"When you think of lefties, think of me. I'm 'The Babe,' who else couid I be?"
We are now five weeks away from the date that pitchers and catchers report for spring training. My apologies to those who wish and sometimes ask that I forget baseball for a while during the winter months, I cannot seem to avoid the early January effect upon my brain that normally leads me into thoughts of various silly name teams – or my favorite all star lineups based upon some common uniting characteristics.
With no place for steroid suspects, here are my starting roster and lineup for my Hall of Fame All Star Left-handed Hitting Club. I might have given consideration to Sandy Koufax or Rube Waddell here, but both of those lefty throwers disqualified themselves by batting from the right side of the plate.
I also used no switch hitters. Other than Ruth and Cobb, you could possibly argue for a number of other guys in the other spots, but that’s what makes this kind of exercise so much fun. The room for disagreement is wide and open.
My hope is that some of you will submit your own starting lineups, with batting orders too. Feel free to go outside the Hall of Fame group list to pick your own top nine lefty hitters by position too.
Here are my picks:
Starters By Position
Pitcher: Lefty Grove (300-141, 3.06 ERA, 2,266 K’s)
Catcher: Yogi Berra (.285, 358 HR, 1,430 RBI)
1st Base: Lou Gehrig (.340, 493 HR, 1,995 RBI)
2nd Base: Charlie Gehringer (.320, 184 HR, 1,427 RBI)
3rd Base: Frank “Home Run” Baker (.307, 96 HR, 107 RBI)
Shortstop: Joe Sewell (.312, 49 HR, 1,055 RBI)
Left Field: Ted Williams (.344, 521 HR, 1,839 RBI)
Center Field: Ty Cobb (.367, 117 HR, 727 RBI)
Right Field: Babe Ruth (.342, 714 HR, 1,983 RBI)
Game Day Lineup
Ty Cobb, cf
Charlie Gehringer, 2b
Babe Ruth, rf
Ted Williams. lf
Lou Gehrig, 1b
Yogi Berra, c
Frank Baker, 3b
Joe Sewell, ss
Lefty Grove, p
Have a nice day!
Tags: all star lefty lineup
The Pecan Park Eagle 
January 17, 2012 at 4:20 pm |
No offense to Mr. Baker but I would think George Brett would be a better choice at 3B. I’d also consider Warren Spahn as the pitcher.
January 17, 2012 at 6:01 pm |
A nice list, Bill, though I have to agree with Bob Hulsey about both George Brett and Warren Spahn. (I recognize a potential bias because I saw both play.) Spahn is the closer call, as Grove was undoubtedly a superb pitcher. But he and Spahn are pretty much dead even in career ERA (3.06 and 3.09, respectively), and it is hard for me to overlook Spahn’s 363 career wins, the most by a left-hander. Also, remember that Spahn toiled for some bad Braves teams, while Grove pitched for the A’s at the height of their dominance (1929-31) and then for the Red Sox.
I would also go with Arky Vaughan (Pittsburgh, Brooklyn) over Joe Sewell at shortstop. Both played 14 seasons, with Vaughan’s career interrupted by World War II. Vaughan had a higher career batting average (.318, second to Honus Wagner among Hall of Fame shortstops), almost twice as many home runs (96), and, and a better OPS (.859 vs .804). Also, there is a huge difference in career “WAR” – wins above replacement player, one of those new-fangled stats listed at Baseball-Reference.com: Vaughan 75.6, Sewell 48.4.
January 17, 2012 at 6:59 pm |
I always thought Stan Musial was a Lefty, I guess his
Baseball card was transposed. LOL…..
January 17, 2012 at 7:02 pm |
Bob and John:
The lessons are two: (1) Don’t try to do an all time lineup off the top of your head when you are pressed for time and this is one of those mornings when your head is not as pointed as it sometimes is; and (2) This is what you get as a result. I could not agree more with both of you. Baker and Grove are a joke when compared to Brett and Spahn for this team. I’ll leave it as it is., in the column Lessons in humility are good for the soul.
January 17, 2012 at 10:14 pm |
Bill,
Don’t sell yourself short. While Brett might seem to be a bit of a slam dunk, Grove put up great numbers in a shorter time than Spahn, six fewer seasons, and thought their ERA is almost identical lifetime, Grove led the league 9 times ( a record) vs Spahn’s 3 times. Grove led the league in strikeouts for seven years in a row or something like that. Plus Grove had that incredible 31-4 MVP year in 1931. Personally, my vote goes to Lefty Grove.
January 18, 2012 at 12:25 am |
Mike,
Thanks for the refreshment, The argument for Grove is there, but I do like Spahn. I also like Joe Sewell over Arky Vaughan for the feel I get about his personality as an everyday ballplayer. Sewell always impresses me as more driven and steady than Vaughan, even if Vaughan’s data, especially as measured by the newer stats, make him seem the better choice. Not in my book, but my book gives room for personality factors. I’m also willing to put up with Ty Cobb because of his incredible talent and fire for winning. I did feel bad about leaving Stan Musial out of the mix, but, in the end, I could not choose his temperament and talent over Teddy Ballgame and the arguably best batting eye in baseball history. This exercise is fun and bears repeating on a periodic basis. Some things change. Others remain the same.
January 18, 2012 at 2:23 am |
Grove was a better pitcher than Spahn, but he was an awful hitter. I’d go with Eddie Mathews at third over either Baker or Brett, and Eddie Collins at second.
Gonna do an all righty team next?
January 18, 2012 at 9:10 am |
picking a pitcher strictly on the basis of hitting, I might suggest Don Newcombe or better yet, maybe Babe Ruth and give RF to Stan the Man!!
January 18, 2012 at 10:56 pm |
Love the idea of pitching the Babe and getting Stan into the lineup as well.
January 19, 2012 at 2:48 am |
I would have voted Spahn and, Mathews barely over Brett. However, Tom and Doug made a great suggestion to move the Babe to LHP to get the magnificent Stan The Man in the lineup.
Damon Leonetti
January 19, 2012 at 3:17 am |
Tom and Doug:
The plan to move the Babe to pitcher and add Stan the Man in right, plus sub Brett or Mathews at 3rd over Baker, is just too delicious to pass up.
How does this lineup look?
Ty Cobb, cf
Stan Musial, rf
Babe Ruth, p
Ted Williams. lf
Lou Gehrig, 1b
Eddie Mathews, 3b
Yogi Berra, c
Charlie Gehringer, 2b
Joe Sewell, ss