All-Time Greatest Team: MLB

i was watching Mike and Mike in the Morning and they have Tim Kurkjian substituting for Mike Golic. they asked him to fill out his all-time greatest team, position by position. i thought it would make a pretty good topic for discussion. feel free to post your teams, critique mine or others, and add any input you see fit. i also will be creating one for the NBA and NFL. here we go.

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez
.300 avg., 302 HR, 2,665 hits, 13 time all-star, 13 gold gloves

1st Baseman: Lou Gehrig
.340 avg., 493 HR, 2,721 hits

2nd Baseman: Joe Morgan
268 HR, 689 SB, 5 gold gloves, 2 MVPs

3rd Baseman: Mike Schmidt
548 HR, 10 Gold Gloves, 3 MVPs

Short Stop: Honus Wagner
.327 avg., 3,415 hits, 252 3B, 722 SB (only caught stealing 22 times)

Left Field: Ted Williams
.344 avg., 521 HRs, 1.115 OPS, 2 MVPs, 2 Triple Crowns

Center Field: Willie Mays
.302 avg., 660 HR, 3,283 hits,12 Gold Gloves, 4 MVPs

Right Field: Babe Ruth
.342 avg., 714 HRs, 2,056 BB, 1.163 OPS, won 94 games with a 2.28 ERA as a pitcher

Right-Handed Pitcher: Walter Johnson
417 Wins, 2.17 ERA, 3,509 SO, gave up just 97 HRs in 666 starts 531 CG, 110 Shutouts, 2 MVPs

Closer: Mariano Rivera
505 Saves, 977 SO, 2.29 ERA, '99 World Series MVP

let the debating begin!

catcher- Johnny bench
1st- Lou Gherig
2nd- Joe Morgan
3rd- George Brett
SS- Alex Rodriguez
Left- Ted Willams
Center- Mantle
Right-Ruth
Closer-Mo

it's tough to argue with your list. the only one's i have trouble with are Brett and Rodriguez. Brett for the simple fact he wasn't a great defensive 3B. where as Schmidt won 10 Gold Gloves. and for Rodriguez, i just don't think he's played enough games at SS to be there. with that said, he easily would have been the greatest of all time at the position had he never been traded to the Yankees and made the switch to third. i'm not knocking your picks by any means, i'm just creating some debate.

No way I can give A Rod the nod at short stop considering he doesnt play the position anymore

Ziggy116 wrote:

No way I can give A Rod the nod at short stop considering he doesnt play the position anymore

Babe ruth doesn't play right field anymore but Would you still give him the nod. Arod was the greatest shortstop to ever live. No questions I will take Arod as shortstop over anyone.

Catcher- Yogi Bera

1st Base- Eddie Murray

2nd base- Rod Carew

Shortstop- Lou Boudreau

Third Base- Mike Schmidt

Left Field- Lou Brock

Center Fielder- Willie Mays

Right Field- Ichiro Suzuki

Designated Hitter- (adding this one on for the hell of it)- Hank Aaron

Starting Pitcher- Sandy Koufax

Relief Pitcher- Don Drysdale- (he was both a starter and relief pitcher, i believe.)

Closer- Mariano Rivera

C - Ivan Pudge
1st - Jeff Bagwell
2nd - Craig Biggio
SS - Ozzie Smith
3rd - Brooks Robinson
LF - Ted Williams
CF - Mickey Mantle
RF - Hank Aaron

Thomasdrrn09 wrote:

Ziggy116 wrote:

No way I can give A Rod the nod at short stop considering he doesnt play the position anymore

Babe ruth doesn't play right field anymore but Would you still give him the nod. Arod was the greatest shortstop to ever live. No questions I will take Arod as shortstop over anyone.

Except Babe doesnt play the game period. If Griffey wouldnt have had so many injuries he would prolly get the CF nod but I cant pick my guys on maybes

Farmer1906 wrote:

C - Ivan Pudge
1st - Jeff Bagwell
2nd - Craig Biggio
SS - Ozzie Smith
3rd - Brooks Robinson
LF - Ted Williams
CF - Mickey Mantle
RF - Hank Aaron

So Farmer...who's your fav team???

I would have to say I went a lot different of a direction than most the guys in here...might be a little biased but with my pitching and the style of hitters I have, I dont see how I could lose.

Ziggy116 wrote:

Farmer1906 wrote:

C - Ivan Pudge
1st - Jeff Bagwell
2nd - Craig Biggio
SS - Ozzie Smith
3rd - Brooks Robinson
LF - Ted Williams
CF - Mickey Mantle
RF - Hank Aaron

So Farmer...who's your fav team???

Ok ok the replace Baggy with Pujo, but that Biggio pick is legit!

Lou Brock can't be in Left Field over a guy like Ted Williams. or Rickey Henderson for that matter. and Right Field has to be Babe Ruth. he is the biggest Legend in the sport and is the reason the game is the way it is today.

Lou Brock is a hall of famer...and yes I can have him there, sorry i didnt go with what everyone else was posting and dared to be different from what most people would put on there...but quite frankly I still think my team would beat yours =)

please don't take offense to what i'm writing here. i'm just trying to stir up a little bit of debate. im not knocking your team(s). with that said, yes, Lou Brock is indeed a hall of famer, but so is Ted Williams and Rickey Henderson, and they were better players. and yes, you were different and that's all well and good. but do you HONESTLY believe that Lou Brock was better than Ted Williams and Rickey Henderson? or did you put him for the sake of being different? that's the difference here.

yeah I hear ya man, Im kinda biased in debates, so excuse me if i seem a little belligerent haha.

Nah im not saying he's better than either of those players, but he's the style of player that I'd want on my team...not necessarily alot of power, but alot of hits, high OBP and things of that sort...i'd want my team to play small ball with a couple power hitters.

Yes I know Ted Williams was the 400. batting average guy and all that lol but eh...just chose Lou Brock for the hell of it I guess.

Farmer1906 wrote:

C - Ivan Pudge
1st - Jeff Bagwell
2nd - Craig Biggio
SS - Ozzie Smith
3rd - Brooks Robinson
LF - Ted Williams
CF - Mickey Mantle
RF - Hank Aaron

Thank you!! Ozzie Smtih at short.....no question, and I bet one day evan longoria will take over that 3rd base spot.....sounds crazy now, but the dude its insane

did you know Ozzie Smith had a lifetime batting average of just .262? and he hit a grand total of 28 HRs in his 19 seasons in the majors. not exactly staggering offensive numbers there. defensively? the greatest to ever play the position. but not enough offensively to warrant being the greatest short stop of all-time IMO.

also, in 21 World Series games he posted an abysmal .173 batting average. yuck.

I think that team can afford 1 avg hitter.

Ok guys here is my lineup

1. Ichiro Suzuki-RF
2. Eddie Murray- 1B
3. Willie Mays- CF
4. Hank Aaron- DH
5. Mike Schmidt-3B
6. Rod Carew- 2B
7. Lou Brock- LF
8. Yogi Berra- C
9. Lou Boudreau- SS

Damn dude, these lists are all completely different. Would've excpected more of the same than this.

A DH? ...I'm embarrassed for you for putting a DH

Farmer1906 wrote:

A DH? ...I'm embarrassed for you for putting a DH

I was wondering why the DH was listed. All AL team or what???

Farmer1906 wrote:

A DH? ...I'm embarrassed for you for putting a DH

i'm from the Cleveland area, so my team is an AL team. I'm used to having a DH in the lineup, so there ya go.

Wow, Lou Brock is a great and deserving HOFer and all...but, Ted Williams just happens to be the greatest hitter of all-time. Ever.

C- Johnny Bench
1B- Lou Gehrig
2B- Joe Morgan
SS- Honus Wagner
3B- Mike Schmidt
RF- Babe Ruth
CF- Willie Mays
LF- Ted Williams
P- Sandy Koufax