ATBATT'S All-Time All Stars

Hey everybody,

Now that good ol' Potch helped me to finish collecting the 76 Topps subset "The Sporting News All-Time All-Stars", I've been inspired to name my blog's set of All-Timers.

ATBATT's All-Stars will differ from the Sporting News' in a few substantial ways.  First and foremost, S.N. chose their players in 1975 (for inclusion in the 76 release), and we now have more than 35 additional years of great players to choose from for the roster.  

Just like The Sporting News, I will be selecting one player to represent each of the infield and outfield positions, one backstop and two pitchers; one right handed and one southpaw. Unlike S.N., I'm also going to include an All-Time manager.  Furthermore, since we're dealing with today's game, I'm also going to add two new players - a middle reliever and a closer.

Sorry, American Leaguers, I'm not including a D.H..  Primarily because the old-school, purist National Leaguer in me still views the DH as a baseball abomination.  Pitchers should have to face the high heat, and batters should earn their ups, dag nabbit!

Where S.N. probably had a team of analysts studying stats from every available baseball almanac, I'm choosing my All-Stars less on pure stats analysis and more on their stat-us in baseball lore and legend.  The final criteria will be the player's status in the cardboard collecting universe in general, and my collection in particular. 



                 ALL TRADE BAIT ALL THE TIME'S
               ALL-TIME ALL-STARS...

First up will be Catcher.  Presenting the best catcher to play the game, and Cardboard Hero,

Starting off with a card paying homage to the Sporting News.  Johnny B. was ROY in 68 - the first catcher to ever win the honor.  Bench also pioneered the one-handed catching technique.

He anchored the Big Red Machine, which constantly battled the Dodgers for the N.L. West title.

My favorite Johnny Bench card.

10 Gold Gloves and 14-time all-star.

Kicking ass in the Fall Classic earns triple points in my book any day.  Bench was the WS MVP.

389 career home runs.

The first of ATBATT's All-Stars - Bad ass Johnny Bench.

THANKS for reading!

Next post: Around the horn.