I would quibble with Ted Williams as one of your pre-1960s bishops. During his playing years, Williams was never a beloved figure. His personality was both childish and churlish. There is a reason why he was called the Kid. He was unwavering in his refusal to swing at balls outside of the strike zone, taking a walk even when he might have reached out and gotten a hit when his team needed one.

I think a better choice for bishop here would have been Stan Musial, or perhaps Hank Greenberg.

Excellent point, Jim. It did make me think about my choice for a moment. You're definitely right about the onfield character, especially compared to the likes of Musial and Greenberg.

But I ultimately chose Williams as a bishop for his off the field character more than anything else - his service in the military and in actual combat. When you look at the whole package of the man - like I did with Clemente and, really, the other bishops - he fits well there. It's a well-made point, though.

So, uh, why all the minority players gotta be black?

Both Roy Campenella and Willie Mays happened to be minority players on the white side of the board.

I met Hank Aaron at his BMW dealership and I remember that in his office he had a chess set. The chess set had statues of famous baseball players similar to the project that you are creating right now. I don't remember all of the players, but I do remember that Hank Aaron was the king and Babe Ruth was the queen, so I was surprised that you diddn't even include Hank Aaron.

I like this. And, of course, if Hank Aaron owns a baseball chess set, he'd be the King, and Ruth his #2. What else is possible?
My only issue is the status of the King's personality. Of course, the best player of all time should be the King in a chess set, but the King really isn't the best piece. The most important, yes, but best, no. You can't even Checkmate with a King.

As I said in the explanation piece linked above ( http://wezen-ball.com/2010-art...-setq.html ), I tried to keep the outfield positioning strict. So, with Ruth on one squad and Clemente on the other, Hank doesn't fit anywhere, as tough as that was. It seemed like the right call, though.

And, MVD, you're absolutely right. The King is the weakest piece on the board, and it does kind of make the personality thing tough. Someone elsewhere suggested it be a Manager. But, as you say, the status of the King is really what stands out about him. And that status, to me, means that the best player in the game has to be the king. If I have Babe Ruth on my team, he has to be *the* guy, you know?

That's the rationale I used, at least. Thanks for the comments!

This was a good read - though I noticed that the pawns was somewhat devoid of pitchers. Just some names to throw out there as possiblilities here - Jamie Moyer? Bert Blyleven? Satchel Paige?

George Brett would be a good rook coming off the bench.