Day Two: Braves/Blue Jays

This will certainly be one of the hardest lists for me to come up with because of my emotional attachment to the Braves organization. But, nothing worthwhile comes easy so here it goes…

(http://bleacherreport.com/articles/440815-the-top-10-atlanta-braves-of-all-time)

Braves

Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Sphan, Greg Maddux

Hank Aaron - Hank Aaron is, without a doubt, the greatest Brave of all time and some say he is the greatest player to put on a baseball uniform. He is No. 1 on the Braves all-time list in home runs with 755, RBI with 2,202, at-bats with 11,628, games with 3,076, and total bases with 6,591. He was the National League MVP in 1957 and was an incredible 24-time All Star. Aaron was a pioneer for the game of baseball.

Eddie Mathews - Matthews is one of the greatest third baseman in Major League history. He is the only player to play for the Braves' organization while they were in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta. He is second in Braves' history with 493 home runs and is second in RBI with 1,388.

Matthews is a nine-time All Star and hit 30 or more home runs 10 times in a season.

Warren Sphan - Warren Sphan is the greatest pitcher in the history of the Atlanta Braves' organization. He ranks first in a number of categories, which include: innings pitched with 5,046, wins with 356, shutouts with 63, and games started with 635.

Greg Maddux - Greg Maddux is the greatest defensive pitcher in MLB history, his 18 Gold Glove Awards undoubtedly prove that. Maddux has won 194 of his 355 career wins with the Atlanta Braves. He has 1,828 strikeouts rank him fifth in Braves' history and his 2.63 era is also good for fifth. Maddux is known as the top pitcher on the incredible Braves' rotation of the 1990s that featured Glavine and Smoltz.

This was especially hard because of my emotional investment in this organization. I grew up watching TBS back when they showed every Braves game. It pains me to leave Tom Glavine off of this list because I think he was the left-handed pitcher I would have started an organization with in the 90’s if I had a choice. But he just can’t be ranked ahead of Sphan or Maddux. Maddux’s overall body of work makes him one of the greatest pitchers of all time and since the prime of his career was with the Braves I have him on this list. Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, and Phil Niekro are other Braves that deserve consideration but who do you take off? And finally, maybe the one Brave above them all that evokes such fond memories, Dale Murphy. I can remember watching games with my grandfather and hearing him say as The Murph walked to the plate, “He ain’t gonna get a hit. He’s been swinging at pitches all over the place.” Only to have Murph drive one over the right-centerfield fence which prompted, “I KNEW HE COULD DO IT!” from Da. Dale Murphy and his back-to-back MVP seasons and face of the organization in the 80’s, qualifies him for the Hall of Fame in my opinion, but just not top four in Braves history. Sorry Murph.

Blue Jays

Roberto Alomar, Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay, George Bell

(http://sports.yahoo.com/news/time-toronto-blue-jays-team-baseball-best-161700273--mlb.html)

The problem with ranking the greatest Blue Jays is so few great players were with them for long stretches of time. Guys like Paul Molitor and Roger Clemens played for the Blue Jays, but in my opinion deserve to be on other lists. So the ones I came up with were ones who stand out in my mind as Blue Jays first.

Roberto Alomar - He was with the Blue Jays for both their World Series wins. During the 1993 Series, he batted .480 and is considered to be one of the best second basemen to ever play the game. Besides racking up an impressive 10 Gold Gloves, he also was a 12-time All-Star selection.

Carlos Delgado - Delgado is the all-time leader in home runs for the Blue Jays, belting out 336. There were few hitters between 1996-2004 that were feared more than Delgado. He would average 36 home runs and 114 RBIs during those 11 seasons.

Roy Halladay - Halladay's breakout season was 2002 when he had a record of 19-7, with a 2.93 ERA and 168 strikeouts. David Wells is the only Blue Jays pitcher to have more wins with 20. He has made eight All-Star game appearances and won the Cy Young Award twice. On May 29, 2010, he had a perfect game against the Florida Marlins. He has exceptional control with his two-seam sinking fastball and a four-seam fastball that hovers around 90 mph. He is consistently leading the league in complete games and innings pitched.

George Bell - Bell would give the Blue Jays 12 seasons after being discovered in the Dominican Republic by Epy Guerrero. He was the American League MVP in 1987 and was an All-Star selection three times. During his time with the Blue Jays, he would hit .286, with his best season coming in 1987 when he hit 47 homers.

I went with George Bell over Joe Carter because I think he had the better career with the Blue Jays even though Carter had maybe the greatest moment for the Blue Jays when he hit a walk-off homer against Mitch Williams of the Phillies in the World Series to give them the series. I also was very close to including Jimmy Key. He is close to deserving and is also a former Clemson Tiger, but decided not top 4 Blue Jay.