http://economics.about.com
It was a great idea. Kudos Mike G!

Here's my team:

LINEUP

C Mike MacFarlane
1B Mark McGwire
2B Mark McLemore
SS Marty Marion
3B Marty McManus
OF Minnie Minoso
OF Mickey Mantle
OF Mike Marshall

BENCH

C Milt May
UT Melvin Mora
UT Mike Mordecai
UT Mario Mendoza (I had to include him solely on notoriety)
PH Manny Mota
OF Matt Mieske
OF Mike Mitchell

PITCHING

SP Mike Mussina
SP Matt Morris
SP Mark Mulder
SP Mike Morgan
SP Mike Moore

RP Mike Marshall
RP Matt Mantei
RP Mike Maddux
RP Mike Myers
RP Mike Magnante

I'm probably missing some decent guys from the 20's and 30's, so it might not be the best possible MM team, but I think it'd do pretty well. Bullpen isn't spectacular and I could use another good outfielder, but I think it would do well in a sim.

MM

C Charlie Bennett
1B Curt Blefary
2B Craig Biggio
3B Clete Boyer
SS Charlie Babb
LF Carson Bigbee
CF "Cool Papa" Bell
RF Carlos Beltran
DH Carlos Baerga

Lucky Mascot Clay Bellinger

SP "Chief" Bender
SP Charlie Buffinton
SP Cy Blanton
SP Chris Bosio
SP Clint Brown

RP Chad Bradford

In a short series, having Bender (and Buffinton) at the top of the rotation gives us a chance against Mike's boys. But aside from the best 1-2 punch in the history of baseball at the top of the lineup, the hitting is weak and the defense blah, and my pitching depth is awful.

I like James's comment, relayed by Mike, that he also thought that the JC team would be awfully good. I have to agree! Particularly their #1 starter, who could walk on water.

Short career, though, he was done by 33.

By the way, the trick to getting a list of every player with initials is to go to Baseball-Reference, and enter the initials in the "Player Search" box separated by a space, like this:

c b

Simple! You get everyone that way.

For Mike's gus, Mike Mowrey was a much better reserve infielder than Mordecai.

http://economics.about.com
Cool feature. I missed a few guys, including Mickey Morandini. I also missed Ozzie Guillen (search for m m).

Cheers,

Mike

My team sucks.

C: vacant
1B: Mike Epstein
2B: Mark Ellis
SS: Mike Eden
3B: Morgan Ensberg
OF: Mario Encarnacion
OF: Marshall Edwards
OF: Mike Easler
Bench: Mike Edwards (IF), Mike Edwards (OF), Mutz Ens
SP: Mal Eason
RP: Mark Eichhorn
RP: Mark Esser
RP: Mark Ettles

First, I'm going to have nothing but passed balls. Second, my outfield defense is quite inferior. Third, my shortstop is nothing in particular. And fourth, my starting rotation, um, lacks depth.

Gentle Boxers,
Doc's Boys (What else to call the "MD" team?) really and truly blows. We are ready to take on the 2003 Tigers and be totally humbled. We sure could use Negro League Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo, let me tell ya.

We have 25 pitchers who have appeared in the bigs, with the most common career record at 0-1. We have cobbled together the following starting rotation:
Murry Dickson (172-181)
Mike Dunne (25-30)
And uh ... well, none of the other guys lasted more than a year, so it'll be "Dickson and Dunn and Then Give Up a Ton."

Fortunately, our bullpen includes former Cy Young winner Mark Davis, former 30-save guy Mike DeJean and do-everything stalwart Moe Drabowsky. Those three ought to be good for keeping the team ERA under 12.00.

But what we lack in pitching, we make up for with our anemic offense! Of the 23 position players eligible for our roster, five are weak-hitting catchers, so we're deep in that area! The best of the lot is Mike DiFelice. Think about the enormity of that statement. Mariano Duncan is going to hit third. Think about the awesome enormity of that statement.

Here's the starting lineup, such as it is:

Miguel Dilone, LF
Mike DeRosa, 3B
Mariano Duncan, 2B
Mike Davis, CF
Mike Devereaux, RF
Mike Diaz, 1B
Mike Difelice, C
Mickey Doolan, SS
Mike Donlin, DH

Donlin is chosen primarily because he was apparently also a vaudeville star so he can do all kinds of sideline routines to distract the teams Many Distraught (MD, get it?) fans.

After I posted this, it occured to me that Mariano is the only guy in Doc's Boys starting lineup not named some variation of "Michael."

I do not know what this means.

C Johnny Romano
1B John Reilly
2B Jackie Robinson
3B Joe Randa
SS Jose Reyes
LF Jimmy Ripple
CF Johnny Rucker
RF Jim Rice
DH Joe Rudi

C Jack Rowe
IF Jody Reed
IF Jerry Royster
OF Juan Rivera
OF Jim Rivera

SP J.R. Richard
SP Jose Rijo
SP Jose Rosado
SP J.C. Romero
SP Jack Russell
RP Jeff Reardon
RP John Rocker
RP Jeff Russell
RP Jeff Robinson
RP Jerry Reed
RP Jim Roland

I can't complain too much about this team (especially if Reyes is the next great thing).

Thanks Craig for the tip. I don't know why, but I don't get Bill Russell when I do the "b r" search.

Anyways the JC team might look like this:

Of- Jose Cruz Sr.
Jose Canseco
Joe Carter
3b- Jimmy Collins
ss- Joe Cronin
2b- Joey Cora
1b- Jack Clark
c-?

Sp- Jack Chesbro
John Clarkson (19th century great)
John Candelaria
Joe Coleman
Jim Clancy

Rp- Jose Contreras
Jim Corsi
Jim Colborn
John Cerutti

Bench- Johnny Callison
Jeff Conine
Joe Cunningham
Julio Cruz
Joe Crede

Boy, am I ever envious.

The IG Pops (get it? get it?) have a roster of...3. We do have a two-time all-star, outfielder Ival Goodman, but the other two are lousy. We have one year (not really a) wonder pitcher Izzy Goldstein, who was all right but nothing special for Detroit in 1932, and spectacularly punchless first baseman Ivy Griffin. I'm reminded of a book I read when I was little about an anthropomorphic spider pitching a perfect game with only a catcher and a first baseman on her team. Unfortunately, I don't think Goldstein is that good.

Because "Bill Russell" is listed as "William Russell" in the Baseball Encyclopedia (or at least I presume so).

I'd think we'd have to have a Rules Clarification on use of nicknames, though "Bill" seems fine especially if "Babe" is used instead of "George" (see above).

And my home team is:

OF- Marquis Grissom
Mike Greenwell
dreck

3b- Mike Gazella
ss- Mike Gallego
2b- Marcus Giles
1b- Mark Grace
c- Mike Guerra

sp- Mike Garcia
Mudcat Grant
Mark Gubicza
Marv Goodwin
Mark Gardner

rp- Marv Grissom (effective closer for the 54 Giants)
Mark Guthrie
Mike Gallo
(more dreck)

Our starting pitching and defence would keep us in most games, but not enough O to be a contenda.

We sure could use Negro League Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo, let me tell ya.

Well, use him. Nobody said it had to be MLB players. I used Cool Bell, after all.

Donlin is chosen primarily because he was apparently also a vaudeville star so he can do all kinds of sideline routines to distract the teams Many Distraught (MD, get it?) fans.

Turkey Mike could really, really rake though. But he was a DH a hundred years before his time... his defensive stats look like Danny Tartabull's.

I just noticed that Jason's team has Jackie Robinson and John Rocker. Could be interesting.

There's no point in even trying to make a KW team; very little support on offence or defence for Kerry Wood. We could beat the IG Pops.

The WM team, featuring Mays and McCovey, would be pretty good if guys who went by "Bill" are OK as William -- Madlock, Mazeroski, Mueller, Monbouquette, Melton et al.

The RC team is even better than the list above suggests.

Starters:
C : Roy Campanella (HoF)
1B: Roger Connor (HoF)
2B: Rod Carew (HoF)
3B: Ron Cey (All-Star)
SS: Ray Chapman
OF: Roberto Clemente (HoF)
OF: Rocky Colavito (All-Star)
OF: Roy Cullenbine (All-Star)
DH: Rico Carty (All-Star)

Bench (rather weak):
C : Rick Cerone
3B: Ron Coomer
SS: Royce Clayton
(2B: none)
OF: Ray Coleman
OF: Roger Cedeno

Pitchers:
SP: Roger Clemens
SP: Ray Collins
SP: Rip Collins
SP: Roger Craig
SP: Russ Christopher
(all with *ERA+ > 100)

RP: Rick Camp
RP: Ray Culp
RP: Rheal Cormier
RP: Ray Caldwell
RP: one of Ray Crone/Rocky Coppinger/Rip Coleman

Manager: Roger Connor or Roger Craig as player/manager

That's one heck of a team, so long as you don't touch the bench (except for defensive purposes)

The all GP team might strike fear into the hearts of the Detroit Tigers but I frankly doubt it. I do have one hall of famer and a couple of Jays connections though:

c gino petralli
1b gerald perry
2b geronimo pena
3b greg pryor
ss gus polidor
of gary pettis
of george puccinelli
of gracie pierce

sp1 gaylord perry
sp2 gary peters
sp3 george pipgras
sp4 gene packard
sp5 George Pechiney

relief gene pentz

pitching coach gil patterson

My all-birthday team sucked too :(

These aren't my real initials, but I thought I'd give it a shot.
However, my team would have a lineup featuring one-time all-star Steve Kemp, several utility players, and 4 cardboard cutouts. My bullpen consisted of Steve Karsay and a bunch of journeymen. Oh, and my rotation was topped by 19th-century ace Silver King and some skinny Jewish kid from the '60s. Oh well....

A mixed bag. No HOFers but three All-Stars. Unfortunately, two are catchers (and played at the same time!)

OPS+ or ERA+ in parentheses:
C: Sherm Lollar (104)
1B: Sam Leslie (116)
2B: Steve Lombardozzi (76)
3B: Scott Livingstone (86)
SS: Sam Laroque (100)
OF: Sixto Lezcano (124)
OF: Steve Lyons (77) (yuck...)
OF: Scott Lusader (85)

SP: Sam Leever (123)
SP: Skip Lockwood (100)
SP: Sean Lowe (95)
SP: Slim Love (94)
RP: Sparky Lyle (127)
RP: Scott Linebrink (102)
RP: Scott Lewis (85)
RP: Steve Luebber (78)

Other catcher: Stan Lopata
Other name of note: Stephen Larkin, who (like me) attended the University of Texas and (unlike me) was drafted by the Texas Rangers.

The L.S. team is terrible (with a couple of exceptions)

C Luke Sewell
1B Lee Stevens
2B Len Sakata
3B Luis Salazar
SS Luis Sojo
OF Lonnie Smith
OF Larry Stahl
OF LeRoy Stanton
DH Larry Sheets

SP Larry Sorensen, Lefty Stewart, and (this is the GREATEST BASEBALL NAME THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN, AND WOULD CERTAINLY BE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE L.S. TEAM) Lil Stoner.

RP Larry Sherry and Lee Smith

My R.A. team is awful. When you have to use Ruben Amaro Senior and Junior, you know you've got problems.

C: Bob Allietta (the only time I'll cheat)
1B: Rogelio Alvarez
2B: Roberto Alomar
3B: Ruben Amaro Sr.
SS: Rich Aurilia
OF: Ruben Amaro Jr.
OF: Rod Allen
OF: Rich Aude

SP: Red Ames
SP: Rick Ankiel
SP: Rene Arocha
SP: Rolando Arrojo
SP: Raleigh Aitchison
RP: Rick Aguilera
RP: Red Anderson
RP: Rick Austin
RP: Rick A. Anderson
RP: Rudy Arias

I'll put it this way: my team's best players go like this.

1. Jimmie Foxx
2. Julio Franco
3. John Franco

4. Jeff Fassero....

and it gets worse from there. But I have catching covered (Jorge Fabregas, John Flaherty, Joe Ferguson) and a great collection of managerial Jims (Jim Fanning, Jim Fregosi, Jim Frye, Jim Fogarty). There's been only one Jordan, but at least he's Canadian.

However, as Gideon Clarke, I'm doing better, including what I think is the best initial battery you'll find anywhere:

SP Grover Cleveland Alexander ;-)
C Gary Carter

and more:

SP Gene Conley (AS)
SP General Crowder (AS)
RP Greg Cadaret

1B George Crowe(AS)

OF George Case (AS)
OF Gino Comoli (AS)
OF Greg Colbrunn

Manager: George Cravath
Pitching Coach: Galen Cisco

And, er, that's it.

Geez, I'd think the R.A. team would make room for R.A. Dickey!

The greatest thing about these "rosters" are the hey-I-haven't-thought-of-him-in-15-years moments. Scott Lusader! Future All-Star! Didn't quite work out that way!

It'd be fun if we could work a way to use the WhatIfSports engine to run a playoff among these teams. As long as it's one game at a time and I can start Murry Dickson every game, I'll take my chances with that slacker Mays-McCovey team.

Jordan, at least your JF team (the JF Pops, I assume) will have the best 7th Inning Stretch music, with John Fogarty's "Centerfield."

You'll have a hard time beating the JS pitching staff:

SP Joe Sewell
SP Johnny Sain
SP John Smoltz
SP Jason Schmidt
SP John Smiley

RP Johan Santana
RP Julio Solano
RP Joe Sambito
CL Jeff Shaw

The SS Minnows, with OPS+ and ERA+. We're World Series bound.

The Starting Nine:
C - Sy Sutcliffe (106)
1B - Scott Spiezio (98)
2B - Stuffy Stirnweiss (102): ALL-STAR
3B - Sammy Strang (113)
SS - Sibby Sisti (79)
LF - Shannon Stewart (110)
CF - Stan Spence (125): ALL-STAR
RF - Sammy Sosa (133): ALL-STAR
DH - Steve Souchock (106)

The Bench:
Steve Sax (95): ALL-STAR
Scott Servais (80)
Shane Spencer (96)
Scott Stahoviak (91)
Steve Scarsone (80)

The Pitchers:
SP - Sonny Siebert (110): ALL-STAR
SP - Scott Sanderson (102): ALL-STAR
SP - Steve Stone (97): ALL-STAR
SP - Spec Shea (99): ALL-STAR
SP - Slim Sallee (113)

RP - Scott Sullivan (114)
RP - Scott Strickland (134)
RP - Scot Shields (169)
RP - Sammy Stewart (110)
RP - Scott Saurbeck (120)
RP - Steve Swetonic (107)

I don't know what the better baseball name is: Sy, Stuffy, Sibby, Sonny, Spec or Slim?

When is John Gizzi going to step up with his Jeremy-Giambi-led JG team?

cf Brett Butler
2b Bret Boone
rf Barry Bonds
lf Bobby Bonds
dh Bobby Bonilla
1b Bill Buckner
3b Buddy Bell
ss Bob Bailor
c Bob Boone

sp Bud Black
sp Bert Blyleven
sp Britt Burns
sp Bo Belinsky

rp Bobby Bolin (10 svs his last season, 50 lifetime)

mgr Bruce Bochy
gm Billy Beane

The JG team looks to be very good. Mr. Gizzi step up. The RD team will have a fine if frightening pitching staff, led by Ryne Duren and Rob Dibble, and some Canadian connections. Your calls, Mr. Dudek.

Thanks for your contributions, Bauxites. I had fun with it.

WB
It was so difficult to find good hitters that I'm going to make it an NL team :-) I tried to keep the number of "Bills" down, but it's tough.

(OPS+/ERA+)

2B Wally Backman (94) Career .349 OBP and 117 SB's
3B Wade Boggs (130)
CF Wally Berger (138)
1B William "Bill" Buckner (99)
RF Walt Bond (109)
LF William "Bill" Bagwell (94)
SS Willie Bloomquist (91)
C William "Bill" Baker (79)
P

SP Wally Bunker (100)
SP Wayne Belardi (100)
SP Willie Banks (90)
SP Wally Burnette (115)
SP Wade Blasingame (77)

RP Warren Brusstar (109)
RP Win Ballou (85)
RP Willie Blair (88)
RP Walter Beall (90)

In deference to John Gizzi and my real last name, I'm proud to present the JM team. These initials serve me well... I could probably make a respectable team from the J Mc's alone. As it was, the pool of JM's was over 250 names long.

I'll take on Jordan's JS pitchers anytime, and I'll whip Spicol's SS team in the World Series.

SP Juan Marichal (Hall of Famer, ERA+ 122)
SP Joe McGinnity (HOF, 121)
SP Jim Maloney (All-Star, 115)
SP Jon Matlack (AS, 114)
SP Jack McDowell (AS, 111)

RP Jeff Montgomery (AS, 134)
RP Johnny Murphy (AS, 116)
RP Johnny Morrison (112)
RP Jamie Moyer (AS, 109)
RP Jack Morris (AS, 105)
RP John Montefusco (AS, 103)
RP Jim Merritt (AS, 98)

Outrighted to the minors were "All-Star" pitchers Jose Mesa, Joe Mays, and Jim McGlothlin.

I'm not quite as deep in hitting, but I do feature 3 more Hall of Famers (4 if you count the Rock and Roll HOF):

C Jerry Moses (AS, OPS+ 89)
1B Johnny Mize (HOF, 158)
2B Joe Morgan (HOF, 132)
SS Jim Morrison (98)
3B Jeff Manto (93)
OF Joe Medwick (HOF, 134)
OF Johnny Moore (111)
OF Jerry Mumphrey (AS, 108)
DH John Mayberry (AS, 122)

Bench

1B/OF John Milner (112)
1B/C Jose Morales (103)
OF Jo-Jo Moore (AS, 105)
OF Jerry Morales (AS, 91)

Note that on this roster, the least amount of service time is Joe McGinnity's 10 years.

The manager is Hall of Famer John McGraw, owner of 10 pennants and 7 World Series titles. His bench coach is Hall of Famer Joe McCarthy, no slouch himself with 8 pennants and 3 World Series titles. Management is considering the unusual maneuver of having two bench coaches, in order to accommodate Jack McKeon.

Hey Coach, I'll commit to buying season's tickets if that will convince you to start up a KW team.

Well, the GN team is going to be one of the worst (if not THE worst)... lots of empty space on the field, I think I'll need to press my bullpen into middle infield duty...

OF: Greasy Neale (94)
OF: George Noftsker (worst player in the all-initial league? Maybe. OPS+ of -73, he played in 8 games, though he only got to "hit" in 7 of them... five in the outfield, three as a catcher. In those three games he caught? -Seven- passed balls and -three- errors. So I guess he's my backup catcher, but God help us if Gus goes down...).
3B: Graig Nettles (110) Easily the best player on the team.
1B: Greg Norton (89) Played more at third than Graig, but no way he bumps my best player out of position.
C: Gus Niarhos (89)

SP: Gary Nolan (ERA+ of 116. Actually a pretty good pitcher, and an All Star.
SP: George Nicol (ERA+ of 69 in 15 games, 11 starts... ugh)
RP: Gary Neibauer (ERA+ of 78 in 75 career games...)
RP: Gene Nelson (ERA+ of 98... he'll probably be my "closer" Had a pretty good season in 1990)

George Noftsker (worst player in the all-initial league? Maybe.

Hardest name to pronounce? Definitely. That "ftsk" combo is a real bitch.

Couldn't resist doing some for others. My wife's team is SG and it's a narrow talent pool:

C The Original Pudge... Sid Gautreaux!
1B Steve Garvey
2B Shawn Gilbert
3B Sid Gordon
SS Sam Gillen
LF Sandy Griffin (.873 career fielding percentage, but he could HIT)
CF Scarborough Green
RF Shawn Green
DH Stan "Stash" Goletz (a .600 career hitter but never played a single inning in the field)

SP Sad Sam Gray
SP Steve Gromek
SP Sam Gibson
SP "Skinny" Graham
SP Seth Greisinger

RP Scott Garrelts

Seven of these guys (Garvey, Gordon, Shawn Green, Gray, Gromek, Gibson, and Garrelts) could actually play.

Just missing out is the immortal Steve Gerkin, who managed a career ERA+ of 95 but a career record of 0-12.

So, I gleefully went to B-Ref to make up the "SW" team, and couldn't come even close to filling out a lineup card. So I retrieved my rarely-used first initial, "D", and put together the split "D/S W" roster. The team strengths are on the mound; starring Wood & Wells & Ward, the outfield; where I have one Hall of Famer in Dave Winfield and several All-Stars who won Gold Gloves as well as hit, and a fine manager in the dugout in Dick Williams. Team defense is a strength.

It should be noted, in all fairness, that some of the infield All-Star notations below are for players with relatively short careers and peaked early. Shawn Wooten should be a bench player; given the impressive outfield depth featuring Devon White and Dave Winfield as locks to play in the field given their impressive defensive contributions, either Walker or Wakefield could slide over to 1B, displacing Wooten to pinch-hitting duties. The middle infield is relatively unimpressive, all in all, of the mediocre-hitting, good-fielding variety. Where my team really shines is on the mound, with both quality and quantity of pitchers in the rotation and in the bullpen. Dick Williams is no slouch at manager, either.

C Sammy White or Dan Wilson (All-Star)
1B Shawn Wooten
2B Davey Williams (All-Star)
SS Sam Wise (19th century)
3B Don Wert (All-Star)
OF Dixie Walker (All-Star)
OF Dick Wakefield (All-Star)
OF Sam West (All-Star)
OF Devon White (All-Star)
OF Dave Winfield (HoF)

SP “Smokey” Joe Wood
SP David Wells (All-Star)
SP Stan Williams (All-Star)
SP Dontrelle Willis(All-Star)
SP Stump Wiedman

RP Scott Williamson (All-Star)
RP Duane Ward (All-Star)
RP Steve Woodard

Manager: Dick Williams

Coach's KW team... he wasn't kidding. Like with SG, there's barely a team here.

C "Kettle" Wirts
1B Kevin Witt (gulp)
2B Vacant. Coach, wanna play second today?
3B Kenny Williams (double gulp)
SS Kermit Wahl
LF Ken Williams
CF Ken Wood
RF Ken Walters

SP Kerry Wood
SP Kip Wells
SP Kirby White
SP Kemp Wicker
SP Kaiser Wilhelm (You HAVE to have Kaiser Wilhelm, even if he did go 56-105. 56-105 as a pitcher, and 83-137 as a manager. Ouch.)

RP Kelly Wunsch
RP Kevin Wicklander
RP Kevin Walker

I don't know what the better baseball name is... Sibby?

Alls I knows is, I will never ever ever ever ever write a song about Sibby.

Well, this is a fun topic, and in the hopes of putting together a better team, I decided to run my wife's maiden name initials... so here's the JB team! OPS+ and ERA+ in parenthesis, I used middle names where possible to fill out the team (this got a couple more HoFers on the team).
That starting lineup is KILLER. I had a hard time picking my 1B man, with four HoF calibre 1B men available to me. The outfield is also scary good, with HoF level talent all around and good defence from Barfield and Cool Papa Bell. My bench depth is a little weak, at least on defence, but it's frighteningly powerful, and I have some backup infielders in the minors ready to fill in. The pitching staff isn't as awe-inspiring overall, but it's still very solid, with lots of talent over all. It's at least league average, and with that offence, that's probably more than enough.

C: Johnny Bench (126, HoF)
1B: Dan Joseph Brouthers (170, HoF)
2B: Jay Bell (101, AS)
SS: Jeff Blauser (102, AS)
3B: John Frank "Home Run" Baker (135, HoF, went by Frank)
OF: James "Cool Papa" Bell (HoF, played in the Negro Leagues).
OF: Jesse Barfield (117, AS)
OF: Jesse Burkett (140, HoF, hit .400 three times)
DH: Alfred "Joey" Belle (143, AS)

Bench:
Jeff Bagwell 1B (153, AS)
Jake Beckley 1B (125, HoF)
Jeff Burroughs OF (121, AS, MVP in 74)
Dave James "Beauty" Bancroft SS (99, HoF, futility infielder, known for defence)
Johnny Bassler C (104, ranked top 10 in MVP voting 3 times...)

SP:
Jim Bunning (114, HoF, workhorse for much of his career, threw a perfect game and one other no-hitter).
Josh Beckett (121, and most likely the best is yet to come)
Joe Benz (119)
A.J. Burnett (108)
Jesse Barnes (105)

RP:

Jim Brewer (111, had a few good seasons as a relief ace, racking up 132 saves in the late 60's/early 70's).
Jeff Brantley (114, also had a few good "closer" type seasons).
Jim Bouton (99, AS, also known as bulldog. Would be the long man out of the pen, started half as many games as he got into).
Joe Borowski (123)
Jim Barr (105)
Joe Beggs (122)

In the Minors, ready to step in:

Jim Bottomley 1B (125, HoF)
Jeremy Burnitz OF (117, AS)
Jay Buhner OF (124, AS)
Jimmy Brown 2B (84, AS, futility infielder)
Johnny Berardino (77, futility infielder)
John Burkett (99, AS)
Jason Bere (86, AS)

About Cool Papa Bell: A talented center fielder with blazing speed, James "Cool Papa" Bell was arguably the fastest man to ever play professional baseball. He began his career as a knuckleball pitcher and earned his famous nickname as a rookie by striking out Oscar Charleston with the game on the line. He later became a leadoff hitter and stolen base artist for three Negro leagues dynasties: the St. Louis Stars of the late 1920s, the Pittsburgh Crawfords of the 1930s and the Homestead Grays of the mid-1940s

Here they are... the extremely medicore MB team.

C
MICHAEL BARRETT

1st
MILT BYRNES

2nd
MAX BISHOP - Philly 30's superstar. Not really, but a good hitter.

SS
MIKE BORDICK - The greatest fielding shortstop ever.

3rd
MIKE BENJAMIN

RF
MILTON BRADLEY - Better suited for RF anyways.

CF
MARLON BYRD

LF
MICKEY BRANTLEY - Seattle LF in late 80's.

Bench
C - MATT BATTS
IF - MARK BELLHORN
OF - MIKE BLOWERS

Starting Pitchers
MARK BALDWIN - 34 wins in 1890.
MIGUEL BATISTA - Future Toronto pitcher?
MIKE BIELECKI - 18 - 7 in 1989.
MIKE BODDICKER - 17 - 8 in 1990.
MARK BUEHRLE

Relief Pitchers
MIKE BARLOW - Toronto pitcher, early 80's.
MARTY BYSTROM
MIKE BUTCHER
MIKE BEARD

My rotation isn't actually too bad. But overall, the team is terrible. Out of all my batters, maybe one hit over .280 in more then two seasons. So terribly sad.

Thanks Geoff. Bill James once wrote about a couple of JBs who didn't have great numbers but who had solid MVP support (oops, maybe that's sensitive territory right now). Anyways, Johnny Bassler was one, and Jimmy Brown, a third baseman for the Cardinals, who despite having mediocre numbers had more MVP support than Musial, Marty Marion and Jo jo moore for a couple of years. So, even if Dan Brouthers and Homerun Baker are ineligible, you've got capable replacements ready in Bagwell and Brown.

The greatest thing about these "rosters" are the hey-I-haven't-thought-of-him-in-15-years moments. Scott Lusader!

The exact same thought ran through my head when I saw Lusader's name.

And then it happened again when I ran into Jerry Don Gleaton.

Anyone want to step up and sim some of these squads? It'd be fun.

I'll play, Shrike. Name the time and place and sim-stadium.

And then it happened again when I ran into Jerry Don Gleaton.

Ooh, one of my favorites. I actually got his autograph at Tiger Stadium when I was about 14. If I remember, both he and John Henry Johnson pitched for the Rangers, long before I conceived of LIVING in Dallas, and solidifying my perception that Texans had three names.

I'll take you up on your offer, Mick, but I'll have to purchase or borrow a baseball sim first. Which is something I've been meaning to do anyways. If I can get some expert opinions to help me decide on which title is most worthy of my time and money, I'd be able to tackle this fun off-season project at your convenience.

Skate on over to baseballmogul.com and have a look at baseball mogul online... my obsession.

Okay, they don't have a catcher, and their bullpen is suspect, but I'll put my W.M. team up against anyone in a short series.

1B Willie McCovey
2B Bill Mazeroski
3B Bill Madlock
SS Walter (Rabbit) Maranville
OF Willie Montanez
OF Willie Mays
OF Willie McGee
DH Bill Mueller

SP Wilton (Vinegar Bend) Mizell
SP Wade Miller
SP Bill Monboquette
SP Walt Masteron

RP William (Guillermo) Mota

Manager: Billy Martin

A few unscientific observations, after perusing the rosters I've seen so far.

The best defensive SS whose initials are MB: Mark Belanger, not Mike Bordick.

Most impressive overall entry: the "JB" squad, although I'm a bit dubious regarding Belle's inclusion. The "RCs" are awfully close, too.

Most impressive starting nine: the "BB" lineup. Absolutely fantastic speed and defense in the outfield, with the father-son combination providing all the power and Butler all the bunt singles; tremendous base-stealing, obviously; almost equally impressive infield defense from the Boones and Buddy Bell, complete with very decent hitting. If the "BB" pitchers were a bit better, they'd displace the "JB" squad as best overall. Honorable mentions to the "JC" & "WM" starting nine.

Best pitching staff: A tie between the "JS" and "JM" moundsmen. The "MM" staff is notable, as well, but fall a bit short.

When Belle first came up to the bigs, he was known as Joey, and later changed it to Albert, "The ballplayer formerly known as Joey".

There have been a total of 32 D.T.'s in major league history, eight of which only came up for a cup of coffee.

2B Derrel Thomas
3B Dick Tracewski
SS Dickie Thon
OF Danny Tartabull
OF Doug Taitt
OF Danny Thomas

rotation:
P Dizzy Trout
P Dummy Taylor
P Dave Telgheder
P Dennis Tankersley
pray for rain.

closer Dick "Dirt" Tidrow
bullpen:
Dave Tomlin
Dick Tomanek
Dave Tobik
Derrick Turnbow

reserve:
IF Danny Thompson
OF Don Taussig
OF Dick Tettelbach
OF Danny Taylor

You will note that I have no catcher or first baseman. So I borrowed D.T. Cromer to play first, and have paid Mickey Tettleton a certain unspecified sum of money to become Dickey Tettleton.

My team is still extremely awful. Tartabull will demand a trade before Memorial Day, using the name Daniel Tartabull Mora (in Latin fashion). Owner Dan Topping will not be happy.

http://economics.about.com
I think some of the player selections are stretching it a bit.

Can I have Marvelous Willie Mays and Malcontent Eddie Murray? They'd sure help my team. :)

Cheers,

Mike

The "RH" team. It features two members of the "Inner Circle" of the Hall of Fame, even though one of them isn't eligible to be elected yet in Rickey Henderson (Rogers Hornsby is the other). Roy Halladay is the staff ace, but isn't helped much by the rest of the starting rotation, although that could change as Rich Harden and Runelvys Hernandez continue their careers. Two good relievers can snuff out rallies in the later innings in Roberto Hernandez and Rick Honeycutt, and the catching is definitely good and deep. Rex Hudler is definitely sub-par in the outfield, though, as is Hebner at first base.

C Ramon Hernandez (AS)/Rollie Helmsley (AS)/Randy Hundley (AS)
1B Richie Hebner (played 75% of his career at 3B, 25% at 1B)
2B Rogers Hornsby (HoF)
SS Ron Hansen (AS)
3B Jim Ray Hart (AS)
OF Rickey Henderson (AS & inevitable HoF)
OF Richard Hidalgo
OF Rex Hudler

SP Roy Halladay (AS)
SP Rich Harden
SP Rick Helling
SP Ray Herbert (AS)
SP Runelvys Hernandez

RP Roberto Hernandez (AS)
RP Rick Honeycutt (AS)

Manager: Rogers Hornsby

Bench

Ron Hunt (2B; AS)
Several competent catchers

ERA+ or OPS+ listed after, with best season in parenthesis

Ca Dick Brown 82 (105)
1b Dan Brouthers 170 (206)
2b Dick Bartell 96 (125) (cheating 1679 at ss, 114 at 2b)
3b Don Buford 115 (153)
SS Dave Bancroft 98 (120)
OF Dusty Baker 116 (142)
OF Derek Bell 100 (125)
OF Dante Bichette 106 (130)
DH Don Bayler 118 (145)

SP Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd 101 (133)
SP Dave Burba 100 (118)
SP Dick Bosman 93 (159)
SP Dick Boswell 99 (115)
SP David Bush

Bench
OF Danny Baustia 83 (119)
CA Damon Berryhill 77 (93)
3B,2B David Bell 85 (108)
SS Don Buddin 91 (111)
SS Donie Bush 91 (116)
3B,2B,SS Dave Berg 87 (115)

Relievers
Denny Baez 113 (180)
Doug Brocail 113 (195)
Doug Bair 103 (180)
Dave Baldwin 108 (186)
Dennis Boucher 76 (218)

Two HOF (Brouthers and Bancroft). Infield defence would be very good, while alot of balls would get to the wall in the outfield. Pitching staff completely average. Offence would be carring the team.