A little while ago, I was encouraged to put together my "All-Time" baseball lineup. Now, personally I think the game is more difficult to compete in now than ever before. While the old-timers love to gripe about players in the Steroid Era, I don't think those guys had to play with such a uniformly strong level of competition under such high pressure. But that's just my gut feeling. I don't really have the evidence to back that up. I also think that baseball fans have a tendency to romanticize the players of baseball's so-called "Golden Era", making any rational debate even tougher.
With the exception of Gehrig, I've purposely ignored anyone before the 50's. In my opinion, the game is just too different. I don't feel like I can trot Cy Young out as my starting pitcher just because of 511 wins. Those wins don't compare at all to wins in the 60's, 70's, 80's or 90's.
I'm also not penalizing anyone for being part of the Steroid Era or for even having used PEDs. There are, no doubt, some effects of these substances on the game, but I don't see the evidence being as conclusive as some would have you believe. Did Barry Bonds cheat? Yeah, I'm pretty sure he did. He was a helluva ball-player before he started and he still would have put together a Hall of Fame career without them. Steroids (a rather inaccurate term for PEDs) don't make you see the ball any better or improve your hand/eye coordination. At best they allow athletes to recover faster from working out. They don't build muscle, they amplify the body's own healing process in order to work out more. You can call steroid users cheaters, but I wouldn't call them lazy.
So this is my list. If you have a different one, I'd love to hear about it. So, without further ado, here's my list.
Catcher: Roy Campanella
Great all-around athlete, hit the crap out of the ball, threw runners out and worked well with pitchers. He was probably one of the most complete catchers to play in the majors.
First Base: Lou Gehrig
OK, I cheated a little bit here and dipped back in time further than I said I would go. But c'mon—it's Lou Gehrig.
Second Base: Jackie Robinson
They retired the number 42 for lots of reasons—those are the same reasons he's my starting second baseman.
Third Base: George Brett
Brett is the last guy to come close to hitting .400. He ended the 1980 season with a .390 average. What's even more impressive is that he had more home runs than strikeouts that year. He's got the longevity, the ring and the career to put him on my list.
Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez
Does A-Rod's admission to using PEDs damage is Hall of Fame credentials? Maybe, but as I contended earlier, I'm not convinced that they can carry a player to greatness. We love to dump on A-Rod's failures, but it's really only because he's been spectacularly successful in his career. Drugs or not, he's my starting shortstop. This, coming from a jilted M's fan too!
Left Field: Ted Williams
The Splendid Splinter. The greatest hitter of all time. Period.
Center Field: Willie Mays
Hard to find a better combination of offensive and defensive skills.
Right Field: Hank Aaron
How could I possibly leave Hank Aaron off the list?
Designated Hitter: Edgar Martinez
Edgar Martinez presents a serious conundrum to Hall of Fame voters. He's really the first "pure" designated hitter that voters will have to face. His career are numbers are impressive for the time he played, but he doesn't have some of the magic totals people like to see. That said, he's my vote for DH. Plus, I named my dog after him.
Starting Pitcher: Sandy Koufax
There's probably no roster spot that would engender more differences of opinion than starting pitcher. There are so many great ones to choose from. Koufax didn't have the career longevity like Satchel Paige or Tom Seaver, but at the height of his powers he was simply jaw-dropping amazing. His years from 1963 through 1966 are some of the sickest consecutive years a pitcher ever put together.
Relief Pitcher: Mariano Rivera
While there may be controversy over starters, the choice for reliever is pretty straight-forward. Seriously, is there any disagreement here?
Manager: Earl Weaver
He managed Hall of Fame players, he won a couple of rings, he wrote the seminal book on baseball strategy and he had a video game named after him. Yup, that fits my criteria.