I was going to post a line-up of the greatest ballplayers by decade and post them nightly as the World Series progressed. But, instead, I'm gonna just do them by eras. I mean, who knows how long this series is going to last anyways?
So, here are the first installments:
First up: The best players of the 'tween-the-World-Wars era! (Basically the 20's and 30's.)
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Rogers Hornsby
SS Joe Cronin
3B Pie Traynor
C Mickey Cochrane
LF Mel Ott
CF Ty Cobb
RF Babe Ruth
RHP Walter Johnson
LHP Lefty Grove
Second at bat: The War era through the expansion year of 1962:
1B Gil Hodges
2B Luke Appling
SS Ernie Banks
3B Eddie Mathews
C Yogi Berra
LF Ted Williams
CF Stan Musial
RF Johnny Mize
RHP Whitey Ford
LHP Warren Spahn
Debate is encouraged!!
Tomorrow: the 60's to mid-70's!
Ooooo, good list, good topic, good debate material. let's see...
Posted by: Ted at October 22, 2003 09:41 AMOk, first set:
Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson were pretty much finished by the start of this era. Replace them with Hank Greenberg and Carl Hubble.
Second set:
Put Musial at first, and you could put DiMaggio in center, but you still leave out Mantle... As for pitching, I'd argue that Bob Feller should start before Whitey Ford.
Posted by: Ted at October 23, 2003 08:19 PMCobb and Johnson played through the 10's and 20's and were just as dominant in the 20's, and so far and above their contemporaries that I felt they outweighed others from the ers.
Greenberg -- by my recollection -- started as a 3rd Baseman then moved to 1st, and only played occassionally in the outfield.
Hubble's an excellent choice of course, and maybe for the entire span deserves the nod.
DiMaggio ended up as another "tweener", lost between the era. He had great seasons in the second half of the thirties, and lost three seasons in the 40's due to service, and retired in '51. I though Musial, as an outfielder, where he spent most of his time, deserved the nod (though he was obviously a greater ballplayer than Hodges).
I love Bob Feller (and he's one of the few HOF'ers I've actually met [great guy!]), but I chose Ford based on his amazing career ERA. In the post-war era the top 3 ERA crowns go to 1)Koufax, 2)Ford, 3)Seaver. Whitey won a lot of games 'cause he played for the Yankees, but don't let that fool ya... he would have prospered anywhere! I'll stick with Ford on that one, though Feller definately deserves Honorable Mention. :)
Mickey Mantle. Aah. What a shame there's only room for one on these silly lists!
Posted by: Tuning Spork at October 23, 2003 08:46 PM