Okay, I dare anyone to beat THIS team, which is significantly better than the aforementioned A.R. team -- meet the J.B. squad, and I bet I missed someone as I only looked at All-Stars and Hall of Famers ...

** Hall of Famer
* All-Star

Player/Manager: Jim Bottomley**

Lineup
C Johnny Bench**
1B Jake Beckley**
2B Jeff Blauser*
SS Jay Bell*
3B Jeff Bagwell*(*) (yes, that's cheating -- came up as a 3B but never played there in MLB)
LF Jesse Burkett**
CF James "Cool Papa" Bell**
RF Jesse Barfield*
DH Jay Buhner*

Bench
C NONE (but Bench is okay with that)
UTIL Jackie Brandt*
IF Jimmy Brown*
OF Jeff Burroughs*
OF Jim Busby*
OF Jason Bay*

Rotation
SP Jim Bunning**
SP Jim Bouton*
SP Josh Beckett*
SP Jim Bagby Jr.* (Jim Sr. was better but pre-dated the AS game)
SP Jim Bibby*

Bullpen
CL Jeff Brantley*
SET Jim Brewer*
RP Jack Billingham*
RP Jason Bere*
RP John Burkett*

Not even making the team from the list of All-Stars and HOFers: James Baldwin, Johnnie "Dusty" Baker, Jeromy Burnitz

Not All-Stars (yet) but coming fast: Jay Bruce, Jeremy Bonderman

C Milt May (.263, 1970-1984) 

1B Mark McGwire (.263, 583 HR, 1986-2001)

2B Mark McLemore (.259, 272 SB, 1986-2004)

SS Marty Marion (.263, 1940-1953, 1944 NL MVP)

3B Melvin Mora (.280, 1999-2008)            

LF Manny Mota (.304, 1962-1982)

CF Mickey Mantle (.298, 536 HR, 1951-1968)

RF Mike Marshall (.270, 1981-1991)

DH Mike McCormick (.275, 1940-1951)

BENCH

C Mike MacFarlane (.252, 129 HR, 1987-1999)

2B Mickey Morandini (.268, 1990-2000)

 2B/3B/SS Marty McManus (.289, 120 HR, 1920-1934)

OF Matty McIntyre (.269, 1901-1912)

OF Mike Menosky (.278, 1914-1923)

OF Mike Mitchell (.278, 202 SB, 1907-1914)

LHSP Mike Mussina (270-153, 3.68 ERA, 1991-2008)

RHSP Mike Moore (161-176, 4.39 ERA, 1982-1995)

RHSP Mike Morgan (141-186, 4.23 ERA, 1978-2002)

LHSP Mike McCormick (134-128, 3.73 ERA, 1956-1971)

RHSP Matt Morris (121-92, 3.98 ERA, 1997-2008)

LHSP Mark Mulder (103-60, 4.18 ERA, 2000-2008)

CL Matt Mantei (93 SVs, 1995-2005)

RHRP Mike MacDougal (50 SVs, 2001-2008)

LHRP Mike Myers (25-24, 14 SVs, 1995-2007)

RHRP Mike Maddux (39-37, 20 SVs, 1986-2000)

LHRP Mike Magnante (26-32, 4.08 ERA, 1991-2002)

Nice article...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081011&content_id=468491&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

seeyou, great minds think alike (and so do ours!) ... when I did the all-MM team about three years ago (part of the all-double-initials series mentioned earlier),below is what I came up with ... not many differences. I had McGwire DH and Marshall at 1B, which is a wash for your McGwire at 1B and McCormick DH'ing ... you start Mora and I have him on the bench ... I missed Mike Maddux and Mark McLemore entirely ... I should not have used Minoso, per house rules ...  I think you did slightly better than me, overall, though I think Mantle/McGwire would hit 3/4 not 4/5 -- and P.S., Mussina is a righty! 

M&M's: Not in Your Hands
**indicates Hall of Fame
* indicates All-Star

STARTING LINEUP
C Milt May (.263, 1970-84)
1B Mike A. Marshall* (.270, 148 homers)
2B Mickey Morandini* (.268 in 11 years)
SS Marty Marion* (.263 in 13 years)
3B Merrill "Pinky" May* (.275 in five years)
LF Saturnino "Minnie" Minoso* (.298, 1963 hits)
CF Mickey Mantle** (.298, 536 homers)
OF Manny Mota* (.304 in 20 seasons)
DH Mark McGwire* (583 homers)

BENCH
C Matt Merullo (.234, 1989-95)
IF Mario Mendoza (.215 in nine years)
OF Matt Mieske (.262, 1993-2000)
OF Myron "Mike" McCormick (.275, 1940-51)
UTIL Marty Martinez (.243, 1962-72; all nine positions)
UTIL Melvin Mora* (.281 through 2005; all but P, C)

ROTATION
RHSP Mike Mussina* (224-127 through 2005)
LHSP Mark Mulder* (97-50 through 2005)
RHSP Matt Morris* (101-62 through 2005)
LHSP Mike F. McCormick* ('67 NL CYA; 134-128)
RHSP Mike Moore* (161-176)

BULLPEN
CL-RH Mike G. Marshall* ('74 NL CYA; 188 saves)
LH-SET Mike Myers (20-22, 14 saves through 2005)
RH-SET Matt Mantei (93 saves through 2005)
RHRP Mike Morgan* (141-186)
LHRP Mike Matthews (14-10 through 2005)

Meet:

The Right Hander's (RH.. )

With a rotation led by our own beloved Doc, I think this team would be a pain in the butt to play against but only be a slightly to above average over the run of a season, unless someone can find the offence one more big bat.  A deep pitching staff, a lineup containing a few stars but thin overall... is it enough??

Roy 'Doc' Halladay AS
Rick Honeycutt AS
Rich Harden
Rick Helling
Ray Herbert AS

A bullpen made up of average to above average starters and one AS closer...

Rich Hill
Ron Herbel
Roy Henshaw
Rip Hagerman
Ramon hernandez 1967-77 era+ 115
Roberto hernandez (cl) AS

Now, the lineup. I think RH might be the deepest set of initials for the catching position ever as there are at least 10 catchers with those initials and at least 3 All Star's.  I have included all 3 of them because I don't know them well enough to decide on who gets to start! Not to mention ever other infielder was an all star at least once. And one of them was really good.

The infielder and backups:

Randy Hundley C AS
Ramon Hernandez C AS
Rollie Hemsley C  AS
Ryan Howard   1B  AS
Rogers Hornsby 2B AS HOF
Ron Hansen    SS  AS
Roy Howell 3B AS

How was Hansen's defence? He was only a career .234/.320/.351 but with a 92 OPS+.  I also don't know much about Howell... the right side of the infielder is a little easier to understand. Hornsby and Howard.

The outfielder is thin but contains one legend:

Ricky Henderson
Richard Hidaldo
Ralph Hodgin

Would be my starters... as some of the backups on the team, whoever from above for catcher, and then AS Ron Hunt at 2B and Roy Hartzell looks like a good option at 3B... tons of other medicore, slightly below average hitters to pick from who played in a small amount of games to fill out the backup spots. The outfield is definitely the weak link on this team - find some guys!

Lineup:

Henderson
Hornsby
Hernandez (Ramon)
Howard
Hiladgo
Howell
Hodgin
Hansen

And hope they play in the National League... they just need one more good batter for their DH to fill out the top half and let Hernandez form part of the middle with Hiladgo.

Lineup
C Jeff Clement
1B Jack Clark*
2B Jerry Coleman*
SS Joe Cronin**
3B Jimmy Collins**
LF Jose Cruz Sr.*
CF Jose Cardenal*
RF Joe Carter* (Callison would be better, but hometown bias)
DH Jose Canseco*

Bench
C NONE (but Bench is okay with that)
UTIL Jorge Cantu
IF Jeff Cirillo*
OF Johnny Callison*
OF Joe Cunningham*
OF Jack Cust

Rotation
SP John Clarkson**
SP Jack Chesbro**
SP Joe Coleman*
SP John Candelaria*
SP Jim Clancy*

It's been a slow week, don't judge me!

Below is a team that could score 900 runs a season easily! With an average pitching staff, they could easily win 90 + games a season. If a bonafide ace were to emerge (I know there is a HOF pitcher on the staff, but how good was he? True Ace material?). With the exception of 3B, no player is playing a position that wasn't their #1 position throughout their career. And many of these guys, were considerably above average at the positions they played.

Manager:

You know you love him........ John Gibbons

LINEUP:

C - Josh Gibson** the Babe Ruth of the Negro League
1B - Jim Gentile* 3 time AS, 136 OPS+
2B - Joe Gordon* 8 time AS, 1 MVP, career 120 OPS+
SS - Jack Glasscock, 1737 games from 1879-1895, 112 OPS+, unfortunate last name, 372 SB
3B - Jim Gilliam*, 2 AS's, .360 career OBP, 203 SB's
LF - Juan Gonzalez*, 3 time AS, 6 SS, 2 MVP's, 132 OPS+
CF - Johnny Grubb * AS, 120 career OPS+ over 1424 games
RF - Jay Gibbons/Jonny Gomes platoon
DH - Jason Giambi*, 5 AS, 1 MVP, 2 SS's, Terrible Moustache, 146 OPS+

ROTATION:

James "Pud" Galvin** 364-310, 2.86 ERA, 107 ERA+
Jon Garland*  106-89, 4.47 ERA, 103 ERA+
Juan Guzman* 91-79, 4.08 ERA, 112 ERA+
Jeremy Guthrie, 3.89 ERA, 116 ERA+, 57 career starts
Jose Guzman, 4.05 ERA, 102 ERA+, 186 career starts

BENCH:

Jody Gerut, backup OF, 110 career OPS+
Jack Graney, backup OF
Joe Girardi, backup C,  AS
Jerry Grote, backup C/3B, 2 time AS
Joey Gathright, Pinch Running and Car Jumping specialist

Bullpen Candidates:

Jimmy Gobble
Jason Grimsley
Jason Grilli
Joe Gibbon, 3.52 ERA, 102 ERA+, 127 career starts, 419 games

How bout it? How many games do you think these guys win in a season? Can anybody beat the JB's???

Well, as much fun as Gathright would be to have on the bench, maybe if we swapped him with Jose Guillen (he of a career 112 OPS+ against Lefties) the team would be better balanced offensively. Tho, the outfield might be a bit too exciting to watch on games that Gomes and Gonalez are both in the OF during the same game!

You want some help for the bullpen?!! I was just tired looking at the JC's so I kind of gave up on the bullpen but here are some more candidates that should help prevent any starter from being forced to throw 500 innings.

Here are two guys who would make the bullpen stronger (replace Gobble, add in one of these guys):

Jim Gott - 3.87 ERA, 101 ERA+, 1120 innings, 56-74.

Johnny Gorsica - this guy should replace Gobble in the pen so far. Career 98 ERA+, 4.18 ERA, 31-39 over 723.7 innings.

The pen is definitely the weak link on this team, but it just got a little bit better. Anyone else that should go in?

I think the JG's and the JB's would be like the Red Sox and Yankees of the East.

Anyone better?

Do any set of initials deliver a pitching staff as good/deep as this one?

Starters:
Johan Santana
John Smoltz
Johnny Sain, four 20 win seasons, 3.49 ERA, 106 ERA+, 3 time AS, 139-116
Jason Schmidt*
James Shields
John Smiley*, 126-103, 3.80 ERA, 102 ERA+
Jack Sanford*, 137 - 101, 3.69 ERA, 98 ERA+

Relievers:
Joe Sambito*, 3.03 ERA, 115 ERA+ (but was consistantly well above 100 with the exception of a 107 and a 109 season for a 7 year stretch)
Jeff Shaw*, 3.54 ERA, 119 ERA+, 2 time AS

Started and Relieved:

Johnny Schmitz, 93-114, 3.55 ERA, 107 ERA+, 2 AS appearances
Jim Slaton, 151-158, 4.03 ERA, 94 ERA+, 1 AS game

OK... I might have come on strong to begin with my opening sentence. Certainly a very very good pitching staff, but methinks it could be beatable. I won't lie, I just thought of Santana, Smoltz, Schmidt, and Shields and I was like, GAH - surely there is some old timer or two I don't know who is AWESOME that would have pushed that foursome over the top. Alas, all I could find were a couple very good relievers and 2 more good starters.

C-    Joe Mauer (** in waiting)

That's a tad ... premature. Sure looks like a nice bet now, but the only modern-day catcher on Mauer's "Most Similar through age 25" list is one Jason Kendall. So belay the induction ceremony just yet!

That to age comp with Kendall is excellent too. I hadn't realized how great a start to his career Jason had until this thread. Looked like a sure fire hall of fame bet himself early on.

Check it out:

Age Games AVG/OBP/SLG OPS+

22  130  .300/.372/.401  101
23  144  .294/.391/.434  114
24  149  .327/.411/.473  131
25  78     .332/.428/.511 136
26  152  .320/.412/.470  124

The guy also stole more then 90 bases during this time too, as a catcher! Admittedly he posted a .266/.335/.358 the next season and has been a shadow of his fast start ever since. He posted two big bounce back seasons at 29 and 30 but everything else has average at best.   Maybe he should have stayed with the Pirates...

Mauer:

22  131  .294/.372/.411  107
23  140  .347/.429/.507  144
24  109  .293/.382/.426  117
25  146  .328/.413/.451  137

Oh what the heck, one more team. Not a powerhouse, but certainly not a group of pushovers. Fantastic outfield, strong top end of the rotation, this team would improve dramatically some better infielders.

The JD's

C - Jody Davis*
1B - Jack Doyle
2B - Jimmie Dykes* (.365 career OBP, 2282 games)
SS - Joe DeMaestri* (1121 career games... must have been some good defensively to play that long with a career .236/.274/.325 line)
3B - Jim Delahanty (1186 career games, career 122 OPS+)
OF - JD Drew
OF - Joe DiMaggio**
OF - Jermaine Dye*
DH - Johnny Damon*

Rotation:

Jay "Dizzy" Dean**
Joe Dobson*
John Denny (1983 NL Cy Young winner)
John Danks
Justin Duchscherer*

Bullpen:

Jim Duffalo
Jean Dubuc
Joe Decker
Jim Deshaies
Jerry Dipoto

Bench:

Juan Encarnacion OF
Jim Davenport* INF

Perhaps the next round of an all initial's team competition should exclude any team's starting with J.........

This team, of course, will be known as the Masters of Ceremony ...

You missed a Hall of Famer in Max Carey -- another outfielder, unfortunately!

Great collection of talent, KL. The only hold in the lineup is the outfield defense -- I guess you'd have Sanders play CF? He was not a great outfielder, for all his speed, and playing next to Staub, there'd be a whole lotta "gappers" to worry about. And you might think about dropping Stanley from the rotation into the closer's role -- he had 132 career saves (and "just" 85 starts).

Oops, then again, Daniel Staub doesn't qualify for this team, but Reggie Smith is every bit the player Le Grande Orange was ...

OK, so I guess I can pull out one more!

Just Kidding. .. Not..

The JoKer's:

C. Jason Kendall*
1B. Joe Kuhel*
2B. Jeff Kent*
SS. John "Buddy" Kerr
3B. Jerry Kenney
OF Jason Kubel
OF Joe Kelley**
OF John Kruk*
DH Jim Kelley (put up considerably above average numbers for a total of 215 games)

SP:

Jimmy Key* LHP
Jim Kaat* LHP
Jim Konstanty* RHP
Jerry Koosman* LHP
Jack Kralick* LHP

Bullpen:

Jim Kern*
Jack Kramer*
Johnny Kucks*
Johnny Klippstein
Joe Kennedy

Bench:

Johnny Kling* C
Jeff Keppinger (should start all games at SS versus LHP unless Buddy really destroys LHP)
Joe Knight OF (... one very fine season in 1890)

So... what do we have? A great starting rotation and a good bullpen. 3 good bench options. The big weak link on this team is at 3B.  If someone can find out if George John Kurowski (Better known as Whitey Kurowski) went by George or John  then he would be a massive upgrade to the tune of 3 - 5 wins I'd think, as he is an elite hitter and the guy we currently have in at 3B is... well not.

We should have a vote, who do you guys think win the most games in the 2008 AL East? Maybe rank all the teams from top to the bottom and put # of predicted wins next?

Konstanty was one of the early great closers in baseball history -- an All-Star in '50, even, helping redefine the role. I think, with all due apologies to Jim Kern, that Konstanty is the closer and Kern sets him up. Kucks was an All-Star SP in '56, so he probably goes in the rotation -- ironically enought, Kucks and Konstanty were Yankee teammates that year.

Well, seeing as how this thread will soon be bumped down to the infamous "2nd" page it will probably soon die. So, while it's still on page 1 I just wanted to say this topic was a lot of fun and was a great idea. I learned about a lot of ball players I had never even heard of and had fun doing so. Thanks!

OK, this is the first team I built but never posted because I couldn't complete the roster... this team is missing a SS and a 3B and has two fantastic catchers so I have one of those guys DH'ing. Whomever is better defensively should start tho, obviously!

C - Terry Steinback*
1B - Tony Solaita, good hitter, short career
2B - Ted Sizemore, I hope he was good at defence.
SS -
3B -
DH - Ted Simmons* (was a C his whole career really)
OF - Tim Salmon
OF - Tris Speaker**
OF - Travis Snider

SP:

Tom Seaver**
Truett "Rip" Sewell
Todd Stottlemyre
Tom Sturdivant
Tully Sparks

BP:

Takashi Saito* closes for this team
Tim Stoddard
Tim Scott

Bench: Not much!

So, some obvious holes to fill. But a considerably above average rotation (1 legend, a legit number 2 and then 3 above average guys), a great closer and a couple of good relievers make the staff well above average. A lineup with 3 seriously good hitters( Speaker, Salmon, Simmons), 1 above average (Steinback), 1 guy who is at the least average and has the potential to be as good as any of these guys (Snider). They would score some runs, regardless of who you trotted out there at SS and 3B, but depth is an issue. Perhaps in a few years this team will be worth revisiting if we get some young guys with these initial's coming up!

I see your C and raise to D!

The Dungeon Master's ! (Although I don't think this team would be anywheres close to the dungeon of any division in MLB!)

C  Damian Miller*
1B  Don Mattingly*
2B  Danny Murphy
SS  Denis Menke*
3B  Don Money*
RF  Dale Mitchell*
CF  Dale Murphy*
LF  Dwayne Murphy
DH  Don Mincher*

SP

Dennis Martinez*
Dave McNally*
Denny McLain*
Daiske Matuzsaka
Dustin McGowan

BP

Doc McMahon*
Don Mossi*
Donnie Moore*
Don McMahon*
Damaso Marte
Dyar Miller

Bench

Dave May* OF
Don Mueller* OF
Dave Magadan IF (.390 career OBP)
Doug Mientkiewicz IF
Doug Mirabelli C

An above average starting rotation, albeit not outstanding , but an excellent bullpen backs them up.

In the field, Menke and Murphy (Danny) form an above average offensive MI. Miller is adequate behind the dish as the starting C. A decent bench that is well balanced.  Mitchell, Murphy (Dwayne) and Mattingly get on base in the 1-2-3 spots and Murphy (the greatest D M) with some help from Mincher and occasionally Money, drive em' in. Probably a notch below the CM's? I like a team with a genuine ace in the rotation. 90 - 94 wins.

And if you could find a way to get these 9 guys onto the field and in the lineup together, would any other 9 score more runs, honestly? Doing some majorrrrrrrrrrrr stretching, here is a mock lineup:

Great Scott!

C   Geovany Soto
1B George "Mule" Suttles**
2B George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss*
SS Gary Sheffield*
3B George Scott*
RF George Sisler**
CF Grady Sizemore
LF George Silkirk* (.400 career OBP)
DH  Gus Suhr*

Not ba-a-a-a-a-d.  Too bad they have nobody to pitch for them... let anyone that would WANT to pitch with Gary Sheffield still manning short...

Those DMs are one of my favorite teams assembled yet, initially speaking -- alas, one of your pitchers must be eliminated as Henry "Doc" McMahon is an HM ... what an interesting "careeer" though ... one game started, a complete-game 14-hit, three-run victory, in a game in which he got two base hits (in five at-bats) himself> There must be SOME kind of backstory there! And no * there -- there wasn't even an All-Star Game been invented yet!

The DM's are stuffed with guys who'd make an All-Almost-HOF team -- Dale Murphy, Don Mattingly, Dennis Martinez, Dave McNally ... but nobody with those DaMn initials has ever been inducted?

For the GS team, with Sheff and Scott manning the left side of the infield, Selkirk (note spelling, not Silkirk) better stay plenty loose to back them up!

Thanks for the background info/stories guys, they're easily one of my favorite aspects of these threads.

Here's one I thought was interesting... I was looking at putting together a B G team (trying to figure out if Bob's go under B or R, I settled on R and thus no B G team...) and came across this player, Billy Grabarkewitz. He had an absolutely fabulous rookie season (.299/.399/.454) and made the AS team playing in 156 games but then never played a full season again in the majors (never more then a half season, really). So I wanted to try and find out what happened - nothing too crazy, befuddled by injuries the next 2 years, he got traded and just never really rediscovered his form.

The interesting part was that the Dodgers in 1970 organized a write-in vote campaign for him to try and get him onto the all star team as a starter.  Thousands of fans simply wrote "Billy G" on the ballot, not knowing how to spell his name. Ultimately the vote fell short but he was added as a reserve.  Here's one quote I enjoyed reading: "Don't forget, fans, you spell it G-R-A-B ... uh, hang on a minute ..."

MIke, you had started putting together an R G team... their pitching staff just improved, and now they have some B. Gibson guy to take the hill after that Grove fellow...

Eddie Murray respectfully submits his resume to play 1B for the EM Eyes.

And oh, what a fine resume it is! You're hired!

And if you put Eddie Murphy on the bench instead of Earl McNeely, the depth improves further. Now you've got Ed Morgan's bat on the bench as well. The "x" M teams would make for a pretty tight division!

I built an S & M team, but they are desparately lacking mid level talent to fill out the roster.

C  Sandy Martinez
1B  Sam Mele 97 OPS+
2B  Stu Martin* 86 OPS+ 722 games
SS  Steve Mesner (451 games, mostly at 3B, only 13 at SS...)
3B  Saturnino "Minnie" Minoso 130 OPS+ 1835 (Only played 116 games at 3B and was apparently a good outfielder, but we need him at 3B!)
OF  Sherry Magee 136 OPS+ 2087 games
OF  Stan Musial**
OF  Shane Mack 120 OPS+ 923 games

SP  Sal Maglie* 127 ERA+ 119-62
SP  Sam McDowell*
SP  Scott McGregor*
SP  Shaun Marcum  112 ERA+
SP  Silvio Martinez 95 ERA+, 87 career starts

BP  Stu Miller* 115 ERA+ 704 games
BP  Steve Mingori 126 ERA+ 385 games
BP  Sean Marshall 100 ERA+ 79 games so far, 119 and 116 ERA+ previous two seasons
BP  Steve McCatty

To bad Steven Rance Mulliniks doesn't qualify, because then we could shift Musial to 1B, Minoso to the OF and have a much improved lineup. They could also use Charles Solomon Myer at SS, but alas, thems the rules. This team has no DH and 3 significant holes in the lineup. Despite this, they still have a few very good offensive players and the pitching staff is no group of pushovers from top to bottom.

The R C's, better known as the remotes.

C- Roy Campanella

1B- Roger Connor

2B- Rod Carew

3B- Ron Cey

SS- Ray Chapman

RF- Rocky Colavito

CF- Roberto Clemente

LF- Rico Carty

Subs - Rick Cerone, Robinson Cano, Royce Clayton, Ron Clark, Roy Cullenbine, Roger Cedeno, Ray Coleman

SP- Roger Clemens, Ray Collins, Reggie Cleveland, Ray Caldwell, Ray Culp

RP- Rheal Cormier, Rick Camp, Ray Corbin, Randy Choate, Roger Craig

Pretty good offense and a fairly good rotation but the bullpen is the weak link. Will score lots of runs and give up a lot too.

That is a GREAT starting lineup for the RC squad. I think I'd want to play Cullenbine in LF so you get hide Carty's glove at DH. And before anyone challenges Rocky Colavito on the No Nicknames Rule, dude's given first name was "Rocco." So there!

Somebody do an MP team so we can have an RC/MP matchup and play the game on horseback! Mike Piazze will be their first Hall of Famer in a few years ...

The AC-DC teams... rock and roll electrically though neither of these teams will so much as cause a fire or put on much of a show

C -  Al Campanis              Del Crandall

1B- Archi Cianfrocco         Dolph Camilli

2B- Asdrubal Cabrera      Dave Cash

3B- Alex Cintron                Darnell Coles

SS- Alex Cora                    Dave Concepcion

OF- Al Cowens                  Dave Collins

OF- Allan (Dusty) Cook    Duff Cooley

OF- Alex Cole                    Doug Clemens

DH- Allie Clark                  Danny Cater

Subs- Alberto Castillo, Art Croft, Alexi Casilla, Andujar Cedeno,Adam Comorosky, Andy Cohen for the AC's

            Doug Camilli, Dave Campbell, Domingo Cedeno, Dave Chalk, Dave Clark, Darell Chaney for the DC's

Pitchers- Aaron Cook. Alvin Crowder. Andy Coakly, Allan Collamore Al Cicotte,Alex Carrasquel, Archie Corbin, Al Corwin

Dean Chance, David Cone, Danny Cox, Don Cardwell, Daniel Cabrera, David Clyde, Dan Casey,D.J. Carrasco, Dennis Cook and Doug Capilla

The DC's should win the matchup between these two teams but not much else  and even combining the teams would not a contender make.

The JH's have showed up, and these guys can play some ball.

 C  Jim Hegan* (5 time AS)
1B  Joe "Moon" Harris (.317/.404/.472)
2B  Jose Hernandez*
SS  JJ Hardy*
3B  Jim Ray Hart*
OF  Josh Hamilton*
OF  Jimmie Hall*
OF  Jeff Heath* (.293/.370/.509)
DH  Johnny Hopp*

SP  Jesse Haines** RHP
SP  James "Catfish" Hunter** RHP
SP  Joe Horlen* RHP
SP  Jack Harshman LHP (69-65, 109 ERA+)
SP  Joey Hamilton (74-73 career 94 ERA+) or Jim Hardin (43-32 career 105 ERA+) or Joe Hatten (65-49, career 101 ERA+)

BP  John Hiller* LHP
BP  Joe Hoerner* LHP
BP  Joe Haynes*  RHP
BP  Jay Howell*  RHP
BP  Joe Heving   RHP

INF John Hummel (1161 games, career 102 OPS+, could play 1B/2B/SS/OF)
OF  Jeremy Hermida
OF  Jeffrey Hammonds*
OF  Jim Hickman*
 C  Jack Hiatt

Harris, Heath, Hamilton, Hart, Hardy make a great 2-3-4-5-6 and with help from Hall and Hopp would generate a lot of runs. Hopp leads off, Hall bats 7th. Hernandez isn't a black hole. Hegan starts, as 5 AS games will guarentee for just about anyone, but Hiatt was a better hitter so he makes a nice 2nd option for the C position. However, they don't need to score too many runs with a rotation fronted by Haines and Hunter (although weak in the #5 spot) backed by an outstanding bullpen. When Hermida breaks through you can have him DH and move Hopp onto the bench (or Hall). I really like how the entire lineup can handle the bat well, and there is a good mixture of OBP oriented guys and SLG oriented guys.

Anyone know if this is the optimal way to deploy these troops defensively? Should Hardy and Hernandez swap? And who'd be the best #5 guy for the rotation?

And if you remember Tony Suck, he of the career OPS+ of 25, well I'd like to introduce you to his good buddy Jack Doolittle Hardy who had a whopping 55 AB and posted a career 29 OPS+.

The WC Handies

I suppose they play in a ballpark called WC Fields?