| 13 April 2010
As this holy week of baseball continues and teams across the country honor the old - legendary players, memorable moments, meaningful anniversaries - and the new - a new season, new ballparks, new management - I thought it might be fun to think about some of those players and/or franchises that have no one left to remember them: the defunct ballclubs of baseball's past.
Listed below is an All-Star team made up entirely of players who made their mark on baseball's defunct ballclubs. To put it simply, if a player were to be elected to the Hall of Fame and the most likely candidate for which cap to include on his plaque was a now-defunct club, then he'd be considered for this list. Players like Pedro Martinez or Larry Walker don't quite make the grade.
My definition of defunct is hard to elucidate with anything other than "I know it when I see it", but I'll do my best. To me, a team is defunct if it has moved across the country somehow, changed it's name, and refused to embrace the old franchise. Teams like the Angels don't count here because only their name is changing. Teams like the Giants and Dodgers also don't count because their history transferred with the clubs. For the purpose of this list, the defunct teams that I considered were the Montreal Expos, Seattle Pilots, St. Louis Browns, and Washington Senators (both versions).
With that out of the way, here are your All-Time Defunct All-Stars. Feel free to tell me who I left out in the comments below.
Catcher: Gary Carter, Montreal Expos
One of the easiest choices for this team. Carter may be more famous for his time as a New York Met (though I think that's only true for those raised by the New York media), but, when the Hall of Fame made the choice to put an Expos cap on his plaque, it was the absolute right call. In terms of WAR, Carter earned 52.6 of his 66.3 career WAR in Montreal.
Firstbase: George Sisler, St. Louis Browns
Another no-brainer. Sisler's career may be a little overrated these days (batting average isn't all it's cracked up to be, of course), but that shouldn't diminish him completely. And, as the greatest St. Louis Brown of all time, there's no way we could forget him here. If we were to expand the team to include a few bench players, Washington Senator Frank Howard would be the first one added.
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Secondbase: Buddy Myer, Washington Senators
One of the weaker players on the team. Myer was the Senators second-baseman from 1929 to 1941. In that time, he was a two-time All-Star and a one-time batting champ. Myer earned 39.4 of his 44.4 career WAR as a Senator.
Shortstop: Bobby Wallace, St. Louis Browns
Wallace was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 1953, and yet I know little about this turn-of-the-century player. Fifteen of his 25 years were spent as a Brown, with the other 10 divided between the Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Cardinals. Though he never led the league in anything, he did often find himself among the leaders in walks, doubles, triples, and RBIs on a regular bases. He earned 39.1 of his 60.5 career WAR as a Brown.
Thirdbase: Harlond Clift, St. Louis Browns
A lifetime member of now-defunct clubs (10 years as a Brown and 3 as a Senator), Clift was a one-time All-Star. His balanced offense and good defense helped him earn 33.6 (of his career 34.7) WAR as a Brown.
Leftfield: Tim Raines, Montreal Expos
Other than the Big Train, Raines is easily the best player on this team. I won't go into the details (other do it so much better), but I'll say this: judging anybody by saying "he wasn't as good as Rickey Henderson" is about the dumbest thing you can do. Raines earned 46.5 of his 64.6 career WAR as an Expo. Washington's Goose Goslin and St. Louis' Ken Williams might have a puncher's chance for the left field spot if it wasn't for the mighty Raines.
Centerfield: Andre Dawson, Montreal Expos
The newest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame will, rightfully, be wearing a Montreal cap on his plaque. In fact, Dawson is the inspiration for this list. As important as it is for the people of Montreal (and other Expos fans) that he enters the Hall as an Expo, it's got to be a little tough for Dawson himself. His legacy is now homeless - the Nationals don't want to honor the Expos franchise, and the Cubs, while very supportive of the Hawk, will never fully embrace him (they'll never retire his number, for instance). It's a tough thing, to be the last great member of a now-defunct franchise.
Rightfield: Sam Rice, Washington Senators
A member of the Hall of Fame (Veteran's Committe, 1963), Rice stole 63 bases in 1920 and accumulated over 200 hits in six different seasons (including 207 in his age 40 season). He retired with a lifetime batting average of .322. Rice earned 51 of his 51.1 career WAR as a Senator.
Starting Pitcher: Walter Johnson, Washington Senators
Still one of the 3 or 5 greatest pitchers of all time, Johnson is about as easy of a call for this list as humanly possible. In his career, the Big Train was 417-279 with 110 shutouts, a 2.17 career ERA (147 ERA+), and 3,509 strikeouts. I'm still not sure people realize how great he was. Johnson earned a whopping 127.7 WAR in his career, all as a member of the Senators. Only five other pitchers have 100+ career WAR.
Starting Pitcher: Urban Shocker, St. Louis Browns
Shocker has one of my favorite names in baseball. His career was cut short due to health problems that led to his death only 3 months after pitching his final game. The spitballer earned 33.2 of his 47 career WAR as a member of the Browns.
Starting Pitcher: Steve Rogers, Montreal Expos
Pedro Martinez was on the Expos for way too short to be considered here, and Dennis Martinez didn't quite do enough in Montreal to beat Steve Rogers for this spot. As a lifetime member of Les Expos, Rogers finished second in Rookie of the Year voting (1973), was a five-time All-Star, and finished in the top five in Cy Young voting three different times (finishing second in 1982). Not bad for a man who lost 22 games in 1974. Rogers earned 45.8 career WAR as an Expo.
ReliefPitcher: Firpo Marberry, Washington Senators
I'm including a relief pitcher only out of completeness. There are few candidates who pitched long enough in a reliever's role to choose from among these teams. Marberry was a reliever for the Senators' throughout the 1920s. Some called him the most dominant reliever of his era. He earned 23.8 of his 29.4 career WAR in Washington.
That's my team. If you have better suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them.
