The Pecan Park Eagle

Presenting the 2012 Christmas All Stars Roster

It’s December 22nd. The days until Christmas are now as short as my idea pile for an appropriate seasonal column at the eleventh hour. That being said, I also have some final chopping to get done today too so I will lean again into the well of all-star baseball teams composed of fitting names. Christmas turned out to be easy.

Here is my 25-player Christmas All Stars roster, based on players with any kind of identification at Baseball Reference.Com as guys who once played major, minor, or Negro league baseball – or, at least, signed on the dotted line as a draft choice along the way:

Pitchers

Dave Jolly (1953-57) Major Leaguer

Dennis Wiseman (1989-95) Minor Leaguer

Miguel Navidad (1991) Minor Leaguer *

Matt Love (1936-52) Minor Leaguer

Shane Gift (1994) Astros Draft Pick (only player on the team who may never have actually played at a pro level.)

Keith Shepherd (1992-96) Major Leaguer

C.F. Angel (1914) Minor Leaguer

Bill Peace (1945-47) Negro Leaguer

Robert Cold (1946) Minor Leaguer

Edilmar Infante (2006-08) Minor Leaguer

Todd Noel (1996-2000) Minor Leaguer **

Catchers

Steve Christmas (1983-84, 86) Major Leaguer

Mason Rudolph (1988-95) Minor Leaguer

Jorge De Jesus (2009-12) Major Leaguer

William St. Mary (1896) Minor Leaguer *

Infielders

J.T. Snow, 1B (1992-2006, 08) Major Leaguer

Bill White, 1B (1956, 1958-69) Major Leaguer

Todd Claus, 2B-3B-SS (1991-93) Minor Leaguer

Brandon Chesnut, 2B (1994) Minor Leaguer

Newt Joseph, 3B (1922-40) Negro Leaguer

Outfielders

Jack Frost (1928-32) Minor Leaguer

Matt Holliday (2004-2012) Major Leaguer)

Rob Deer, OF-1B-DH (1984-93, 96) Major Leaguer

John Tree (1947-51) Minor Leaguer *

Utility IF/OF

Joe Manger (1922-31) Minor Leaguer

Douglas Elf (1974) Minor Leaguer

* The player’s actual position was unspecified at Baseball Reference.Com, so I took the liberty of assigning such types where I needed them. Since the whole team will be playing out the Hand of Divine Inspiration, I don’t expect there to be any fall-off in performance as a result of this purely administrative procedure.

** Acquired sight unseen, we have signed Todd Noel on the heels of a five-star report by Christmas All Stars scout Bill Hickman. An earlier report from the Angels states that Todd was the first Noel ever to have played professional baseball at any level.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Everybody!