Dodgers/Indians
Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snyder, Steve Garvey
Sandy Koufax - While there is an endless debate about who
“the greatest” pitcher of all-time was, Sandy Koufax has to be in the
conversation. From 1962-66 he threw four no-hitters—including a perfect
game—won five consecutive ERA titles, three Cy Young awards and averaged 22
wins and nearly 300 strikeouts per season. As great as he was in the regular season, Koufax was better
in the World Series. He made seven starts (56 innings) in the Fall Classic and
allowed just six earned runs while striking out 61 batters.
Jackie Robinson – When you are talking about the 4 greatest
players of all time for an organization I think you have to take into account
overall impact. Although there may be other second basemen that have better
overall numbers, Robinson’s impact on baseball has to be considered. That is
why he gets on this list for me.
Duke Snyder - Stats: 1,923 games, 389 HR, 1,271 RBI
Achievements: Seven-time All Star
“The Duke of Flatbush” routinely lost out on the MVP to
teammate Roy Campanella, but Snider was the greatest power hitter the Dodgers
ever had. His career totals for homers and RBI still stands as the club record,
as does his mark of five straight seasons with 40-or-more home runs.
And even though his teammates, Gil Hodges, Carl Furillo and
Pee Wee Reese, were great clutch hitters, there was no one Dodger fans would
rather see at the plate with the game on the line than Snider. Twice he hit
four home runs in a single World Series—11 in all, the most in the history of
the National League—and has more World Series RBIs than any player who didn’t
wear the pinstripes.
Steve Garvey – Garvey is one of only two players to have
started an All-Star Game as a write-in vote, doing so in 1974. That year he won
the NL MVP award, and had the first of six 200-hit seasons. Only 15 players in
all of Major League Baseball history have had six or more 200 hit seasons (as
of the end of 2010). Garvey set a National League record with 1207
consecutive games played, from September 3, 1975, to July 29, 1983. The streak
ended when he broke his thumb in a collision at home plate against
the Atlanta Braves. It is the fourth-longest such streak in Major League
Baseball history. In the 1978 National League Championship Series, Garvey
hit four home runs, and added a triple for five extra base hits, both marks
tying Bob Robertson's 1971 NLCS record; Jeffrey Leonard would
tie the NLCS home run record in the 1987 NLCS. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Garvey)
Left off: Orel Hershiser, Don Sutton, Don Drysdale, Pee Wee
Reece
Indians
Bob Feller, Nap Lajoie, Omar Vizquel, Jim Thome
Bob Feller – “Baseball Hall of Fame member Ted
Williams called Feller "the fastest and best pitcher I ever saw during
my career." Hall of Famer Stan Musial believed he was
"probably the greatest pitcher of our era." He was inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 on his first ballot appearance; at the time
only three players had a higher percentage of ballot votes.” Enough said for me
to put him at number one. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=475452)
Nap Lajoie - Lajoie led the AL in batting average five times
in his career and four times recorded the most number of hits. During several
of those years with the Naps he and Ty Cobb dominated AL hitting
categories and traded batting titles with each other, most poignantly coming
in 1910 when the league's batting champion was not decided until well
after the last game of the season and after an investigation by American League
President Ban Johnson. Lajoie in 1914 joined Cap Anson and Honus
Wagner as the only major league players to record 3,000 career hits. He led
the NL or AL in putouts five times in his career and assists three
times. He has been called "the best second baseman in the history of
baseball" and "the most outstanding player to wear a Cleveland
uniform." The team name was the “Naps” before it was the Indians. How can
he not be on the list? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=645389)
Omar Vizquel - Vizquel is considered one of baseball's
all-time best fielding shortstops, winning nine consecutive Gold
Gloves (1993–2001) and two more in 2005 and 2006. He tied Cal Ripken,
Jr.'s American League record, since surpassed, for most consecutive games
at shortstop without an error (95, between September 26, 1999 and July 21,
2000). Currently, his .985 career fielding percentage is the highest
of all-time for a shortstop in Major League history. Going with defense on this
pick. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=707114)
Jim Thome - In 1996 he won the Silver Slugger
Award and in 2006 the Comeback Player of the Year Award. His
additional accolades include the Roberto Clemente Award (2002), Babe
Ruth Home Run Award (2003), and Lou Gehrig Memorial
Award (2004). In 2011, he became the eighth MLB player to hit 600
home runs. He is currently seventh all-time for most career home runs (HR) with
and 24th all-time for runs batted in (RBIs) with 1,699. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=726320)
No comments:
Post a Comment