John's Big League Baseball Blog: My All-Time Baseball Lineup (1967-present)

Sunday, May 28, 2017

My All-Time Baseball Lineup (1967-present)

The past few days on social media I've noticed people asking for our All-Time Baseball Players from each position...in our lifetime.

My lifetime is since 1960, but I use 1967 as my baseball lifetime since that's when I attended my first baseball game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

The lists started among a group of fellow Tigers fans, and today I saw it expanded to the big leagues on Facebook.

So, since I've done the Tigers poll, I thought, why not write about non- Tigers players, so, here it is.

My Favorite Big League Baseball Players, 1967-present (Non Detroit Tigers)

C... Yadier Molina, St. Louis Cardinals

My favorite position in baseball.

I've been watching a lot of baseball games in my 50 + years, and none, not Johnny Bench, Thurman Munson, Carlton Fisk, Bob Boone, or Pudge Rodriguez, were better behind the plate than Yadier Molina.

Not to say that Yadi's better than Bench, but he's just as good behind the dish that Bench was, in my opinion, and I've always appreciated the way Molina caught and played the game.

1B... Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers/San Diego Padres

My favorite All-Time baseball infield was the 1970s Dodgers.

Garvey, Ron Cey, Bill Russell, and Davey Lopes.

To me, the entire '70s Dodgrs infield should be in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

2B... Ryne Sandberg, Chicago Cubs

The best 2nd Baseman in the National League in the 1980s...it was a baseball fans joy to watch a Cubs game on WGN with Harry Caray calling day games at Wrigley Field.

3B... Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles

Not only is Brooks Robinson my favorite 3rd Baseman, he's also the greatest 2nd Baseman in my lifetime, possibly of All-Time.

I have written many times about watching the 1970 World Series from a hospital bed as a 10 year old, watching every single pitch of every game, rooting for the A.L. Orioles because a beautiful nurse told me I should.

SS... Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

In my 51 years watching and following baseball no player played the game with more grace and dignity than The Kalamazoo Kid.

Derek Jeter set the Gold standard for all ballplayers to come.

OF... Dale Murphy, Atlanta Braves

Dale Murphy belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame...nobody was a better ballplayer in the N.L. in the 1980s than Murphy was...including winning Back to Back N.L. MVP Awards in 1982 and 1983.

OF... Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle Mariners

Simply the sweetest swing I've ever seen.

No ballplayer smiled more or had more fun playing The National Pastime that Junior.

OF... Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox/California Angels

As a 15 year old Tigers fan I watched on TV one night as Lynn single handily beat Detroit all by himself, driving in 10 fellow BoSox players...as a Rookie!

Lynn may have been the best defensive center fielder I ever saw...he never gave up on a ball and crashed many, many times into outfield walls chasing down would be doubles and triples.

That daredevil play made him one of my favorite all around ballplayers ever.

DH... Edgar Martinez, Seattle Mariners

Edgar Martinez was simply the best DH that I ever saw hit a baseball...in 2018 he shoud become the first DH elected into the HOF.

RHSP... Greg Maddux, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves

Greg Maddux looked like he was a friend of yours sitting in the desk next to you in math class, and not a big league pitcher that won 4 consecutive Cy Young Awards.

LHSP... Jim Abbott, California Angels/New York Yankees

Jim Abbott... a kid from Flint, Michigan, was born without a right hand, yet he pitched baseball at every level, and did it well, in High School, at The University of Michigan, for Team USA in the 1988 Olympics...winning a GOLD Medal, and in the big leagues, throwing a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993.

Closer... Tug McGraw, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies

"Ya Gotta Believe." and that's what Tug McGraw did.

No player believed in his teammates more that Tug, a kid who played Double-A Baseball in Jacksonville, Florida for the Suns, and was the closer for the 1980 World Series Champion Phillies.

Oh, and he was Tim McGraw's Dad...that's also pretty cool!

Manager... Tommy Lasorda, Los Angeles Dodgers

I love Tommy Lasorda, and remember him coaching 3rd Base for the Dodgers before becoming the Manager...I can't say that I ever saw any manager with more passion for baseball than Lasorda... " Bleed Dodger Blue" was how he lived every day in baseball.

I had to separate the two teams, Tigers and non-Tigers players, because, obviously, I'd have half the team simply of former Tigers ballplayers, guys like Freehan, Cabrera, Trammell, and Sweet Lou Whitaker.

I also added a Manager to my list, although I've seen nobody else use the team's skipper.

My Favorite Detroit Tigers Players, 1967-present