Okay, maybe there should only be two candidates in this poll. Regardless -- who joins Delgado on the 1B/2B side of the All-Time Jays infield?
| Hudson '04 |  6 (2.97%) |
| Bush '99 | 0 (0.00%) |
| Alomar '93 | 192 (95.05%) |
| Lee '88 | 1 (0.50%) |
| Iorg '87 | 0 (0.00%) |
| Garcia '82 | 3 (1.49%) |
| McKay '78 | 0 (0.00%) |
202 votes | 11 featured comments
For the also rans who many here would be too young to know about...
Bush - part of the Clemens for Wells trade, had one great year for which Ash rewarded him way too well
Lee - was a rule 5 pick in '85 who was a solid SS/2B for the Jays at various times and was the regular shortstop in 92
Iorg - sadly his 87 will always be remembered for a very poor AB, his final one in the majors, which was the final out for the Jays season while Kelly Gruber, Ernie Whitt, Fred McGriff, and Willie Upshaw were sitting on the bench. Yes, most of those guys were lefties and the pitcher was a left hander but Iorg was 210/262/284 that year.
Damaso Garcia was fun to watch and read about back in the 80's. Very lively guy who would burn his uniform one day, steal a couple of bases the next, good range and could hit a ball a foot over his head but wouldn't walk if you begged him.
McKay - the mandatory Canadian on the 77 team.
Bush - part of the Clemens for Wells trade, had one great year for which Ash rewarded him way too well
Lee - was a rule 5 pick in '85 who was a solid SS/2B for the Jays at various times and was the regular shortstop in 92
Iorg - sadly his 87 will always be remembered for a very poor AB, his final one in the majors, which was the final out for the Jays season while Kelly Gruber, Ernie Whitt, Fred McGriff, and Willie Upshaw were sitting on the bench. Yes, most of those guys were lefties and the pitcher was a left hander but Iorg was 210/262/284 that year.
Damaso Garcia was fun to watch and read about back in the 80's. Very lively guy who would burn his uniform one day, steal a couple of bases the next, good range and could hit a ball a foot over his head but wouldn't walk if you begged him.
McKay - the mandatory Canadian on the 77 team.
Wow, 61 of the first 62 votes to Alomar? I figured it would be 80/20 or
75/25 or so. And this is the first one of these polls in which the
current Jays starter was not listed as an option. Sorry, Russ, just an
oversight on my part. To make up for it, we will not list John McDonald
in the shortstop poll next, either ... and honestly, neither of you
would get any votes anyway!
I still look forward to seeing which cap the HOF will choose for Mr. Alomar.
Although Hudson is my favourite current player, I voted Alomar.
Even if Alomar's defence was a B-, as I feel it was, he still was one
of the top 5 players in the league in his prime. Even Hudson's most
fearless advocate wouldn't suggest that he was in that class.
I still remember the excitement I felt when a friend called me to ask if I had heard about the big trade before the 1991 season.
I still remember the excitement I felt when a friend called me to ask if I had heard about the big trade before the 1991 season.
I love O-Dog. But Alomar was unbelievable defensively. It seemed like nothing ever got by him. Not to mention his bat. If you needed him to be a power hitter or a clutch single guy, he would adjust and become that. Score a run or two, save a run or two. Probably the best Jay ever. Catch that taste!
Adding to the praise of Alomar, I always saw him as the perfect #2 hitter, he hit for a great average, had some pop was great at laying a bunt down or going the other way to advance a runner, and a great base stealer. I will always remember him for stealing 3rd base more often than others, he just seemed to have a knack for it.
Alomar? I thought for sure Iorg was going to run away with it.
I will always remember him for stealing 3rd base more often than others, he just seemed to have a knack for it.
Another thing that Alomar would do regularly, that I've never seen other second baseman do is, nail a runner trying to advance from 2nd to 3rd on a groundball hit between 1st and 2nd. Always seemed to catch the poor guy by surprise.
Another thing that Alomar would do regularly, that I've never seen other second baseman do is, nail a runner trying to advance from 2nd to 3rd on a groundball hit between 1st and 2nd. Always seemed to catch the poor guy by surprise.
Always sad to look back at 96-98, the 3 seasons that the Jays should've had Alomar but Ash decided to wait until after the strike to negotiate because, as I recall from interviews he held, he though that the salaries would go down after it thus making Alomar cheaper to sign.
It says something about a player when he was viewed as showing a bad attitude when the Jays gave up in mid-1995. To me that is an aspect you have to like, the guy wants to win and nothing else. WIth Alomar at 2B in '98 instead of Grebeck I suspect the Jays might have made the playoffs (4 games out in the end) and then who knows with Clemens as your ace and guys like Hentgen, Carpenter, Guzman, Escobar in the rotation. The pen would've hurt (Quantril/Plesac then hope for the best) but it would've been interesting. Of course, Ash might have kept Sprague at third and Myers as the closer then and that would've killed it anyways.
It says something about a player when he was viewed as showing a bad attitude when the Jays gave up in mid-1995. To me that is an aspect you have to like, the guy wants to win and nothing else. WIth Alomar at 2B in '98 instead of Grebeck I suspect the Jays might have made the playoffs (4 games out in the end) and then who knows with Clemens as your ace and guys like Hentgen, Carpenter, Guzman, Escobar in the rotation. The pen would've hurt (Quantril/Plesac then hope for the best) but it would've been interesting. Of course, Ash might have kept Sprague at third and Myers as the closer then and that would've killed it anyways.
John, Alomar made over $6 million per annum in 97-98. Clemens made over $8 million. I doubt that the organization could have afforded both.