From The Sidelines

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, January 24, 2001

MICHAEL KIRAL

A roll call of baseball’s immortals

Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield became the latest members to be selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., last Tuesday. Puckett and Winfield will join the other immortals in the Hall come Induction Day in August. They will become teammates of the likes of Ruth and Aaron, Johnson and Koufax. Their selection got be thinking about whom I would select out of all those greats for an all-time team. After much thought (Ok, this past weekend), here are one sportswriter’s selection for the best of all time. Walter Johnson, pitcher – The Big Train was one of the most dominant of his or any era. His 416 wins rank second all time. Twenty wins is a hall mark of any quality pitcher today. Johnson topped that mark 10 straight times. Johnson led the league in strikeouts 12 times and his 3,500 career K’s stood until the 1980s. His 110 shutouts will probably never be surpassed. Johnson was part of the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame class of 1936. Christy Mathewson, pitcher – Mathewson was one of the first players to make playing the sport a respected profession. But his gentle demeanor did not keep him from being one of the top pitchers in the early part of the 20th century. Mathewson topped the 20-win mark 13 times and his 373 wins is tied for third all time. He compiled a sterling 2.13 earned run average during his career and was also a member of the 1936 Hall of Fame class. Nolan Ryan, pitcher – The numbers Ryan put up, especially in an era dominated by hitting, are staggering. He won 324 games his career, among them a record seven no-hitters and 61 shutouts. His 5,714 strikeouts may be one of the game’s untouchable records. He was a member of the 1999 Hall of Fame class. Warren Spahn, pitcher – If Alex Rodriguez is worth $250 million over 10 years, just think what a left-handed pitcher who won 20 or more games 13 times would be worth today. Those 13 20-win seasons came in a stretch of 17 years. He led the National League in wins eight times, five in a row. Spahn’s 363 wins ranks him fifth all-time. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1973. Cy Young, pitcher – Young may forever be the standard by which pitching performances are measured by. Had the Cy Young Award been in existence when Young pitched, he would have had a trophy case full of them. He hold three records that will probably never be broken – 511 wins, 749 complete games and 815 starts. Young went into the Hall of Fame in 1937. Rollie Fingers, relief pitcher – Fingers was the best reliever in the game throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. When he retired, his 341 saves were the best all-time. Yogi Berra, catcher – Berra may never have led the league in any major offensive category but there have been few more consistent or successful players. Berra went to the World Series his first full year in the majors and made the Fall Classic an almost annual destination. Berra still holds the record for most hits in World Series play. Three times he was named the Most Valuable Player in the league and 15 times he was named to an All-Star Game. He finished his career with a .285 batting average and 358 home runs. Berra was a member of the Hall of Fame class of 1972. Lou Gehrig, first baseman – Gehrig was often overshadowed by Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio throughout his career. But the numbers he put up and his 2,130 consecutive games streak cannot be overshadowed. Gehrig’s 184 runs batted in in 1931 is still the most for any American League player. The 1939 Hall-of-Famer finished his career with a .340 batting average, 493 home runs and 1,995 RBIs. Jackie Robinson, second baseman – Robinson will forever be known as the man who broke baseball’s color barrier and helped set in motion events that would forever change American history. Playing under perhaps the most difficult situation any player has had to go through in a season, Robinson won the game’s first Rookie of the Year Award in 1947. He went on to win the league MVP two years later. Robinson went into the Hall of Fame in 1962 after compiling a .311 lifetime batting average. Eddie Mathews, third baseman – Mathews and Hank Aaron hold the record for most home runs by teammates. The only players to play for the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta, Mathews hit 512 career home runs to go with a .271 batting average. He went to the Hall of Fame with the class of 1978. Cal Ripken Jr. – There was much argument when Ripken was moved from third to short early in his career. Few are arguing now. Ripken provided a boost to the game after the strike of 1994 when he broke Gehrig’s consecutive game streak, a streak that eventually reached 2,632 games. The two-time All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer has surpassed both the 3,000-hit mark and the 400-home run mark. Hank Aaron, outfielder – Aaron never put up gaudy numbers. His high for home runs was 44 twice. But what he did over the period of his career is what puts Hammering Hank among the game’s immortals. His most famous number is 755, the number of home runs he hit in his career. Fourteen times he batted over .300, finishing with a .305 batting average. The member of the 3,000-hit club entered the Hall of Fame in 1982. Willie Mays, outfielder – It was said that when Mays played, water covered two-thirds of the earth and Mays the other third. The premier outfielder was a five-tool player. Twelve times he won the Golf Glove and would have had more had the award been in existence early in his career. Twice he was named the National League’s MVP award. He finished his career with 660 home runs, third all time, and a .302 batting average. Mays was a member of the 1979 Hall of Fame class. Ted Williams, outfielder – Williams just wanted to be known as the greatest hitter who ever lived. It can be said he lived up to that expectation. He is the last player to bat .400 in a season, finishing at .406 after going 6-for-8 on the final game of the 1941 season. In his career, the “Splendid Splinter” batted .344 with 521 home runs and 2,654 hits. Those numbers would be greater but Williams gave up four and a half years in the service of his country in World War Two and the Korean Conflict. He was selected to the Hall of Fame in 1966. The players left off this list would fill an all-time team that few could argue with. They include outfielders Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Stan Musial, Oscar Charleston and Cool Papa Bell. In the infielder would be Brooks Robinson, Rogers Hornsby, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmy Foxx, Harmon Killebrew, Mark McGwire and Hank Greenberg. Behind the plate, catchers Josh Gibson, Roy Campanella and Johnny Bench. And on the mound, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Left Grove, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Satchel Paige and Sandy Koufax.