ATBATT'S All-Time All-Stars 1st Base

Hey everybody,

In my previous post I began the line-up of my All-Time All-Stars.  Today's post presents my choice for the best first baseman to play the game. 

I gotta tell ya, it was a tough decision.  Twins fans, I gave close consideration to Harmon Killebrew - and he almost won just because his name has "brew" in it - but I hadda go with Gehrig for a few extra reasons...

 First and foremost, he's "The Iron Horse".  Gehrig held what was once considered to be an unbreakable record of playing in 2,130 straight games.  You would be hard pressed to find somebody else as dependable as rock-solid Lou.  Actually, the only other guy in MLB history is Cal Ripken Jr., and sorry Cal, but I've already selected someone else at shortstop.

Gehrig is number one in baseball history with 23 grand slams.  Yes, A-PED is tied with him, but I'm personally refusing to acknowledge his phony drug enhanced numbers.  Who's the next closest to Lou? That would be Manny Ramirez with 21.  Did somebody just say 'drug enhanced numbers'?

Here's an intangible for you: Gehrig hit BEHIND Ruth.  One thing that helped the Babe get at least a few of his big bombs was the fact that pitchers noticed Gehrig over there on deck, and they couldn't simply pitch around the Bambino.  Now THAT'S respect. 

He averaged 139 runs and 148 RBI's for 13 friggin' seasons!

His teams won the Fall Classic six times.  Not too shabby.

86 Sportsflics Decade Greats Lou Gehrig

THANKS for reading everybody!

Next post: I made an impulse buy of a few packs at wallyworld today. Maybe I'll have some new trade bait for y'all! 

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.