As bad as Alex Gonzalez was, surely you could have found a better season than 1999 for him.  Even if his 100 OPS+ was a career high it was only 38 games.  Though perhaps Tony Batista's 1999 season is a worthwhile choice.  Certainly better than anything Torres/Gomez posted.

Ah, the memories these polls are bringing back.  San Pedro de Macoris is the place.  On a related note....

I am going through my old magazines to sell or give them away and have almost every single issue of Baseball Digest between November 1990 (Cecil Fielder Comeback Player of the Year) to June 1994 (Chris Sabo and Rafael Palmeiro as new Orioles, the latter looking a bit thinner than further on in his career, for some reason, heh).  Due to these issues encompassing The Glory Years, many a Blue Jay reside on the covers, from Tony to Joe to Robbie to Paul.

If anyone wants them, please email me at jjg48 at columbia.edu.  They are all in pretty good condition and I'd prefer if interested parties are in the GTA so I can drop them off instead of mailing them, unless said individuals are fine with reimbursing me for postage.  If this is not the right location to post this request, Roster, please let me know.

P.S. Alex Gonzalez only played 38 games in 1999, which is probably why he put up his best numbers, and also why he shouldn't be on this list.

Shortstop? I thought you'd be going pitcher, catcher, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF, RF, DH.

I would have made the options here:

• Tony Fernandez '85
• Tony Fernandez '86
• Tony Fernandez '87
• Tony Fernandez '88
• Tony Fernandez '90
• Tony Fernandez '93

but all those other choices are very nice too. No Eddie Zosky?

NB. Tony wasn't a SS those great '98 & '99 seasons, but brother, could he handle the bat.

Uh, who other than Tony should even be thought of?

Sigh.  Will always wonder what if with Fernandez. 
What if... he wasn't taken out late in '87 by the Tigers and Exhibition Stadium
What if... he wasn't beaned badly early in '89 when he seemed to be recovered from the after effects of '87
What if... his agent gave him good advise after '93 and he stayed in Toronto instead of going on a tour of other teams
What if... he played in 2000 in Toronto instead of going overseas
What if... his whole career was in Toronto

He only hit 300 or better in Toronto.  He did it in Toronto 6 times, at least once on every tour here (counting his time here in 1993).  4 all-star games as a Jay, 1 with someone else (San Diego).  Sigh.  If only he stayed after 1993 I suspect he would have had that HOF career instead of a Hall of the Very Good career. 

It's nice to see that Chris Woodward and his wife are posters on this forum.

Best Blue Jay shortstop seasons:

Fernandez (90)  -  10.9
Fernandez (87)  -  10.1
Fernandez (86)  -    9.2
Fernandez (85)  -    8.7
Fernandez (88)  -    8.6
Fernandez (89)  -    8.6
T. Batista (00)     -  7.5
A. Gonzalez (96 ) -   6.6
T. Batista (99)     -     6.5
A. Griffin (79)       -    5.2
C Woodward (02)  -   4.0
R. Adams (05)    -      2.2

Where's the love for Tony Batista?  41 home runs in 2000.  893 OPS in 1999.

Russ, Aaron Hill and Russ' mom too.

Hector Torres and I used to attend the same church.  A super gentleman, but he didn't get his vote from me.  Sorry Hector!  Hopefully I can make up for it in the All-Time Bullpen Coach Poll. 

 

No love for Mike Bordick? 2003; .274/.340/.382, ZR at 2B .909 ; 3B .884 ;  SS .883 ;

Where's Troy Glaus?

Now if we were just voting on best defensive player at each position... rather than Delgado, Alomar, Fernandez you could very easily make a case for Olerud, Hudson, Gonzalez.

Blasphemy?

Olerud and then Upshaw is pretty much a no-brainer at first, and it's pretty clear to me that Hudson was just as spectacular as Alomar at second and considerably more effective. Is there anyone besides myself who thinks that Gonzo's glove was the equal of Fernandez? Because I think it was, even if Alex is more famous for an error he made in the post-season while playing for another team (hey, same thing's true of Fernandez).

No, not blasphemy.  I agree about Olerud and Hudson, and I don't think either of their competitors was close defensively.  As for Fernandez and Gonzalez, I felt that both were good but Tony was a notch better.  When he was young, he was a thing of beauty to watch and made a few more plays, on balance, than Gonzalez did.

I suppose, if really pressed, I'd go with the 86-87 Fernandez defensively. In his first full season, 1985, he was still a little erratic; after the knee and elbow problems he lost a bit of the amazing athleticism that made him so special (his 1989 defensive numbers are amazing, but that team had three LH starters in the rotation who didn't strike out anybody - there were a lot of balls in play.)

Gonzo defensively was basically the same player as Cal Ripken, which is very good indeed. He had very, very sure hands and the best arm we've seen on any shortstop who's ever played here. It let him set up deep enough to get to just about anything hit between second and third.

It's funny.  Cal Ripken was the player I thought of.  Gonzalez had better range up the middle, but not quite the gun, nor the ability to position and anticipate, that Cal had. 

...not quite the gun, nor the ability to position and anticipate, that Cal had.

No one had those things like Cal.