As John Northey put it, "there are many second basemen and shortstops who were fantastic but rarely are two greats playing together." So who's the #1 combo?
| Whitaker / Trammell |  44 (29.33%) |
| Morgan / Concepcion | 22 (14.67%) |
| Alomar / Vizquel | 51 (34.00%) |
| Fox / Aparacio | 2 (1.33%) |
| Robinson / Reese | 21 (14.00%) |
| Doerr / Stephens | 1 (0.67%) |
| Herr / Smith | 1 (0.67%) |
| Larkin / Boone | 2 (1.33%) |
| Hornsby / Jackson | 6 (4.00%) |
| Gordon / Boudreau | 0 (0.00%) |
150 votes | 5 featured comments
Apologies to other combos nominated as the poll limits options to 10
... I removed duos that replicated one member of another that is
listed. Picking which Alomar combo to post was toughest -- Ripken or
Vizquel? Although, Gordon with which Hall of Famer, Rizzuto or
Boudreau, wasn't easy either, nor was Jackson with, again, which Hall
of Famer -- Frisch or Hornsby?
Please feel free to object to or contradict the choices I made for the final 10. Thanks for stopping by the booth:
Please feel free to object to or contradict the choices I made for the final 10. Thanks for stopping by the booth:
- Alomar/Fernandez
- Alomar/Ripken
- Gordon/Rizzuto
- Frisch/Jackson
Alomar and Ripken, I would have had to think about.
I went with Pee Wee and Jack, by a hair over Morgan and Concepcion. I really respect the Whitaker/Trammell choices because they played two decades together and were both great, but I went with year-by-year value rather than career value as a duo.
I went with Pee Wee and Jack, by a hair over Morgan and Concepcion. I really respect the Whitaker/Trammell choices because they played two decades together and were both great, but I went with year-by-year value rather than career value as a duo.
Are there really people here who can vouch for Hornsby and Jackson? I mean, it's hard to vote (as I did) for two non-hall of famers (Whitaker and Trammel) over two hall of famers (Hornsby and Jackson), but who is to say that Jackson makes it into the hall of fame with today's understanding of baseball? Jackson was in the top 10 in MVP voting 4 times, but it's gotta be for something that doesn't appear in the numbers.
Speaking of Whitaker and Trammel - has there ever been a combination (at any positions) like that in baseball? Two guys that have a short call-up in the same year, their rookie year together the following year, play on the same team for 19 seasons, and have nearly identical statistics at the end of their career (they're #2 and #3 the most similar players for each other according to baseball reference).
Speaking of Whitaker and Trammel - has there ever been a combination (at any positions) like that in baseball? Two guys that have a short call-up in the same year, their rookie year together the following year, play on the same team for 19 seasons, and have nearly identical statistics at the end of their career (they're #2 and #3 the most similar players for each other according to baseball reference).
Bill James once pointed out that Ray Schalk and Wally Schang not only
were catchers at the same time, and sat next to each other in the
Baseball Encyclopedia, but ended their careers with the same number of
at-bats. Schang was the better hitter, of course.
Not quite up to Trammell/Whitaker but the trio in Milwaukee was interesting...
Robin Yount - 1974-1993
Paul Molitor - 1978-1992 (93-98 elsewhere)
Jim Gantner - 1976-1992
So from 1978 to 1992 the three of them were on the same team. Yount was first at short, then center. Gantner at second mainly but spent a lot of time at third too. Molitor started at 2B/SS, moved to the OF briefly, then to third, back to 2B, then at 1B before coming here. Lots of DH time from year one for Moli thanks to his regular injuries.
15 years for 3 guys to be together on one team has to be close to a record if not the record.
Robin Yount - 1974-1993
Paul Molitor - 1978-1992 (93-98 elsewhere)
Jim Gantner - 1976-1992
So from 1978 to 1992 the three of them were on the same team. Yount was first at short, then center. Gantner at second mainly but spent a lot of time at third too. Molitor started at 2B/SS, moved to the OF briefly, then to third, back to 2B, then at 1B before coming here. Lots of DH time from year one for Moli thanks to his regular injuries.
15 years for 3 guys to be together on one team has to be close to a record if not the record.