How to celebrate such a milestone, if indeed we can label it as such? Well, anyone in or near the U.S. reading this who can remember the year 1976 will remember the utter overload and preponderance of the number 200, especially in lists.
That year was the birthplace of baseball's 200th birthday as a nation, or "bicentennial." (Subject of a previous Hall of Names entry, here.) It was the second of back-to-back titles for the Big Red Machine. It was the year of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych in Detroit. It was an MVP year for Joe Morgan and Thurman Munson and meant Cy Young Awards for Jim Palmer and Randy Jones. It was the year before big league baseball landed in Toronto.
It was also the year of the birth of a 104 major league ballplayers -- so far, anyway ...
... as it is at least possible someone else born in 1976 could still debut as a 30-something rookie in the bigs.
But we are left with several obvious questions. First, is 104 a lot? Well, there were 97 born in 1966, and Felix Hernandez is the first from the Class of '86 newborns to make an appearance; 1975 saw 113 while 1977 produced 120. So the first answer is "no, it's not a LOT, but it's more or less what one would expect."
Second, who are the active leaders in major counting categories among those bicentennial babies? Here's a "Top 10" sample (totals in parentheses are through the close of the 2005 season):
- Wins: Javier Vazquez (89); Jeff Weaver (78); Sidney Ponson (76); Kelvim Escobar (72); Randy Wolf (65); Wade Miller (62); Carl Pavano (61); Scott Elarton (50); Brian Lawrence (49); Ted Lilly and Tomo Ohka (T-49).
- Saves: Eric Gagne (160); Brad Lidge (72); Kelvim Escobar (59); Scott Williamson (55); Rocky Biddle (46); Tyler Walker (24); Matt Anderson (26); Kyle Farnsworth and Scott Strickland (T-20).
- Homers: Vladimir Guerrero (305); Troy Glaus (219); Miguel Tejada (216) Paul Konerko (210); Carlos Lee (184); Lance Berkman (180); Alfonso Soriano (162); Pat Burrell (159); Jose Guillen (134); Juan Encarnacion (128).
- Steals: Scott Podsednik (172); Alfonso Soriano (169); Vladimir Guerrero (151); Alex Sanchez (122); Juan Encarnacion (119); Adam Kennedy (107); Jerry Hairston Jr. (102); Ryan Freel (84); Carlos Lee (77); Carlos Febles (68).
Now obviously, counting stats like those listed above are not always the best judge of a player's value; and in fact, though we can and will build a fine roster primarily relying on the names above, there are several players not listed who at least bear consideration.
Consider, for instance, Aubrey Huff, he of the 120 career homers coming into 2006, not to mention 118-homer guy and former Rookie of the Year Ben Grieve (118) ... Okay, maybe just Huff ... Lew Ford has had a fine career as a journeyman OF ... Ramon Hernandez has made an All-Star team and can keep Freel from having to catch ... Actually, another All-Star in A.J. Pierzynski, probably pushes Hernandez to the bench ... Expos/Nationals backstop Brian Schneider hasn't made an All-Star appearance as yet, so doesn't push Hernandez off the roster entirely ...
Toronto fans certainly appreciate the grit of one Reed Johnson, not to mention recalling the contributions of Chris Woodward ... Dustan Mohr hit a bunch of home runs -- relative to his career stats, anyway -- in Colorado in 2005 ... OF/1B Craig Wilson nearly had a 30-dinger campaign for PIT in 2004 ... Apologies to Derek Jeter, born in 1974, but the two best shortstops in the AL right now are both bicentennial babies in Tejada, named above, and Texas' Michael Young ...
Scott Downs and Ryan Drese would make a fine lefty-righty combo at the back of many teams' rotations ... Other pitching names that might ring a (Liberty?) bell for you include Brandon Duckworth, Josh Fogg, Gary Glover, Chad Harville, Damian Moss, Jim Parque and David Riske ... None are terribly likely to make the final roster, though Moss does at least have his left-handedness going for him.
Now, about that roster ... let's see ...
The Spirits of '76
* indicates All-Star
** indicates projected Hall of Famer
LINEUP
C A.J. Pierzynski*
1B Paul Konerko*
2B Alfonso Soriano*
SS Miguel Tejada**
3B Troy Glaus*
LF Carlos Lee*
CF Lance Berkman*
RF Vladimir Guerrero**
DH Pat Burrell*
BENCH
C Ramon Hernandez*
IF Adam Kennedy
IF Michael Young*
OF Scott Podsednik*
OF Juan Encarnacion
UTIL Ryan Freel
ROTATION
RHSP Javier Vazquez*
LHSP Randy Wolf*
RHSP Jeff Weaver
LHSP Ted Lilly*
RHSP Sidney Ponson
BULLPEN
CL-RH Eric Gagne**
SET-RH Kyle Farnsworth
SET-RH Brad Lidge*
LONG-RH Kelvim Escobar
LONG-LH Damian Moss
Want to take a crack at a different year? Feel free to cobble together a Pinch-Hit Hall of Names guest spot for here on Da Box as we get working on the next hundred. Send queries my way and we'll work "your" year into a future feature here on Batter's Box Interactive Magazine.
