BASEBALL'S DREAM TEAMS

When all-time baseball team rosters are selected by voting fans, the focus gets placed on the most memorable heroics, often those occurring in World Series play. Furthermore, when self-styled diamond "experts" make their annual Cooperstown elections, they think first of the fellows in the prime public eye over the years, and all too often those who always talked nice to the press gentry.

Both groups are clearly off the mark. Baseball is not a game consisting only of October heroes and smooth interviewees. Unlike every other top-level sport, its most pertinent facts must come from selective statistical analysis.

By applying two simple, yet semi-scientific formulas -- the first which compares hitters/baserunners with a getting on base/getting around the bases/batting teammates in/smashing home runs/and pinch hitting blend, and the other evaluating pitchers using a durability/control/relief results/effectiveness/and base hitting mixture -- we've been able to compile three separate era dream squads. A number of the names so honored may be somewhat surprising. In turn, the reasons for asking "Where the hell is __________?" can also prove to be rather frequent.

Why three different eras? That's easy to answer. The game has changed ever so much during the approximate century and a third since it first got under way.

From 1870ish through 1919, the goal of the batsman was to get on the bases, then around them by the most expedient means possible, thus often calling for wholesale "theft". Home runs were quite rare, due to the ball's deadness relative to years afterward. Pitchers were expected to go the full nine innings no matter what, be nearly as prolific at the plate as on the mound, and likely play a field position when not required to hurl.

Then the Babe, the Mighty Bambino, the Sultan of Swat appeared on the scene. This man "double-handedly" converted the game from the high-flying spikes age of Ty Cobb into the long ball-hitting craze. George Herman Ruth did a lot more than "build" Yankee Stadium. He revitalized the sport in a new sensational, not to mention crowd-pleasing manner.

Baseball's second era thus essentially began with 1920 and roared through 1969. While the chaps at the plate swung more and more for the fence, the pitching aces did a fine job of making them miss a few and pop up or ground out often enough to keep matters in check.

However, the advent of the 1970s and thereafter makes it look as though "them days is gone forever", insofar as the preceding era is concerned. The ball has become livelier than during any age before, allowing slender and agile shortstop types to hit a good share of circuit clouts.

Pitchers' earned run averages have been climbing somewhat in proportion to the Dow-Jones industrials. What's more, our heavily bombarded moundsmen aren't even permitted to step up to the plate on their own when playing in an American League park.

Today, it's all odds and averages. While the batters slug away, managers grow antsy when a hurler gets close to throwing 100 pitches per game. Staying on the hill for a complete nine-inning go-around has virtually become a thing of the past.

Yes, the game has evolved drastically indeed since the 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, and so on. It is only logical, therefore, to choose our 25-man dream rosters for each of the three distinct eras described above, to avoid needless apple vs. orange player performance measurements. Nevertheless, the readers are cautioned to brace themselves for a few shocks.

Obviously, not every player's career fits snugly into an established set of year spans. Wherever overlaps occurred, they were resolved simply by which era the hitter/baserunner amassed the greater number of safe knocks, and pitchers correspondingly the more wins plus saves. In just a few cases did the relative "counts" come close.

As everyone will have doubtless noted, no provision has been made in our formulization for fancy-dan fielding prowess. We might say as well that baseball is a game for stickmen and hurlers, not gold glovers.

The following layout scheme explains the meaning of everything entered related to an individual player.

Period
LINEUP Special Nickname
Years with Each Club Pos Alt B T Pts

BENCH
Player Name Special Nickname
Years with Each Club Pos, Pos, Pos B T Pts

PITCHERS
Player Name Special Nickname
Years with Each Club B T Pts

MANAGER
Name Special Nickname
Years Managed Each Club

1870-1919
LINEUP
Tristram E. "Tris" Speaker Spoke; The Grey Eagle
Boston AL 1907-1915
Cleveland AL 1916-1926
Washington AL 1927
Philadelphia AL 1928 CF PH L L 80.60

John Peter "Honus" Wagner The Flying Dutchman
Louisville NL 1897-1899
Pittsburgh NL 1900-1917 SS 1B, 2B, 3B, RF R R 69.17

Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb The Georgia Peach
Detroit AL 1905-1926
Philadelphia AL 1927-1928 RF CF, PH L R 88.34

Zachary Davis "Zack" Wheat Buck
Brooklyn NL 1909-1926
Philadelphia AL 1927 LF PH L R 66.15

Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie Larry
Philadelphia NL 1896-1900
Philadelphia AL 1901-1902; 1915-1916
Cleveland AL 1902-1914 1B 2B, SS R R 61.38

Edward Trowbridge "Eddie" Collins Sr. Cocky
Philadelphia AL 1906-1914; 1927-1930
Chicago AL 1915-1926 2B PH L R 72.40

Adrian Constantine "Cap" Anson Pops; Old Anse
Chicago NL 1876-1897 C 1B, 3B R R 56.11

George Stacey Davis
Cleveland NL 1890-1892
New York NL 1893-1901; 1903
Chicago AL 1902; 1904-1909 3B 2B, SS, OF B R 54.03

BENCH
Samuel Earl "Sam" Crawford Wahoo Sam
Cincinnati NL 1899-1902
Detroit AL 1903-1917 1B, CF, RF, PH L L 69.68

Fred Clifford Clarke Cap
Louisville NL 1894-1899
Pittsburgh NL 1900-1915 LF, PH L R 56.81

Edward James "Ed" Delahanty Big Ed
Philadelphia NL 1888-1889; 1891-1901
Cleveland PL 1890
Washington AL 1902-1903 1B, 2B, SS, LF, CF R R 56.01

Jacob Peter "Jake" Beckley St. Jacob
Pittsburgh NL 1888-1889; 1891-1896
Pittsburgh PL 1890
New York NL 1896-1897
Cincinnati NL 1897-1903
St. Louis NL 1904-1907 1B L L 55.03

Robert Hayes "Bobby" Veach
Detroit AL 1912-1923
Boston AL 1924-1925
New York AL 1925
Washington AL 1925 LF, PH L R 54.45

Sherwood Robert "Sherry" Magee
Philadelphia NL 1904-1914
Boston NL 1915-1917
Cincinnati NL 1917-1919 1B, LF, RF, PH R R 53.63

Lafayette Napoleon "Lave" Cross
Louisville AA 1887-1888
Philadelphia AA 1889; 1891
Philadelphia PL 1890
Philadelphia NL 1892-1897
St. Louis NL 1898-1899; 1900
Cleveland NL 1899
Brooklyn NL 1900
Philadelphia AL 1901-1905
Washington AL 1906-1907 2B, SS, 3B, OF, C R R 43.11

PITCHERS
Walter Perry Johnson Barney; The Big Train
Washington AL 1907-1927 R R 86.74

Denton True "Cy" Young Foxy Grandpa
Cleveland NL 1890-1898
St. Louis NL 1899-1900
Boston AL 1901-1908
Cleveland AL 1909-1911
Boston NL 1911 R R 78.03

Christopher "Christy" Mathewson Big Six; Matty
New York NL 1900-1916 R R 71.07

Grover Cleveland Alexander Pete
Philadelphia NL 1911-1917; 1930
Chicago NL 1918-1926
St. Louis NL 1926-1929 R R 64.71

Edward Stewart "Eddie" Plank Hank
Philadelphia AL 1901-1914
St. Louis FL 1915
St. Louis AL 1916-1917 L L 60.91

Mordecai Peter Centennial "Three Finger" Brown Miner
St. Louis NL 1903
Chicago NL 1904-1912; 1916
Cincinnati NL 1913
St. Louis FL 1914
Brooklyn FL 1914
Chicago FL 1915 B R 58.93

Edward Augustine "Ed" Walsh Big Ed
Chicago AL 1904-1916
Boston NL 1917 R R 57.57

Charles Gardner "Old Hoss" Radbourn
Providence NL 1881-1885
Boston NL 1886-1889
Boston PL 1890
Cincinnati NL 1891 B R 54.44

James Francis "Pud" Galvin Gentle Jeems; The Little Steam Engine
Buffalo NL 1879-1885
Pittsburgh AA 1885-1886
Pittsburgh NL 1887-1889; 1891-1892
Pittsburgh PL 1890
St. Louis NL 1892 R R 54.07

Charles Augustus "Kid" Nichols Nick
Boston NL 1890-1901
St. Louis NL 1904-1905
Philadelphia NL 1905-1906 B R 53.89

MANAGER
John Joseph McGraw Little Napoleon
Baltimore NL 1899
Baltimore AL 1901-1902
New York NL 1902-1932


1920-1969
LINEUP
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial Stan the Man
St. Louis NL 1941-1944; 1946-1963 1B LF, CF, RF L L 76.51

Willie Howard Mays Say Hey
New York NL 1951-1957
San Francisco NL 1958-1972
New York NL 1972-1973 CF 1B R R 72.27

Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron Hammerin' Hank
Milwaukee NL 1954-1965
Atlanta NL 1966-1974
Milwaukee AL 1975-1976 LF 1B, RF, DH R R 77.44

George Herman "Babe" Ruth The Bambino; The Sultan of Swat
Boston AL 1914-1919
New York AL 1920-1934
Boston NL 1935 RF LF L L 71.73

James Emory "Jimmie" Foxx Double X; The Beast
Philadelphia AL 1925-1935
Boston AL 1936-1942
Chicago NL 1942; 1944
Philadelphia NL 1945 C 1B, 3B R R 65.70

Melvin Thomas "Mel" Ott Master Melvin
New York NL 1926-1947 3B CF, RF L R 66.26

Rogers Hornsby Rajah
St. Louis NL 1915-1926; 1933
New York NL 1927
Boston NL 1928
Chicago NL 1929-1932
St. Louis AL 1933-1937 SS 2B, 3B R R 60.55

Charles Leonard "Charlie" Gehringer The Mechanical Man
Detroit AL 1924-1942 2B L R 57.36

BENCH
Frank Robinson
Cincinnati NL 1956-1965
Baltimore AL 1966-1971
Los Angeles NL 1972
California AL 1973-1974
Cleveland AL 1974-1976 1B, LF, RF, DH R R 66.46

Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams The Splendid Splinter; The Thumper
Boston AL 1939-1942; 1946-1960 LF, RF L R 66.29

Willie Lee McCovey Stretch
San Francisco NL 1959-1973; 1977-1980
San Diego NL 1974-1976
Oakland AL 1976 1B, LF, PH L L 63.32

Enos Bradsher Slaughter Country
St. Louis NL 1938-1953
New York AL 1954-1955; 1956-1959
Kansas City AL 1955-1956
Milwaukee NL 1959 LF, RF, PH L R 63.15

Albert William "Al" Kaline
Detroit AL 1953-1974 1B, CF, RF, DH, PH R R 62.49

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig Columbia Lou; The Iron Horse
New York AL 1923-1939 1B L L 62.36

Paul Glee Waner Big Poison
Pittsburgh NL 1926-1940
Brooklyn NL 1941; 1943-1944
Boston NL 1941-1942
New York AL 1944-1945 1B, RF, PH L L 60.96

Joseph Edward "Joe" Cronin
Pittsburgh NL 1926-1927
Washington AL 1928-1934
Boston AL 1935-1945 1B, SS, 3B R R 53.25

Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
New York AL 1946-1963
New York NL 1965 LF, C, PH L R 51.30

PITCHERS
Warren Edward Spahn
Boston NL 1942; 1946-1952
Milwaukee NL 1953-1964
New York NL 1965
San Francisco NL 1965 L L 64.57

Pack Robert "Bob" Gibson Hoot
St. Louis NL 1959-1975 R R 61.41

Robin Evan Roberts
Philadelphia NL 1948-1961
Baltimore AL 1962-1965
Houston NL 1965-1966
Chicago NL 1966 B R 57.67

James Paul David "Jim" Bunning
Detroit AL 1955-1963
Philadelphia NL 1964-1967; 1970-1971
Pittsburgh NL 1968-1969
Los Angeles NL 1969 R R 57.03

Juan Antonio Marichal Manito; The Dominican Dandy
San Francisco NL 1960-1973
Boston AL 1974
Los Angeles NL 1975 R R 56.07

Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove Mose
Philadelphia AL 1925-1933
Boston AL 1934-1941 L L 55.79

Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale Big D
Brooklyn NL 1956-1957
Los Angeles NL 1958-1969 R R 55.06

Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing
Boston AL 1924-1930
New York AL 1930-1942; 1945-1946
Chicago AL 1947 R R 54.24

MANAGER
Cornelius Alexander "Connie" Mack The Tall Tactician
Pittsburgh NL 1894-1896
Philadelphia AL 1901-1950


1970-2008 (Subjet to annual update thereafter)
LINEUP
Peter Edward "Pete" Rose Charlie Hustle
Cincinnati NL 1963-1978; 1984-1986
Philadelphia NL 1979-1983
Montreal NL 1984 2B 1B, 3B, LF, RF B R 56.59

Rickey Henley Henderson
Oakland AL 1979-1984; 1989-1995; 1998
New York AL 1985-1989
Toronto AL 1993
San Diego NL 1996-1997; 2001
Anaheim AL 1997
New York NL 1999-2000
Seattle AL 2000
Boston AL 2002
Los Angeles NL 2003 LF CF, DH, PH R L 64.73

Barry Lamar Bonds
Pittsburgh NL 1986-1992
San Francisco NL 1993-2007 CF LF L L 69.96

Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson Mr. October
Kansas City AL 1967
Oakland AL 1968-1975; 1987
Baltimore AL 1976
New York AL 1977-1981
California AL 1982-1986 RF CF, DH L L 56.73

Eddie Clarence Murray
Baltimore AL 1977-1988; 1996
Los Angeles NL 1989-1991; 1997
New York NL 1992-1993
Cleveland AL 1994-1996
Anaheim AL 1997 1B DH B R 56.90

Daniel Joseph "Rusty" Staub Le Grand Orange
Houston NL 1963-1968
Montreal NL 1969-1971; 1979
New York NL 1972-1975; 1981-1985
Detroit AL 1976-1979
Texas AL 1980 DH 1B, RF, PH L R 63.22

Atanasio "Tony" Perez
Cincinnati NL 1964-1976; 1984-1986
Montreal NL 1977-1979
Boston AL 1980-1982
Philadelphia NL 1983 3B 1B, DH, PH R R 55.77

Craig Alan Biggio
Houston NL 1988-2007 C 2B, LF, CF R R 50.77

Calvin Edwin “Cal” Ripken Jr.
Baltimore AL 1981-2001 SS 3B, DH R R 50.66

BENCH
David Mark "Dave" Winfield
San Diego NL 1973-1980
New York AL 1981-1990
California AL 1990-1991
Toronto AL 1992
Minnesota AL 1993-1994
Cleveland AL 1995 LF, RF, DH R R 60.71

Carl Michael Yastrzemski Yaz
Boston AL 1961-1983 1B, CF, LF, DH L R 59.30

George Kenneth "Ken" Griffey Jr. Junior
Seattle AL 1989-1999; 2009
Cincinnati NL 2000-2008
Chicago AL 2008 LF, CF, RF L L 57.65

Harold Douglas Baines
Chicago AL 1980-1989; 1996-1997; 2000-2001
Texas AL 1989-1990
Oakland AL 1990-1992
Baltimore AL 1993-1995; 1998-2000
Cleveland AL 1999 RF, DH, PH L L 56.72

Rafael Corrales Palmeiro
Chicago NL 1987-1988
Texas AL 1989-1993; 1999-2003
Baltimore AL 1994-1998; 2004-2005 1B, OF, DH L L 56.41

Andre Nolan Dawson The Hawk
Montreal NL 1976-1986
Chicago NL 1987-1992
Boston AL 1993-1994
Florida NL 1995-1996 CF, RF, DH R R 54.56

Ted Lyle Simmons
St. Louis NL 1968-1980
Milwaukee AL 1981-1985
Atlanta NL 1986-1988 C, 1B, DH, PH B R 48.26

PITCHERS
Steven Norman "Steve" Carlton Lefty
St. Louis NL 1965-1971
Philadelphia NL 1972-1986
San Francisco NL 1986
Chicago AL 1986
Cleveland AL 1987
Minnesota AL 1987-1988 L L 66.16

Gregory Alan “Greg” Maddux
Chicago NL 1986-1992; 2004-2006
Atlanta NL 1993-2003
Los Angeles NL 2006; 2008
San Diego NL 2007-2008 R R 64.01

George Thomas "Tom" Seaver The Franchise; Tom Terrific
New York NL 1967-1977; 1983
Cincinnati NL 1977-1982
Chicago AL 1984-1986
Boston AL 1986 R R 58.26

Donald Howard "Don" Sutton
Los Angeles NL 1966-1980; 1988
Houston NL 1981-1982
Milwaukee AL 1982-1984
Oakland AL 1985
California AL 1985-1987 R R 56.62

Philip Henry "Phil" Niekro Knucksie
Milwaukee NL 1964-1965
Atlanta NL 1966-1983; 1987
New York AL 1984-1985
Cleveland AL 1986-1987
Toronto AL 1987 R R 56.05

Randall David "Randy" Johnson
Montreal NL 1988-1989
Seattle AL 1989-1998
Houston NL 1998
Arizona NL 1999-2004; 2007-2008
New York AL 2005-2006
San Francisco NL 2009 R L 55.32

Lynn Nolan Ryan The Express
New York NL 1966-1971
California AL 1972-1979
Houston NL 1980-1988
Texas AL 1989-1993 R R 55.04

William Roger Clemens
Boston AL 1984-1996
Toronto AL 1997-1998
New York AL 1999-2003; 2007
Houston NL 2004-2006 R R 54.42

Gaylord Jackson Perry
San Francisco NL 1962-1971
Cleveland AL 1972-1975
Texas AL 1975-1977; 1980
San Diego NL 1978-1979
New York AL 1980
Atlanta NL 1981
Seattle AL 1982-1983
Kansas City AL 1983 R R 53.22

MANAGER
George Lee "Sparky" Anderson
Cincinnati NL 1970-1978
Detroit AL 1980-1995