All-time Baseball Team

With the 2008 All-Star teams announcements made today, I started to think about which players might be on an all-star team of my creation - kind of like a spin on the What If? sports website. So, below are my picks for an all-star team to field - personal favorites, best in the game, and so on. To make it a level playing field, though, I decided to limit myself in two ways: first, I'd limit the team to players whose rookie season was on or after my birth year of 1972. Second, since we're in the throes of the "steroid" era of baseball, I've also eliminated those players who have tested positive for steroid use in their career (such as Rafael Palmerio, who would have had a shot at first base). For those who have had accusations, and pretty strong ones, sent their way, I've excluded their possible steroid using years, and the stats compiled during those years (roughly, from the late 1990s to 2007). It's going to be impossible long-term for anyone to determine who was or wasn't using during that time, and for how long, unless the players involved come clean. So, to play it safe, I'll exclude some of those players' years in my discussion to follow.

Catcher: Ivan Rodriguez, Texas Rangers (also played with the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers). I am passing up two Hall of Fame catchers here - both Carlton Fisk and Gary Carter were rookies after I was born, but I still had to go with Pudge here. Granted, he doesn't have Fisk's power stats, but Rodriquez is a former MVP, multiple time all-star, and will likely finish his career around 2,500 hits and 250 home runs. But what sells Pudge to me is his combination of offense and defense - not only is he one of the best offensive catchers to play the game, he's argubly the best defensive catcher in the past thirty years. That, and teams like the Marlins and Tigers acquired Pudge to help develop a young pitching staff - seeing how he's caught for two World Series teams (he caught for the first Marlins World Series team, and caught for the Tigers team that made the Series two years ago), he's been successful at it. Honorable Mention: Gary Carter, Montreal Expos/New York Mets, Carlton Fisk, Boston Red Soxs/Chicago White Soxs, Mike Piazza, New York Mets.

First Base: Eddie Murray, Baltimore Orioles. Why Eddie Murray? One main reason: he's one of only a handful (a total of three, I think: Mays and Aaron may be the other two) players with 3,000 career hits and 500 career home runs. Not too bad for career numbers there. He was overshadowed on his own team by Cal Ripken, Jr., but Eddie Murray is one of the best hitters to play the game. Honorable Mention: Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers, Keith Hernandez, St. Louis Cardinals/New York Mets, Frank Thomas, Chicago White Soxs/Oakland A's/Toronto Blue Jays, Jim Thome, Cleveland Indians/Philadelphia Phillies/Chicago White Soxs.

Second Base: Craig Biggio, Houston Astros. Biggio's one of those players who is so steady you could forget about him (as I did). Biggio is a ball player in every sense of the word - solid offense and defense, good clubhouse guy. While some second baseman of this era had more flash and more power (Sandberg and Alomar, especially), Biggio has something they don't: 3,000 career hits. Granted, he also spent time in the outfield and came up to the bigs as a catcher, but he's most known as a second baseman, and one of the better ones I've seen. Honorable Mention: Roberto Alomar, San Diego Padres/Toronto Blue Jays, Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs, Lou Whitaker, Detroit Tigers, Frank White, Kansas City Royals.

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (also played for Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers). This one could be very debatable: A-Rod has played third base for close to five years now, and how could I pass up a guy like Cal Ripken? Well, in A-Rod's defense, I think he's already established himself as one of the best to ever play the game, and I think once he's done, he'll be in the top three or four players who people will point to as the best ever (Ruth, Williams, Aaron territory). That, and keep one thing in mind with the Iron man: he played his last five or six years at third. A-Rod's career will most likely be split between the two spots, but I still would list him as the best shortstop I ever saw. Honorable Mention: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees, Cal Ripken, Jr., Baltimore Orioles, Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals, Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers.

Third Base: Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies. This is the great debate amongst baseball fans my age, those who grew up in the 1980s: Schmidt or Brett - who's better? They were pretty equal in the 1980s - Schmidt's MVP awards were balanced by Brett's batting titles, Brett's 3,000 hits were matched by Schmidt's 500 home runs. That makes them pretty much a wash, so to decide between the two, I look at another category: defensive. While Brett was an average third baseman, Schmidt excelled defensively, winning a handful of Gold Gloves for that position. That, in my opinion, gives Schmidt the nod over Brett. Honorable Mention: Wade Boggs, Boston Red Soxs, George Brett, Kansas City Royals, Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves.

Outfield: Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle Mariners (also played for Cincinnati Reds), Tony Gwynn (San Diego Padres), Rickey Henderson, Oakland A's (also played for New York Yankees and at leats four more teams). Not a bad group here: Griffey now has 600+ career home runs, was great defensively, and is considered to be one of the most natural and gifted ball players ever. Gwynn, in addition to Brett, is probably one of the best pure hitters of my generation, and was also a great defensive outfielder. Henderson was a rare player - hit for average, hit for power, and was incredibly fast. That, and you have to love a guy that refers to himself in the third person. I must admit, though, that I feel bad leaving Barry Bonds off this list - he's one of the most naturally talented players ever, but the whole steroid issue has me a bit concerned; I had to lop off some of his most productive years, which gave the nod to these three. Honorable Mention: Barry Bonds, Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants, Andre Dawson, Montreal Expos/Chicago Cubs, Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves/Philadelphia Phillies, Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins, Manny Ramirez, Cleveland Indians/Boston Red Soxs, Jim Rice, Boston Red Soxs, Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners, Willie Wilson, Kansas City Royals, Dave Winfield, San Diego Padres/New York Yankees/Toronto Blue Jays/Minnesota Twins, Robin Yount, Milwaukee Brewers.

Designated Hitter: Paul Molitor, Milwaukee Brewers (also played for Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins). Since I'm an AL guy, had to go with the DH, Molitor's argubaly the best DH ever - hit for great average throughout his career, and a Hall of Famer. That, and he's a Saint Paul guy. Honorable Mention: Edgar Martinez, Seattle Mariners.

Starting Pitcher: Greg Maddux, Atlanta Braves (also played for Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres). I would have loved to put Roger Clemens here - but, like Bonds, I had to exclude him because of strong steroid allegations. But, Maddux is an equally good choice. Maddux is probably one of the smartest pitchers to ever play the game - 350 career wins and 3,000 + career strikeouts with only marginal stuff. He's got the mantra of a real estate agent - location, location, location. Hands out, the craftiest pitcher since Steve Carlton. Honorable Mention: Roger Clemens, Boston Red Soxs, Tom Glavine, Atlanta Braves/New York Mets, Randy Johnson, Montreal Expos/Seattle Mariners/Arizona Diamondbacks/New York Yankees, Pedro Martinez, Montreal Expos/Boston Red Soxs/New York Mets, Mike Mussina, Baltimore Orioles/New York Yankees, Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins/New York Mets, Curt Schilling, Baltimore Orioles/Philadelphia Phillies/Arizona Diamondbacks/Boston Red Soxs.

Closer: Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees. I was thinking about Eck here as well, but I think Rivera is the most dominant closer ever. Think about it - that guy pretty much has been using the same pitch for well over a decade - the cutter - and he still gets a ton of saves. That, and several of his career saves have been more than just one inning saves - several have been 1 1/2 to 2 innings. The guy is pretty much indestructable - except in the postseason. Honorable Mention: Dennis Eckersely, Oakland A's/Cleveland Indians (among others), Rich "Goose" Gossage, New York Yankees/San Diego Padres, Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres, Lee Smith, Chicago Cubs, among others, Bruce Sutter, St. Louis Cardinals/Chicago Cubs.