January 23, 201313 yr Anyone reading the articles on ESPN.com? You have to be an insider but this week Buster Olney is doing a Top 10 ranking for the best outfields, infields, bullpens, rotations, lineups and teams of all time. Since you have to be an insider I don't think I can copy and paste the articles but I'll give his Top 10 without all the comments.
January 23, 201313 yr Author Top 10 Infields 10. 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers:1B Gil Hodges, 2B Jackie Robinson, SS Pee Wee Reese, 3B Billy Cox 9. 1930 New York Giants: 1B Bill Terry, 2B Hughie Critz, SS Travis Jackson, 3B Freddie Lindstrom 8. 1996 Baltimore Orioles: 1B Rafael Palmeiro, 2B Roberto Alomar, SS Cal Ripken and 3B B.J. Surhoff 7. 1971 Baltimore Orioles: 1B Boog Powell, 2B Davey Johnson, SS Mark Belanger, 3B Brooks Robinson 6. 1982 Milwaukee Brewers: 1B Cecil Cooper, 2B Jim Gantner, SS Robin Yount and 3B Paul Molitor 5. 1914 Philadelphis Athletics: 1B Stuffy McKinnis, 2B Eddie Collins, SS Jack Barry, 3B Home Run Baker 4. 2009 Tampa Bay Rays: 1B Carlos Pena, 2B Ben Zobrist, SS Jason Bartlett, 3B Evan Longoria 3. 1999 New York Mets: 1B John Olerud, 2B Edgardo Alfonzo, SS Rey Ordonez, 3B Robin Ventura 2. 2009 New York Yankees: 1B Mark Teixeira, 2B Robinson Cano, SS Derek Jeter and 3B Alex Rodriguez 1. 1976 Cincinnati Reds: 1B Tony Perez, 2B Joe Morgan, SS Davey Concepcion, 3B Pete Rose Thoughts? Here's the link to the article where he gives his reasoning behind the rankings and his honorable mentions etc. Again, you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole article. Top 10 Infields
January 23, 201313 yr I would have the mid-70s Dodgers infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell, and Cey in before the Rays.
January 23, 201313 yr Author Top 10 Outfields 10. 1994 Montreal Expos: Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom and Larry Walker 9. 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates: Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and Richie Zisk 8. 2002 Atlanta Braves: Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones and Gary Sheffield 7. 1975 Boston Red Sox: Jim Rice, Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans 6. 1990 Pittsburgh Pirates: Barry Bonds, Andy Van Slyke and Bobby Bonilla 5. 1963 San Francisco Giants: Willie McCovey, Willie Mays and Felipe Alou 4. Ty Cobb Era Detroit Tigers: Ty Cobb and others 3. 1927 New York Yankees: Babe Ruth, Earle Combs and Bob Meusel 2. 1995 Cleveland Indians: Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez 1. 1961 New York Yankees: Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra Thoughts? Here's the link to the article where he gives his reasoning behind the rankings and his honorable mentions etc. Again, you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole article. Top 10 Outfields
January 23, 201313 yr Hard to think about individual season's and not look at a player's career when comparing. When i see Rafael Palmerio, Robert Alomar, Cal Ripken, and B.J. Surhoff. That is strong. 3 potential hall of famers and they are behind the Rays infield? I guess if you look at the numbers from that season though it makes a difference.
January 23, 201313 yr Author Top 10 Bullpens 10. 2002 Atlanta Braves: John Smoltz, Chris Hammond, Mike Remlinger, Darren Holmes, Kerry Ligtenberg 9. 2012 Tampa Bay Rays: Fernando Rodney, Jake McGee, Wade Davis, Joel Peralta 8. 2010 San Francisco Giants: Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla 7. 2002 Anaheim Angels: Troy Percival, Scot Shields, Brendan Donnelly, Francisco Rodriguez 6. 1972 Oakland Athletics: Darold Knowles, Bob Locker, Rollie Fingers 5. 1990 Oakland Athletics: Dennis Eckersley, Todd Burns, Rick Honeycutt, Gene Nelson 4. 2003 Los Angeles Dodgers: Tom Martin, Paul Quantrill, Guillermo Mota, Eric Gagne 3. 2003 Houston Astros: Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, Billy Wagner, Ricky Stone 2. 1990 Cincinnati Reds: Rob Dibble, Randy Myers, Norm Charlton, Tim Layana 1. 1998 New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera, Ramiro Mendoza, Mike Stanton, Jeff Nelson, Graeme Lloyd Thoughts? Here's the link to the article where he gives his reasoning behind the rankings and his honorable mentions etc. Again, you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole article. Top 10 Bullpens
January 23, 201313 yr Author Hard to think about individual season's and not look at a player's career when comparing. When i see Rafael Palmerio, Robert Alomar, Cal Ripken, and B.J. Surhoff. That is strong. 3 potential hall of famers and they are behind the Rays infield? I guess if you look at the numbers from that season though it makes a difference. He did rank them by their individual seasons that year, not career numbers.
January 23, 201313 yr Relievers is a hard bunch to gauge, in my opinion. I mean how do you compare a 3 man staff from the 72 A's to four men from the 90 Reds or five pitchers from the 98 Yankees? I mean, how much better does the 5 man staff have to be, in order to be considered "better" than what 3 guys can do (and thus, allowing you to benefit from having two extra players elsewhere)?
January 23, 201313 yr Author Top 10 Rotations 10. 1905 Philadelphia Athletics: Eddie Plank, Rube Waddell, Chief Bender, Andy Coakley 9. 1939 New York Yankees: Red Ruffing, Lefty Gomez, Atley Donald, Monte Pearson, Bump Hadley 8. 1948 Cleveland Indians: Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, Gene Bearden, Sam Zoldak, Don Black 7. 1971 Baltimore Orioles: Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally 6. 1986 Houston Astros: Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Jim DeShaies 5. 1907 Chicago Cubs: Mordecai Brown, Ed Ruelbach, Carl Lundgren, Jake Pfeister 4. 1954 Cleveland Indians: Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Bob Feller, Mike Garcia, Art Houtteman 3. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, Joe Blanton 2. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen, Don Sutton 1. 1997 Atlanta Braves: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Denny Neagle Thoughts? Here's the link to the article where he gives his reasoning behind the rankings and his honorable mentions etc. Again, you have to be an ESPN Insider to read the whole article. Top 10 Rotations
January 23, 201313 yr Author Relievers is a hard bunch to gauge, in my opinion. I mean how do you compare a 3 man staff from the 72 A's to four men from the 90 Reds or five pitchers from the 98 Yankees? I mean, how much better does the 5 man staff have to be, in order to be considered "better" than what 3 guys can do (and thus, allowing you to benefit from having two extra players elsewhere)? I agree the bullpens seem to be the hardest to quantify. The articles give his reasoning and some relevant stats. There were others in the pens, I just listed the ones mentioned most prominently.
January 23, 201313 yr No modern day Yankees rotations? Unsure about the Astros at #6. Scott and Ryan are tough but the other 2 were mediocre. And, what did they win?
January 23, 201313 yr Author No modern day Yankees rotations? Unsure about the Astros at #6. Scott and Ryan are tough but the other 2 were mediocre. And, what did they win? Which modern day Yankee rotation would you have in there? Most of those Yankee teams were driven by offense and bullpens. Bob Knepper went 17-12 with a 3.14 ERA in 258 innings that season. Jim DeShaies was 12-5 with a 3.25 ERA in 144 innings. Both had better numbers that season than Ryan. Nolan Ryan was 12-8 with a 3.34 ERA in 178 innnings. And while they didn't win the World Series they lost one of the more memorable playoff series in recent memories to one of the greatest teams of the last 30 years to the New York Mets. Had their bullpen held on in Game 6 they would have had Mike Scott going in Game 7 after he had dominated the Mets in his first two starts. I would put that 1986 Mets rotation in ahead of any of the modern day Yankee rotations. Edited January 23, 201313 yr by AverageJoesGym
January 23, 201313 yr Author No modern day Yankees rotations? Unsure about the Astros at #6. Scott and Ryan are tough but the other 2 were mediocre. And, what did they win? I meant to word my previous post: Which modern day Yankee rotation would you have in there, 1998?
January 23, 201313 yr No modern day Yankees rotations? Unsure about the Astros at #6. Scott and Ryan are tough but the other 2 were mediocre. And, what did they win? Deshaies was really good in 86.
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