Take Your Favorite Baseball Team and Give the Best Season by a Player at Each Position

[Omar 382]

Straight forward thread. Take your team (or any for that matter), and pick the best season for each position. You can do SP's and SU and CL if you wish as well. You could include some notes about the season if you want. You could theoretically use the same pitcher twice (i.e. John Smoltz as a closer and starter) if your team calls for it. Whoever played the most games at the position for a year is the player that qualifies for that position. I.e., if Player A played 50 games at 1B and was better than Player B who played 80 games, it doesn't matter; you can only pick Player B. Lastly, if your team has moved multiple times (A's, Braves, etc.) you can use players from teams on past cities, as long as it is the same franchise (for example, Expos to Nat's counts as well).

Here goes:

Philadelphia Phillies

C: 1992 Darren Daulton (156 wRC+, 7.2 WAR).
1B: 1901 Ed Delahanty (some great options for this one. A lot of people don't know that Roger Connor played 1 year for the Phils in 1892, and was pretty damn good at that (6.3 WAR). A lot of people would probably pick '06 Howard for this spot, and it was hard emotionally not to pick him since he's the player that got me into baseball, but Delahanty was unarguably better. Also, a great possible pick would be 1937 Dolph Camilli with a .339/.446/.587 slash line in 570 PA. Had he had 100 or even 50 more PA, I'd probably pick him over Delahanty for this list.)
2B: 2009 Chase Utley (ridiculously hard to pick between '08 and '09 Chase. I went with '09 because of more walks and better base running, but if you went with '08 because of defense, I couldn't fault you. I'm surprised Nap Lajoie's best season with the Phils (1900) wasn't better.)
3B: 1980 Mike Schmidt (another one that could be easily debated. Technically, his '74 and '77 seasons were better by WAR, but he had more power in '80 with only a slight sacrifice on OBP and, of course, this was the year the Phils won their first World Series. Another great season would be 1964 Dick Allen, with a .318/.382/.557 slash line (remember, in 1964) in 708 PA.)
SS: 1914 Sherry Magee (haters will be mad I didn't pick '07 J-Roll, but Magee was just such a better hitter with a 157 wRC+. As a shortstop.)
LF: 1899 Ed Delahanty (woohoo, two spots! Honestly, one of, if not the most underrated players, or at least hitters, of all time. I mean listen to this line from 1899: .410/.464/.582 with a 177 wRC+, 30 SB, and 8.3 WAR. That's a Mike Trout season brother.)
CF: 1894 Billy Hamilton (again, by WAR, I should go with 1990 Dykstra, but Dykstra was a juicing, tobacco-spitting asshole meatball. Also, how can you not pick a guy who in 679 PA had a .523 OBP (yes, .523) with 98 SB (yes, 98).
RF: 1933 Chuck Klein (feel kind of bad picking this one because of Baker Bowl's short right field wall, but eh, fuck it).

SP: 1972 Steve Carlton
SP: 1915 Grover Cleveland Alexander
SP: 1917 Grover Cleveland Alexander
SP: 1980 Steve Carlton
SP: 2011 Roy Halladay (could have gone with 1953 Robin Roberts or 1890 Kid Gleason, but I saw Halladay's season in person, and do think he's the best).

CL: 1980 Tug McGraw (honestly, Lidge's '08 was facilitated by a lot of luck. I mean, he did a 3.01 xFIP).

 

[soxfan1468927]

I'll add an HM to seasons I didn't see personally

C: 1977 Carlton Fisk (HM: 2004 Jason Varitek)
1B: 1938 Jimmie Foxx (HM: 2011 Adrian Gonzalez)
2B: 2011 Dustin Pedroia
SS: 2000 Nomar Garciaparra
3B: 1987 Wade Boggs (HM: 2010 Adrian Beltre)
LF: 1941 Ted Williams (HM: 2003 Manny Ramirez)
CF: 1912 Tris Speaker (HM: 2011 Jacoby Ellsbury)
RF: 1939 Ted Williams (HM: 2016 Mookie Betts)
DH: 2007 David Ortiz

SP: 1999 Pedro Martinez
SP: 2000 Pedro Martinez
SP: 1901 Cy Young (HM: 2003 Pedro Martinez)
SP: 1990 Roger Clemens (HM: 2002 Pedro Martinez)
SP: 1912 Smoky Joe Wood (HM: 2004 Curt Schilling)

CL: 1998 Tom Gordon (could go with 2006 Papelbon here but I give Gordon the edge because he pitched in 14 more games, finished 20 more games, blew just one save out of 47 opportunities while Papelbon was 35/41, came into the game with men on base 25 times as opposed to 14 for Papelbon, and inherited 38 runners as opposed to 24 for Papelbon)

 

[soxfan1468927]

And for the coveted role of "Long Reliever/Pinch Hitter" I would go with 1916 Babe Ruth. Who had a 123 wRC+ while leading the league in ERA, starts, and shutouts. Plus he had a save that season.

 

[$500 Million]

C: 1956 Yogi Berra
1B: 1927 Lou Gehrig
2B: 2012 Robinson Cano
SS: 1999 Derek Jeter
3B: 2007 Alex Rodriguez
LF: 1921 Babe Ruth
CF: 1956 Mickey Mantle
RF: 1961 Roger Maris
DH: 2006 Jason Giambi
SP: 1904 Jack Chesbro, 1937 Lefty Gomez, 1975 Catfish Hunter, 1978 Ron Guidry, 1997 Andy Pettitte
RP: 1996 Mariano Rivera

 

[Clayton]

Probably forgetting some things but something like:

C 2012 Yadier Molina
1B 2003 Albert Pujols
2B 1924 Rogers Hornsby
SS 1987 Ozzie Smith
3B 1960 Ken Boyer
LF 1974 Lou Brock
CF 1985 Willie McGee
RF 1948 Stan Musial
DH 1937 Joe Medwick

SP 1968 Bob Gibson, 1934 Dizzy Dean, 1982 Joaquin Andujar, 2011 Chris Carpenter (2nd half of season), 2013 Adam Wainwright

RP 2015 Trevor Rosenthal

 

[packerzrule]

Probably forgetting some things but something like:

C 2012 Yadier Molina
1B 2003 Albert Pujols
2B 1924 Rogers Hornsby
SS 1987 Ozzie Smith
3B 1960 Ken Boyer
LF 1974 Lou Brock
CF 1985 Willie McGee
RF 1948 Stan Musial
DH 1937 Joe Medwick

SP 1968 Bob Gibson, 1934 Dizzy Dean, 1982 Joaquin Andujar, 2011 Chris Carpenter (2nd half of season), 2013 Adam Wainwright

RP 2015 Trevor Rosenthal

damn him!!!!!

 

[Clayton]

Totally forgot Mark McGwire.


Maybe thats a good thing.

 

[Chewbaccer]

This is done with extremely minimal research and a less than expert level understanding of advanced statistics and without using the same player twice.

C- 2003 Javy Lopez
1B- 2016 Freddie Freeman
2B- 1928 Rogers Hornsby
3B- 1999 Chipper Jones
SS- 1997 Jeff Blauser
LF- 1930 Wally Berger
CF- 2005 Andruw Jones
RF- 1957 Hank Aaron

SP- 1995 Greg Maddux
SP- 1996 John Smoltz
SP- 1991 Tom Glavine
SP- 1953 Warren Spahn
SP- 1974 Phil Niekro

CL- 2012 Craig Kimbrel

 

[soxfan1468927]

This is done with extremely minimal research and a less than expert level understanding of advanced statistics and without using the same player twice.

C- 2003 Javy Lopez
1B- 2016 Freddie Freeman
2B- 1928 Rogers Hornsby
3B- 1999 Chipper Jones
SS- 1997 Jeff Blauser
LF- 1930 Wally Berger
CF- 2005 Andruw Jones
RF- 1957 Hank Aaron

SP- 1995 Greg Maddux
SP- 1996 John Smoltz
SP- 1991 Tom Glavine
SP- 1953 Warren Spahn
SP- 1974 Phil Niekro

CL- 2012 Craig Kimbrel

I'm curious, why 1957 Hank Aaron? 1963 Hank Aaron had nearly identical numbers at the plate but also stole 31 bases and played 10 more games. Plus, league offensive output in 1963 was about 8% lower than 1957, so theoretically his offense was more valuable in 1963.

 

[soxfan1468927]

And yes, I know the 1957 Braves won the WS. So I get it if that's the reason.

 

[Omar 382]

I'm curious, why 1957 Hank Aaron? 1963 Hank Aaron had nearly identical numbers at the plate but also stole 31 bases and played 10 more games. Plus, league offensive output in 1963 was about 8% lower than 1957, so theoretically his offense was more valuable in 1963.

I think Chewy did it off the top of his head, which is completely reasonable given all the work it takes to look at each season from every player. I thought his list was pretty damn good

 

[soxfan1468927]

I think Chewy did it off the top of his head, which is completely reasonable given all the work it takes to look at each season from every player. I thought his list was pretty damn good

If that list is "off the top of his head" then I'm damn impressed. I was just curious about that one season.

 

[Clayton]

For what its worth, I didnt reuse players because I have like 20 players I want on my team.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Straight forward thread. Take your team (or any for that matter), and pick the best season for each position. You can do SP's and SU and CL if you wish as well. You could include some notes about the season if you want. You could theoretically use the same pitcher twice (i.e. John Smoltz as a closer and starter) if your team calls for it. Whoever played the most games at the position for a year is the player that qualifies for that position. I.e., if Player A played 50 games at 1B and was better than Player B who played 80 games, it doesn't matter; you can only pick Player B. Lastly, if your team has moved multiple times (A's, Braves, etc.) you can use players from teams on past cities, as long as it is the same franchise (for example, Expos to Nat's counts as well).

Here goes:

Philadelphia Phillies

C: 1992 Darren Daulton (156 wRC+, 7.2 WAR).
1B: 1901 Ed Delahanty (some great options for this one. A lot of people don't know that Roger Connor played 1 year for the Phils in 1892, and was pretty damn good at that (6.3 WAR). A lot of people would probably pick '06 Howard for this spot, and it was hard emotionally not to pick him since he's the player that got me into baseball, but Delahanty was unarguably better. Also, a great possible pick would be 1937 Dolph Camilli with a .339/.446/.587 slash line in 570 PA. Had he had 100 or even 50 more PA, I'd probably pick him over Delahanty for this list.)
2B: 2009 Chase Utley (ridiculously hard to pick between '08 and '09 Chase. I went with '09 because of more walks and better base running, but if you went with '08 because of defense, I couldn't fault you. I'm surprised Nap Lajoie's best season with the Phils (1900) wasn't better.)
3B: 1980 Mike Schmidt (another one that could be easily debated. Technically, his '74 and '77 seasons were better by WAR, but he had more power in '80 with only a slight sacrifice on OBP and, of course, this was the year the Phils won their first World Series. Another great season would be 1964 Dick Allen, with a .318/.382/.557 slash line (remember, in 1964) in 708 PA.)
SS: 1914 Sherry Magee (haters will be mad I didn't pick '07 J-Roll, but Magee was just such a better hitter with a 157 wRC+. As a shortstop.)
LF: 1899 Ed Delahanty (woohoo, two spots! Honestly, one of, if not the most underrated players, or at least hitters, of all time. I mean listen to this line from 1899: .410/.464/.582 with a 177 wRC+, 30 SB, and 8.3 WAR. That's a Mike Trout season brother.)
CF: 1894 Billy Hamilton (again, by WAR, I should go with 1990 Dykstra, but Dykstra was a juicing, tobacco-spitting asshole meatball. Also, how can you not pick a guy who in 679 PA had a .523 OBP (yes, .523) with 98 SB (yes, 98).
RF: 1933 Chuck Klein (feel kind of bad picking this one because of Baker Bowl's short right field wall, but eh, fuck it).

SP: 1972 Steve Carlton
SP: 1915 Grover Cleveland Alexander
SP: 1917 Grover Cleveland Alexander
SP: 1980 Steve Carlton
SP: 2011 Roy Halladay (could have gone with 1953 Robin Roberts or 1890 Kid Gleason, but I saw Halladay's season in person, and do think he's the best).

CL: 1980 Tug McGraw (honestly, Lidge's '08 was facilitated by a lot of luck. I mean, he did a 3.01 xFIP).

My only quibble is putting Daulton on and leaving off Dykstra. They were both juicing, so if one guy's in, they're both in.

If you're leaving out the juicers, I'll take Stan Lopata's 1956 season, where he finished top 10 in HR and OPS in a National League that included names like Duke Snyder, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Eddie Matthews, Frank Robinson, and Ernie Banks.

 

[Howie115]

Detroit Tigers

Catcher - Mickey Cochrane, 1934. He only hit 2 HR with 75 RBI, but batted .320 with a .428 OBP and his defense and leadership helped the Tigers to their first AL Pennant since 1909. He was named AL MVP, and I'm pretty sure he is the only Tiger catcher to win that award. (Kudos still to my favorite Tiger catcher, Bill Freehan. An 11-time all-star, he played an incredible 155 games behind the dish in 1968, hitting .263 with 25 HR and 84 RBI in the "Year of the Pitcher".)

First Base - Hank Greenberg, 1938. Tied the then-record for HR by a right-handed batter with 58. He also hit .315, drove in 147, and had a league-leading 119 walks to help him to a .438 OBP.

Second Base - Charlie Gehringer, 1934. The Mechanical Man had many great seasons, including hitting .371 in 1937 and being named AL MVP. But I think '34 was better. He batted .356 with 127 RBI, had a .450 OBP, and led the majors with 214 hits and 135 runs scored. He also struck out only 25 times in 708 plate appearances.

Shortstop - Alan Trammell, 1987. Slashed .343/.402/.551/.953 and was runner-up for the AL MVP as the Tigers won the AL East. He had career highs of 28 HR, 105 RBI and 109 runs, and added 21 stolen bases. If we counted post-season, I might have picked 1984, when he was World Series MVP, but his regular season stats that year were not 1987 level.

Third Base - Miguel Cabrera, 2012. First Triple Crown hitter in the majors since 1967 (.330, 44, 139). AL MVP. And he did it while having to relearn the third base position following the acquisition of Prince Fielder.

Left Field - Hank Greenberg, 1940. Forced to move to LF after the Tigers acquired Rudy York to play 1B. Hank hit .340 and led the AL with 41 HR. He led all of major league baseball in doubles (50), RBI (150), SLG pct. (.670), OPS (1.103) and total bases (384). Became the first player in MLB history to win an MVP award at two different fielding positions.

Center Field - Ty Cobb, 1911. Hard to pick from all his ridiculously great seasons, but in 1911, he led the majors in almost every statistic except HR. He hit .420 (1st) with 147 runs (1st), 248 hits (1st), 47 doubles (1st), 24 triples (1st-AL), 127 RBI (1st), 83 SB (1st) and 367 total bases (1st).

Right Field - Al Kaline, 1955. Hit .340 to become the youngest-ever batting champion (age 20). Added 27 HR and 102 RBI, had a league-leading 200 hits and scored 127 runs while providing stellar defense in RF.

Starting Pitcher - Denny McLain, 1968. All due respect to Justin Verlander, it's hard to knock a 31-win season, even in the Year of the Pitcher. It was the ONLY 30-win season in the majors between 1934 (Dizzy Dean) and the present day. McLain logged an incredible 336 innings, struck out 280, and had a 1.96 ERA. Easy choice for AL Cy Young and MVP.

Relief Pitcher - Jose Valverde, 2011. Make fun of him all you want, but going 49-for-49 in save situations is pretty damn special. He had a 2.24 ERA, led the AL in appearances (75) and led the majors in games finished (70).

 

[soxfan1468927]

Detroit Tigers

Catcher - Mickey Cochrane, 1934. He only hit 2 HR with 75 RBI, but batted .320 with a .428 OBP and his defense and leadership helped the Tigers to their first AL Pennant since 1909. He was named AL MVP, and I'm pretty sure he is the only Tiger catcher to win that award. (Kudos still to my favorite Tiger catcher, Bill Freehan. An 11-time all-star, he played an incredible 155 games behind the dish in 1968, hitting .263 with 25 HR and 84 RBI in the "Year of the Pitcher".)

First Base - Hank Greenberg, 1938. Tied the then-record for HR by a right-handed batter with 58. He also hit .315, drove in 147, and had a league-leading 119 walks to help him to a .438 OBP.

Second Base - Charlie Gehringer, 1934. The Mechanical Man had many great seasons, including hitting .371 in 1937 and being named AL MVP. But I think '34 was better. He batted .356 with 127 RBI, had a .450 OBP, and led the majors with 214 hits and 135 runs scored. He also struck out only 25 times in 708 plate appearances.

Shortstop - Alan Trammell, 1987. Slashed .343/.402/.551/.953 and was runner-up for the AL MVP as the Tigers won the AL East. He had career highs of 28 HR, 105 RBI and 109 runs, and added 21 stolen bases. If we counted post-season, I might have picked 1984, when he was World Series MVP, but his regular season stats that year were not 1987 level.

Third Base - Miguel Cabrera, 2012. First Triple Crown hitter in the majors since 1967 (.330, 44, 139). AL MVP. And he did it while having to relearn the third base position following the acquisition of Prince Fielder.

Left Field - Hank Greenberg, 1940. Forced to move to LF after the Tigers acquired Rudy York to play 1B. Hank hit .340 and led the AL with 41 HR. He led all of major league baseball in doubles (50), RBI (150), SLG pct. (.670), OPS (1.103) and total bases (384). Became the first player in MLB history to win an MVP award at two different fielding positions.

Center Field - Ty Cobb, 1911. Hard to pick from all his ridiculously great seasons, but in 1911, he led the majors in almost every statistic except HR. He hit .420 (1st) with 147 runs (1st), 248 hits (1st), 47 doubles (1st), 24 triples (1st-AL), 127 RBI (1st), 83 SB (1st) and 367 total bases (1st).

Right Field - Al Kaline, 1955. Hit .340 to become the youngest-ever batting champion (age 20). Added 27 HR and 102 RBI, had a league-leading 200 hits and scored 127 runs while providing stellar defense in RF.

Starting Pitcher - Denny McLain, 1968. All due respect to Justin Verlander, it's hard to knock a 31-win season, even in the Year of the Pitcher. It was the ONLY 30-win season in the majors between 1934 (Dizzy Dean) and the present day. McLain logged an incredible 336 innings, struck out 280, and had a 1.96 ERA. Easy choice for AL Cy Young and MVP.

Relief Pitcher - Jose Valverde, 2011. Make fun of him all you want, but going 49-for-49 in save situations is pretty damn special. He had a 2.24 ERA, led the AL in appearances (75) and led the majors in games finished (70).

Just seems odd to not have a single player from that 1984 team.

 

[Howie115]

Just seems odd to not have a single player from that 1984 team.

Yes, it does. That was truly a TEAM season. I could have picked Willie Hernandez over Valverde, and maybe should have. He only had 32 saves, but pitched a ridiculous 140 innings out of the pen that year. His ERA (1.92) and WHIP (0.941) were also better than Valverde's. Yeah, I probably would put Willie in place of Valverde, now that I rethink it.

 

[Howie115]

I didn't do a Designated Hitter for the Tigers, but that's easily Victor Martinez in 2014. Hit .335 with 32 HR and 103 RBI, while leading the majors in OPS (.974) and intentional walks (28). Runner-up to Mike Trout for AL MVP. Also struck out only 42 times.

 

[calsnowskier]

I did a quick search and found this list online...

C - Walker Cooper 1947 (this was an outliers season for Walker, but IMHO, it still does not compare to Posey in 2012)
1B - Johnny Mize 1947
2B - Rogers Hornsby 1927
3B - Matt Williams 1994 (This matches my initial expectation. That was a magical season for Williams)
SS - Rich Aurilia 2001 (I suspect they were basically ignoring defense. Not sure you can ignore Vizquel or Crawford if you factor in defense here)
LF - Barry Bonds 2001 (The hands down greatest single season by a player in the history of the game. This is a no-brainer)
CF - Willie Mays 1955
RF - Mel Ott 1929

SP - Christy Mathewson 1908 (they only listed one. With minimal research, I would look at these guys to fill out the rotation: Lincecum 08/09, Bumgarner 16, Cueto 16, Schmidt 03, Cain 09, Blue 78, Hubbell 33/34/36, Marichal 66/67/68/69, McGinnity 1904, Antonelli 54),
RP -Robb Nen 2000

 

[StanMarsh51]

SS - Rich Aurilia 2001 (I suspect they were basically ignoring defense. Not sure you can ignore Vizquel or Crawford if you factor in defense here)

Aurilla's 2001 offense was so much better than any of Crawford/Vizquel's seasons in SF that even if you include defense, I don't think it's close.

I mean, Aurilla had an OPS+ that was 29% better than Crawford's career high and 47% higher than Vizquel's best as a Giant.