Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - R is for Ruth, Rodriguez and Robinson (Wow!)

R is for Ruth, Rodriguez and Robinson (Wow!)

In choosing which letter of the alphabet to go with for today's Hall of Names entry, I thought to choose the one that would yield the best team overall. Originally, I leaned toward building a "J" team, which we will get to eventually, but finally settled on the "R" squad.

I think we have a winner.

There are 15 players whose last or family name began with the letter "R" already enshrined in the Hall of Fame; and three of them didn't even make this team! The weakest part of the team is the starting rotation, in which we find five Hall of Famers who combined to win 1,430 big league games -- and another Hall of Famer, Negro League star Joe Rogan, relegated to the bullpen, while poor old Red Ruffing, who strung together 273 wins himself, is one of the aforementioned Cooperstown trio who didn't even make final cuts.

And yes, the rotation is the weak link on this team -- down in the bullpen, you have the greatest closer of all time set up by a righty/lefty combo who nailed down 619 saves between them, and a couple of long relief guys nicknamed "Bullet" and "The Gambler." Sure, Ruffing probably deserves to make the team over Rogers, but we wanted another lefty down there.

And oh, that starting lineup ... suffice it to say that no less than three Hall of Fame shortstops (Reese, Rizzuto and Ripken) aren't starting for this team, and two of those didn't make the team at all, thanks to the presence of the best baseball player on the planet today. But A-Rod could end up hitting sixth for this team, what with Ruth, F-Robby and Ramirez good for the 3-4-5 holes.

In fact, the starting lineup is made up entirely of Hall of Famers -- five guys already in (Jackie, Brooks and Frank Robinson; Ruth and Roush); two who are first-ballot locks (A-Rod, Pudge) and one who will probably end up in on the first try (Manny); and of course, one guy who would be in the Hall if it weren't for the pesky matter of a lifetime ban.

The bench is two more Hall of Famers (Ripken, Rice), a future inductee (Rolen), a guy who should get more attention than he will (Raines), a former MVP (Rosen) and an All-Star catcher (Roseboro). Not that any of the bench guys will ever get to play; poor Iron Cal!

You could fill a heck of a roster with players who had no chance of ever making this team -- how about the three Hall of Famers mentioned earlier, along with Jim Rice, a righty/lefty combo of J.R. Richard and Preacher Roe ... the list goes on. Oh, the GM and the manager are both in the Hall of Fame, too.

But for now, let's just meet ...

WE "R" THE CHAMPIONS
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

GM: Branch Rickey**
MGR: Wilbert Robinson**

C Ivan Rodriguez*
1B Pete Rose*
2B Jackie Robinson**
SS Alex Rodriguez*
3B Brooks Robinson**
LF Frank Robinson**
CF Edd Roush**
RF Babe Ruth**
DH Manny Ramirez*

C Johnny Roseboro*
IF Cal Ripken Jr.**
IF Scott Rolen*
OF Tim Raines Sr.*
OF Sam Rice**
PH/DH Al Rosen*

RHSP Nolan Ryan**
LHSP Eppa Rixey**
RHSP Robin Roberts**
RHSP Amos Rusie**
RHSP Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn**

CL Mariano Rivera*
LHRP Dave Righetti*
RHRP Jeff Reardon*
LHRP Kenny Rogers*
LONG-RH "Bullet" Joe Rogan**

Now seriously, this is the part where I usually challenge Bauxites to come up with a way to improve the team. But there's no way this team -- the first in our alphabet series to be made up entirely of Hall of Famers and All-Stars -- would finish worse than, say, 150-12 (or make that 144-10 in the old 154-game format) in a regular season, right? So what's left to add?

Posted by Mick Doherty on Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 12:01 AM EDT.

R is for Ruth, Rodriguez and Robinson (Wow!) | 15 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Shrike - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 03:01 AM EDT (#118203) #

I got nothing. That's a freakishly amazing roster.

Kenny Rogers, though, shouldn't really make the cut (as you admit), and I'm partial to having Tim Raines get some playing time in CF so he could bat leadoff, but that's just some personal bias creeping in.

CaramonLS - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 03:06 AM EDT (#118204) #

I want to add K-rod to that team, I just do not know how.

I know he doesn't have the experience. Maybe replace Righetti? His ERA is impressive, but he wasn't closer material, nor was his ERA really *that* much below league averages.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 09:52 AM EDT (#118211) #

K-Rod is a righty, isn't he? So by roster makeup, he wouldn't bump Rags (which you could make a better case for) but instead would have to bump Reardon, and the 16 years and 367 saves still trumps the short-career ERA+ of 188, I think.

Mike Green - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 10:16 AM EDT (#118212) #

Room for Roush and Rose, but not Raines? My heart is broken. If you're going to have the best darned power core imaginable, how can you not have a really top-flight leadoff man? Raines and Jackie would look wonderful at the top of that order.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 11:38 AM EDT (#118223) #

Sir, are you saying the All-Time hits leader is not a top-flight leadoff man?

Mike Green - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#118227) #

Not quite. There are 2 elements to an ideal leadoff hitter, the ability to get on base and speed. The first is obviously significantly more important, but you cannot ignore speed. Rickey Henderson and Tim Raines are the 2 leadoff hitters who combined the ability to get on base with terrific speed. After that you've got Boggs and Rose, who are definitely a notch down. Don't get me wrong; Rose was a great player for a long time (15 years).

Why do I imagine that Rickey Henderson will get a lesser percentage in the HoF vote than Boggs, even though he was a much better player?

Brett - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 01:25 PM EDT (#118237) #

An interesting starting rotation. Amos Rusie walked 289 batters in 1890, the single season record. Nolan Ryan and Bob Feller were the only 20th century pitchers to walk 200 batters in a season, and Ryan did it twice.

Roberts and Rixey both have the distinction of throwing 300 innings in a season while walking less than 50 batters. I wonder what effect that would have on opposition hitters, going from wild man to control freak, then another wild man, then another control freak...

The hot corner appears to be well covered. In addition to Brooks R., Rolen and Rosen, Rose, Ripken, A-Rod and Jackie R. are all capable backups at third base.

Shrike - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 06:03 PM EDT (#118256) #

The more I look at it, the more I'm more confident in saying that Raines should start in CF. Roush is simply not as good as Raines.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 09:15 PM EDT (#118266) #

Shrike, you may be right here. The easiest thing for me to do with these teams, of course, is to plug in the guys in the Hall of Fame to the starting lineup then fill the gaps and the bench with the rest. But, though this is certainly not a be-all, end-all, the numbers clearly favour Raines:

RAINES:
Black Ink: Batting - 20 (103) (Average HOFer ~ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 114 (171) (Average HOFer ~ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 46.8 (92) (Average HOFer ~ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 90.0 (165) (Likely HOFer > 100)

ROUSH
Black Ink: Batting - 14 (162) (Average HOFer ~ 27)
Gray Ink: Batting - 125 (139) (Average HOFer ~ 144)
HOF Standards: Batting - 35.9 (184) (Average HOFer ~ 50)
HOF Monitor: Batting - 71.5 (233) (Likely HOFer > 100)

Craig B - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 09:35 PM EDT (#118268) #

Raines really isn't up to CF, his arm was just too weak.

Mike Green - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 09:55 PM EDT (#118270) #

It would definitely be a demerit for Raines. He'd be a super-charged version of Mickey Rivers in centre, and perhaps stretching him in centre would not be worth the trouble.

I was commenting more on the aesthetics of lineup construction; having Raines/Jackie bat leadoff-2 to set up a A-Rod/Ruth/Robinson/Manny power core would be a beautiful thing.

Pistol - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 10:00 PM EDT (#118271) #

"Why do I imagine that Rickey Henderson will get a lesser percentage in the HoF vote than Boggs, even though he was a much better player?"

I'm not sure how you can't vote for Rickey.

Which reminds me of a question: What do you get if you cut Rickey Henderson in half?

Two Hall of Famers.

Mick Doherty - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 10:06 PM EDT (#118272) #

The fact that Roush actually played CF played into the original placement, but I assumed you Canadians remembered a young pre-Rock Raines who actually did play CF in Montreal, though I have no idea if he did. I remember him as a DH with the Yankees winning a ring in '96. Say, can you make the argument that Raines should DH and bump Manny Ramirez to the bench? I don't think I'd do that, but it's a possibility.

And Mickey RRRRivers, huh? What a shock he didn't make this team!

Shrike - Tuesday, May 31 2005 @ 10:53 PM EDT (#118277) #

I'm sure you could handle having a weak-armed CF on this team so you could have a top-flight leadoff man at the top of the order. Right, Craig?

Craig B - Thursday, November 17 2005 @ 08:54 AM EST (#132286) #

They've got one - Jackie Robinson. But yes, Raines would be very effective in front of Ruth, A-Rod and F. Robby.

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