I’ve been meaning to get around to this, and with this latest lagging behind on my daily posts, there is no better time to do it. I’ve done my all time NBA team; I’ve done my all time NFL team (if interested, check them out in the Features section). As we continue onwards in the 2nd half of the baseball season, as the Cubs continue towards their bottom of the MLB standings, as my son’s baseball season has ended, it’s time to keep my love for the game going in another way. Welcome to the first entry of my MLB All-Time team.
I’ve been watching baseball enough to know a little something since about 1983-84. Sure, I was just getting to the right age, and was playing baseball myself, but maybe the Sox and Cubs making the playoffs in back to back years helped. I’m going to try not to be biased, but it won’t be easy… more so for the guys that I’ve seen play vs picking Cubs to fill my lineup; I wouldn’t do THAT. Yet, I have watched a lot of old baseball highlights as well. In fact, another Feature of my website if interested, is my summary of the Baseball Seasons series; love watching some old baseball. Actually, love watching any old sport, just for the awesome vintage highlight packages that accompany those videos. I feel like the current stuff doesn’t have the same feeling… maybe because there’s no shortage of that kind of stuff out there; the old stuff feels “rare”, like something we need to cherish more, fleeting days of a time long past. We could all learn something from history… OK enough rambling; let’s get to my guys.
It starts with 21 for me. Yes, the first player on my all time MLB team is Roberto Clemente. I don’t need to go into the stats do I? Of course, my team will be full of Hall of Famers; I guess that will be one prerequisite. Clemente checks that box, and a whole lot more. I like guys who can do it all; Clemente was not only a career 300 hitter, he hit for power, had speed, could flag it down in right field, and oh yeah, had a cannon of an arm. I think they call that a “5 tool player”; I think I want as many of those guys on my team as possible. Something else that is kind of important, is performance on the big stage. Having a World Series MVP in his trophy case certainly helps the case for Roberto. 15 time All Star, 12 time Gold Glove… I think the saddest stat for Roberto is his career number of hits that sits exactly at 3,000. So awesome to reach that historic plateau, so sad to know why it stopped there. Yes, unfortunately, Clemente died in a plane accident, on his way to do some charity work; pretty good guy too… that doesn’t hurt his case.
Jackie Robinson day has been around for a minute; the retirement of 42 across baseball has been done. I’m glad to see the MLB start honoring him by having Roberto Clemente day on September 15th. I think players are allowed to wear 21 on their caps. This year will mark the 50th year of his tragic passing. Well, I’m going to start the commemoration a bit early…
You know who my dad’s favorite player of all time is? Yeah, Roberto Clemente; he gets it. MLB gets it, and now I got it. Roberto Clemente is the first player on my all-time MLB team. I can’t think of a better player to start it with. Let’s proceed…
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