Well, this week, I'd like to post the all time best defensive team; I'm going to go through different eras, but will mainly stick to players I have either seen, or at least knew a lot about...
So here it is, ( in my opinion ) the greatest fielding team of all time:
Catcher: Johnny Bench
Also my choice for the greatest catcher of all time, Bench, with his powerful throwing arm, ability to call a great game, and knowledge of opposing hitters, was the best defensive backstop as well. Others may argue that either of the Pudges, Fisk or Rodriguez, deserve this spot, or maybe Roy Campenella; But I'm sticking with Bench. I mean, hey, he hosted "The baseball bunch" after all...
First Base: Keith Hernandez
It was a close race between "Mex" and Don Mattingley (Mattingley's appearance on the Simpson's almost tipped the scales in his favor), but I ultimately chose Hernandez, citing that he made both infields he was part of better; First the Cardinals, and then the Mets, winning a championship with both teams. I also wanted to mention George "The Boomer" Scott, who won 8 gold gloves in his career; but unlike the first two, he had the disadvantage of being right handed....It's the one position where being a southpaw is an advantage...well, according to Keith Hernandez, it is (ha)...
Second base: Roberto Alomar
Before he was inducted into the Hall of fame, Alomar may have been best known for spitting at an umpire...which is a shame, because he was one of the greatest second basemen of all time. The man could hit, but as a defender, he had no equal, in my opinion. Sure, there's the Joe Morgans and Bobby Griches of the world; But, as great as they were, neither could match the sheer athleticism of Robbie...hell, he was almost shortstop-like, especially when briefly teamed up with Omar Vizquel in Cleveland. Vizquel was almost as great as shortstop as Alomar was at second, though he wasn't as great as the next guy...
Shortstop: Ozzie Smith
This may have been the easiest choice on here. Although it took Ozzie years to become a good hitter, he came right out of the gate as a superb shortstop, first with San Diego, then with the Cardinals, where he helped St. Louis to 3 pennants and a World Championship. In my lifetime, only Mark Belanger of the Orioles could be considered his peer, but even he would admit that Ozzie was the best...Now if he could only get out of that bottomless pit he fell in during that "Simpson's" episode...
Third base: Brooks Robinson
Mike Schmidt is the greatest third baseman ever, and he's a close 2nd to Brooks, but the name Brooks Robinson is synonymous with fielding excellence, gathering the most gold gloves ever at the position. If there were any doubt in anyone's mind, his performance in the 1970 World Series against the Reds cemented his legend for good...then he was mentioned a few times in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" for some reason...and that STILL didn't kill his reputation...
Left field: Carl Yazstremski
It's been said that playing Fenway's Green Monster is one of the toughest things to do as a left fielder, and Yaz mastered it. It was always fun as a kid watching opposing left fielders befuddled by line drives off the wall, then watch the next inning, as Carl kept batters at first or, even throwing them out at second, trying to stretch a single into a double. Maybe there were other left fielders that had more speed, like Lou Brock, or more range like Tim Raines, but can either one of them claim to have a song written about them?...I rest my case...
Center field: Willie Mays
Maybe the greatest player ever, it wasn't to hard to pick the "Say hey kid" as the best centerfielder. With all apologies to Tris Speaker, who by all accounts was a great fielder on top of being the first centerfielder to play shallow, Mays gets the top spot...every great CF from recent times always seem to be doing a Willie Mays impression; From Jim Edmunds, to Torii Hunter, to the closest to Willie my generation ever had, ( both fielding and hitting-wise) : Ken Griffey JR., who, of course, was in the same Simpson's episode as Ozzie, Mex and Mattingly...oh, and there's a song written about Willie Mays, so there's that too...
Right field: Roberto Clemente
Clemente was well known to have the best arm in baseball; As a right fielder, you're expected to have a big gun...whether it's Dewey Evans, Ellis Valentine or Ichuro Suzuki, throwing men out (or at least scaring them into staying put ) is usually the right fielder's M.O. Playing his entire career with a bad back, Clemente had this whirling motion to his throwing style, which involved his entire body in every throw;And because of that, his throws came in fast and furious...I was on the fence about including Carl Furillo of the Brooklyn Dodgers in this conversation, mostly because of his mastery of Ebbets field's right foot wall, which was a mini, tin covered version of Fenway Park... but I'm sticking with Clemente...and when is Jon Sayles gonna make a movie about him, goddammit!
Pitcher: Greg Maddux
How good a fielder was Maddux? How about winning a gold glove every year from 1990-2008, with the exception of 2003...18 of them in total. The only competetion was Jim Kaat, who won a GG every year from 1962-1977 (for a total of 16) . Kaat's also one of the few players to play in parts of four decades (59-83)...But I'm going to have to go with Maddux, who despite looking like someone who should be working the prescription department at CVS, is probably one of the ten best pitchers of all time...and on this list, he's #1 with a bullet.
Manager: Earl Weaver
Earl's "Pitching, defense, and waiting for the 3 run homer" strategy proved very effective in the late '60s to early '80s. His teams were fundamentally sound on defense, with the best left side of the infield in baseball: Brooks Robinson and Mark Belanger. Also, in centerfield, they had maybe the best centerfielder in the AL in Paul Blair. This kind of defense helped set the Orioles pitching staff apart from the others, giving them mutiple CY Young awards, and set a record with four 20 game winners in 1971 ( Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, and Pat Dobson). A close second would be Bobby Cox, with his superb pitching staff of Maddux, Tom Glavine and Jon Smoltz...the two managers also had one other thing in common;They both got ejected more times than any other skippers...talk about defensive...
Ryne Sandberg would like a word with you...
ReplyDelete