(This is Part 2 of the article: ARod or Griffey? Ruth or Gehrig? Each Franchise’s Greatest Players.)
Here are the rules I established for myself:
1. Only a player’s statistics and achievements while he wore that franchise’s uniform count.
2. The team’s success will be weighed with his overall statistics.
3. It is hard to gauge the overall worth of players from the Dead Ball era, but I will do my best.
4. Character counts and try not to let scandal play too large a role in deciding who makes the list
Without any further ado, here is the National League
Arizona Diamondbacks
Batter: Luis Gonzalez, 1999-2006
Gonzalez is the D-Backs franchise leader in just about every important category, and his 2001 season (.325-57-142) jumps off the page at you. Finally, the extraordinary circumstances of beating the best reliever ever in Game 7 of the World Series propels him.
Pitcher: Randy Johnson, 1999-2004, 2007-2008
Another no-brainer. Here are Johnson’s averages for the 4 Cy Young Award years (2001-2004): 20-7, 2.48, 354K. That might be the best four-year stretch for any pitcher in baseball history. Johnson is also the first player on this list to be on it for two different teams, a pretty impressive achievement.
Atlanta/Milwaukee/Boston Braves
Batter: Hank Aaron, 1954-1974
There have been several great hitters who have worn the Braves’ uniform over the years (Eddie Matthews, Chipper Jones, Dale Murphy) but Aaron is clearly the greatest. The numbers, the consistency, the production are unparalleled. He even has a career postseason batting average of .362. But this observation seals it. In his 21 years with the Braves, he finished in the top 10 in MVP voting 13 times, in the top five 7 times. And never won. I think that is Aaron’s legacy – under-appreciation.
Pitcher: Greg Maddux, 1993-2003
It’s hard to pick against Warren Spahn here, because he won 20 games 13 (!) times with the Braves, with 7 of those seasons occurring after he turned 35. So it must take one heck of a pitcher, a surefire hall-of famer to eclipse him. Maddux is the man. It is almost impossible to understand, even comprehend, how Maddux accomplished what he did given his physical talent. His is one of the great brains ever to play the game of baseball. Here are the accomplishments: 3 Cy Young Awards with the Braves, an 18-9 average record with an ERA of 2.63. All of this during one of the most outrageous offensive explosions in the history of baseball. His 1994 ERA of 1.56 was almost 3 full runs below the league average. Unbelievable.
*A special note for John Smoltz, who was intimidating and successful as a starter and a reliever almost at will. Many people find him to be more impressive than Maddux, and that is a good case. I prefer Maddux, though Smoltz deserves attention.
Chicago Cubs
Batter: Ernie Banks, 1953-1971
For a team that doesn’t win anything, the Cubs have had some incredible players. Cap Anson’s achievements for the 19th century are among the greatest of
ARod or Griffey? Ruth or Gehrig? Each Franchise’s Greatest Players, Part 2
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1 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
Benjamin Edwards 9 months ago
Once again, as in your first article, I'm well pleased that the dead ball era was so well represented. Matty and 3-finger brown were really good in their day.
Also like last time, I have a few other names to throw at you.
Robin Roberts pitched 14 seasons for the Phillies winning 20 games six years in a row. He played in more games and threw more innings than Carlton.
Carlton kills Roberts in Strikeouts but also walked almost 600 more batters.
Also, no mention of the great Grover Cleveland (Pete) Alexander?
As far as your Pittsburgh pitcher problem, I have two guys better than Babe Adams.
Look up Sam Leever & Deacon Phillippe.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/phillde01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leevesa01.shtml
Thoughts?
These were great articles.
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