danny's lifetime all-star team: installment #1- the infield

Okay, I haven't posted anything about sports in a while, and my fans have been clamoring for me to catch up. And by "fans" I mean "no one." Here's the deal, what follows is three installments of my baseball all-star team of players that played within my memory. In other words, the best players of the past 20 years or so at each position. It's a bit subjective, and I play with the boundaries a bit, but that's my prerogative, right? I invite discussion, although I'm sure that you will find that my picks are impeccable.

Just a note, this self-imposed task is possibly more difficult than any other era simply because of the steroids controversy. I mean, it isn't fair to compare Sammy Sosa to Jim Rice when Sosa cheated and Rice was "all natural" (another case for him to be in the Hall of Fame, but don't get me started). Even beyond the steroid use, the game has been changed in a way to favor the hitters over the pichers: a smaller strike zone (the most underrated reason for the rise in homeruns over other eras) and a more tightly-wound ball (allegedly) have also changed numbers. But, I think I'm up to the task. And since I'm setting the rules, please note that I am factoring in steroid use. Some guys we know took (or are taking) steroids, others are suspected, etc. I factor all that in. All statistics do not include this season. Enjoy.

1st base: Here's a position that is hurt by the steroid controversy. Mark McGwire is off my list, as is Rafael Palmeiro (who wasn't on it anyway). There have been a number of good 1st baseman (Mo Vaughn and Cecil Fielder), but few great. Frank Thomas is one of my favorites, a huge man sans steroids and one of the best all around offensive players of his generation (many forget how great he was). The problem is that he couldn't field and threw like a girl. So I can't choose him. Finally, I am going with Albert Pujols. What's that you say? He's only played 5 full seasons? He's only played 1st since 2004? Who cares? This is my list, so get over it! In his first 5 seasons he's batting .332, hit 201 homeruns (40.2 average) with 621 RBI (104.2 average). That is unbelievable! He was the Rookie of the Year (ROY) in '01, MVP in '05 and batting leader in '03. He's already a 3-time Silver Slugger winner (award given to the best hitter at each position) and a 4-time All Star. And though I'm not including this year, I'll just mention that he has already hit 14 HR in April, which is a record. He's only getting better.

2nd base: There aren't a lot of great options here, I must admit. In fact, I wanted to get sentimental and mention Marty Barrett (2nd baseman for the Red Sox in the '80's), but I won't. Instead, I think this honor clearly goes to Roberto Alomar. He won the Gold Glove in 91-96 and 98-01. He won 4 Silver Sluggers, he's a career .300 hitter and a 12-time All Star. I'll remember him most as one-half of what may have been the greatest fielding SS-2B combo ever, with Omar Vizquel. I think God gave us highlight reels just to watch these two guys.

SS: This has been the greatest era of shortstops ever. In the past, great shortstops came around every so often (Honus Wagner, Luke Appling, Joe Cronin, Ernie Banks), and that's if we define "great" broadly. However, in my lifetime I can name a few. Ozzie Smith is generally regarded as the greatest fielding shortstop ever, and Omar Vizquel is not far behind. In fact, Vizquel would have been more highly regarded if it weren't for the fact that he played at the same time as the Big Three. Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have revolutionized the position. If I would have made this list back around 2000, Nomar would have been my guy for this position. He was the best hitter in baseball in the late '90s. Jeter was never the best, but he is a sure Hall of Famer. And although I think he's been overrated in some areas of his game (he's no where near a Gold Glove caliber shortstop, what a joke), you have to admire his ability to perform in the clutch and make plays when needed. We Red Sox fans know that all too well.

But I have to go with Alex Rodriguez with this one. I realize that he is now playing 3rd base, in fact Jeter is the shortstop on the Yankees, not A-Rod. But, that's more out of respect for Jeter (the captain of the Yankees), I have no doubt in my mind that A-Rod is a better shortstop. Anyway, it pains me to put Rodriguez here. I don't like him. He wears lipstick, can't hit in the clutch and girl-slapped Bronson Arroyo (which isn't so much loathesome as it is funny). At any rate, here's his credentials. He's a career .307 hitter with 429 HR (in just 12 seasons). He's won 2 Gold Gloves, 4 HR titles, 1 batting title, 8 Silver Sluggers, 9 All Star games and won the MVP in '05. And he's still going. But, both teams he's left (Seattle and Texas) got better the year after he left, and of course let's not forget he wears lipstick.

3rd base: Like shortstop, I think more great 3rd basemen have played in the last 3 decades than in all of baseball history (especially now that Alex Rodriguez has moved there). There's Wade Boggs, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005. He's a career .328 hitter, with 3010 hits, 2 Gold Gloves, 8 Silver Sluggers, 5 batting titles, 12-time All Star and 7 straight 200+ hit seasons, which is a record. On the down side, it was his much publicized affair that taught me what adultery was.

George Brett is another great one. Career .305 average, 3154 hits, a Gold Glove, 3 Silver Sluggers, and a 12-time All Star. He also won the MVP in 1980, when he batted .390. He also is the only player who won batting titles in 3 different decades ('76, '80, '90). He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999, and is worshipped in Kansas City (I know this from first hand experience). Also, the infamous pinetar incident is one of my favorite baseball memories.

But, in the end, I must go with Mike Schmidt. He won 3 MVPs ('80, '81, '86), Gold Gloves from 1976-84 and in '86. He led the league in HR 8 times and had 6 Silver Sluggers. This 12-time All Star's 548 career HR got him elected to the Hall of Fame in 1995. Now, I realize I might be cheating a bit putting him on my list, since his last full season was in 1987 (he played hurt the next two years, suddenly retiring early in the '89 season). But, as I stated above, this is my list, and I love Mike Schmidt.

Catcher: This is a tough one for me. I could choose Mike Piazza, who was selected in the 62nd round (why does anyone even pay scouts?). He was the ROY in 1991, a 10-time Silver Slugger and a 12-time All Star. He has a .311 career average, which is remarkable for a catcher. The problem is that he was (and still is) an awful catcher. I can't accept that. So, I think I'm going with Ivan Rodriguez. This is hard, because there is a lot of suspicion that he used steroids, which wouldn't really be surprising. But, he's a career .304 hitter, 7-time Silver Slugger, 12-time All Star and won an MVP in 1999. Most notable are his Gold Gloves, which he won from 1992-2001 and again in 2004. Now, he was considered a less-than-average game caller (although some say that has changed), but anyone who dared to steal on him was sure to be disappointed. I've never seen a catcher throw out runners like him (and I watched a lot of Tony Pena as a kid, who was probably the best of his era). But, I reserve the right to change this given more evidence of steroid use.