Big Hurt
Charlie Hustle
Penguin
Blade
Splendid Splinter
Say Hey Kid
Nails
Toy Cannon
Cobra
Mr. October
Sultan of Swat
Louisiana Lightning
Blue Moon
El Presidente
Sweet Music
Big Unit
Spaceman
Mad Hungarian
Wild Thing
- Not a definitive list, obviously.
- Williams had the nickname before Major League came out.
- Photos from TCDB.
- I have all these cards, with two exceptions. Feel free to guess the two for bragging rights.
Starting Line-Up
1. Rickey Henderson - R - DH
2. Tony Gwynn - L - RF
3. Barry Bonds - L - LF
4. Mike Schmidt - R - 3B
5. Jeff Bagwell - R - 1B
6. Joe Morgan - L - 2B
7. Mike Piazza - R - C
8. Barry Larkin - R - SS
9. Kenny Lofton - L - CF
Starting Rotation
1. Steve Carlton - L
2. Tom Glavine - L
3. Curt Schilling - R
4. Johan Santana - L
5. Jake Peavy - R
Bullpen
Trevor Hoffman - R - Closer
Goose Gossage - R - Righty Set-Up
Dave Righetti - L - Lefty Set-Up
Francisco Rodriguez - R - Bridge
Dennis Eckersley - R - Long Relief
Bench
Ted Simmons - S - C
Pete Rose - S - U
Chase Utley - L - 2B
Scott Rolen - R - 3B
Jimmy Rollins - S - SS
Robin Yount - R - CF / SS
Ichiro - L - RF
- Two cards means I saw the player play for both teams.
- My memory for specific games sucks, so it's possible I omitted a deserving player. But I know I didn't see Rivera when I saw the Yankees at Petco and I'm about 90% sure Jeter was injured. So I don't know who's making this team other than a starting pitcher.
- I don't call for blog bat-arounds, because readers can use my ideas whenever they want as long as they're not monetized. But this would be a good one, I think. At least for the starting line-up, if not the whole team. Ha.
- Card images from TCDB, per usual, and all are cards in my collection.
Ranking the best players for throw-back jerseys:
Phillies
1. Mike Schmidt
2. Steve Carlton
3. Garry Maddox
4. Chase Utley
5. Lenny Dykstra
Lesser MLB Teams
1. Willie Mays (Giants)
2. Roberto Clemente
3. Ernie Banks
4. Tony Gwynn
5. Mark Fidrych
NBA
1. Julius Erving (76ers)
2. Charles Barkley (76ers)
3. Gary Payton (Sonics)
4. Dennis Rodman (Pistons)
5. Reggie Miller
Eagles
1. Ron Jaworski
2. Harold Carmichael
3. Brian Dawkins
4. Vince Papale
5. Mike Quick
Lesser NFL Teams
1. John Elway
2. Walter Payton
3. Kellen Winslow
4. John Unitas (Colts)
5. Pat Tillman
Hockey
1. Bobby Clarke
2. Ron Hextall (Flyers)
3. Bobby Orr (Bruins)
4. Mario Lemieux
5. Ken Dryden
Wrigley Field - Chicago, Illinois
Madison Square Garden - New York, New York
- Julio Rodriguez, Bobby Witt Jr., and Jose Ramirez all had cases for the third spot. Julio wasn't the most valuable player on his own team, so I bumped him. Witt vs Ramirez was a tough one, but I went with the better WAR over the guy who made the playoffs.
A.L. Cy Young Award
- This was the opposite of the A.L. MVP Award. Skubal edged out Crochet by a nose. But I thought Brown was the obvious choice for third.
N.L. MVP
- This season was a mess in the N.L. A pitcher finished with the highest WAR. A guy who mostly played DH was second. Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth didn't make the playoffs.
- I went with Ohtani over the Phillies legend. Still not a fan of voting for a pitcher to be MVP. DH isn't much better, but Ohtani also pitched 47 innings with a 2.87 ERA.
- The Diamondbacks, Braves, and Pirates finished with losing records, so that eliminated Geraldo Perdomo, Matt Olson, and Paul Skenes. Hoerner and PCA kind of cancelled each other out. Juan Soto had a better OPS while Tatis was better defensively. It shook out to Soto having a slightly higher WAR but Tatis made the playoffs while the former was part of an epic collapse.
N.L. Cy Young Award
- Skenes in ERA. Sanchez in QS, W-L, Innings, WAR, and meaningful games. I'll take heat because I'm a Phillies fan, but it is what it is.
- Andrew Abbott and Freddy Peralta failed to meet the QS standard, so Pivetta takes third.
