Sunday, May 30, 2021

A to Z On the Diamond

 A: Hank Aaron -  MLB's all-time home run king*.  












B:  Ernie Banks -  Let's play two.












C:  Steve Carlton - Phillies legend.












D:  Andre Dawson -  Eight Gold Gloves, four Silver Sluggers, and one of the more memorable SI covers of the era. 




E:  Dennis Eckersley -  Closed for Oakland when they were my #2 team.












F:  Mark Fidrych -  The Bird flew high, but the landing was rough.












G:  Tony Gwynn -  San Diego State basketball's all-time assists leader.












H:  Trevor Hoffman -  Cue AC/DC. 












I:  Monte Irvin -  Negro League star and World War II veteran.
















J:  Derek Jeter -  Bo Jackson didn't last long enough.  












K:  Al Kaline -  I love the smell of Gold Gloves in the morning.












L:  Kenny Lofton -  622 steals and four Gold Gloves.  












M:  Tug McGraw -  Phillies legend.  Got his autograph. 












N:  Phil Niekro -  Hall of Famer who pitched 24 seasons in the bigs. 












O:  Amos Otis -  341 steals and three Gold Gloves.  












P:  Chris Pritchett -  Went to the same h.s. though he had graduated by the time I started.  Saw him contribute to a playoff win by sending the game into OT with a half-court buzzer beater.      












Q:  Dan Quisenberry -  Good pitcher / weak letter.












R:  Jackie Robinson -  The man.  












S:  Mike Schmidt -  The legendest Phillies legend of them all. 












T:  Jim Thorpe -  American bad ass.












U:  Chase Utley -  Phillies legend.












V:  Justin Verlander -  Two Cy Young Awards and three no-hitters.












W:  Devon White -  346 steals and seven Gold Gloves. Plus, we share a birthday.












X:  Joe Jackson -  As Kevin pointed out, there has not been a major leaguer with a surname starting with X.  So I'm going with an extremely talented and controversial illiterate player.  












Y:  Robin Yount -  MVP as a shortstop.  MVP as a center fielder.












Z:  Don Zimmer - 65 years in professional baseball.   









Anyway, I have to go remove Fuji from my will for picking Suzuki over Schmidt.  

Credit to Kevin for getting this topic started.  

The Diamond King


8 comments:

  1. Great list, 8 the same as me. And I didn't really expect to learn about any new players doing these lists, but nice personal tie in with Chris Pritchett.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like Verlander, too. ... Joe Jackson will be on my list, but at the customary letter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it hadn't been for his wife, I might have picked Vizquel. But I probably have enough Gold Glove guys.

      Jackson could hit. Sucks that he got caught up in the Black Sox scandal.

      Delete
  3. I already feel bad about choosing Suzuki over Suzuki. That being said... the Verlander photo cheered me up.

    As for Schmidt... he's not even in my Top 5 S's. Stieb, Stewart, and The Wizard would be ahead of him.

    ReplyDelete