Infield: First baseman Todd Helton (1997- ) has been a terrific hitter, even if you make adjustments for the fact that he has played his entire career in the thin air of Coors Field. He was drafted out of Tennessee, where he was one of the quarterbacks who played ahead of Peyton Manning, and he quickly established himself as a guy who would hit well over .300 with lots of walks, doubles and home runs. He has batted over .340 three times, pounded out 40 or more doubles seven times, and drove in 140 runs a couple of times. He's got a .320 career average, well over 500 doubles and 300 home runs, and more than 1,200 runs, 1,200 RBI and 1,200 walks. Toss in a few Gold Gloves, too. That's a pretty fine player no matter what stadium he calls home. Second baseman Tommy Herr (1979-91) was a switch-hitter, a sweet fielder and as smart a player as you'd want to see. He wasn't a power hitter, but with the Cardinals in 1985 - when St. Louis had a bunch of speedy switch-hitters and slugger Jack Clark - Herr drove in 110 runs with just eight homers. Third baseman Tommy Harper (1962-76) was a sensational player who was not tremendously consistent. He was a hellacious speedster who stole 73 bases in 1969 and 400 bases in his career. He was a .257 hitter with a decent batting eye, and he hit 146 home runs in his career. He was a 30-30 guy back when that was a rare accomplishment. Harper had some seasons when he was very good, and other seasons when he was pretty ordinary, but he was generally a pretty good player. Shortstop Toby Harrah never went 30-30, but he went 20-20 three times and he drew a ton of walks. Harrah was not a good defensive player, even after he was moved to third base, and he had one famous day when he played an entire doubleheader at shortstop without handling a chance. Think about it.
Outfield: Gold Glover Torii Hunter (1997- ) in center, flanked by two Tommys who played at the same time - Tommy Holmes (1942-52) in right and Tommy Henrich (1937-50) in left. Holmes was a career .300 hitter who never struck out (122 times in his entire career), and he was a good enough defensive player that he had more outfield double plays than errors. He was one of the most popular players in the history of the Boston Braves, a gregarious guy who always hustled. In 1945 he had 224 hits and a .352 average, including a 37-game hitting streak that stood as the National League record until Pete Rose broke it in 1978. Henrich was a great Yankee outfielder who played alongside DiMaggio on four World Series champs. He wasn't as good as DiMaggio (few were), but the two of them and Charlie Keller formed one of the best outfields of all time. Henrich was a lefty who was very consistent, hitting for a good average, with a good batting eye and mid-range power. He missed three prime seasons to military service in WWII, but when he came back he led the league twice in triples. Hunter has won nine Gold Gloves in center. He has driven in 1,000 runs and might yet reach 1,000 runs scored as well.
Catcher: Switch-hitting Todd Hundley (1990-2003) hit 41 home runs in 1997 and then hit 30 in '98. He couldn't do that consistently, but he did hit 202 home runs in his career. He batted .230, struck out too much and wasn't a good defensive catcher. He's the son of another good catcher, Randy Hundley.
Rotation: Entering the 2011 season, Tim Hudson (1999- ) has won 165 games and lost just 87, an outstanding .655 winning percentage. He has split his career between Oakland and Atlanta and has consistently been better than league average in ERA. He's still going strong in his mid-30s and should make a run at 200 wins. Ted Higuera (1984-94), a lefty from Mexico, looked like he would be that kind of pitcher, but injuries got in the way. From 1984-87, he was 69-38 for Milwaukee with a 3.25 ERA and almost 800 strikeouts. That's when he started breaking down. He never seemed to be completely finished, but he was never completely healthy either. He still won 94 games, all for the Brew Crew, but with some luck he would have won a lot more. Tex Hughson (1941-49) won 96, and his winning percentage (.640) was almost as good as Hudson's (.655). He won 20 a couple of times for the Red Sox. (Trivia note: Hughson wore number 21 for the Sox, just as fellow Texas Longhorn Roger Clemens would a few generations later.) Long Tom Hughes (1900-13) went 132-174 in his career. As a teammate of Cy Young on the 1903 Red Sox, he won 20 games and pitched in the first World Series. Tommy Hanson (2009- ) is in his mid-20s but has already claimed No. 5 spot, partly because the rotation gets thin near the back end and partly because he looks like he could have a very fine career.
Bullpen: The ninth inning belongs to Trevor Hoffman (1993-2010), the all-time saves leader and the only pitcher ever to top 600 in that category (though Mariano Rivera is approaching). He struck out more than a batter per inning, primarily working with a good fastball and a great change-up, mixing them up in a way that never allowed hitters to get their balance. He only led the league in saves twice, but was over 40 nine times. He is backed by Tom Henke (1982-95), a tall, bespectacled righty who was every bit as good as Hoffman - better ERA, more strikeouts per inning. His career wasn't as long and he saved "only" 311 games, but he was great right up until the end - in his final season he had 36 saves and a 1.82 ERA for the Cardinals at age 37. He retired to his farm in Missouri to spend time with his family. Tom Hume (1977-87), another bespectacled righty, wasn't overpowering, but he was generally effective, winning 57 games and saving 92, mostly for the Reds. Lefty Tom Hall (1968-77) won 52 and saved 32. He played for several teams but spent his best years with the Reds and the Twins. For the pennant-winning Reds in 1972, he went 10-1 and then worked four shutout appearances in the World Series. Tom Hilgendorf (1969-75), another lefty, was pretty good but had an oddly short career. He didn't make it to the bigs until he was 27, and even when he pitched well he always seemed to just be hanging on. At age 33, he went 7-3 with a 2.14 ERA in almost 100 innings - he then spent the next season in the minors before retiring. Tom House (1971-78) was a good lefty who also had a PhD in psychology. He was a fine pitching coach, and he authored books on sports psychology, kinetics and baseball analysis. Oh, yeah, and he caught Henry Aaron's 715th home run in the Atlanta bullpen. Travis Harper (2000-06), who spent his career with Tampa, will work mop-up in this pen.
Bench: Filled with good role players. Outfielder Topsy Hartsel (1898-1911) is good enough to start, even in this outfield, and he'll see plenty of playing time. Hartsel was a 5-foot-5 speedster who batted .276 and drew a ton of walks. Tom Haller (1961-72) will push Hundley for the starting catching job. He didn't have as much raw power, but he did hit 134 home runs. Haller was a more well-rounded hitter and a better defensive catcher. First baseman Travis Hafner (2002- ) is the top pinch hitter and will start some, too. He's a born DH, with good strike zone judgement and power. In 2006 he went .308-42-117 for Cleveland and led the AL in slugging percentage. Infielder Tommy Helms (1964-77) was Rookie of the Year in 1966 and went on to a solid but unspectacular career. Terry Harmon (1967-77) is Harrah's defensive sub at short.
Manager: Some of these players (Harrah, Helms, Holmes) had brief managerial careers, but we're turning the team over to Trey Hillman, who managed the Royals from 2008-10. That was a tough task, but we'll let him work with some real talent. He's got a heck of a team here.
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