JULY 2022 – John Butler, West Mifflin, PA
Question
It’s All-Star time, and you get to select the ultimate All-Star team! Submit your 9-player roster for each starting position, plus an all-star manager, and tell us why this would be the *greatest* team. The twist? Players can be from any era of America’s pastime, and can combine NL and AL stars. Bonus: Include a team name, uniform ideas, and any other details….GOOD LUCK!
Winner
Our July Contest Winner is….John Butler from West Mifflin, PA!
Winning Answer
The Ultimate, All-Time, All-Star team is obviously a widely contested subject by many a fan over many generations. However, this team is 100% the team that puts to rest this debate once and for all. This lineup is not only comprised of the best all-around players for each position, but also for their place in the order, and their character as a person. This list is also devoid of any sort of controversies related to steroids in the game, cheating, or players being banned from the game for one reason or another (sorry Shoeless Joe). Now without further ado, I present to you the greatest team of all time.
1. Rickey Henderson (LF): Hard to argue against the best leadoff guy in history. Holds the career record for stolen bases and runs scored. Yeah, I want him leading off.
2. Roberto Clemente (RF): One of the best defensive players ever to play the game, and also a member of the 3000 hit club. Also, just a terrific human being and gave up his life trying to help people. A man more than baseball. There is a reason Pirates fans call him the Great One. Easy pick.
3. Hank Aaron (1B) Little bit of a squeeze here, but Aaron actually had the best fielding percentage of his career at first base with a solid amount of innings played there. That and there is no way I’m not having this HR King not bat 3rd.
4. Willie Mays (CF) You try and hit 600 plus home runs AND play center at the Polo Grounds. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
5. Adrian Beltre (3rd) This guy was an absolute joy to watch. Most RBI’s All time for a 3rd baseman, and always seemed to have fun doing it. George Brett was a close second, but the pine tar thing kinda overshadows him. Beltre is the right pick here.
6. Honus Wagner (SS) In the first hall of fame class and called the Flying Dutchman for a reason. Unbelievable fielder, and one of the best hitters ever. Easily the best short stop ever to play the game, and also has the most sought-after card in baseball. That is in part because he didn’t want kids chewing tobacco. Great man, great player, and another easy pick.
7. Jackie Robinson (2nd) What Jackie did for the game is unparalleled to anybody’s accomplishments in baseball. However, besides the obvious, he was actually an incredible player and his stats don’t lie. Although he had a shorter career compared to some of the others on this all-star team, his numbers for his 11-year career are actually really incredible. Just take a look at baseball reference and imagine if he was able to player earlier that age 26. We clearly celebrate him every year for a reason!
8. Yogi Berra (C) Best catcher ever. The only player with 10 world series rings (One for each finger!). An 18-time all-star. Caught some of the best pitchers to ever live. No contest.
9. Nolan Ryan (P) If we’re limited to one starting pitcher, it has to be the Ryan Express. Four decades of experience. He holds the all-time record for strike outs and has thrown 7 no-hitters. No pitcher will likely ever come close to that ever again.
Manager: Joe McCarthy. Easy manager pick. Why? He had the most world series wins as a manager and actually never had a losing season. Go look it up, I’m not lying. Can’t argue with that.
Honorable Mention: Babe Ruth (DH). The Great Bambino would easily be the DH in today’s game. But we’re limited to 9, and Nolan was a better pitcher than Babe. I think he would agree to that too.
Home Field: The Field of Dreams in Iowa. Just Baseball in its purest form. It’s not Heaven, but it’s close.
Uniforms: Has to have blue pinstripes of some kind and red lettering with white uniforms. And everyone gets stirrups. It’s just pure class.
Team Name: They’re the Stars. They are the “All Stars” plus it salutes to America’s Pastime and The American Flag. As Each Star is a state on the flag culminating the country as a whole, these baseball stars culminate America and Baseball as a whole. They are 100% the American Stars.
P.S. Vin Scully is 100% the announcer of all their games. Best Announcer ever! The voice of Baseball!