definitely be on there too. A very solid career, including a 42/30 season with the Rocks.
To be fair, Perez’s stint with the Rockies wasn’t that bad, but Atkins’ [del]was[/del]is better; let’s see how far he ends up falling off though.
Amended Rockies?..
How much difference was there between the the '76 and '72 Reds that the A’s beat in the '72 WS, with the final game at Riverfront? Morgan and Foster? Also remember, Reggie Jackson was in street clothes all seven games.
And if anyone wants to make a lineup including the KC and Philly A’s, be my guest. I’m too young to remember anything before they got to Oakland.
1B: Jim Thome
2B: Nap Lajoie (it could have been Carlos Baerga if he hadn’t completely turned to shit; Roberto Alomar was great during his short time in Cleveland)
3B: Al Rosen
SS: Omar Vizquel (Best glove I’ve ever seen; he and Robby Alomar would make the most ridiculous double plays look routine. Perhaps if I had seen Lou Boudreau play I’d have picked him.)
OF: Manny Ramirez
OF: Albert Belle
OF: Tris Speaker
C: Victor Martinez
RHP: Bob Feller
LHP: Sam McDowell (just edges out CC)
Relief: Jose Mesa (absolutely unhittable from 1995-1997, except in Game 7 of the World Series when it mattered most m*&%$!)
BENCH: Larry Doby, Earl Averill, Joe Jackson, Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar, Lou Boudreau
A few years ago, I created 32 teams of all-timers, using the Diamond Mind software, and played a couple of seasons with them. It was fun to “see” Wade Boggs hitting against Whitey Ford, etc. Also was interesting to see the effects of a higher level of play on competitive balance … real life all-stars hitting .240 because of the quality of pitching in the all-time league.
It was funny, but also kind of sad to see the Rockies and Marlins all-timers try and compete. 12-1 scores were common …
I can’t speak for RealityChuck, but I’m 27. I only saw Hernandez play in the twilight of his career. On the other hand, I saw John Olerud flirt with .400 during the 1993 season and that has left a mark on my baseball watching career ever since.
But Lenny Dykstra for the bench? That man is a Phillie through and through.
C- Varitek
1B- George Scott- the original “Big Papi”, but this big guy could not only play the field, he was one of the best defensive 1B of his time
2B- Bobby Doerr
SS- Joe Cronin- captain/manager/security guard
3B- Boggs
LF- Williams- I was on the fence with this pick: Teddy or Mike Greenwell
CF-Speaker
RF- Evans
Yeah, the Giants are loaded. But I would put Matt Williams at 3B instead of Mitchell. No knock on Mitchell, but he played LF for the Giants, while Williams played 3B, with some great numbers.
Also, some posters were getting on me because I only included my A’s lineup since 1968. The game has gone through many phases. I believe it’s better to break it up a bit. The game and players in 1909 were probably a little different than it is in 2009.
agree with all of this, except- Perdros prime is long enough. He’s had 12 seasons of Star level pitching, during 6 of them he was hands down the best pitcher in baseball. Pedros run from '97 -2003 is arguably the most dominating stretch over 5+ years any player has ever put up in baseball history in terms of how he compared to the rest of the league. Rocket’s no slouch either, but there is nothing wrong with picking Pedro. Winning a world series and not getting himself thrown out of playoff games because he was roid raging in the first inning, nor ever throwing a broken bat shard at a player during a playoff game because he was roid raging and “thought it was the ball”, are small but not insignificant bonus points for me that tip an otherwise debatably even scale to Pedro.
What about Charlie Hayes? He had a nice run with the Rockies, and had a decent career. My vote is for Kazuo Matsui, although he is not a good major league player, his year with the Rockies was spectacular, and they never would have made it to the World Series without his clutch hitting during their run at the end of the season and the playoffs. He also made only four errors on over 500 chances at second base in 2007.
