What can you do for Andre you ask? Show your appreciation for The Hawk by voting for him to be apart of the All-Time line-up for the Cubs and Expos/Nationals.
MLB.com is giving fans a chance to vote on The All-Time 9 for each Major League franchise. It's your opportunity to vote for your dream line-up consisting of the best seasons at each position in a franchise's history. I, of course, had to do my part and submit my votes for both the Cubs and Expos/Nationals.
Here were my selections:
Chicago Cubs
1B - Derrek Lee .335 AVG, 46 HR, 107 RBI, 120 R, 15 SB - 2005
2B - Rogers Hornsby .380 AVG, 39 HR, 149 RBI, 156 R, 2 SB - 1929
SS - Ernie Banks .313 AVG, 47 HR, 129 RBI, 119 R, 4 SB - 1958
3B - Ron Santo .313 AVG, 30 HR, 114 RBI, 94 R, 3 SB - 1964
C - Gabby Hartnett .344 AVG, 13 HR, 91 RBI, 67 R, 1 SB - 1935
OF - Andre Dawson .287 AVG, 49 HR, 137 RBI, 90 R, 11 SB - 1987
OF Sammy Sosa .308 AVG, 66 HR, 158 RBI, 134 R, 18 SB - 1998
OF Hack Wilson .356 AVG, 56 HR, 191 RBI, 146 R, 3 SB - 1930
P - Carlos Zambrano .337 AVG, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 9 R, 0 SB - 2008
I realized a couple of things after my vote. First, the Cubs have really lacked any long-term power threat at the 1B position compared to other franchises. Secondly, there were very few lead-off type hitters to choose from.
Third base was a tough pick, Aramis Ramirez and Santo's seasons were almost identical. Ryne Sandberg is arguably the best 2B in history, but there's no denying how great of a season Hornsby had in 1929. I really wanted to choose Kiki Cuyler for outfield to give the line-up some speed (41 SB), but you can't leave Andre, Sosa or Hack off. Maybe with this line-up the 101-year World Series drought would end...
Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals
1B - Al Oliver .331 AVG, 22 HR, 109 RBI, 90 R, 5 SB - 1982
2B - Jose Vidro .330 AVG, 24 HR, 97 RBI, 101 R, 5 SB - 2000
SS - Orlando Cabrera .297 AVG, 17 HR, 80 RBI, 95 R, 24 SB - 2003
3B - Tim Wallach .298 AVG, 26 HR, 123 RBI, 89 R, 9 SB - 1987
C - Gary Carter .294 AVG, 27 HR, 106 RBI, 75 R, 2 SB - 1984
OF - Andre Dawson .299 AVG, 32 HR, 113 RBI, 104 R, 25 SB - 1983
OF Vladimer Guerrero .336 AVG, 39 HR, 111 RBI, 106 R, 40 SB - 2002
OF Tim Raines .334 AVG, 9 HR, 62 RBI, 91 R, 70 SB - 1986
P - Steve Renko .278 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 5 R, 1 SB - 1975
Okay, so I know there are no Nationals in this line-up, but not much to choose from in the DC years. I almost went with Alfonso Soriano in the outfield with his 40/40 season in 2006, but when it comes to my lead-off man, I rather have Raines' .334 AVG compared to Fonzie's .277.
To vote for Cubs' All-Time line-up, click here.
To vote for Expos/Nationals' All-Time line-up, click here.
Posts
I voted! I appreciate you adding the link and making a post about it! I hope we can get "THE HAWK" the recognition he deserves!
ReplyDeleteThanks
Craig
Thanks. It was fun. I did majority of the other teams too. I must say Andre is the only pick that is personal, otherwise Ryno and Gracie would have made my line-up. I wish I could have took fielding into consideration, but there's no way to know how the old-timers were in the field, not fair. It's also hard to select only three outfielders, the Cubs had so many outstanding players there. Who would you have chosen differently?
ReplyDeleteActually, ours were pretty close to the same. I believe the only positions we differed on were 1st Base and one Outfield spot. I put Grace in place of Lee and I left Sosa off for Billy Williams. The steroid thing being my reasoning.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Craig
Yeah I've heard a few Cub fans leave Sosa off for that reason, but I decided to just make my decisions based on single season numbers given and no personal choices other than Andre.
ReplyDeleteYour Expos line-up looks fine. For the Cubs, I just cannot think about them without remembering, Grace, Fergie, or Billy Williams!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen you think about how many players won't make the Hall because of what they did to artificially enhance their bodies and stats, you can only increase your respect for guys like Dawson and Santo who fought through physical adversity and health problems--it's a crock they're not in the Hall.
ReplyDeleteFergie wasn't a choice, I guess offensively he wasn't very good. If the voting was based on fielding and pitching and just not hitting, I would have chosen him over Zambrano easily. Actually I would choose Maddux above all, he wasn't a bad singles hitter.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment AK. That is exactly why I can't believe a fraction of the Hall voters still don't believe Andre or Ronnie should be in. The game wasn't about money or fame for them. Role models in every sense.
I submitted my vote, and it happened to mirror yours. Yes, even I had to vote for Hornsby. It was too amazing of a season to pass over.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to argue with your picks. They were well thought out. I only did the Mets, Yankees and Pirates but I guess there's time to do other teams. I'll start with the Cubs and Expos/Nats. Thanks for the links-- it makes it much easier.
ReplyDelete-Jose