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47. Manny Ramirez

Pos: LF/RF/OF
Teams:
Cleveland Indians 1993-2000
Boston Red Sox 2001-2008
Los Angeles Dodgers 2008 through present

Biography:

The often controversial left fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers makes the list at number 47.

Born May 30, 1972 in the baseball rich country that is the Dominican Republic, Manny actually grew up in the New York City, establishing himself as one of the greatest high school players to ever play in the city.

His efforts would be noticed by the Cleveland Indians who made him the 13th overall selection of the 1991 amateur draft.

Ramirez would tear through the Minor Leagues, winning Baseball America's Minor League player of the year award in 1993.

After a September call up in 1993, Manny made the young Indians roster fresh out of spring training for the 1994 season.  As Cleveland's starting right fielder, Ramirez hit .269 with 17 home runs, and 60 RBI's, good enough for second in the Rookie of the Year voting, only behind the immortal Bob Hamelin, who is famous for being one of the few players to ever retire from baseball mid-game.

In 1995 Ramirez would break out, hitting .308 with 31 home runs, and 107 RBI's, as he teamed up with Albert Belle, and Kenny Lofton to form one of the most potent outfields the game has ever seen en route to Cleveland's first AL pennant since 1954.

The Indians of the mid-90's were loaded with talent in the starting eight.  Manny Ramirez, Sandy Alomar Jr., David Justice, Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Matt Williams, Travis Fryman, and Carlos Baerga are just some of the greats on that team.

Unfortunately for the Indians they always seemed to be just one starting pitcher short of becoming a dynasty, as they could never find that number one starting pitcher they so desperately needed to put them over the Yankees.

Chuck Finley, Charles Nagy, Bartolo Colon, Jaret Wright, Dave Burba, Orel Hershiser all had good success in Cleveland, but none of them were able to match what the Yankees had with David Cone, Andy Pettitte, David Wells, Orlando Hernandez, and Roger Clemens.

The Indians had average starting pitching with a great bullpen, while the Yankees had great starting pitching with a great bullpen.  That's the number one reason in my opinion why the Indians were never able to past the Yankees consistenly enough to be called the best American League team of the 90's.

For his part Manny was Manny in Cleveland, including having his best year in 1999, where hit .333 with 44 home runs, and led the American League with 165 RBI's, while leading the AL in slugging and OPS.

In the 2000 offseason Ramirez would sign on with the Boston Red Sox.  The negiotations of the entire deal were famously followed by ESPN's Outside the Lines, and in my opinion gave a great insight into exactly what a free agent contract negoiation between two teams (Boston and Cleveland) trying to land a superstar player.

Ramirez who had spent his entire career in right field up to that point was moved over to left field due to the presence of Trot Nixon.

With the Red Sox though Manny Ramirez seemed to transform himself from slugging hitting outfielder into a cartoon character.  Pulling stunts like going behind the Green Monster during piching changes to go to the bathroom, and high fiving a fan before doubling up a base runner.

Ramirez's defense shortcomings were also apparent, as he is the only player I've ever seen who's effort he puts in on defense seems to change during the play.  His defensive shortcomings are also the biggest reason why he's at number 47 as opposed to being higher.

Despite helping Boston to two World Series titles in four years, the Red Sox apparently had enough of his act and in 2008 traded him as part of a three team deal to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Throughout the saga Ramirez was continuously bashed by the media, mainly ESPN, and most notably Tim McCarver during the 2008 NLCS.

Earlier this year Ramirez tested positive for hCG, a female fertility drug that's also used as part of a steroid cycle to reduce side effects, bringing into question the accomplishments of his entire career like many others from this era.

My personal opinion on Manny is that I don't think he is any worse then the average pro athlete out there.

As much as it was Manny doing his crazy antics to generate attention, it was also the media egging him on the entire time so they could get a story.

I'm by no means arguing that Manny is a model citizen, but as I've said many times before the vast majority of pro athletes are not very good people.  I think if most people actually knew the stuff that most of these guys did behind closed doors the popularity of sports in this country would take a major hit.

My view on why Ramirez was traded from Boston probably had something to do with Scott Boras.

Boras had not negotiated the last contract with Ramirez, and had Ramirez taken the extension with Boston which as it turns out was worth more then what he is currently earning with the Dodgers, Boras would have received no money from the deal.

As everybody in baseball already knows, Scott Boras always gets paid.

As for the steroid use, It's always been in my opinion that the majority of athletes not the minority in both the MLB and NFL were and still are taking something that they probably shouldn't, and I refuse to hold the allegations against Manny or any other athlete when evaluating them in lists like this given the rapid use of them.

-- Edited by pmoehrin on Wednesday 1st of July 2009 03:29:21 PM

Athletes are like everybody else.

They are going to do and take whatever they can to get ahead.  And everybody has different moral standards and different ethics, so what may seem okay to you isn't alright to somebody else, and vice versa.

The only reason steroids weren't used before the 1980's by pro athletes was because most of they didn't have access to them.

HGH is available to most world class athletes, and there is no way to test for it as of now, so there is no way of knowing how many athletes are on this stuff.

How many athletes do you think are willing to take a drug that will make you more money, that is completely undetectable, with unknown side effects?

I don't think the answer to that question is a couple are willing to, or a few are willing to, I think the answer is alot.

There was a great movie that came out a little while back Bigger, Faster, Stronger, that documents the whole steroid culture in great detail in my opinion.

I highly recommend viewing it if you haven't already.  I guarantee you it will put it in a very different light then the black and white image the media portrays it as.

Here's a link to the movie if anyone is interested in seeing it.  (please note that it's 1 hour and 46 minutes long)

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/bigger-stronger-faster/31356977

Personally I'm against the use of steroids in pro athletics.  I don't think any person should ever have to be forced to take a drug in order to make it to the highest level, but often times that has been the case recently.

The only thing about the whole steroid situation with the media that gets to me is that I know the NFL has just as bad of a steroid problem if not a worse one then the MLB, and it's hardly ever talked about.

I have theories as to why I don't think it's ever talked about with the NFL, but that's a topic for another day.

And if you think steroids and HGH are bad, wait till if and when we get to gene doping.  The idea that you can actually go out and buy athletic talent my not be that far around the corner.

I don't know a whole lot about it, so I'm going to keep my comments on it to a minimum.

Basically from what I understand it's just rewiring your DNA, so if that' what you were referring to then yes.

45. Sam Crawford

Pos: RF/OF
Teams:
Cincinnati Reds 1899-1902
Detroit Tigers 1903-1917

Biography:

One of the greatest hitters after the turn of the century, Sam Crawford comes in at number 45.

It's worth noting that Crawford and Heilmann are the only pair of teammates to be ranked back to back of one another, although there are two other pair of teammates still to come that only had one person sandwiched in between them.

Born April 18, 1880 in Wahoo, Nebraska, it would be the inspiration for his nickname "Wahoo Sam"

The Reds signed Crawford during the 1899 season, and Crawford immediately began paying dividends for the club, batting .307 his first year in Cincinnati, despite having only having 131 at bats.

In 1901, Crawford would have his breakout season, batting .330 on the year, while leading the National League with 16 home runs, and driving in 104 runs.

While on the surface it appears that Crawford put up similar numbers in 1902, with the exception of a drop in power, hitting .333 with 8 home runs, and driving in 78 runs, it's good to note that the league average for 1901 was .267, but in 1902 it had dropped all the way down to .259, making the 3 point increase in average all the more impressive, and helped Crawford place 2nd in the batting title.

It's worth noting that Sam Crawford has to be considered one of the best hitters in the game to never win a batting title despite finishing second four times, top five seven times, and top ten eleven times.

Also while Crawford's home run numbers dropped off, his power didn't.  Crawford led the league in total bases with 256, as well as triples with 22.  It would be the first of five times Crawford would lead the league in triples, and 309 Sam Crawford is also the all-time leader in triples, as well as inside the park home runs for anyone playing after 1900 with 16.

At the end of the 1902 season, Crawford was one of the players raided by the American League, jumping ship from Cincinnati to Detroit, where he would go on to have the best years of his career.

Crawford immediately became the leader on an otherwise bad Tiger club at the time, having possibly his best year to date batting .335, again in a year where the league batting average was only .255

After a down year in 1904 for unknown reasons (Crawford batted .254 in 150 games) Crawford would return to form in 1905 picking up right where he left off hitting .297

Perhaps Crawford is best known for being the tutor of another Tiger star Ty Cobb.

Cobb admired Crawford when he first broke in with the Tigers, and Crawford was more then happy to show the eager youngster everything he knew about the game.

Over time as Cobb appeared to become the better player then Crawford, Cobb became jealous of the fact that his Tiger teammates liked Crawford more then him, and the once great friendship turned into an ugly rivalry that would stand until Crawford retired after the 1917 season.

After retiring from the game, Crawford moved out to Northern California, and rarely made public appearances.

Never the less he was not forgotten and in 1957, Crawford was selected by the veterans committee for induction into the Hall of Fame.

Since retiring from the game the rivalry with Ty Cobb never ceased, as each either called out the other through the media, or gave left handed compliments from one another, but after Cobb's death in 1960, a shocking revelation was made.

After searching through Cobb's attic boxes of letters were found written by various sportswriters, responding to leaders Cobb had written them asking them to induct Sam Crawford into the Hall of Fame.  Crawford himself was completely unaware of how much campaigning Cobb had done for him.

-- Edited by pmoehrin on Thursday 2nd of July 2009 04:45:44 PM

43. Rod Carew

Pos: 2B/1B
Teams:
Minnesota Twins 1967-1978
California Angels 1979-1985

Biography:

An incredible 18 time all-star, and a seven batting batting champ, including four consecutive, Rod Carew makes the list at number 43.

Born October 1, 1945 in the baseball rich country of Panama, Carew's family would move to the United States while he was still a teenager, and would sign on with the Minnesota Twins after graduating high school in 1964.

In 1967 the young Carew would win the starting second base job outright out of camp, and proceeded to hit .292 with 8 home runs while driving in 51 runs en route to the 1967 Rookie of the Year award as well as his first of 18 consecutive all-star appearances.

With the addition of Rod Carew the Twins added another solid player to their already potent lineup which included fellow all-star Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, Bobby Allison, and veteran Johnny Roseboro behind the plate.

The pitching was just as good.  1970 Cy Young award winner Jim Perry anchored the staff which also included 16 time gold glove winner Jim Kaat, a young Dave Boswell (a very good pitcher who had his career cut short due to injuries), and the 1964 Cy Young award winner Dean Chance.

Leading this club was the fiery Billy Martin, as the Twins came into the 1969 season World Series contenders looking to avenge their 1965 World Series loss to the Dodgers.

The Twins would post a record of 97-65 on the year, good enough to win the first ever American League western division crown.

For his part Carew led the American League in hitting for the first of what would be many times in his career with a .332, while also slightly improving his power, posting a then career high slugging percentage of .467

Although the Twins were swept in the 1969 ALCS by the Baltimore Orioles, the series was much closer then it seemed, as games one and two both went into extra innings.

In 1970 the Twins would once again win the AL West title, and would once again face the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS.  Once again the Twins would be swept, although this time the Orioles really did dominate the Twins, outscoring them 27 to 10 in the series.  The killer would come in game one as Orioles pitcher Mike Cueller hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to give the Orioles a 7-2 lead.

Although the Twins would remain competitive throughout the 1970's, they were never considered a serious threat to the A's or the Royals (the two most dominant teams in the AL West during the 1970's), and wouldn't make it back to the postseason until 1987.

There were a variety of reasons why the Twins couldn't get over the hump mostly bad luck.

As mentioned before Dave Boswell who won 20 games in 1969 at the age of 24, would suffer an arm injury that year (more on that later) and would only win 4 games for the remainder of his career.

Tony Oliva who had twice finished second in the American League MVP voting during the 1960's would suffer various knee injuries over his career, and was essentially finished as a player following the 1971 season, a year in which he led the American League in hitting.

Billy Martin would be out after only one year as manager of the Twins stemming from the Boswell injury.  You see the injury Boswell incurred was after getting into a fight with teammate Bob Allison who himself had his career essentially ended from the incident.  In response, Martin challenged Boswell to a fight outside the bar injuring Boswell in the process.

Martin would be fired as manager of the Twins after leading them to the postseason, setting a trend for his career, as Martin had success everywhere he went as a manger, winning a division title with Detroit, turning the Rangers into a contender, winning the 1977 World Series with the Yankees, and bringing the Oakland A's back to relevance, but was also fired everywhere he went after butting head too many times with players and management.

Despite never making the postseason ever again with the Twins after 1971, Carew would go on to become perhaps the best player in the American League during the mid 1970's.

From 1973 through 1978, Carew was a .354 hitter, leading the American League in hitting five times during that time span, and in on base percentage four times.

Carew's best season by far would come in 1977.

Carew who by now a first baseman after converting over in 1976 where he would remain for the rest of his career would stir up talks of a possible .400 for most of the year, as he held a batting average of .411 entering July.  A late August slump would end these talks, but still Carew would finish with a career high .388 average with 14 home runs while driving in 100 runs for the first and only time in his career.  Carew also led the American League in runs, hits, on base percentage, OPS, and was named the 1977 AL MVP.

After years of frustration with the Twins, Carew demanded to be traded to a contender, siting bad ownership as his main reason.

Carew's wishes would be granted on February 3rd, 1979 as he was sent to the California Angels for four players.

The Angels had hoped that the addition of Carew would help them cope at least on the field with the loss of another former Twin Lyman Bostock, who was shot and killed in Gary, Indiana just after the 1978 season.

The killer Leonard Smith was never brought to justice as he was acquitted by reason of insanity as he lawyers succesfully argued that he was cheating on him was the cause of his murder.  The laws in Indiana for insanity pleas were changed immediately after the case, and Leonard Smith still lives in Gary, Indiana today a free man.

Outside the Lines did a good piece on the death of Lyman Bostock a while back and the article can be found here if people would like to learn more.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=bostock

Carew himself would prove to still have a few good years left in him, helping the Angels to two division crowns in 1979, and in 1982, but like in Minnesota they couldn't get past the LCS round, and Rod Carew never played in a World Series.

On August 4th, 1985 Carew would collect the 3000th hit for his career, the only man to do it during the 1980's, and would retire at years end.

Carew's life off the field hasn't been as well as it was on the field.  In 1992 Rod Carew was diagnosed with mouth cancer, and has reportedly spent over $100,000 on dental work to repair his mouth.

The worst though would come in 1995, as his teenage daughter Michelle was diagnosed with cancer.  Because Rod Carew had married a Jewish woman and was himself from Panama, the odds of finding a bond marrow match for her were almost zero, and she tragically died on April 17, 1996.

A statue of her has been erected outside of Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Carew is also one of the rare players to have his number retired by two teams, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991 on the first ballot.

Murray could have been a little lower.

Murray was solid every year.  If you had him at the start of his career, you would have been set at the first base position for over 15 years.

The list was done more by greater career then greater talent.  The talent list would have looked alot differently, but I may do something like that in the future.

As for Murray's personality, he's a dull as they get in my opinion.  I have read more articles about Eddie Murray saying nobody knows anything about the person then articles with actual information on Murray.

I could very well see Murray being one of those forgotten figures in about 50 years time, because outside he's on field performance there is nothing to talk about.

As for Pedro Serano, it's hard for me to rank fictional movie characters, but I would much rather talk about Major League then talk about Eddie Murray.

-- Edited by pmoehrin on Friday 3rd of July 2009 01:25:11 PM

40. Rafael Palmeiro

Pos: 1B/DH/LF
Teams:
Chicago Cubs 1986-1988
Texas Rangers 1989-1993, 1999-2003
Baltimore Orioles 1994-1998, 2004-2005

Biography:

One of only 4 players in major league history to have over 3000 hits, and 500 home runs, but also unfortunately one of the biggest names to come out of the steroid controversy, Rafael Palmeiro comes in at number 40.

Born September 24, 1964 in Havana, Cuba.  After his family defected from the United States to Cuba while Palmeiro was just three, leaving his brother behind.  Palmeiro went on to become an All-American player at Mississippi State, and was drafted 22nd overall in the first round of the 1985 Draft by the Chicago Cubs.

After a September call up in 1986, Palmeiro would fail to make the Cubs roster the following year out of spring training, but was called up in early June, and by seasons end had established himself as their permanent starting left fielder.

The next year Palmeiro would have an all-star season, hitting .306, good enough for second in a very low offensive year in the National League, but despite being just 23 years old, and already being regarded as a future star in the majors, 1988 would be his final season in a Cubs uniform.

During that offseason a story came out that Palmeiro had apparently been having an extra marital affair with Cubs star second baseman Ryne Sandberg.  It was clear the two would not be able to coexist considering there was a chance that Sandberg might actually murder Palmeiro if the two remained teammates.  And with the Cubs unwilling to give up the face of the franchise for a man who had been accused of having an extra marital affair with his wife, it was only a matter of time before Palmeiro would be shown the door.

On December 5th, 1988 the Cubs would send Palmeiro along with Jaime Moyer to the Texas Rangers for a bunch of prospects, the most notable of which being Mitch Williams.

The Rangers already had a loaded outfield with the likes of Pete Incaviglia, and Reuben Sierra, but the Rangers felt Palmeiro could be an upgrade over their current first baseman Pete O'Brien.  So on the very next day, December 6th, the Rangers would send O'Brien to the Cleveland Indians along with two other prospects in exchange for Julio Franco.

Palmeiro would not have a great 1989 season, but he would rebound the following year, batting .319 with 14 home runs, and 89 RBI's.

In 1991 Palmeiro would have one of his best years in his first go around with the Rangers hitting a career high .322 with 26 home runs, and 88 RBI's, while leading the American League with 49 doubles.

It's widely viewed that Palmeiro was a slow base runner, when in fact Palmeiro was a very fast runner for a player his size for the first part of his career, even stealing 22 bases in 1993, in a year where he also hit .295 with 37 home runs, and drove in over 100 runs for the first time in his career.

It was also during this year that This Week in Baseball did one of their most famous segments reuniting Rafael with his brother Jose, after the two hadn't seen each other in person in over two decades.

That offseason, Palmeiro would become a free agent, and despite the Rangers seemingly being on the cusp of becoming World Series title contenders, Palmeiro would elect to sign with the Baltimore Orioles.

While in Baltimore, Palmeiro's career began to take off.  Hitting no less then 38 home runs from 1995 through 2003, while also driving in at least 100 runs every year during that time span, and typically batting around .285

Yet despite all of these numbers, Palmeiro's accomplishments would go widely unnoticed by the fans, as he was only elected to four all-star games in his career.

In 2004 though that began to change, as Palmeiro returned back to Baltimore after another five year go around with the Rangers, by now a member of the 500 home run club, and looking to join another club which would seemingly make him a lock for Cooperstown, the 3000 hit club.

In the 2004 offseason, Palmeiro was one of the players accused in his book of steroid use, and was subsequently called before congress to testify on steroids in baseball.

Before even beginning testimony Palmeiro would offer one of the greatest soundbites of all-time.



At first Palmeiro's speech was praised by various media outlets, as Canseco himself had very little evidence to coincide with his accusations, and while most suspected Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire of using steroids since all had seen noticeable jumps in their statistics, Palmeiro was one of the most consistent hitters in the game, and despite his incident with the Cubs, was now seen as one of baseball's good guys.

On July 15, 2005 Palmeiro would get his 3000th hit in what was the greatest moment in his career, as despite many media saying that despite his high stats they were skewed by the era he played in, and was not deserving of Cooperstown, unless of course he reached 3000 hits.

Yet less the five days later, Palmeiro was reported to have tested positive for stanozol, a synthetic steroid that is banned at the Olympic level.  The steroid has had a history, as this is also exactly what Ben Johnson tested positive for at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Because of the violation under MLB's new drug policy Palmeiro was suspended for 10 games.  In response Palmeiro responded with this statement.  ""I have never intentionally used steroids. Never. Ever. Period. Ultimately, although I never intentionally put a banned substance into my body, the independent arbitrator ruled that I had to be suspended under the terms of the program."

Personally I think Palmeiro may be very well telling the truth here, as this video clearly shows how Palmeiro could in fact have taken steroids unintentionally.


After Palmeiro returned he was booed throughout every ballpark he played in for the remainder of the 2005 season, and was forced into retirement at season's end.

Although he is up for induction in two years, given the way the writers currently view the steroid issue, I doubt Palmeiro would get in.

From a statistical standpoint, I think anyone who argues that Palmeiro's stats isn't good enough to get him in the Hall of Fame really shouldn't be voting for the Hall of Fame in my opinion, but that's before you take into account the steroid allegations, which this list did, and it's why he's number 40.

I think Palmeiro is a prime example of why people are so upset about this.

It's not so much that Rafael Palmeiro probably was in steroids for a good amount of his career, but Palmeiro more then likely blatantly lied in front of congress, and to the general public.

I think this issue has clearly shown just how shallow and out of touch most of these athletes are, as appear to think they are really above the law that everyone in this country must abide by.

That's what I think has people upset more then the idea of athletes taking steroids just to improve their performance.  It's the idea that they will stop at nothing to protect this secret, including lying in front of the United States congress.  That's what I think has people so fed up with this.

Pmoe i give you alot of credit for doing this list and i can tell you have put a lot of hard work into this. Its a great list so far and i'm interested to see who are the last 40 people are.

39. Robin Yount

Pos: SS/CF/OF
Teams:
Milwaukee Brewers 1974-1993

Biography:

Perhaps the greatest Milwaukee Brewer of all-time, the only man to ever win an MVP award as an infielder and an outfielder Robin Yount makes the list at number 39, despite having only three all-star appearances for his career.

Born September 16, 1955 in Danville, Illinois, Yount was considered a major prospect out of high school, and was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers with the third overall pick in the 1973 draft.

The Brewers were not a very good team at the time, and had light hitting Tim Johnson as their shortstop.  (light hitting even by shortstop standards as Johnson batted .213 in 1973 with no home runs)

Johnson also was only an average fielder, and despite only being 19 years old, the Brewers felt that Yount could in fact potentially replace Johnson already.

Johnson, and Yount would platoon the shortstop position throughout the 1974, with Yount getting more and more starts as the season went along, until finally winning the job outright for the 1975 season.

At only 19 years old, Robin Yount was already a starter at the major league level, and while not great, Yount wasn't horrible either, batting .250 with 3 home runs in 344 at bats.

In most years Yount would have garnered at last some attention for Rookie of the Year, voting but he happened to come up in a very tough year as Mike Hargrove won the award with a .323 average, while Yount didn't even finish in the top five.

Yount's on field performance also began to rise steadily over the next few years, but up very solid offensive numbers for a shortstop while the Brewers remained in the cellar.

In 1975, Yount would set the record for the most games ever played by a teenager, breaking the record previously set by former New York Giant, and Hall of Famer Mel Ott.

Throughout the 70's, the Brewers had been one of the worst team in baseball.  Typically losing 90 games a year, and only cracking the 70 win mark twice up until 1978.

Yet despite how much criticism Bud Selig gets today for his knowledge of the game, in 1977 Selig would manage to put together the pieces the Brewers would need to be one of the best teams in baseball during the late 70's and 80's in just one year.

Their first step was selecting future Hall of Famer Paul Molitor in the June draft of '77.  Later that month the Brewers would also trade two prospects to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Mike Caldwell.  Later the Brewers would make a ton of offseason deals that would pay huge dividends for them in the future.

That offseason the Brewers would trade Rich Folkers, and Jim Slaton to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for veteran Ben Oglivie.  The Brewers would also sign the American League's RBI leader from 1977 Larry Hisle away from the Minnesota Twins in free agency.

Luck also appeared to shine down on the Brewers, as they sent Gorman Thomas to the Texas Rangers during the 1977 season.  Thomas had a big league batting average of just .193, and at the age of 26 was considered to be a major bust after being a first round draft pick in 1969.

The Rangers made it clear that they did not want Thomas, and the Brewers agreed to take him back before the 1978 season.  To put it in perspective at just how little confidence the Brewers had in Thomas, he spent the entire 1977 season in the minor leagues.

All of this moves though would help pave the way for the 1978 Milwaukee Brewers to come out of nowhere, as they had their best season ever in 1978 winning 93 games.

Molitor was inserted at second base right alongside Yount, while Larry Hisle had another big year hitting .290 with 34 home runs and driving in 115 runs to finish third in the MVP voting.

Ben Oglivie played nothing like he had in Detroit, hitting over .300 for the first time in his career.

Mike Caldwell who had only won 10 games once before joining the Brewers, won 22 games for Milwaukee in 1978, and finished second in the Cy Young Voting.

Gorman Thomas would not just make the Brewers out of spring training, but he would excel finally living up to his first round draft choice status belting 32 home runs, while hitting a respectable .246 for the season.

With a great combination of young talent, veteran players in their prime, and a good owner who wanted to win in Bud Selig, the Brewers would become a very dangerous team in the American East Division.

In 1980 the Brewers orchestrated perhaps their finest deal, sending David Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Lezcano and Larry Sorenson to the St. Louis Cardinals.  In return the Brewers would acquire three major pieces for their 1982 season, acquiring future Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers, all-star caliber catcher Ted Simmons, and the 1982 Cy Young award winner Pete Vuckovich.

Despite being a Cy Young winner, Vuckovich is best known for his role as star Yankee slugger Clu Haywood in the 1989 baseball comedy hit Major League.

The Brewers had their first taste of the postseason in 1981, winning the division for the second half of the season, before falling in five games to the New York Yankees in the LDS.

The Brewers would get off to a bad start in 1982 holding a record of just 23-24 at the start of June, and were next to last in a very competitive AL East.

Bud Selig felt the problem was manager Buck Rogers, and would replace him with a man who only had manged one big league game in his career before the 1982 season, longtime Brewers coach Harvey Kuenn.

The move would seem to pay off as Milwaukee would go 72-43 for the season under Harvey Kuenn.

Because of their heavy hitting power lineup, the Brewers would acquire the nickname Harvey's wallbangers that year, as they tore through the American League to lead the American League East.

For his part Yount who had by now established himself into one of the game premiere shortstops would jump to superstar status, batting .331 with 29 home runs, and 114 RBI's, and was voted the 1982 AL MVP at seasons end.

For their part the Brewers came into the final series of the season up 3 games on Baltimore, and needing only to win one of the four games to clinch the AL East title.

Unfortunately for Milwaukee the series was going to be played in front of a rabid Baltimore crowd, and would easily take the first three games of the series, outscoring the Brewers 26-7.

The final game of the regular season would feature two future Hall of Fame pitchers, as longtime Oriole ace Jim Palmer would match up against a man who had only been on the Brewers for a month, but had already made a name for himself as a big time pitcher, Don Sutton.

Sutton had come over from Houston in a trade deadline deal, as the Brewers were forced to give up prized prospect Kevin Baas to acquire him.

With Sutton though the Brewers felt that their chances of winning the World Series in 1982 would increase ten fold, but the final regular season game of the year would determine whether or not this move had been a good one.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, and Earl Weaver they would learn the hard way that at the age of 36, Jim Palmer's days of being a top big league starter were over.

While Palmer wouldn't pitch horribly that game, it wasn't what the Orioles had hoped for, as the Brewers put up three runs on Palmer in his first three innings of work, including a first inning home run by Robin Yount.

After five innings the Orioles would remove Palmer, putting an end to what would turn out to be his final year of being a solid Major League starting pitcher, as Palmer would win just 5 games the following year, before getting off to a terrible start to the 1984 season, and retiring after having an ERA of 9.17 in 17 and two thirds innings pitched.

The turning point in the game would come in the bottom of the fifth.  With two outs and the bases loaded, Orioles slugger Eddie Murray would step up to the plate with the Orioles trailing 3-1.

Murray would simply ground out to first baseman Cecil Cooper, putting an end to the best scoring chance the Orioles would have all day, as Sutton would go eight strong innings, and only allow two runs.

Another factor in Baltimore's decision to pull Palmer was their great pitching staff, and considering this game would determine whether or not they would make the playoffs, every arm was considered available.

Middle reliever Tippy Martinez would pitch decently, allowing 1 earned run in just two and two thirds innings before giving way to another one of Baltimore's ace pitchers Dennis Martinez.

It would be with Martinez on the mound where the Brewers would explode scoring five runs in the inning to go up 10-2 putting the game out of reach.

In the ALCS the Brewers would once again dance with lady luck falling behind 2-0 in California before roaring back to take all three games in Milwaukee to take the 1982 AL Pennant and face the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

It would be a match up of polar opposites, as St. Louis was seen a traditional run creating National League club that appeared to be built for the future, while Milwaukee seemed to be a traditional play for the three run home run American League team, that appeared to be headed for destiny.

The series would be a see saw battle, but it would appear that the Brewers would come out on top taking a three games to two lead as the series headed back to St. Louis.

It would be as close as Milwaukee would get, as the Cardinals crushed the Brewers in game 6 13-1, before coming back from being down 3-1 in game seven to win the 1982 World Series.

Although the Brewers would be a consistent team throughout the 1980's, they could never again get back to that years success, as years of giving up draft picks through free agency signings, and short term deals to acquire veterans finally caught up to Milwaukee, as they were not able to replace many of the veteran players they had after retiring, and the Brewers would fail to win 90 games again until 1987.

The Brewers were also a victim of bad timing, as Milwaukee played in a very competitive American League east, and it was hard for any team to be at the top for very long, as the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Toronto Blue Jays were all had great teams during the 1980's, and although the Brewers had go talent, Milwaukee was unable to get the same guns these teams had in order to put them over the top.

In 1985, Yount would suffer a shoulder injury which significantly affected his throwing power, and he was forced to move to center field for the remainder of his career.

For his part Yount would become one of the unappreciated players in the game, probably due to playing in a small market, as once again he only made three all-star games in his career, despite being a .300 hitter more often then not every year from 1977 through 1989.

In a sign of just how unappreciated Yount was by the fans outside of Milwaukee, Yount would win the 1989 AL MVP award, despite not even making the all-star team that year, becoming the first player to ever win the award as both an infielder and an outfielder.

In 1992, Yount would collect his 3000th hit, and would retire the following season.

Upon retiring in 1993, Yount was the last active player to play alongside Hank Aaron as a teammate.

Since retiring from the game Yount has had his number 19 retired by the Brewers, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999 on the first ballot.

Yount has since become a Major League coach serving as the first base coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2002 to 2004, and is currently the Milwaukee Brewers bench coach.

It's very possible one day that we may in fact see Yount as the manager for the team he played his entire career with, the Milwaukee Brewers.

37. Paul Molitor

Pos: DH/3B/2B
Teams:
Milwaukee Brewers 1978-1992
Toronto Blue Jays 1993-1995
Minnesota Twins 1996-1998

Biography:

How many batting titles did Paul Molitor win in his career?  The answer zero, but one of the greatest hitters to never win a batting title did finish top ten eleven times, and it's the biggest reason why he's number 37 on this list.

Born August 22, 1956 in St. Paul, Minnesota, Molitor was selected in the 28th round of the 1974 draft out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals, but would elect instead to enroll at the University of Minnesota.

In 1977, Molitor was selected 3rd overall by the Milwaukee Brewers, and would this time elect to sign with the team.  In college Molitor had been an all-american shortstop, and was drafted by the Brewers mainly as insurance, as Robin Yount was threatening to hold out, if he's contract was not renegotiated.

Eventually Yount would relent, but with Yount as the shortstop for the Brewers, Molitor would be moved over to second base at the start of the 1978 season.

Molitor would have a fine rookie season, batting .273 and stealing 30 bases, while finishing second in the rookie of the year voting behind fellow rookie second baseman Lou Whitaker.

The next year Molitor would hit over .300 for the first time in his career, and by now had established himself as one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.

Unfortunately Molitor also experience several minor injuries during this time, and was forced to move over the third base for the 1982 season.

In 1982, Molitor would be one of the driving forces for the Brewers, batting .302 with a then career high 19 home runs, while leading the American League in runs scored with 136.  The first of three times Molitor would accomplish the feat, while also stealing 41 bases on the year to help Milwaukee to their first ever World Series appearance.

In the World Series, Molitor would play well batting .355 against St. Louis in the seven game series, but it would not be enough, as St. Louis prevailed in seven games.

In 1984, Molitor would suffer an elbow injury that would cause him to miss virtually the entire season.  The injury would also have a significant effect on his throwing ability, eventually forcing him to move to DH full time by 1991, when he no longer possessed the range or the reaction time to be justified as an everyday infielder.

The injury wouldn't keep Molitor's offensive production down for long, as in 1987, Molitor went on the longest hitting streak in American League history since DiMaggio's 56 game streak in '41, by successfully getting a hit in 39 straight games.

The streak would end with Molitor in the on deck circle, as Rick Manning would deliver a walk off single to beat the Indians 1-0 on August 26th.  For his efforts Manning was actually booed by the Milwaukee crowd in just about the only time I can recall when a hometown crowd booed their team winning a game.

With Molitor no longer having to worry about defense by '91, he was able to work solely on his offensive game, and it would show, as Molitor showed he was like fine wine when it came to hitting, as he just got better with age.

During the 1980's, Molitor was a .301 hitter, but during the 90's, Molitor was a .313 hitter.  All the more amazing by the fact that Molitor played the 90's in his mid 30's through early 40's.

In 1991, Molitor would have his best year as a Brewer.  That year Molitor would hit .325, while leading the American League in both runs with 133, and hits with 216.  It's worth noting that he was better on average during his '87 season, but a mid season injury limited him to only 118 games, where as he played 158 in '91, which is why I think his '91 season was better.

By 1992, the Brewers had finally rebuilt themselves back into the contenders they were at the start of the 1980's.  Instead of the likes of Thomas, Simmons, and Caldwell, the Brewers now featured names like Surhoff, Bichette, and Boiso.

The only thing that remained from the 1982 season other then the name was Robin Yount, and Paul Molitor.

Where Yount was the offensive leader in '82, there was no question that Molitor was the offensive leader in '92, as he hit .320 while keeping the Brewers in the race all season long, until Toronto finally pulled away, as Milwaukee finished second only four games out.

While the Brewers looked like a team on the rise, this would be as high as they would go for over a decade.

The new era of sports business was here, and Bud Selig and other owners would begin to sing the small market blues, saying that the only way they could compete with the best was if they had a new stadium to play in paid for by taxpayers, and if they couldn't get it, they would move to a city that would pay for it.

Until that could happen, Selig and other owners claimed they could not keep up financially with the so called big market teams.

That offseason Paul Molitor was also a free agent, and despite his desires to stay in Milwaukee, Bud Selig refused to sign him, claiming that both the team couldn't afford it, and that he might soon be done.

Molitor would take the theory of "if you can't beat them, join them" to heart as he would sign on with the team that had beaten out Milwaukee in '92, the Toronto Blue Jays.

Molitor would join a World Champion team that still had many of the same pieces in tact from the year before, as Blue Jays made it a team goal of winning the 1993 World Series for Paul Molitor.

Molitor would hit .332 on the year, finishing second in the AL batting race to teammate John Olerud, while Alomar would finish third with a .326 average, giving the Blue Jays a 1-2-3 finish in the AL batting title race.

Toronto would cruise to the division title, finishing ahead of the Yankees by seven games, and would dispose of the Chicago White Sox in the ALCS in six games.

In the World Series, Molitor would make sure he would finally get his World Series title himself, destroying Phillie pitching, as Molitor batted an even .500 for the series, collecting 12 hits, as the Blue Jays repeated as World Series champions, while Molitor was named World Series MVP.

The next year Molitor would get off to a torrid start, batting .341 with 14 home runs in just 115 games, while also proving that even at the age of 37 Molitor still had some speed, stealing 20 bases without being caught once.  In fact Molitor wouldn't be caught the next year either when he stole 12 bases.

When Molitor was finally caught stealing on April 5th 1996, now as a member of his hometown Twins, Molitor had stolen 36 straight bases dating back to 1993, without being caught.

Even into his 40's Molitor would prove to be a very dangerous hitter, hitting .341 in 1996, his first year with the Twins, while becoming the oldest man in AL history to lead the league in hits for the third and final time in his career with 225.

On September 16th of that season, Molitor would collect his 3000th hit of his career with a triple against the Kansas City Royals.

After retiring in 1998, Molitor would have his number retired by the Brewers for the 1999 season, and in 2004 would become just the second man to go into the Hall of Fame with a Brewers cap on, on his first ballot.

Since retiring Molitor has also served as a coach for several different teams, as was rumored back in 2001 to be a possible candidate to manage the Twins, after longtime manager Tom Kelly retired.

Paul Molitor represents a throwback to an earlier time in baseball history, as he is one of four men to have a .300 career batting average with 3000 hits, and 500 stolen bases.

Of the other three Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Eddie Collins, none of them played after 1930.

Paul Molitor was named the 99th greatest baseball player in history by the Sporting News in 1999, but as you can tell I obviously think of Molitor in a much higher light.

36. Craig Biggio

Pos: 2B/C/CF/OF
Teams:
Houston Astros 1988-2007

Biography:

The most recent member of the 3000 hit club, and the Houston Astros all-time leader in games played, at-bats, runs scored, hits, doubles, and total bases, one of the killer B's Craig Biggio makes the list at number 36.

Born December 15, 1965 in Smithtown, New York in Long Island, Biggio was a two sport star in High School, being recolonized as one of Long Island's premier running backs, and defensive backs.

Biggio would make it clear very early on that his intention was to play baseball, enrolling at nearby Seton Hall University, a college that did not have a football program.  At Seton Hall Biggio established himself as an All-American, and was drafted in the 1987 draft with the 22nd overall pick by the Houston Astros.

Typically catchers take the longest to develop in the minors, and are the oldest players on average to make their big league debuts, but Biggio tore through the Astros minor league system, and was called up in mid June of '88.  The Astros already had a longtime starting catcher in Alan Ashby, but Ashby was effectively finished at the age of 36, allowing Biggio to win the starting spot by season's end despite just a .211 batting average.

The next year Biggio would establish himself as one of the game's best offensive catchers, batting .257 with 13 home runs, and 21 stolen bases en route to his first and only silver slugger award as a catcher.  Biggio's batting average would steadily improve over the next two years, before he finally made his first all-star team in 1991, and batted .295 on the year.

Before the 1992 season, the Astros would convince Biggio to move to second base.  There were several reasons for this.  One was because while Biggio was a good defensive catcher, he also had a terrible throwing arm, and considering the Astros played on artificial turf where stolen bases were even more frequent, in made Biggio a defensive liability in part.  The other reason was to benefit Biggio's offensive game.  Biggio had a very fine bat, but he also possessed a good amount of speed.  There would be no way Biggio would be able to keep stealing 20+ bases a season for long if he continued to be a catcher.  Also moving him to second would mean the Astros would have his bat in the lineup far more often.

The move seemed to pay off, as Biggio would make the all-star team once again, this time as a second baseman in 1992, but would also see his defensive play improve winning his first of four gold glove awards in 1994.

By the late 90's, the Astros had established themselves as one of the best teams in the National Leauge, winning the division every year from 1997 through 1999.

Jeff Bagwell was seen by most as the Astros Batman, and garnered most of the attention, but Biggio was not a bad Robin, finishing top five in the MVP voting in both '98, and '99, but also began to develop some power, batting no lower then 15 home runs from 1993 through 1999 save for the strike shortened 1994 season.  This coincided with Biggio's ability to get on base, and steal bases made him possibly the best leadoff hitter during the 1990's.  The only flaw in Biggio's offensive game was his high strikeout rate, where he ranks 12th on the all-time list for strikeouts.

Unfortunately during those three division title years, the Astros also lost in the LDS round every single year, as they seemed to be just one pitcher shy of making a run at the World Series.  Not even the trade deadline addition of Randy Johnson in 1998 could correct this.

Despite seeing many of their key role players go from the late 90's, the Astros were still able to maintain a high level of play at the start of the new millennium, both through their farm system which produced Lance Berkman, and Roy Oswalt, and through free agent pickups, which allowed them to get Roger Clemens, and Jeff Kent.

By 2004 the Astros finally had a team that seemed poised to make the World Series, and would battle their division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals all season long, before meeting them in the NLCS, where they would fall in a great seven game series, that is largely forgotten because of the dramatic conclusion to the ALCS.

The trend would continue in 2005, as once again the Astros met the Cardinals in the NLCS.  This time the result would be different as depite a monster home run by Albert Pujols in game 5 that I still don't think has landed, the Astros would recover in game six on the strong pitching of Roy Oswalt to clinch their first World Series ticket in franchise history.

Despite playing well, the Whit Sox appeared to be a team of destiny, and despite all four games with the exception of game one being close, the White Sox would sweep the Astros, and thus far Houston has not returned to the playoffs.

That year Biggio would set a strange record, passing Don Baylor on the all-time list for most times being hit by a pitch.  Biggio would succome to the media pressure though, and would not be able to break Hughie Jennings all-time record, as this article shows Biggio's struggles.  http://www.theonion.com/content/news/craig_biggio_blames_media_pressure

After spending nearly his entire career playing in Jeff Bagwell's shadow, the 2007 season would be all about Craig Biggio in Houston, as he sought to gain one last milestone before he retired.

On June 28, 2007 Biggio would single off of Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook to collect his 3000th hit, and eliminate any doubts that Biggio was in fact an all-time great who deserved to be in Cooperstown one day.

Since retiring Biggio has had his number 7 retired by the Astros in 2008, and I fully expect Biggio to get in on the first ballot when he is up for induction in 2013.

Biggio's currently serves as the head coach of a high school baseball team.

If you can identify this man you will have identified the number 34 player on the list.

Any guesses?

34. Frank Thomas

Pos: 1B/DH
Teams:
Chicago White Sox 1990-2005
Oakland Athletics 2006, 2008
Toronto Blue Jays 2007-2008

Biography:

A lifetime .301 hitter, and one of the premiere sluggers of the 1990's, "The Big Hurt" comes in at number 34.

The picture above is of Frank Thomas as well.  While Frank Thomas did have a decent career, being a three time all-star with the Pirates, he cannot compare with this Frank Thomas.

Born May 27, 1968 Thomas would enroll at nearby Auburn University, and was a two sport athlete in college.  In addition to being the baseball team's first baseman, he was also a tight end.  In the 1989 draft, the Sox made Thomas their 7th overall pick.

Thomas' time in the minors would be a short one, as he was called up in late August, and would almost immediately start hitting.  Thomas would bat .330 with 7 home runs, and drive in 31 runs in just 191 at bats, leaving no doubt as to who the starting first baseman was going to be next year.

The only flaw in Thomas' game though was his defensive play.  Although I wouldn't go as far as to call him a terrible defensive first baseman, he wasn't a very good one either.  Thomas was one of those guys who could catch any ball that was hit within his range.  Problem was that range was almost non existent.

Because of this, Thomas would spend much of his career bouncing between first base and DH, finally becoming the full time DH after the White Sox picked up Paul Konerko in 1999.

But while Thomas had defensive struggles that would continue for his entire career, he more then made up for it at the plate.

In 1991, Thomas would prove that his 1990 season was no fluke, leading the White Sox in nearly all major offensive categories with a .318 batting average, 32 home runs, and 109 RBI's.  Also while Thomas did have a high strike out rate, he did have a good eye, which in combination with the fear he gave most opposing pitchers it made him a very tough out.  In 1991 Thomas would also lead the American League in walks for the first of what would be four times in his career.

After another big year in '92, Thomas would go on to win his first MVP award in 1993, as he helped lead the White Sox to their first postseason appearance since 1983, before falling to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.

Thomas himself had a big series, batting .353, but the rest of the White Sox couldn't solve the pitching of Dave Stewart, who was ALCS MVP.

In 1994, Thomas had perhaps his finest season, batting .353 with 38 home runs, and 101 RBI's in just 113 games in the strike shortened season.  At the time of the strike Thomas was third of better in all three of these categories in the American League, and triple crown talks were beginning to come up.  Thomas would not get the triple crown, but he was the near unanimous choice for his second consecutive MVP award.

Thomas it appeared was on track to reach 600 home runs for his career, as he had 286 home runs following the 1998 season, meaning that he would have to hit about 31 home runs for the next ten years to reach the mark.  Something that seemed well within reach for Thomas to do.

Unfortunately this would be the closest Thomas would get to the mark.  Injuries would begin to take it's toll on Thomas' durability, and while Thomas was still a feared slugger when healthy, that was quickly becoming less and less often.

In 2005 when the White Sox finally won their first World Series title since 1917, Thomas wasn't even on the roster for the series due to injuries, but was still part of the parade, and received a ring.

That offseason the White Sox would acquire Jim Thome as their DH, and with Paul Konerko still the starting first baseman, the writing was on the wall for Thomas, as Thomas and the White Sox would go through an ugly divorce with Thomas feeling that he was not being given the credit for his time put in with the franchise.

But Frank Thomas would show he wasn't finished yet, signing with the Oakland Athletics for the 2006 season, and would have one last big year, batting .270 with 39 home runs, and 114 RBI's, as he helped to A's to their first AL West title since 2003.

After quickly disposing of the Twins in the ALDS, the A's would run into a brick wall in the Detroit Tigers, losing all four games, including the deciding one on a dramatic game winning home run by Magglio Ordonez.

In 2007, Thomas would hit his 500th home run now as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, and after a forgetful 2008 season, Thomas still remains unsigned for this season.

Thomas has also been one of the few Major League players to come out against steroids while he was an active player, and was the only active player interviewed during the Mitchell report.

It's kind of surprising to me that despite he's accomplishments during the 1990's, Thomas usually doesen't get mentioned in arguments for top players at the first base position, and although while it's true that Thomas was a one dimensional bat only player, there are few to have ever played the game that could match the offensive force that Frank Thomas was for the better part of 19 major league seasons.

32. Joe Morgan

Pos: 2B
Teams:
Houston Colt 45's/Astros 1963-1971, 1980
Cincinnati Reds 1972-1979
San Francisco Giants 1981-1982
Philadelphia Phillies 1983
Oakland Athletics 1984

Biography:

Perhaps the greatest second baseman in the second half of the 20th century, Joe Morgan comes in at number 32.

Born September 19, 1943 in northern Texas, but raised in Oakland, California, Morgan would sign on with the Colt .45's following the 1962 season.

The Colt .45's who had just came into the league that year, were also one of the worst teams in baseball, so it wasn't expected that Morgan would be in the minor leagues for very long.

After two quick call ups in '63, and '64, Morgan would make the Astros squad out of spring training in 1965, replacing fellow Hall of Fame second baseman Nellie Fox who helped tutor Morgan during the early part of his career.

That year Morgan would hit .271 with 14 home runs, and 20 stolen bases.  Morgan would finish second in the Rookie of the Year voting that year to fellow second baseman Jim Lefebvre despite besting Lefebvre in nearly every offensive category.  But when you also take into account the National League batted .249 that year, a .271 batting average seems very good, especially for a middle infielder.

Morgan began establishing himself as one of the game's best second baseman during the 1960's, however a knee injury suffered in '68 would force him to miss nearly the entire season, and it would take Morgan nearly two full years to recover.

By 1971, Morgan was considered a very good second baseman but not a superstar player, those days would come with the Reds, in what has to be considered one of the dumbest trades in baseball history.

That offseason the Astros would send Morgan along with Cesar Geronimo, Jack Billingham and Denis Menke to the Cincinnati Reds essentially for Lee May although Tommy Helms was also included in the deal.

Although May would have an all-star season his first year with Houston, this trade wasn't even close even before you factor in Morgan.  Jack Billingham would prove to be a very solid starter for Cincinnati, winning 19 games twice with the Reds, while the Reds also acquired a gold glove center fielder in Cesar Geronimo.  When you bring Joe Morgan into the equation though, the trade just become outright ridiculous.

In his first year in Cincinnati, Morgan would hit a then career high .292, while also leading the National League in runs scored, walks, and on base percentage, helping to lead the Reds to the 1972 NL pennant.

The following year, Morgan would continue to improve at the plate, hitting 26 home runs, while also showing that he wasn't just an offensive only player by winning his first of five consecutive gold glove awards.

In 1975, Morgan would have his best year.  That year Morgan would have career highs in batting average with a .327 average, stolen bases with 67, and walks with 132.  Morgan was also the National League leader in on base percentage, and OPS, becoming the near unanimous choice for the 1975 NL MVP award.

That year the Reds would win 108 games en route to their first World Series title since 1940.

Morgan and the Reds would repeat the following year, with Morgan once again being named the NL MVP, becoming the first man since Roger Maris in '60-'61 to win back to back MVP awards.

Morgan would continue to put up big numbers for the Reds throughout the late 70's, but the balance of power was slowly shifting towards the Dodgers, as they won back to back division titles and later the NL pennant in '77, and '78.

The last hurrah for the Reds would come in 1979, as the just beat out the Houston Astros by 1.5 games, before being swept by the Pirates in the NLCS.

That offseason Morgan, would become a free agent, and with the Reds looking to rebuild, and retool there was little chance of the now 36 year old Morgan returning to Cincinnati.

Morgan would spend the last part of his career as a hired gun, playing for four different teams in five years, including returning to the bay area where he grew up for three years.

Morgan would have one last great moment in his career, hitting a home run to beat the Dodgers are the final day of the regular season in 1982 as a member of the Giants.

Since retiring from the game, Morgan has become almost just as well known in the broadcast booth as he was for his playing days, as he has been a full time announcer since 1988, and has famously been calling Sunday Night Baseball games on ESPN alongside Jon Miller since it first started in 1990.

In addition to this since retiring from the game, Morgan has had his number eight retired by the Reds, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1990.

I wouldn't get too caught up on Joe DiMaggio's ranking.

Obviously if you ask me to pick between Thomas and DiMaggio, I would pick DiMaggio hands down, but DiMaggio only has 13 years for me to grade him on, where Thomas has almost 20.

But WWII era guys were skewed on this list, and I really think it's virtually impossible to truly grade the guys who served any measurable time during WWII because you have to assume they would have been completely healthy, and guess what their stats were to make it a fair fight.

There's no way you can tell me Joe DiMaggio is the 38th greatest position player who ever lived, I'll agree with that, but the way I did it, DiMaggio's career was treated no different from a player from the 1980's with similar stats who only played 13 years.

The worst thing to do would be to treat this list as a be all, end all, because there's rankings here which even I don't agree with, but I went into this list saying I would make no exceptions to anybody, and that's exactly what I did.

I tried to take out emotional bias as much as possible, and these were the results I got.

It's just one method of rating players, and I think it's a very good one, but no method is perfect.

Stats alone can't account for human emotion, and human emotion will often times get in the way of undeniable statistical data.  It's very hard to balance the two out.


-- Edited by pmoehrin on Thursday 9th of July 2009 01:50:09 AM

31. Cal Ripken, Jr.

Pos: SS/3B
Teams:
Baltimore Orioles 1981-2001

Biography:

At 2,632, nobody has ever played in more consecutive games then Cal Ripken, Jr., and it's doubtful that anyone ever will.  But Cal Ripken, Jr. was also the premiere American League shortstop during the 1980's and into the early 90's, and it's why he comes in at number 31.

Born August 24, 1960 in Harve de Grace, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore. His father Cal Ripken, Sr. was a longtime coach in the Orioles system, spending 30+ years with the team, and even managing the roster for one year in 1987.

Ripken was drafted by the Orioles in the second round of the 1978 draft, and made his big league debut in 1981 as a brief late season call up.

The following year, Ripken would be the first starting shortstop Baltimore had since Luis Aparicio in 1967, not named Mark Belanger.  Belanger had a stranglehold on the position since '68, but age had finally caught up to him, and there was no way Baltimore could withstand having a borderline .200 hitter in the lineup, now that most of Belanger's great defensive abilities had eroded.

After failing to play the second game of a doubleheader, Cal Ripken would return to the Orioles lineup on May 30, 1982.  He would be penciled in to the Orioles lineup everyday thereafter until September 20, 1998.

In 1982, Ripken exploded on the team, batting .264 with 28 home runs, and driving in 93 runs, en route to winning the 1982 Rookie of the Year award, but the season would end on a downer as Baltimore finished just one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the AL East title.

By 1983 the only person that remained from the great Oriole teams of the 1960's, and early 70's was Jim Palmer.  Longtime Orioles manager Earl Weaver announced his retirement following the 1982 season, and the Orioles were replaced by their longtime AAA manager Joe Altobelli.  There had been an unwritten agreement for years that Altobelli would be the Orioles manager after Weaver had retired, but Altobelli got fed up waiting, and became the manager of the San Francisco Giants for three years from 1977-1979.  After losing that job, Altobelli became a coach with the Yankees, and quickly jumped at the chance to manage the Orioles once the job became open.

The 1983 Orioles were a team on a mission from day one.  Win the AL East title, win the AL pennant, and then win the World Series.

Despite several injuries during the year most notably to Mike Flanagan and Jim Palmer, the Orioles stormed through the 1983 season, winning 98 games to take the AL East by a full 6 games.

In the ALCS Oriole pitching would dominate the White Sox, as they managed just three runs in the four game series.

In the World Series the story would be the same, as the Phillies would only once manage to score more then two runs in a game.

Although Ripken would do very little in the World Series batting just .167 the iconic image of him catching the final out of the 1983 World Series is what the season has been best remembered for.

That year Ripken would become just the fourth shortstop in AL history to be named the league's MVP, batting .318 with 27 home runs, and 102 RBI's.  Ripken would also receive his first of eight silver slugger awards that season, and would appear in his first of an incredible 19 consecutive all-star game, which speaks volumes about how popular he was in the city of Baltimore.

In the later half of the 1980's Ripken would see a huge nose dive in his batting average, as he hit just .256 from 1987 through 1990, leaving many to wonder if Ripken's best days were behind him, and more wondering if having him in the lineup everyday simply to keep his consecutive games streak alive was conflicting with what was best for the team.

I tend to agree with those criticisms as I'm sure there were games especially in that timespan where Cal Ripken, Jr. would have probably given his team more support by sitting on the bench for a game or two, rather then playing below 100% and going 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

In 1991 Ripken would show that in fact he was far from being done, having his first .300 season in seven years, while hitting a career high 34 home runs, and another career high with 114 RBI's.  Ripken would also lead the American League in total bases that year, and win would his first of two straight gold glove awards, as he won his second and final MVP award that year in what has to be considered by far and away his finest year.

On September 6, 1995 Cal Ripken would in Chris Berman's words "reach the unreachable star" when he broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2130 consecutive games played.  In attendance at the game was then President Bill Clinton to help celebrate what would be one of the most magical nights in baseball history.

In the fourth inning Cal Ripken would hit a home run to help cap the night.

In the middle of the fifth inning when the game finally became official, the game was stopped for 22 minutes while Ripken with the encouragement of his teammates did a full lap around the stadium.

It would be a very dramatic and fitting high point to one of the greatest careers in baseball history.

After retiring in 2001, Ripken was inducted into the Hall of Fame by a near unanimous vote, and not surprisingly has had his number 8 retired by the Orioles.

Ripken still remains very heavily involved in the game, owning the company Ripken Baseball INC. which amongst various actives owns several minor league teams.

Cal Ripken, Jr. remains redoubtably one of if not the most popular player of the modern era, and is seen by many on the very definition on what a pro athlete should be.

29. Mike Schmidt

(took me almost an hour to get this photo up, because my computer kept insisting on doing a virus scan)
Pos: 3B
Teams:
Philadelphia Phillies 1972-1989

Biography:

Viewed by many as the definition of what a third baseman should be, and perhaps the greatest Philadelphia Phillie of all-time, Michael Jack Schmidt as the late Harry Kalas used to say comes in at number 29.

Born September 27, 1949 in Dayton, Ohio, Schmidt enrolled at nearby Ohio University in Athens, and was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 1971 draft.

In his first full season with the Phillies in 1973, Schmidt struggled mightily, failing to even crack the Mendoza line with a .196 average, but Schmidt did display some signs of what was to come by hitting 18 home runs.

1974 would be a much better year for Schmidt as he lead the National League in home runs with 36, while improving his average to a much more respectable .282 average.  That year would also mark the first time Schmidt would ever make the all-star team, and the first time Schmidt would ever drive in over 100 runs in a season.

With a talented young team that included Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox, Larry Christenson; as well as veterans like Bob Boone, Larry Bowa, and of course perhaps the greatest left handed pitcher in the last 40 years Steve Carlton, the Phillies were primed to take over the NL East which had long been dominated by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In 1976 the Phillies would finally break through, winning 101 games on the year and the NL East by a full 9 games, but in the postseason they were easy victims of the Big Red Machine, losing all three games.

In '77, and '78 the Phillies would win the NL East crown, becoming the first National League team to three-peat as division champions, but in both of those years the Phillies would once again be beaten in the LCS round, this time by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the middle of the 1979 season, all of the postseason failures, and a 65-67 start would finally be enough to cost Danny Ozark his job as manager, and the Phillies hired front office worker Dallas Green as their full time manager.

In 1980, the Phillies would return to the top of the National League, but would be invovled in a season long dog fight with the Montreal Expos that would come down to the final game of the regular season.

In the top of the 11th, Mike Schmidt would forever cement himself as a Philly sports icon, belting a two run home run off of Stan Bahnsen to win the NL East division title.

The NLCS woudn't be much different from the regular season, as the Phillies and Astros went the full five games, with Garry Maddox getting a 10th inning double to drive in Del Unser in what would prove to be the game winner in game five, to give the Phillies their first NL Pennant since the Whiz kids of 1950.

In the World Series, Schmidt was nothing short of spectacular.  He hit .381 in the series, with 2 home runs, and 7 RBI's, as the Phillies won their first World Championship in franchise history, becoming the last team that was in existence during the first World Series in 1903 to do so.

On the year Schmidt had a career high 48 home runs, as well as a career high with 121 RBI's, and was awarded his first MVP award in both the regular season, and the World Series.

1981 would be Schmidt's best year, as he lead the National League with 31 home runs, and 91 RBI's in the strike shortened '81 season, and also batted over .300 for the first and only time in his career.

Schmidt was the near unamious choice for MVP that year, the second time he won the award, as he once again lead the Philies back to the postseason, but they would be beaten in the LDS round by the other half's season champions the Montreal Expos.

On April 18, 1987 Mike Schmidt would become the first Philie player to ever join the 500 home run club, with a 2 out 9th inning home run off of Pirates closer Don Robertson to give the Philies an 8-6 victory.

1987 would prove to be Schmidt's last big year, as both his batting average, and more importantly his power dropped off considerably in 1988, and with a batting average of .203 in 1989 through 48 games, Schmidt decided he was done, and announced his retirement in a very emotional press conference.

There's so much more about Mike Schmidt then this short biography goes into.  He was a 12 time all-star, a 10-time gold glove award winner, a 3 time MVP, and was the Sporting News selection for the player of the decade for the 1980's.

Without question Michael Jack Schmidt was the greatest third baseman the National League has ever seen, and quite possibly the greatest third baseman the game has ever seen.

27. Charlie Gehringer

Pos: 2B
Teams:
Detroit Tigers 1924-1942

Biography:

One of the most underrated and forgotten players in baseball history, the 1937 AL MVP, Charlie Gehringer comes in at number 27.

Born May 11, 1903 in nearby Fowlerville, Michigan, Gehringer enrolled at the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship.

Gehringer wouldn't last long at Michigan, before the Tigers found him, with player-manager Ty Cobb allegedly asking the Tigers ownership to sign Gehringer on first sight.

After spending two years mostly in the minors, Gehringer would have his first full year in 1926.  Cobb saw much of the same player he had been in Gehringer, even going as far as insisting Gehringer use the same bat as Cobb.  Eventually though, Cobb's personality would wear on Gehringer, and the two would not see eye to eye by season's end.

In 1927, Gehringer would hit over .300 for the first time in his career, and would only bat below .300 one time between 1927, and 1942, when he hit .298 in 1932.  Gehringer also showed he was a great fielder, leading AL second baseman with 438 assists, and 84 double plays.

Had gold glove awards been given out before 1957, there no doubt that Gehringer would have been a multiple time winner at second base, as he was regarded as by many as the best defensive second baseman in baseball in addition to being one of the best hitters.

In 1929, Gehringer would enter superstar status, leading the American League in hits, doubles, triples, and runs scored, while also leading the league with 27 stolen bases.  Gehringer also showed some power hitting 13 home runs, while driving in over 100 runs for the first time in his career, ending the year at 106 RBI's.

Throughout the 1930's Charlie Gehringer and the Detroit Tigers only seemed to get better.

In 1934, Gehringer hit .356 while once again leading the American League in hits with 214, and runs with 134, while driving in a career high 134 runs, as he helped lead the Tigers to the AL Pennant.

Despite losing in seven games, Gehringer had a big World Series, hitting .379 in the seven game series, while scoring 5 runs.

Off the field Gehringer was a very quiet person, rarely talking to his teammates or media, but showing up every day, and playing spectacularly.  Gehringer held his private life in high regard, even missing his Hall of Fame induction, because he felt it would interfere with his wedding date.

After retiring Gehringer remained with the Tigers, briefly serving as the team's manager, before moving into the front office to assume their VP duties, overseeing the teams operations.

In 1983 both he and fellow G-Man Hank Greenberg had their respective numbers 2 and 5 retired.

Despite his outstanding fielding, and hitting, Gehringer is rarely mentioned in the debate for who is the greatest second baseman of all-time.  During the all-century team voting Gehringer didn't even crack the top 5 in voting for his position.

Yet whenever people mention what they want in a second baseman, typically a great glove, high average hitter with great speed, and some power, these are the exact traits Charlie Gehringer possessed.

I for one haven't overlooked Gehringer, and while some may disagree that he shouldn't be this high, there's no question that Charlie Gehringer needs to be given more credit for the type of career he had.

26. Al Simmons

Pos: LF/OF
Teams:
Philadelphia Athletics 1924-1932, 1940-1941, 1944
Chicago White Sox 1933-1935
Detroit Tigers 1936
Washington Senators 1937-1938
Boston Bees 1939
Cincinnati Reds 1939
Boston Red Sox 1943

Biography:

One of the most feared hitters in baseball during the 1920's and early 30's, and one of the leaders of the great Athletic teams of the same time span, two time AL batting champ, Al Simmons comes in at number 26.

Born May 22, 1902 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as Aloisius Szymanski, he would later shortened his name to Al Simmons in order to allow people to say his name easier.

Simmons would join the A's just before the 1924 season, having a very good year, batting .308 while driving in 102 runs, before exploding the next year.  In 1925, Simmons would hit .387 with 24 home runs, and 129 RBI's to finish second in the MVP voting, as the A's also shot up in the standings to second place.

Although the Yankees dominated the American League at the time, Connie Mack thought that through the use of the farm system he could build up a team that could compete with the Yankees in due time.  In addition to Simmons, the A's farm system would also produce fellow Hall of Famers Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Foxx, and Lefty Grove.

By 1929 the A's were finally ready to overcome the New York Yankees for dominance in the American League.  After finishing 2nd three of the past four years, the 1929 were simply dominating.

They won 104 games that year, easily taking the American League pennant by a full 18 games over the Yankees, before disposing of the Chicago Cubs in 5 games to win their first World Series title since 1913.

The 1929 A's are considered by many to be one of the greatest teams of all-time.  Al Simmons led the way for the A's leading the team in nearly all major offensive categories that year with .365 batting average, 34 home runs, and 157 runs driven in which was good enough to lead the American League.

Only the Detroit Tigers had a better offensive in the American League that year, scoring 26 more runs then the A's did, but the Tigers also had the worst pitching in the American League.  The Philadelphia Athletics on the other hand had the best pitching in the American League.

Leading the way was Lefty Grove who led the AL in both ERA and strikeouts, while number two starter George Earnshaw led the American League with 24 wins.

In 1930 the A's would repeat as World Series champions, and Al Simmons would have an even better year leading the American league with a .381 batting average while hitting a career high 36 home runs, and driving in a career high 165 runs.

After losing the World Series in 1931, the Yankees would regroup and once again take the AL Pennant in 1932, as the Yankees found their own great left handed pitcher in Lefty Gomez, while featuring a lineup with 6 future Hall of Famers in it.

Unfortunately for the Athletics the seeds for their demise had already been planted years before.

The A's were co owned by the Shibe family and Connie Mack.  Following the stock market crash in 1929, the Shibe's were forced to sell off much of the franchise, as Mack took on a greater ownership role.  While they were able to afford a major league franchise, they did not have great wealth, and could not financially compete with teams like the Yankees.

Following the end of the 1932 season in response to the growing financial crisis within, Connie Mack was forced to sell one of his star players Al Simmons to the Chicago White Sox.  It was merely a sign of things to come.  Following a 3rd place finish in 1933, virtually all of the remaining A's stars were sent off to other cities.

Mickey Cochrane was sent to Detroit.  Jimmie Foxx wound up in Boston, along with Lefty Grove.

The franchise would never fully recover, as the A's who had once been the toast of Philadelphia would finish dead last in the American League 11 times in a 20 year span from 1935 through the end of their run in Philadelphia in 1954.  By the time the A's did become competitive again in the early 50's the city had switched their allegiance to the Philadelphia Phillies, and the A's became the second team in Philadelphia.

Simmons would be able to put up solid numbers with the White Sox, but because of the high price he generated, and the economic climate of the depression he was hard to hold onto, spending the remaining years of his career bouncing from team to team putting up decent numbers at every stop, but was unable to replicate the success he had in Philadelphia.

Simmons had wanted one of his career goals to reach 3000 hits, but after a few down years, Simmons would finally retire in 1944 with 2927 hits, just 73 hits shy of the mark.

Connie Mack often regarded Simmons as he favorite ballplayer, and although he has become somewhat of a forgotten name in history, the success of the late 20's and early 30's Athletics cannot be denied, and Al Simmons will not be the last player from those teams to be included in this list.


-- Edited by pmoehrin on Wednesday 15th of July 2009 05:53:09 PM

25. Al Kaline

Pos: RF/OF
Teams:
Detroit Tigers 1953-1974

Biography:

The greatest player to ever put on a Detroit Tiger uniform since Ty Cobb, Al Kaline leads off the top 25.

Al Kaline was born on December 14, 1934 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was signed out of high school by the Tigers in June of 1953.  Under the bonus baby rule at the time, Kaline wasn't allowed to play in the minor leagues, and had to be immediately placed on the Tigers roster.

That proved to be a non-issue for the Tigers, as Kaline became the youngest everyday starter in baseball in 1954 at just 19 years of age.  Kaline would hit a very respectable .276, and usually batted in the number six spot.  There were very few clues that year as to just how fast Kaline would develop.

The next year, Al Kaline went from being average starting right fielder to the game's best starting right fielder.  Despite being just 20 years old, Kaline handled big league pitching like a ten year veteran, hitting .340 with 27 home runs, and driving in 102 runs.

During the late 50's, and early 60's there was usually not a better right fielder to be found then Al Kaline, but unfortunately Kaline was never able to reach his full potential.  A childhood birth defect left Kaline with very sensitive and it limit his durability for nearly his entire career, only playing in more then 150 games three times during his career, with two of those years coming before he was even 22.

Despite his stellar numbers at the plate, it's his defense that really separates him from the rest.  A ten time gold glove winner in his career, as seen from the video above Kaline had one of the strongest arms in baseball history.  In 1958, Kaline's reputation for having a strong arm was not well known and he was able to get 23 assists that year to win his first of ten gold glove awards.  The rest of the American League got the message, as Kaline would only have more then ten assits from the outfield position one time after that in his career.  Simply put nobody was dumb enough to test Al Kaline's arm, and if they did, they usually paid for it.

With Al Kaline firmly planted in right field, the Tigers slowly began improving during the 1960's.  Along the way the Tigers farm system would produce other stars such as Norm Cash, Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, Joe Sparma, and Denny McLain.

In 1968, the Tigers were coming off a second place finish to the Boston Red Sox, finishing just one game back, and looked to be one of the favorites to win the World Series in 1968.

Before the season could even start, a far greater event happened outside of baseball that would determine the tone for how the Tigers 1968 season would go.

On April 4th, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot outside of his Memphis hotel room at the age of 39.  Throughout the country riots would ensue, as cities with a large black community like Washington D.C. and Louisville would burn that night, and in the ensuing days.  The start of the baseball season was delayed until April 10th.

Detroit was no different, as it was now beginning to become clear that the city of Detroit was no longer the prospering Midwestern city it had been during the roaring 20's.  Urban decay was in full swing, and middle class and upper middle class Americans were now leaving the inner city and moving out to the suburbs, leaving only the low income families who could not afford to leave.

Perhaps no other city has been hit by this more then Detroit, as the city has experienced a steady increase in crime, along with a decrease in job opportunities that continues to this day.  Much of the problem can be blamed on political corruption, as the city coffers are often strapped for cash, while Detroit remains the largest city in the United States without any public transportation other then bus.

The 1968 Tigers simply put their heads down and went to work.  Detroit dominated the American League that year winning 103 games, and taking the American League pennant by a full 12 games over the Baltimore Orioles in the final year before division play.

The star of the Tiger team that year was Denny McLain who would win 31 games that year, in what remains as the last year any pitcher won more then 30 games in a season.

In the World Series the Tigers would face off against the defending World Series champions the St. Louis Cardinals, who had an even more dominating starting pitcher then McLain in Bob Gibson.  1968 was Bob Gibson's finest year, winning 22 games while having an unheard of ERA of 1.12, pitching 13 shutouts on the year.

The Tigers would find out just how dominating Gibson was first hand, as he struck out 17 batters in game one in what many consider to be the most dominating pitching performance in World Series history.

The Tigers would bounce right back in game two winning 8-1, showing that they were not going to be intimidated by Bob Gibson or anyone else.

The Cardinals relied heavily upon their speed to win games, but Tigers manager Mayo Smith thought he had the perfect counter to that in Al Kaline.  Smith would often go out of his way throughout the series to make sure Kaline played right field, going as far as to move center fielder Mickey Stanley to shortstop, moving the regular season right fielder Jim Northup over to center to allow Kaline to play right for the entire series.

The move would pay off as Kaline hit .379 in his only World Series appearance, while doing the best he could to prevent guys like Lou Brock from scoring on plays they would normally test with other right fielders.

The series was a seesaw battle that went the full seven games.  It appeared to be more suited for the Cardinals as they would have their ace Bob Gibson taking the mound once again for game seven in St. Louis.

It was not to be as the Tigers would win the game 4-1, on the strength of their own pitcher Mickey Lolich who won his third game of the series, to give the Tigers their first World Series title since 1945.

With a career that had been hampered by injuries Kaline would reach one final career mark in his career that so many had felt he would reach far sooner.

On September 24, 1974 in what would be the final year of his career, Al Kaline would join the 3000 hit club on a 6th inning single off Orioles pitcher Dave McNally.

Since retiring from baseball Al Kaline hasn't left the nest, immediately entering into the Tigers front office where he remains today, as he has been en employee with the Tigers now for over 50 years.

Al Kaline has been cited as one of the true gentleman to ever play the game winning the Roberto Clemente award, the Lou Gehrig award, and the Hutch Award.  All three awards are essentially given out for the player who displays great sportsmanship in addition to on field excellence.

Kaline was a first ballet Hall of Famer in 1980, and has had his number 6 retired by the Detroit Tigers.

It's highly unlikely that the Tigers will ever again have another player on their team who could combine great athletic talent with perhaps an even greater amount of class then Al Kaline.


-- Edited by pmoehrin on Wednesday 15th of July 2009 05:54:13 PM

24. George Brett

Pos: 3B/1B/DH
Teams:
Kansas City Royals 1973-1993

Biography:

Before we get started yes, I too want to know exactly what the hell Superchicken is.

With that being said the only representative of the Kansas City Royals is a good one, as the man who is in my opinion the greatest third baseman of all-time, George Brett comes in at number 24.

Born May 15, 1953 George wasn't the first from his family to reach the bigs, as his older brother Ken, had a solid 14 year major league career as a pitcher, including an all-star appearance in 1974.

George was drafted by the Royals in the second round of the 1971 draft out of High School as a shortstop, but after defensive problems plagued him in the minors, he was moved to third.

When Brett joined the Royals in 1973, the team already had the makings of a future world champion despite the fact they had only been in the league for five years.  In 1973, the Royals won a franchise high 88 games, finishing 6 games back of the Oakland Athletics.  With players like John Mayberry, Paul Splittorff, Amos Otis, and Hal McRae, the Royals would become the most dominating team in the American League during the second half of the decade.  But what they lacked was a superstar.  The addition of George Brett would give them just that.

It didn't look like Brett was going to be a superstar, as he was hitting just .242 heading into the all-star break during his first full year in Kansas City in 1974.  Brett would seek the advice of famed hitting coach Charley Lau during the break.  Lau preached a spray method of hitting, letting the pitch dictate where you hit the ball, but also using your hands to get maximum power behind your swings.

The method would work for Brett as he ended the season with a .282 average, which would be the lowest of his career until 1991.

The next year the Royals would continue their woes from the season before, and with a record of 50-46, the Royals would fire manager Jack McKeon in favor of a manager with a career record of 49-93 up until that point, Whitey Herzog.

Herzog would lead the Royals to a 41-25 record under them to finish the year at 91-71, once again a distant second behind the A's, but it was clear the Royals were heading in the right direction.  For his parts Brett hit .300 for the first time in his career, while also finishing second on the team with 89 RBI's, and leading the American League in triples with 13.

In 1976 Brett would lead the league in hitting with a .333 average, while appearing in his first of what would be 13 consecutive all-star games.  The Royals for their part finished with an almost identical record from the year before at 90-72, but with a fire sale starting in Oakland, it would be good enough to win the Al West title, and earned the right to face the New York Yankees in the ALCS.

In what would be a future trend, Brett would demolish Yankee pitching, hitting .444 in a seesaw battle series which saw the teams alternate wins for the first four games until the deciding game 5 in New York.

The Yankees held the lead for most of the game at 6-3, until the top of the eighth, when George Brett hit a three run home run to tie the game at six.

Yankees first baseman Chris Chambliss led off the bottom of the night with the score still tied and faced Mark Littell.  The following ensued.

As you can see all hell broke lose at Yankee Stadium, as Chambliss could barely make it around the bases.  It was his "reward" for sending the Yankees to their first World Series since 1964.

The next year the Royals would have an even better year, winning 102 games, and once again faced the Yankees in the ALCS.

The result was the same heartbreak, as the Royals lost the series once again in five games.  I could go into detail about the series, but I would recommend to watch the ESPN short series "The Bronx is Burning" if you would like to know more.

1978 would be no different as the Royals once again won the AL West, before falling to the Yankees in the ALCS, this time in four games.

After falling to second place in 1979, the Royals would elect to fire longtime manager Whitey Herzog, who would be hired by the Cardinals the next year, where he would go on to win three NL pennants during the 1980's, including one World Series titles.  (more on the 1980's Cardinals later)

In 1980, under new manager Jim Frey the Royals were determined to get to the World Series, and no other player appeared to be more determined then George Brett who would have without question his best season that year.

Nobody it seemed could get Brett out, as his batting average was at an even .400 heading in September 19th.  Brett wouldn't hit .400, but he would hit .390, and led the American League in hitting, on base percentage, slugging, OPS, and was a near unanimous choice for MVP.  The only blemish on the season for Brett was an injury in June that would keep Brett out of the lineup for a month.

Still it was enough to lead the Royals back into first place and another rematch with the tormentors the New York Yankees.  This time things would be different as the Royals wouldn't even allow the Yankees to get a foot in the door, sweeping the Bombers in three games, with Brett himself delivering the game winner.  A three run eight inning home run off Goose Gossage they sailed into the upper deck in right field.

The World Series would bill the two best third baseman in baseball, and perhaps of all-time as Brett's Royals, took on Schmidt's Phillies with both franchises searching for their first ever world title.

The series was a close one, with none of the first five games being decided by more then two runs, but it would be a Dan Quisenberry melt down in game five that would give the Phillies a 3-2 series lead, and ultimately probably cost the Royals the World Series, falling in six to the Phils.

Without question though the most famous incident of Brett's career would once again occur at Yankee Stadium three years later.

On July 24, 1983 the Royals were playing the New York Yankees, and were down 4-3 with two outs in the ninth inning, and a runner on first when Brett came up to face Goose Gossage.  Brett would hit a two run home run off Goosage that just cleared the right field fence to give the Royals a 5-4 lead.

As Brett crossed the plate, the always alert Yankee manager Billy Martin cited an almost unheard of rule 1.10 b which states "a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches from the tip of the handle."

Brett was known for placing alot of pine tar on his bat, and Martin contended that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat, meaning that his bat was illegal, and Brett should have been called out on the play.

Umpire Tim McClelland agreed, and ruled Brett out on the plate.

I don't know much about war, but I would imagine that if you had a bunch of troops go into battle the way George Brett charged at Tim McClelland, you wouldn't lose too many battles.

The front office of the American League felt differently about the play, and after a protest by the Royals, overruled McClelland's decision.  The office contended that while Brett's bat was illegal, having more then the legal amount of pine tar on your bat isn't going to have any noticeable impact on your on field performance.  The right move would have been to have Brett get another bat before stepping into the batters box, but calling him out on the play after it can be determined with a reasonable amount of certainty that the pine tar had no impact on the play was not the intent of the rule.

The Yankees themselves would protest that Brett had not touched all the bases when the game was replayed on August 18th, but crew chief Davey Philips presented Martin with signed documentation that Brett had in fact touched all the bases after hitting the home run.  The Yankees were out of luck, and the Royals wound up winning one of the strangest games ever played 5-4.

After returning to the postseason in 1984 before being swept by the Tigers, the Royals returned in 1985, with a very different looking team then the one they had in 1980.  Gone were the likes of Darrel Porter, Larry Gura, Paul Splitorff, Dennis Leonard, and Amos Otis.  In their place were players like Charlie Leibrandt, Lonnie Smith, Steve Balboni, Danny Jackson, and of course the 1985 Cy Young winner Bret Saberhagen.

The '85 Royals would be involved in a season long fight with both the White Sox, and Angels for the division title, wining the division with just two games left in the regular season.  In the ALCS the Royals would face Bobby Cox and the Toronto Blue Jays who won 99 games on the year.  The Blue Jays would go up three games to one which in any year prior would have been enough to send them to the World Series, but in 1985 the LCS shifted from a best of 5 to a best of 7 for the first time ever.  The Royals would take full advantage, winning game five in Kansas City, before stunning the Blue Jays at home to take the series in seven games, and set up a match with their old manager Whitey Herzog and his St. Louis Cardinals, in what was dubbed the I-70 series.

Like in the ALCS, the Royals would fall behind three games to one, before winning game five to set up a game six in Kansas City.

Heading into the ninth inning the Royals held a 1-0 lead.  Leading off the inning was Jorge Orta, who hit a little dribbler to Jack Clark at first who underhanded the ball to Cardinal pitcher Todd Worrell for what appeared to be the first out of the inning.  First base umpire Don Denkinger ruled Orta safe, although both this photo, and TV replay clearly showed that Orta was out.

It all seemed to come apart for the Cardinals from there as the Royals rallied to win the game 2-1, before Bret Saberhagen shut down the Cards in game seven 11-0 to give the Royals their first World Series title ever.

For their part the Cardinals acted about as sore as losers could act, with both Whitey Herzog, and Cardinals pitcher Joaquin Andujar being ejected during the game.  After the game while the Royals were celebrating, the Cardinals were busy trashing the visitors locker room, clearly frustrated over the fact that they felt they were the better team.

Although Saberhagen was named MVP for the series, Brett himself had a very solid series hitting .370 in his only World Series title.

Throughout the 1980's the Royals remained competitive but 1985 still stands as the last year Kansas City won a division title.

Years of wear and tear were also beginning to take their toll on Brett, as the Royals moved him to first base before the 1987 season.

Despite his declining defensive ability, he showed no signs of such decline at the plate, even going as far as to win the AL batting title in 1990 for the third time in his career at age 37.  With the title Brett became the first and thus far only man to win a batting title in three different decades.

On September 30, 1992 Brett by now the Royals full time DH would achieve one final milestone in his career, joining the 3000 hit club, on a seventh inning single off Angels pitcher Tim Fortugno.  The game was stopped, and Brett enjoyed what would be the final great moment of his career.  When play resumed, Brett seemed to want to keep celebrating, and paid for it, becoming the first man to ever be picked off immediately after getting his 3000th hit.

George Brett's legacy as the greatest Kansas City Royal of all-time is undisputed, but my assertion that George Brett is the greatest third baseman of all-time most certainly is.

The vast majority of people including Bill James have Mike Schmidt as the greatest third baseman of all-time.

I take no issue with anyone who wants to put Schmidt at number one, I for one wouldn't have Schmidt at number 29 if I didn't feel he was a great player, but it's by no means a slam dunk to say that Mike Schmidt is better then George Brett or that George Brett is better then Mike Schmidt.

Schmidt was without question the better defensive third baseman, and the better power hitter.  But Brett himself was no slouch at third base, himself winning a gold glove in 1985, and average 19 home runs a season.

Brett's batting career batting average is nearly 40 points higher then Schmidt's, and he also lasted longer then Schmidt, having over 1000 more career plate appearances.

If Schmidt had more at bat's for me to grade him on, I do think he would have been higher then Brett, but as I have done with virtually every player on this list, if two players have similar numbers the one who lasted longer gets the nod, and George Brett lasted longer then Mike Schmidt did.

If I had to say who was the greatest third baseman at their peak, it would be a toss up between Mike Schmidt, and Al Rosen (who should have won the 1953 AL Triple Crown).  But this list measures who had the better career, not who had more talent, and while Rosen is right up there with anybody on a talent level, he also only played seven seasons, and wasn't even close to making the list.

George Brett had the greatest career of any third baseman in my opinion, but the margin over Schmidt is slim, and I have no issue with anyone who puts Schmidt above Brett.  I just ask that the people who put Schmidt over Brett take a little closer look at Brett's numbers.

This also isn't going to be the first controversial pick I will have, as there's one person who some people as the greatest player of his generation that won't even crack the top five, although he does come close.

(by the way if you wanted a clue as to who will be at the top of the list, my all-time team was read off on Mike and Mike in the Morning on Thursday.  Tim Kurkjian was co-hosting the show with Mike Greenberg, and had Mike Schmidt as his greatest third baseman of all-time, and disagreed with mine.  Well **** you Tim Kurkjian.  There now I have legitimate beef with an television personality.  If nothing else this list has been good for that.)


-- Edited by pmoehrin on Saturday 18th of July 2009 02:29:51 AM