Current Dream Team

My Current Time Dream Team

(1) RF Ty Cobb
(.366 117 1937)

One of the greatest hitters ever, "The Georgia Peach" Ty Cobb brought an intensity and competitiveness unmatched in baseball. He won a major league record 12 batting titles in a row, and only seven players in the past 50 years players have had a higher average in one season than his career average. He also had over 100 RBI seven times and stole 892 bases in his career (including 35 steals of home). I'd be crazy not to put this guy on the team, mainly for fear that he'd be on the other side sometime. He had the ability to completely disrupt a pitcher when on base that I'd want in a leadoff hitter.

(2) 2B Rogers Hornsby
(.358 301 1584)

Second to only Ty Cobb in career batting, "Rajah" is quite possibly the greatest right handed hitter ever. He hit over .400 three times (including a major league record .424 in 1924) and won 2 Triple Crowns. Hornsby was also a great leader, acting as a player manager for both the St. Louis Browns and the Chicago Cubs during his career.

(3) DH Babe Ruth
(.342 714 2213)

George Herman "Babe" Ruth is probably the most celebrated baseball player ever. He led the the league in homeruns a record 12 times, changing the world of baseball forever. In 1918, his first year with the Yankees, Ruth hit 54 homeruns compared with 315 for the rest of the American League. He also had a record .847 slugging percentage that year and ended his career with the highest ever, .690. Ruth was also a great pitcher, going 94-46 with a 2.28 ERA in his career. Even with all of these great stats, I almost had to leave him off of the team because he wansn't a very good fielder but fortunately I figured I could cheat and make him a D.H.

(4) 1B Lou Gehrig
(.340 493 1995)

One of the greatest stories in all of sports, Lou Gehrig is not only remembered for his great ability but his love for the game. He mainly played in Babe Ruth's shadow during his career, but he didn't seem to care, once saying "It's a pretty big shadow, gives me lots of room to spread myself." On May 2, 1939, Gehrig took himself out of the line-up after 2,130 consectutive games played due to the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, now often called Lou Gehrig's Disease. He would never play again, and due to his illness he was granted early entry into the Hall of Fame later on that year.

(5) Willie Mays
(.302 660 1903)

In my opinion, the best all-around center fielder ever (barely beating out Mickey Mantle). I remember seeing some highlight show on television, and for the first time saw "The Catch." After I saw it, I asked my dad if he'd ever seen "the really great catch Willie Mays made", and he replied "which one?" The most amazing thing was he made the outfield seem tiny, but they were often huge (I can remember at least a few that were over 450 to center). I guess that's why he won 11 gold gloves. Not to say this guy is all fielder, he hit 660 homeruns in his career and won 2 MVP awards.

(6) LF Stan Musial
(.331 475 1951)

All this guy did was hit .300 17 times (including seven batting titles), played in 20 All-Star games, and won 3 MVP awards. No wonder they called him Stan The Man. Oh, this guy was a winner too, he has three World Series rings. I think I can find room for this guy on my team.

(7) 3B Mike Shmidt
(.267 548 1595)

In the beginning, it didn't look like Mike Schmidt would be on anyone's dream team. His first season was disasterous, as he struck out 136 times while only batting .196, and this was only in 367 at bats. But somehow he turned it around, leading the league in homers a year later for the first of three consectutive years. It all carried with him, as he hit 30 or more homeruns 12 more times and retired with the most homeruns by a third baseman ever, collecting three MVP awards along the way. He also won 9 consecutive gold gloves and ten in all. This pick was pretty much a no brainer in my opinion.

(8) SS Cal Ripken
(.277 353 1369)

The only active player on my Dream Team, and boy is he active. He hasn't missed a game since 1982 and the end is nowhere in sight. During his torrid run he has been an all-star 14 times, has won two gold glove awards and two MVP awards.

(9) C Johnny Bench
(.267 389 891)

This guy was the total package if there was ever one at catcher. At the plate, he led the league in homeruns twice, won three RBI titles, and was crowned MVP twice. But as great of a hitter he was, he had a bigger impact on fielding. He was the first catcher to wear a preotective helmet while on the field (no wonder catchers could never last very long) and he popularized catching with one hand behind the back to protect himself from getting hit on the bare hand. Oh, did I mention he won 10 straight Gold Glove awards?

P Sandy Koufax
165-87 2.76 ERA

The hardest position to pick for this team was the pitcher, with a dozen names crossing my mind (Matheson, Carlton, Young, and W. Johnson are just a few). I chose Koufax for one reason, he was the most dominant pitcher ever. The only drawback is that he got hurt and his career ended prematurely, and that was in the prime of it. In his last 5 seasons, he went 111-34 with 100 complete games (including 33 shutouts) and took home three Cy Young awards. He also led the league in ERA all five of those years and wins and strikeouts three times. He was the youngest person ever elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1972.

Current Dream Team
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