Clemente was easy for me; I didn’t have to think twice about it. As I continue to name my all-time MLB team, I want to stay in the outfield. As I continue down this path, I realize how hard this is going to be. I think of the guys that I’ve seen play, the guys that I’m familiar with. Guys like Ken Griffey Jr, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson; they’re all Hall of Famers… any one of them would be perfectly fine on this team. Since we are talking Hall of Famers only… felt like I had to pick one thing to guide me just a bit… there will be no current players. One guy that comes to mind is Mike Trout; not sure if anybody else besides Cabrera and Pujols that are sure fire Hall of Famer in the game today. But he’s not there yet, so he’s not on this team yet. Same goes for another All Timer, Barry Bonds. Look, we all know he juiced, but skinny Barry was no slouch, and let me tell you… putting that bat on the ball isn’t an easy task. Love him or hate him, for a minute there, I don’t think there was a more dominant player. So many good options… Ted Williams maybe; what about Stan Musial? Heard of Ty Cobb? It’s just nuts. But for me, it came down to this dynamic duo to fill my outfield.
You say there are more than one dynamic duos available? Yes, yes there is. Mantle and Mays flow off the tongue almost as easy as Ruth and Aaron. Which one will I choose? Again, there is no wrong choice, but for me… it has to be Ruth and Aaron. I know the first name out of my mouth was Roberto Clemente, and I don’t regret that for one second, but if there is one name that is associated with baseball, one guy that is on that Mount Rushmore for all sports, the guy representing baseball, it has to be Babe Ruth. Dude is a legend. The called shot? The Bambino. The World Series titles. The original home run king. Without Babe Ruth, would baseball have grown the way it did? Then there is that other guy… Hammering Hank Aaron. I was worried about picking both of them, thinking my defense may struggle, but Aaron does have a couple Gold Gloves to his name, outside of all the offensive accolades. The guy that dethroned Ruth with #715. I’ve read so many crazy stats about him, especially when he passed away recently. Here’s one: if you took away his 755 home runs, he would still have 3,000 hits. There’s also the one where he hit 20 or more home runs in 20 seasons. I can’t find the other one I was thinking about, but it may have to do with his total bases. 6,856 is 722 more than the next guy up, Stan Musial. In a league of his own Aaron was.
So yeah, screw it; Ruth and Aaron it is. Maybe I put Clemente in CF, and have those 2 guys holding down the corner spots. Maybe I move Ruth to DH, and add another OF? Maybe I have Ruth pitch… oh yeah, he did that too, and did it well. That’s pretty rare, which is why Ohtani gets all the love he gets, deservingly so. Nothing against Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, who are on a lot of all-time lists, I just couldn’t NOT pick Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron for MY team. OK, my outfield is done… let’s move closer to the plate.
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