What franchise has the best all-time all-star team...?
...for the sake of this thread, a couple of rules. The Dodgers, Giants, and other franchises who've moved are counted as one "franchise", not two. And you can cut corners to get somebody on the team, if his absence would create an absurdity. For instance--Mickey Mantle can play left field, to get him on the Yankee team, instead of having to use a "left fielder". (Not that there's anything wrong with, say, Charlie Keller. But he isn't Mantle.) Or Miggie Cabrera can be used at third on the Tigers--he won two MVPs there, after all--so he and Greenberg can both be named.
You'd think the Yankees immediately, of course. Maybe so. But before we crown them, let's think a bit. Pretty clearly, it isn't a post-1961 expansion team. The best of those--the Mets? Royals?--have good teams...but not really great. Some--like the Padres--are, let's face it, mediocre. So that leaves us 16 to play with. A few of those can be eliminated at once. The Senators/Twins, the Phillies, the Browns/Orioles, the White Sox--you can get good teams there, but not at the level of the Yankees or Red Sox. Some--like the Tigers, Pirates, or Reds--have superb line-ups, but so-so pitching. Some, like the Cardinals or Dodgers, are great--but not quite great enough. To me, there are only three real contenders--the Giants, Red Sox, and Yankees.
The Giants 8-man line-up in impressive. Posey. (Ewing was great, but for chrissakes it was the 1880s.) McCovey--over Terry; I think he clearly wins--Kent, Travis Jackson, Matt Williams. Infield is OK. But the outfield! Bonds, Mays, Ott. Wow. And the pitching--double wow. Rusie, Mathewson, Hubbell, Marichal, Baumgarner. McGinnity doesn't make the team. Wilhelm or Nen as reliever. Not bad.
The Sawx. Fisk. Jimmie Foxx. Bobbie Doerr. Nomar Garciaparra. Wade Boggs. Helluva infield. Outfield? Williams. Speaker, the most underrated player in baseball history. Stick Yaz in right, which he could have played. And their pitching staff's not bad, either. Cy Young. Babe Ruth. (Yeah, I'm using him here. New York can sue me.) Lefty Grove. (Him, too. He won a bunch of ERA titles here.) Clemens. Pedro, who in his prime was probably the greatest pitcher in history. Radatz for closer. (Hey, I'm, 65. I choose Radatz.)
Then we have the--ahem--Yankees. Yogi. (Dickey and Posada were great. But not quite great enough.) Gehrig. Joe Gordon, in a close decision over Lazzeri, Randolph, Cano. Jeter. Arod. Not a bad infield, eh? And a few gents in the outfield you might have heard of--Mantle, DiMaggio, Ruth. But here's the rub. The Yankees have had a lot of very good pitchers, but not many unquestionably great ones. Ford, yes. But after him...? It's virtually pick 'em. My picks would be Gomez, Guidry, Mussina and Pettite. But there are 20 others, on that level, whom you could name. The reliever...? Duh. I won't even name him.
For me, the Yankee's majestic line-up is, well, majestic. But the relative weakness of their starting pitching--in *this* company--puts them second. The Giants? Well, Bonds/Mays/Ott is virtually as good as Mantle/DiMaggio/Ruth. But not quite. Their pitching is as good as any. But so is the Red Sox'...and the Sox' infield, I think, is distinctly better. So: I choose the Red Sox by a hair, followed by the Yankees and Giants. Flame away...
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