JO: The Jerry Orbachs

Infield: First baseman John Olerud (1989-2005) began making headlines before he ever played his first professional game. He had a great collegiate career at Washington State and when the Blue Jays drafted him (1989, third round) they talked about how he could be a star as either a pitcher or a hitter, or maybe even both! He went from the third round of the draft straight to the majors, with no stopover at all in the minors. Oh, and he wore a batting helmet even when he was in the field because he’d had emergency surgery for a brain aneurysm while in college and still had a soft spot on his skull. Well, he never pitched in the majors, but he was an awfully good first baseman – a .295 hitter who drew 80-100 walks, hit lots of doubles and more than a few home runs, plus he won three Gold Gloves. Every so often he would go nuts and bat .350 or .360 for a year, but those seasons were anomalies. Played in the postseason with five different teams and was a key contributor to Toronto’s two World Series titles. Jose Offerman (1990-2005) came up as a shortstop, and he was about as bad a defensive shortstop as it is possible for an ambulatory person to be, but Tommy Lasorda stuck with him there for several years because that’s what Tommy Lasorda did. He was less bad at second base, which is where he will start on this squad. He was a decent enough hitter — he would bat .290-.300 in his good seasons with a lot of walks and plenty of speed —and God love him, he continued to play for whoever wanted him. He played in the minors into his late 30s, until a 2007 game in which he charged the mound with his bat and sent both the pitcher and the catcher to the hospital. That was his last appearance in pro ball in the U.S. He continued to play in Mexico into his 40s, though his impulsive decision to punch out an umpire in a recent Dominican winter league game might mark the end of his career. While Offerman was a terrible shortstop who moved to second out of necessity, Jose Oquendo (1983-95) was a brilliant shortstop who moved to second base because Ozzie Smith was already at short. He’ll stay at shortstop on this team. Oquendo arrived as a slick fielder but a dreadful hitter (.213 in the minors, .217 in his first two years with the Mets. The Cardinals acquired him in a very minor trade, and after spending a year in the minors, Oquendo transformed himself into a great second baseman and a very functional hitter (.280 or so with an on-base percentage in the .370s for the next four years). He became known as “The Secret Weapon” and eventually played every position in the field – his one appearance as a catcher was a gimmick, but during a marathon extra-inning game in 1988 he did pitch four innings while the score was tied, eventually taking the loss (the rare position player to actually register a pitching decision). Currently coaching with the Cardinals as is the presumed successor to Tony LaRussa’s managerial throne. Like Offerman, Jorge Orta (1972-87) was a middle infielder with an iron glove. He bounced around between second base and corner outfield and designated hitter, and along the way he played a few dozen games at third base, enough for him to earn the starting job here. He was a good hitter, a consistent .280 hitter with line drive power and some speed. Oquendo will have to use all of his skills at shortstop with Offerman and Orta flanking him, and Olerud will have to earn his Gold Glove in dealing with their throws.

Outfield: Center fielder Jim O’Rourke (1872-1904) was one of the earliest stars of the sport, and one of the colorful figures (a raconteur known as Orator Jim). He had 2,643 hits and 1,729 runs despite the fact that teams didn’t start playing 100 games a year until he was in his early 30s. He held the career record for runs scored for several years, until Cap Anson appropriated it. Always a popular figure around the game, he was brought back in 1904 at age 54 to play one game (at catcher, no less) for the Giants, going 1-for-4 to become the oldest player ever to get a hit. Right fielder Jimmy Outlaw (1937-49) spent most of his career with the Tigers in the 1940s. You’d like to think that a guy named Jimmy Outlaw would steal bases and take out infielders and start brawls, but he appears to have been a fairly nondescript player. Left fielder Joe Orsulak (1983-97) was never anyone’s idea of a star, but he was a functional player – a .270 hitter who drew a few walks, hit a few doubles, ran reasonably well.

Catcher: Jack O’Brien (1882-90) was a fine hitter in the 1880s, mostly for the Philadelphia A’s.
Rotation: Lefty Jim O’Toole (1958-67) was a key member of the Cincinnati Reds rotation in the early 1960s, going 19-9 for the team that won the National League pennant in 1961. His career ended at age 30 because of shoulder problems. John "Blue Moon" Odom (1964-76) was a .500 pitcher and his ERA wasn't all that great and he walked as many batters as he struck out, but he had the good fortune to pitch for the A's when they were a very good and very colorful team, and he did have a couple of pretty good years for them. And give the man credit, in 10 postseason games (including 4 starts) he had an ERA of 1.13 (that's 0.40 in three ALCS, 2.08 in three World Series, and his teams won all six series). Joe Oeschger (1914-25) won 20 games once, lost 20 games once, and ended up with a career record of 82-116. He earned his place in baseball history one day in 1920 when he and Leon Cadore hooked up in a 26-inning marathon (with no relievers) that finally was called for darkness and ended in a tie. Jack Ogden (1918-32) pitched briefly with the Giants at age 20 then went to the minors for several years before resurfacing. He ultimately won 213 games in the minors (including seasons of 27, 28 and 31 victories), but only a total of 25 in the majors. Lefty Josh Outman (2008- ) is just getting started with the Oakland A’s, and he shows a lot of promise. Let’s see if he delivers.

Bullpen: Closer Jesse Orosco (1979-2003) pitched in 1,252 games, more than anyone else in major-league history. He was a fine pitcher for several years, with a career ERA of 3.16 and 144 saves, and he lasted until he was 46, helping to establish the modern role of the lefty reliever who comes in to get one out at a time. Lefty Joe Ostrowski (1948-52) was called Professor. He never went to college, but he wore glasses, so they assumed he was smart. He was a very good minor-leaguer but because of World War II he didn’t make it to the majors until his 30s. He was part of the Yankees team that won the 1951 World Series. Jim Owens (1955-67) was a decent swingman for the Phillies and later the Astros, with a short stopover in Cincinnati in between. Jim Ollom (1966-67) came from Snohomish, the same little town in Washington that produced Earls Averill and Torgeson. Maybe if Ollom’s parents had named him Earl he would have had a better career, although Earl Ollom doesn’t roll off the tongue very well. Johnny O’Brien (1953-58) pitched some and played middle infield, and he wasn’t very good at either. In fact, for fans of advanced statistical analysis, his OPS+ and his ERA+ are both 68, which must have taken months of planning on his part. Jack O’Connor (1981-87) was a lefty who spent most of his career in the chilly climes of Montreal and Minnesota, which couldn’t have been easy for a guy who hailed from Twentyninepalms, California. John O’Donohughe (1963-71) was picked for the AL all-star team in 1965, when he went 9-18 because, well, somebody had to represent the K.C. Athletics.

Bench: Jose Oliva (1994-95) came from infield factory in San Pedro de Macoris. Jose Ortiz (2000-02) is the same basic model, but from neighboring Santo Domingo. Infielder John O’Brien (1891-99) and outfielder Jack O’Brien (1899-1903) will play bridge with Johnny O’Brien and the catcher Jack O’Brien, just for the hell of it. Backup catcher John Orsino (1961-67) had some pop and will be a key pinch-hitter off of this bench.

Manager: Johnny Oates was a heck of a nice guy, and he had a winning record in four years with the Orioles and seven years with the Rangers.

JP: The Justices of the Peace

Infield: First baseman Joe Pepitone (1962-73) is sort of like Joe Namath without the Super Bowl championship – a good ballplayer who probably would have been better if he had devoted as much time to his career as he devoted to booze and loose women. He went bald at a young age and began wearing an utterly ridiculous hairpiece (actually, two of them, because he had a slightly smaller model that fit under his baseball cap). His experience as one of the first Americans to play baseball in Japan was a disaster – he played badly, made no efforts to fit in and complained that the food gave him diarrhea. He would miss games with phantom injuries but go out partying at the local discos, and before long the word “Pepitone” had become Japanese baseball slang for “lazy doofus.” His memoir, “Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud,” is half-confession and half-boast, and it describes how some Brooklyn mobsters offered, early in Pepitone’s career, to break Moose Skowron’s legs to free up some playing time. He was a decent enough player – 219 career home runs in an era when runs were hard to come by – whose career on the field was overshadowed by his career off the field. Like Pepitone, second baseman Jerry Priddy (1941-53) played for the Yankees, developed a reputation as a problem child, and had post-career financial and legal problems. Priddy was a terrific defensive second baseman and a solid hitter, and as he rose through the minors with Phil Rizzuto it was assumed they would emerge as the keystone combination for the Yankees’ dynasty. He arrived in the majors at age 21 but grew impatient waiting for a full-time job (Hall of Famer Joe Gordon was sort of in the way), and the Yankees – not liking his attitude – shipped him off to the Senators. He later played for the Browns and the Tigers as well. He was a good player, a .270 hitter who drew walks and hit doubles and played great defense in the middle infield, and if he had stayed with the Yankees he would have been very famous. Instead, he is mostly remembered as a “clubhouse lawyer” who wore out his welcome with several teams. Third baseman Johnny Pesky (1942-54) is the opposite, a gregarious guy who became a beloved figure around the sport, especially in Boston. Pesky was a .300 hitter who drew a ton of walks, and he played a key role in one of the most famous plays in World Series history, holding the ball too long on a relay throw while Enos Slaughter scored from first base in 1946. He was a coach to several generations of Red Sox players, hitting countless fly balls off the Green Monster to help Yaz and Rice learn the caroms. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta (2003- ) is a decent enough player who has not yet developed an image as colorful as Pepitone, Priddy and Pesky. But give him time.

Outfield: Center fielder Jimmy Piersall (1950-67) makes Pepitone, Priddy and Pesky look like small-time operators in the “colorful character” department. He’s one of the few major leagues to spend time in a psychiatric institution in mid-career. With the Red Sox in 1952, he got into a series of fistfights with teammates and opponents and once began spanking a teammates’s young son in the clubhouse, all of which convinced the Sox that he needed more seasoning, so they sent him back to the minors, where he began getting ejected from games on a regular basis and once climbed on the roof of the stadium to heckle the home plate umpire. When it became clear that he was having a nervous breakdown, Piersall was committed to a mental institution for several weeks. He returned to baseball the following season and had a long career in the majors as a great defensive center fielder and decent enough hitter. While he was never institutionalized again, he remained a bizarre character – he once wore a Beatles wig to the plate and played “air guitar” on his bat, and when he hit his 100th home run, he celebrated by galloping backward around the bases (see photo). He was once ejected from a game because he would not stop running back and forth in the outfield in an attempt to distract the batter. Such antics overshadowed the fact that he was an intelligent man, a guy who developed a close friendship with John F. Kennedy. After his playing career he became a broadcaster who had problems because of his propensity for cursing on the air and criticizing team management. Left fielder Jake Powell (1930-45) was a role player whose career included three World Series appearances with the Yankees. It also included a 10-game suspension in 1938 for a pre-game interview in which he said he kept in shape in the offseason by hitting black people on the heads with sticks (you can imagine the ugly ethnic term he used for black people). After his career, he went broke, lost his mind and committed suicide at age 40. Right fielder Jay Payton (1998-2008) had some good seasons but never developed into the player that people thought he would become.

Catcher: Jorge Posada (1995- ) probably deserves as much credit as Derek Jeter for the Yankees’ recent success. He’s a durable catcher who hits .280, draws lots of walks and hits 20-25 home runs per year. Six pennants and four championships. Hip hip – Jorge!

Rotation: Jim Palmer (1965-84) was one of the best pitchers of his generation, not quite as good as Tom Seaver but almost. He was an elegant pitcher who won 268 games and three Cy Young Awards, and he pitched in six World Series for the Orioles, starting with a shutout of the Dodgers at age 20 in 1966. He was (and still is) a trim, handsome man, and he posed for a very famous underwear ad. He also tended to complain a lot, bicker with teammates and fight openly with manager Earl Weaver. This did not end with their retirements. A few years ago, at a good-natured “roast” of Weaver, Palmer made a few too many jokes about Weaver’s drinking habits and the manager blew up and tried to punch him in the face. Jake Peavy (2002- ) won a Cy Young Award and two ERA titles before he turned 27, but now he’s trying to reclaim his career after arm trouble. He’s barely 30, so we’ll see what kind of comeback he’s got in him. Jim Perry (1959-75) won 215 games despite being inexplicably banished to the bullpen for several years in mid-career. He wasn’t as good as his brother Gaylord, but he was still pretty darn good. Jack Powell (1897-1912) had four 20-win seasons. He never lost 20 games in a year, but he lost 19 games five times and ended up with a losing record for his career, 245-254. That’s a bit deceptive, since it largely reflects three years at the end of his career when he went 24-47 for some godawful Browns teams. Jeff Pfeffer (1911-24) went 158-112 and was a key starter on the Brooklyn Robins teams that won pennants in 1916 and 1920.

Bullpen: Jonathan Papelbon (2005- ) came up as a starter and was originally reluctant to move to the bullpen, but he got a taste for closing and is on his way to becoming a Red Sox legend – a dominant closer with an outstanding postseason resume to boot. J.J. Putz (2003- ) was an ordinary pitcher until he learned a split-fingered fastball at age 29, at which point he pitched lights-out for two years (76 saves, 1.86 ERA and more strikeouts than baserunners). He's come back to Earth a bit since then, but he's still pretty good. Joe Page (1944-54) may have been the first reliever to be known as a “fireman,” and he was almost certainly the last to be nicknamed “The Gay Reliever.” He pitched for the DiMaggio Yankees and had a couple of really good seasons in the late 1940s. Jack Pfeister (1903-11) had a brief but memorable run as part of the pitching rotation that took the Cubs to four World Series and two championships between 1906-10. His career ERA of 2.02 is third-best of all time. Juan Pizarro (1957-74) was a fireballing lefty who came up as a 20-year-old with the World Series champion Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and stuck around to pitch for the division-winning Pirates of 1974. In between, he pitched for five other teams and won 131 games. He will get some starts on this team, as will Johnny Podres (1953-69), a fine lefty who won 148 games, mostly for the great Dodgers teams in the years bridging the Boys of Summer and Koufax/Drysdale. His legacy rests on the 1955 World Series, when he pitched a shutout in Game 7 to finally get Brooklyn past the Yankees. He finished his career in San Diego as Podres of the Padres. Jesse Petty (1921-30) is another lefty who pitched in Brooklyn. He won 186 games in the minors, including 29 for Indianapolis in 1924.

Bench: Outfielder Juan Pierre (2000- ) might platoon some to get a lefty stick into the lineup, although he’s never been much of a hitter. He’s got more than 500 career steals, so he'll definitely do some pinch-running. Second baseman Jack Perconte (1980-86) was a minor-league star, a .300 hitter with speed and a decent glove, who struggled to find playing time in the majors. He finally got a chance to start for Seattle at age 29, had a couple of decent enough seasons and then was cast back onto the scrap heap. Infielder Jose Pagan (1959-73) played with the Willie Mays Giants and the Roberto Clemente Pirates. He wasn’t a good hitter and he wasn’t a good fielder, but he played for a long time. Third baseman Jim Presley (1984-91) batted .250, hit home runs and struck out a whole bunch. Backup catcher Jim Pagliaroni (1955-69) had some power, caught Catfish Hunter’s perfect game and was friends with Bouton in “Ball Four.”

Manager: Jim Price, who managed the New York Gothams to a 56-42 record in 1884. He’ll have his hands full with this gang. Lots of talent to work with, but some interesting personalities to keep in line.

JR: The Joe Reisels

Infield: Jackie Robinson (1947-56) was such a remarkable athlete that he could play anywhere on the diamond. He is best known as a second baseman, but he also played a lot at third and more than a little at first base and outfield. The baseball analyst Bill James observed that Jackie’s legacy is so completely defined by the story of his breaking the color line, that fans have lost sight of what a great baseball player he was – a .311 career hitter who drew enough walks to push his on-base over .400, with extra-base power. He was an electrifying baserunner, an intensely smart player and a fiery competitor. When James began charting defensive stats into his Win Shares system, he was amazed to see that Jackie was not only one of the best defensive second basemen in history, but also a brilliant third baseman and outfielder. He’ll be starting at third for the JR team, while Johnny Ray (1981-90) holds down second. Ray was a .290 hitter with about 35 doubles per year, and a solid defender. When he was done in the majors, he moved to Japan and played well for a few years. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins (2000- ) has an MVP, three Gold Gloves and a World Series title. He’s a .270 hitter who steals 35-40 bases per year and hits a ton of doubles and triples. Joe Rudi (1967-82) was a fine defensive outfielder, but he’ll go to his secondary position, first base, to round out this team’s outstanding defensive infield. He was a key player on the Oakland A’s “Mustache Gang” dynasty, twice runner-up for the AL MVP award. Playing his prime years in a terrible ballpark for hitters, he hit .260 for his career but was good for 30 doubles, 15-20 home runs and a handful of triples each year.

Outfield: Left fielder Jim Rice (1974-89) has probably sparked as much debate as any hitter in baseball history. He was almost certainly the most feared hitter of his era, a guy so strong that he sometimes snapped his bat handles on checked swings, a .300 hitter who mashed home runs and piled up gaudy RBI totals. He wasn’t a great defensive outfielder, but he wasn’t terrible either. But he also grounded into an ungodly number of double plays, and his offensive numbers were drastically inflated by Fenway Park. For these reasons and more, he was an overrated player, but it’s hard to say by how much. He finally made it into the Hall of Fame after much rancorous debate. Center fielder Jimmy Ryan (1885-1903) was a terrific defender with a great arm, and he was a fine hitter as well. He was badly injured in a train wreck in the middle of his career, and it was thought that he would never recover. He did, and he was still a good player, but never quite as good. He scored 1,600 runs in his career. Right fielder Juan Rivera (2001- ) has been primarily a role player and a platoon guy, but he’s done well in that role. He did not have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title he was 30 years old. But he hits .285 with some power, and he’ll put some runs on the board.

Catcher: Lefty stick John Roseboro (1957-70) will platoon with righty stick John Romano (1958-67). Roseboro was the guy behind the plate for the Koufax-Drysdale Dodgers. He was a decent hitter with a little bit of pop and a very fine defensive player. Perhaps most famous for an incident when Juan Marichal got mad at some inside pitches and used Roseboro’s head for batting practice. Romano was a power hitter for the White Sox and Indians, a very good player for a few years before he began to put on weight and slow down. Either one of these guys would be fine as a full-time starter. As a platoon combination, they’re killer good.

Rotation: J.R. Richard (1971-80) is one of the great “what-if” stories in baseball history. He was a 6-foot-6 flame-thrower who struck out 300 batters a year and looked like he was on a straight path to the Hall of Fame. Then in 1980, off to another great start (10-4, 1.90 ERA), he complained that he wasn’t feeling well. No one took him seriously, and some accused him of just being lazy. Then he collapsed on the field of a stroke. He made several comeback attempts but never pitched again. Years later he was discovered homeless and sleeping under a highway underpass in Houston, but he eventually got his life back together with the help of a local minister. Jerry "Rolls" Reuss (1969-90) was part of the Cardinals’ great talent purge of the 1970s, when the team was just giving away talented players like Reuss and Jose Cruz while floundering year after year on the field. Reuss won 14 game at age 22, and ordinarily a team would like a lefty who won 14 games at age 22, but the Cardinals thought he was brash and they decided that he didn’t look like a 20-game winner, so they unloaded him. And they were right. He never won 20. But he won 16 twice and 18 three times, and he pitched for 22 years and he won 220 games and he had a 3.57 ERA in 11 playoff starts and helped the Dodgers win the 1981 World Series. Jose Rijo (1984-2002) was a really good pitcher. People didn’t always recognize it at the time, and they don’t necessarily remember it now, but in his prime he was among the best pitchers in baseball. From 1988-93, Rijo was 78-47 with a 2.56 ERA and more strikeouts than hits allowed. In the 1990 World Series he won two games for the Reds and allowed just one run in 15 1/3 innings. He had 100 wins in his late 20s, and the Hall of Fame was looking like a possibility. But arm injuries set in, and he did not pitch in the majors between 1996-2000. He pitched some relief for a couple of years after that, but it was over. He finished with a 116-91 record. Jim Rooker (1968-80) was a teammate of Jerry Reuss in the Pirates rotations of the mid-1970s. He won 13-15 games a year from 1974-77, and he was a bit player on the 1979 “We Are Family” championship team. Jimmy Ring (1917-28) went 50-51 for the Reds, Giants and Cardinals, but he went 68-98 for the Phillies, sending a torpedo through his career won-lost record.

Bullpen: Closer Jeff Reardon (1979-94) very briefly held the career record for saves. He broke Rollie Fingers’ record, then quickly handed it over to Lee Smith. This seems sort of odd, because Reardon was never one of those closers who made you says, “Well, if you give this guy a lead in the ninth inning, the game’s over.” But he was a durable guy who pitched at the time when the modern closer strategies, which maximize save opportunities, were taking root, and he finished with 367 saves. John Rocker (1998-2003) was the opposite of Reardon, a shut-down reliever for a very brief period. As a young reliever for the Braves, he mowed hitters down and averaged 13 strikeouts per nine innings. Then, just as his career was taking off, he gave an interview to Sports Illustrated in which he insulted every ethnic group in America, tossed in some homophobic remarks, and suggested that everyone who lived in New York was a degenerate unworthy to ride a subway car next to him. For good measure, he referred to a black teammate as “a fat monkey.” The resulting controversy blew up in his face, and his career unraveled. He became a national laughingstock, the iconic image of the temperamental redneck, and the punchline of late-night monologues. He was booed everywhere he went, and teams considered him more trouble than he was worth, especially after he lost his composure and stopped throwing strikes. Even after he was out of baseball, he would occasionally make the news with public outbursts or steroid admissions. Jeff Russell (1983-96) saved 186, mostly for the Rangers. Jon Rauch (2002- ) is 6-foot-11, and until there’s a 7-footer that makes him the tallest player in major league history. He has been a pretty reliable reliever while bouncing around the majors. Jim Roland (1962-72) was a lefty who had some good years for the Twins and the A’s. Jeff D. Robinson (1984-92) pitched at the same time as Jeff M. Robinson, but Jeff D. was the better of the two. Jerry Reed (1981-90) should not be confused with the country singer who starred in all those bad movies with Burt Reynolds. This guy was a good relief pitcher who toiled in obscurity as a middle reliever for bad Cleveland and Seattle teams.

Bench: Jose Reyes (2003- ) may yet wrest the starting shortstop job away from Rollins. He’s a thrilling player to watch, with breathtaking speed and spectacular defensive abilities. He averages 60 steals a year and he regularly leads the league in triples. In fact, watching him leg out a triple is one of the pure joys of modern baseball. If he can stay healthy, he probably supplants Rollins. But we'll have to wait and see. Jody Reed (1987-97) was a second baseman who could be stretched to play shortstop, though looking at the makeup of this roster he’ll have scant playing time at either spot. But he was a decent hitter, .270 with gap power, and a solid fielder. Jim Rivera (1952-61) was a fine defensive outfielder for the pennant-winning White Sox, a guy who hit alright and ran very well. He’ll see time in the outfield here. Long John Reilly (1880-91) was an outstanding first baseman for the Cincinnati Redlegs, banging doubles, triples and home runs. He’ll see plenty of time at first base, with Joe Rudi moving to the outfield to spell Juan Rivera. Either Romano or Roseboro will be available for pinch-hitting duties, depending on which one is behind the plate on any given day.

Manager: Jim Riggleman has had a lot of losing records, but then he’s had a lot of bad teams. In the 2011 season, he looked like he was finally on the verge of some success with a surging Washington Natioinals team - until he quit at midseason over a contract dispute. He’ll have his hands full with this team, with platoon combinations and versatile players who can move all around the defensive alignment.

JS: The Jim Spencers

Infield: Shortstop Joe Sewell (1920-33) was a fine fielder and a good hitter who is known to modern fans for one reason – his ability to avoid strikeouts. The man struck out 114 times. Not in a season. In his career. In more than 7,000 at-bats. In 13 seasons as a regular, his strikeout total reached double digits four times. He was a .312 career hitter, and he was good for 40 doubles a year. The league batting average in his career was .292, so that .316 average isn’t quite as impressive as it looks, and he once had a season when he stole 3 bases and got caught stealing 16 times. But still, he was a good hitter and a very good fielder. And then there’s second baseman Juan Samuel (1983-98), who was the exact opposite of Joe Sewell. As a rookie, Samuel stole 72 bases and pounded out 36 doubles, 19 triples and 15 home runs, which caught a lot of people’s attention. But he was an absolutely dreadful defensive player, and he led the league in strikeouts in each of his first four seasons. He averaged 136 strikeouts per season, about two dozen more than Joe Sewell had in his entire career, and making matters worse, he didn’t draw any walks. His game moved steadily backward, and Samuel bounced all around the majors until his mid-30s, as team after team tried to figure out a way to use his ever-diminishing power and speed while minimizing the damage he did in the field and overlooking the fact that he wasn’t getting on base. In the end, his career numbers look pretty good – 161 home runs, 396 steals, 873 runs, 703 RBI – but by mid-career the general consensus was that he caused more problems than he solved. Jersey Joe Stripp (1928-38) was a pretty fair third baseman for the Reds and the Dodgers – good fielder, decent enough hitter. In Cincinnati, he shared third base with Chuck Dressen, and Bill James wrote that the Reds manager suggested they put up a curtain around the base “because the fans don’t want to watch Joe Stripp or Chuck Dressen.” We don’t know if a manager actually said that or if it was just a one-liner from the author, but it’s an awfully funny line. First baseman Joe Start (1871-86) was playing amateur baseball before the Civil War, if you can imagine what the sport looked like at that point, and he was a standout hitter in the earliest organizations that could be called major leagues. It’s hard to know exactly what to make of him, but he was clearly a very good player.

Outfield: Left fielder Jake Stenzel (1890-99) batted .339 with a career on-base percentage over .400, and he stole almost 300 bases and had lots of extra-base hits. In the context of his time, those were good numbers but not eye-popping or anything. The only time he ever led the league in an offensive category was when he had 43 doubles in 1897. Right fielder Jimmy Sheckard (1897-1913), on the other hand, was a .274 career hitter who led his leagues at various times in runs, triples, home runs, stolen bases (twice), walks (twice), on-base percentage, slugging percentage and sacrifice bunts (twice). He did this scattered all across his 17-year career, not clumping a bunch of them together in a couple of big seasons. He starred for the Chicago Cubs juggernaut that won four pennants and two World Series titles between 1906-10. Jimmy Slagle (1899-1908) played on three of those pennant-winning teams, too, so he’ll be very comfortable in center field alongside Sheckard. He wasn’t nearly as good player as Sheckard or Stenzel, but he was alright – a fast guy who drew some walks.

Catcher: Jim Sundberg (1974-89) was probably the best defensive catcher in baseball during the years between Johnny Bench and Pudge Rodriguez. During his peak years in Texas, he was a decent hitter - .275 with 60-70 walks – and even after his knees went (and took his bat with them), his defensive skills kept him in a starting role into his mid-30s.

Rotation: Johan Santana (2000- ) was shaping up as the best pitcher of his generation until arm injuries interrupted his progress. He was a Hall of Famer through age 30 – leading the league in ERA and strikeouts three times apiece and winning a pair of Cy Young Awards. His career records are still outstanding, but he needs to come back strong and stay healthy if he wants to get to Cooperstown. John Smoltz (1988-2009) has got the 200 victories (213-155) and the 3,000 strikeouts. He’s won a Cy Young Award, and his career record in the postseason is 15-4 with a 2.67 ERA and a 3-1 strikeout to walk ratio. In mid-career, he switched to the bullpen and saved 144 games in three seasons. Johnny Sain (1942-55) is best known for the first half of his career when he was a regular 20-game winner for the Braves, pairing with his even more durable counterpart to head the famous “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain” rotations. He spent the second part of his career as a swingman/closer for the Yankees teams that won three World Series titles. After his playing career, he was known as one of the top pitching coaches in baseball. Jason Schmidt (1995-2009) was an awfully good pitcher for a few years, but the injuries set in right as he seemed to be gaining traction. His career record was 130-96, despite spending his prime years with a dreadful Pittsburgh team. Jack Sanford (1956-67) won 137 games, mostly for the Phillies and the Giants. That’s five starting pitchers with more than 100 wins apiece, and with an aggregate winning percentage of .583.

Bullpen: Jeff Shaw (1990-2001) has the closer job for the moment, but Joakim Soria (2007- ) is aiming to make it his own. Shaw struggled along for several years with the Indians and the Expos before he arrived in Cincinnati and became a top-flight reliever in his 30s. He saved 203 games for the Reds and Dodgers, leading the league with 42 in 1997 and retiring after a career-high 43 saves in 2001. Soria has stayed under the radar for a lot of fans and media because he plays in Kansas City, but he has been one of the best relievers in baseball since he arrived on the scene. Jim Slaton (1971-86) and Jeff Suppan (1995-2010) were solid starting pitchers, with almost 300 wins between them, who aren’t good enough to crack this rotation but will get plenty of work in long relief. John Smiley (1986-97) is in the same category, and he brings another 126 victories to the table. He’s one of the handful of lefties in the 1990s who suffered the gruesome career-ending injury in which a bone in his arm snapped in half in mid-pitch. Happy Jack Stivetts (1889-99) was a 19th-century workhorse who won 203 games, and his “walk-in song” from the bullpen will obviously be The Who’s “Happy Jack.” He’ll be first in line, ahead of Slaton and Suppan and Smiley, to pick up some starts when Jason Schmidt’s elbow is feeling hinky. Justin Speier (1998- ) has been a solid workhorse middle reliever and set-up guy for a dozen years.

Bench: Outfielder Jigger Statz (1919-28) had a decent little major-league career, but his legacy is in the Pacific Coast League, where he played for 18 seasons, collected 3,356 hits and a .315 career average. Add in his 737 hits in the majors, and you’ve got one of the select handful of players with 4,000 professional hits (along with Rose, Musial, Cobb and Aaron). He will make a serious push for a starting job in this outfield. First baseman J.T. Snow (1992-2008) won six Gold Gloves. He will be a defensive replacement for Joe Start, who probably never even wore a leather glove. Snow could hit, too, and he’ll get some starting time. Junior Spivey (2001-05) was a very ordinary second baseman. Jimmy Stewart (1963-73) was a versatile utility guy who didn’t hit much, and he was no relation to that actor who starred in “The Stratton Story.” Backup catcher John Stearns (1974-84) was a .260 hitter who drew some walks, and he ran well enough to steal 15-25 bases (though he got thrown out a lot, too).

Manager: Joe Schultz, in honor of everyone who has ever read “Ball Four.” Pound that Budweiser, boys.

JT: The Jorge Tocas

Infield: Jim Thome (1991- ) is the Harmon Killebrew of his generation. Big guy, came up as a third baseman but got shifted to first for defensive reasons, hit a ton of home runs and drew enough walks to more than compensate for a mediocre batting average (in fact, his career on-base percentage is over .400). He is about to become the eight person in history to reach 600 home runs, and the ninth is still a long, long way off. We are going to keep Thome at third base. He was a bad fielder there, but not like Pedro Guerrero bad, and this is the alignment that optimizes our offense. Thome at third opens up first base for Jason Thompson (1976-86), who was a very fine player for Detroit and Pittsburgh – a .260 hitter who drew 80-100 walks a year and hit 20-25 home runs. Shortstop (and poetry muse) Joe Tinker (1902-16) was a slick shortstop and the defensive anchor of the great deadball Cubs teams that won four pennants and two World Series championships between 1906-10. He was a great hit-and-run man, and he famously batted .350 against Christy Mathewson over the course of his career. Second baseman Johnny Temple (1952-64) was a slap hitter who batted .284 and walked almost twice as often as he struck out. He was a feisty guy, and after his playing days he served as a coach with Cincinnati until he was let go following a bloody fistfight with another of the team’s coaches.

Outfield: Center fielder Jose Tartabull (1962-70) was the exact opposite of his son, Danny. Jose was a little speedy guy with no power – as in, 2 home runs in 2,000 plate appearances, and 83 percent of his career hits for singles. Left fielder Jack Tobin (1914-27) grew up in St. Louis and spent almost his entire career in his home town, with the Federal League’s St. Louis Terriers and then the AL’s Browns. He was a leadoff hitter, a .300 batter and a guy with some gap power and some speed. Right fielder Jerry Turner (1974-83) was a rather nondescript player for the Padres. He wasn’t a bad player, but playing for San Diego in the 1970s, he didn’t get noticed much.

Catcher: Joe Torre (1960-77) was one of the best-hitting catchers of all time. His defense wasn’t great, which is why he was moved to third base and then first base, but he caught 900 games, which is more than he played at any other position. He was a .300 hitter (well, .297) with power.

Rotation: Jeff Tesreau (1912-18) had one of the best spitballs in baseball, and he rode it to a 115-72 record and a 2.43 ERA, allowing just 7 hits per 9 innings pitched. He quit the game in mid-career in a spat with manager John McGraw – Tesreau was offended that McGraw wanted him to provide details on the after-hours partying habits of his teammates – and worked briefly as a steelworker before becoming head coach at Dartmouth. Jesse Tannehill (1894-1911) was a lefty with a slow, looping curveball that induced a lot of ground balls. He won 197 games and, as a bonus, was a good enough athlete to be used as a pinch-hitter and even a pinch-runner. Lefty John Tudor (1979-90) was a devastating pitcher when he could stay healthy. He won 117 games with a career winning percentage of .619. He had 10 shutouts in 1985 (one of them a 10-inning 1-0 victory over Doc Gooden in the heat of the pennant race), making him the last pitcher to hit double-digits in shutouts for a season. (In addition to his various arm injuries, Tudor sustained a broken leg in 1987 while trying to break the fall of an opposing catcher who slid into the Cardinals dugout while chasing a foul pop.) Jack Taylor (1898-1907) won 152 games for the Cardinals and Cubs, and in 1902 he led the National League in ERA. Between 1901-06 he threw complete games in 188 consecutive starts. Be a while before anyone tries that again, hey? Jim Tobin (1937-45) went 105-112, mostly for the Pirates and Braves, making this a rare “initial team” with five 100-victory guys in the rotation. In 1944 he pitched two no-hitters, one of them shortened to five innings by darkness in the second game of an afternoon doubleheader. (In another game that same year, Cincinnati’s Clyde Shoun no-hit the Braves. It would have been a perfect game, except Shoun walked Tobin.) His nickname was “Abba Dabba,” for reasons that are probably best left to the memories of those who were there at the time.

Bullpen: Jim Turner (1937-45) won 200 games in the minors, then led the National League in ERA as a 33-year-old rookie. After a few more years as a starter, he had a few good years pitching out of the Yankees’ pen during World War II. He’ll start out as the JT closer. Jay (“They Call Me Mister”) Tibbs (1984-90) had a few good years while bouncing around four teams. Julian Tavarez (1993- ) is a durable swingman with a nasty temper who has the reputation for head-hunting. Jeff (Chewin’) Tabaka (1994-2001) was a solid lefty who changed teams every year. Junior Thompson (1939-47) was a good pitcher whose career was interrupted in his prime by three years in the Navy during World War II. Jack Taylor (1891-99), known as “Brewery Jack” (hmmm … wonder why), was primarily a starting pitcher, but not quite good enough to crack the rotation here, so he will be a long reliever and can fill in when Tudor (or anyone else) gets hurt. John Tsitouris (1957-68) had a few good years.

Bench: Jim Thorpe (1913-19), considered to be one of the greatest athletic specimens of all time, will certainly get some playing time in the outfield, and as part of a promotion, kids will get to race him around the bases during seventh-inning stretch. (Thorpe won the pentathlon and the decathlon at the 1912 Olympics, but was stripped of his medals when it was found out that he had played low-level professional baseball, thus nullifying his amateur status.) Jim Tabor (1938-47) was a decent enough third baseman, but he won’t be playing much here – he can’t match Thome or Torre with the stick, and while we could use a defensive sub at the hot corner, Tabor wasn’t exactly Aurelio Rodriguez with the leather. Utility infielder Jerry Terrell (1973-80) will most likely pick up some of that defensive work at third. Second baseman Jeff Treadway (1987-95) was a good contact hitter who could bat .300 in a good season. Backup catcher Joe Tipton (1948-54) was a reserve on the Indians championship team in 1948. (He’ll hold down the job unless Jake Taylor’s knees get better.)

Manager: Jim Tracy had some success with the Dodgers. He can’t really be blamed for failing to win in Pittsburgh, but he did a heck of a job after taking over the Rockies at midseason in 2009. He’ll be assisted by Jeff Torborg. (The managerial job was offered to Torre, but he said he’d rather just play at this point. Tinker was a little bit pissed off that it didn’t get offered to him.)

JV: The Junior Varsity

Infield: First baseman Joey Votto (2207- ) is just entering his prime, so we don’t know how his career will turn out, but you’ve got to like what he’s shown so far. He’s a big lefty slugger who bats .300, draws walks and bangs doubles and home runs. National League MVP in 2010. Second baseman Jose Vidro (1997-2008) was a terrific player for several years, but the general public never figured it out because he was in Montreal. At his peak he batted .300 with about 45 doubles a year. Never much of a fielder, but a fine hitter. Shortstop Jose Vizcaino (1989-2006) hung around forever. He was never a great hitter – your basic .270 with no walks, speed or power – and only so-so as a fielder, but he lasted almost two decades, playing for eight teams and winning a World Series title with the Yankees. Third baseman John Valentin (1992-2002) was a .270 hitter, too, but he drew 75-80 walks per year, with about 40 doubles and 15-20 home runs. As a bonus, in 17 postseason games for the Red Sox he batted .347 with five home runs and 19 RBI (and anyone who averages an RBI per game in the postseason is doing something). Finally, he is one of two players in history to hit for the cycle and turn an unassisted triple play. If you want to know who the other one was, you'll have to check out the roster of the Roman Hruskas.

Outfield: Joe Vosmik (1930-44) was a career .307 hitter with lots of doubles and triples. He played in a high-average era, but still, his better years were quite good. In 1935, playing for Cleveland, he batted .348 and led the league with 216 hits, 47 doubles and 20 triples. He later played on the Red Sox alongside Foxx and Teddy Ballgame. John Vander Wal (1991-2004) was a very useful guy, a good lefty hitter who could play a competent outfield defense. He was used a lot as a platoon player, and in 1995 he had one of the great “role player” seasons of all time – used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter, he had 118 plate appearances in 105 games, and he batted .347, with a .432 on-base and a .594 slugging. Center fielder Joe Virtue (1890-94) had a great name, don’t you think? His nickname was “Guesses,” which is rather distinctive, too. He wasn’t really an outfielder. He spent most of his career at first base and even played a few games as a left-handed shortstop. He was a .270 hitter with gap power. In all honesty, none of these guys is a center fielder, but we’ll start out with Vosmik there, with Virtue in left and Vander Wal in right.

Catcher: Jason Varitek (1999- ) has had a fascinating career. He played in a Little League World Series, a College World Series and a Major League World Series, and in the Olympics, too. He’s one of the few players to be drafted twice in the first round. He was part of one of the most famously bad trades in major-league history – the Mariners packaged him with Derek Lowe in order to pry Heathcliff Slocumb away from the Red Sox. He has caught four no-hitters by four different pitchers, and he was captain of the Red Sox team that broke the curse. He’s a .260 hitter who draws some walks and hits his share of doubles and home runs, and he has the rep as a great handler of pitchers.

Rotation: Javier Vazquez (1998- ) is in his mid-30s, and while nobody seems to have noticed this, there is a reasonable chance that he will be the next pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts. He is a good, solid pitcher who never misses a start. He might have a shot at 200 victories, too, if he can stay on track. Johnny Vander Meer (1937-51) pulled off one of the most ridiculously improbable feats in baseball history. He was a good pitcher who did not allow a lot of hits (7.7 per 9 innings over the course of his career), so it’s not surprising that on a good day he threw a no-hitter, and it’s not even all that stunning that given 285 starts he managed two of them. But back-to-back? Those two games have come to define his career, to the extent that very few people know what he did with the rest of his career. The answer is, he won 119 games and lost 121, with an ERA that was a little bit better than league average. He led the National League in strikeouts three times, walks twice. Justin Verlander (2005- ), who played his college ball here at Old Dominion University, has also thrown two no-hitters. Not back-to-back of course, but he is still in his late 20s and appears to be on his way to one heck of a career. Julio Valera (1990-96) had some very good years in the minors as a teen, but he never did anything in the majors. Jason Vargas (2005- ) has not pitched well. He’ll turn 27 before the 2010 season, so if he’s going to get it together, he’d better start soon.

Bullpen: Closer Jose Valverde (2003- ) led the National League in saves in 2007 and again in 2008. Left Jonny Venters (2010- ) is just entering his prime, but thus far in his career he has been pretty much unhittable for the Braves. If he can sustain what he's done to this point, he's going to have one heck of a career. Jose Veras (2006- ) is a big Dominican who thus far has pitched well enough to stick around. John Verhoeven (1976-81) came up young and burnt out quickly, though he didn’t pitch too badly. Joe Verbanic (1966-70) had a couple of decent seasons for the Yankees in the Horace Clarke era. Johnny van Cuyk (1947-49) was a highly touted lefty who ended up just having a few cups o’coffee with Brooklyn. Jermaine Van Buren (2005-06) is a distant relative of President Martin Van Buren. Probably. He had a career ERA of 9.00.

Bench: Jose Valentin (1992-2007) was a pretty fair shortstop and he hit 249 home runs, but he also struck out a lot and couldn’t get on base. He’ll push Vizcaino for playing time. Javier Valentin (1997-2008) is a backup catcher with a little bit of pop. Jim Viox (1912-16) was a little utility player who drew a lot of walks. Johnny Vergez (1931-36) holds an oddball record – the most consecutive home runs hit in a single ballpark at the start of a career. His first 27 home runs were all at the Polo Grounds. We’re guessing he was a pull hitter. Jonathan Von Every (2008- ) has not been able to earn any sort of substantial playing time in the Boston Red Sox outfield.

Manager: John Vukovich was a good-field, terrible-hit third baseman, and Joe Posnanski’s new book “The Machine” suggests that the turning point for the 1975 Reds was when Sparky said the hell with it and pulled Vukovich out of the starting lineup, moving Rose to third and opening up playing time for George Foster. He was a coach in the majors for several years and in two brief stints as an interim manager – one for the Cubs and one for the Phillies – he had a 6-5 record.

JW: The Joe Walsh "Life's Been Good" All-Stars

Infield: Third baseman Jud Wilson was a hot-tempered Negro League star who is listed as a .351 career hitter. His nickname, “Boojum,” is supposedly based on what Satchel Paige said Wilson’s line drives sounded like. Guess you had to be there. (Some say it was pronounced buh-ZHOOM, which would make a little bit of sense.) John Wockenfuss (1974-85) was really a catcher, but he’s at first base on this team for a couple of reasons. First off, he was not a good defensive catcher, and he did play some first base. Secondly, the JWs have got a couple of pretty fair catchers besides Wockenfuss. And thirdly, he was a good hitter who needs to be in the starting lineup – something they never figured out in the majors, since somehow he only played in 100 or more games one time. He was a .260 hitter who drew a lot of walks, had enough power that he would have hit 20 home runs if given the chance. Wockenfuss had one of the strangest batting stances you’d ever want to see – drastically closed, twisted around, back to the pitcher and looking over his shoulder, feet close together and pointed at the catcher, with his bat cocked high. He was a good hitter who should have been given more of a chance. Second baseman Jake Wood (1961-67) had an interesting rookie year for the Tigers in 1961, leading the league in triples with 14 but also setting a major-league record (broken one year later) with 141 strikeouts. Wood wasn’t a great hitter or a great fielder, but he ran well and could drive the ball, and he could get some things done on the field. He will really only be a part-time starter, since John Montgomery Ward will see a lot of time in the infield on days when he’s not the starting pitcher. Shortstop Jack Wilson (2001- ) is a similar hitter to Jake Wood. He also led the league in triples once, and he hits .260-.270 but doesn’t draw enough walks or hit for enough power to make it a truly productive .270. But he’s a better defensive player than Wood.

Outfield: Center fielder Jimmy Wynn (1963-77) spent the best years of his career playing in the worst hitter’s park in baseball, in the most pitching-dominated era of modern baseball. This is part of the reason that no one really realizes how good he was. He batted .250, due in large part to the conditions in which he played, but he also hit home runs, stole bases and drew a huge number of walks. He was a small guy with lots of power and was known as The Toy Cannon. One of the most underrated players of the 1960s and ’70s. Left fielder Josh Willingham (2004- ) and right fielder Jayson Werth (2002- ) are still in mid-career, but they’ve shown enough to earn a shot at the starting lineup here. If either one of them drops off, there are competent outfielders on the bench ready to step in. Werth and Willingham are the same age, and are very similar players – .260-.270 hitters who draw some walks and hit with mid-range power.

Catcher: Jimmie Wilson (1923-40) was a mediocre hitter but a good defensive player and a very respected guy around the majors. He played in three World Series with the Cardinals, but he saved his best for last. At age 40, he was a coach with the pennant-winning Cincinnati Reds. Starting catcher Ernie Lombardi injured an ankle at the end of the season and his backup, Willard Hershberger, had committed suicide about a month earlier, so the Reds pressed Wilson into service in the World Series at age 40. He played six of the seven games, batted .353 and led the Reds to the championship.

Rotation: A couple of legendary Smokey Joes will anchor the rotation – Negro League star Smokey Joe Williams and Red Sox great Smokey Joe Wood (1908-22). Wood had a career record of 117-57 with an ERA of 2.03. Yes, yes, that career ERA reflects that he pitched in the dead ball era, but it also reflects that he was a pretty great pitcher. He injured his arm in mid-career and became an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, and he was no slouch there either. There are those who would argue that Smokey Joe Williams, not Satchel Paige, was the greatest pitcher in the history of the Negro Leagues. He had a long, successful career, which reportedly included a 20-7 record in exhibition games against major-league all-star teams. At age 44, he still had enough gas to strike out 27 batters in one game, a 12-inning shutout of the Kansas City Monarchs. John Montgomery Ward (1878-94), like Smokey Joe Wood, was a pitcher for the first half of his career and then became a position player. He will see plenty of time in the JW infield when he’s not on the mound. As a pitcher, he won 164 games with a 2.10 ERA and pitched the second perfect game in baseball history. Bill James once wrote that Ward’s career as a pitcher is basically comparable to that of Hall of Famer Addie Joss, and that his career as an infielder is comparable to that of Maury Wills. He did all of that, then retired in his mid-30s to pursue a career as a lawyer, though he remained a major force in the background with John McGraw’s great New York Giants teams. He was also a key figure in the development of the first players’ union. Quite simply, he was one of the most fascinating figures in baseball history. Jake Weimer (1904-12) is another dead ball pitcher who had a career ERA of 2.23, which is the 12th-best in major-league history but third-best on this starting rotation. The No. 5 starter is Jered Weaver (2006- ), is in his prime and is one of the best pitchers in the game today. If he stays healthy, he is in the thick of an outstanding J.W. rotation. (His brother Jeff can have season tickets and cheer from the stands. We’ll call him if someone gets hurt.)

Bullpen: Closer John Wetteland (1989-2000) came up as one of the Dodgers’ young guns, but he had trouble fitting into the staff at that point, so following the 1991 season he was traded to the Reds, who then turned around and shipped him to the Expos. Over the next seven years – pitching for Montreal, the Yankees and Texas – he was probably the best reliever in baseball, saving 252 games, putting up a 2.38 ERA and striking out more batters (550) than he put on base (352 hits, 155 walks). When the Yankees won their first World Series of the Jeter Era in 1996, Wetteland saved all four victories and was named Series MVP. (The World Series clincher was his last game as a Yankee. He left as a free agent after the season and his set-up guy took over the closer role. Some guy named Mariano Rivera. Not sure if he ever amounted to anything.) John Wyatt (1961-69) was a pretty fair closer himself as that role was evolving in the 1960s. Pitching mostly for the A’s and the Red Sox, he saved 103 games. Jay Witasick (1996-2007) was a set-up man for a long time, and at the peak of his career he was pretty darn good. Jamie Walker (1997-2009) was a lefty who came in to get one or two outs at a time. John Wasdin (1995-2007) had some decent seasons, but he put a lot of runners on base and gave up a lot of home runs. Jim Willoughby (1971-78) had a couple of good years for the Red Sox in the mid-1970s, and he pitched in three games without allowing a run against The Big Red Machine in the ’75 World Series. In 1976 he had a 2.82 ERA in 99 innings for a team that finished four games over .500, but he still had a 3-12 record, which is some kind of bad luck. They called Jim Weaver (1928-39) “Big Jim.” He was 6-foot-6, 230 pounds. That would be big today. Back in the 1930s, he must have looked like King Kong. Pretty fair pitcher, too, with a career record of 57-36 and a 3.88 ERA.

Bench: Outfielder Jimmy Wolf (1882-92) was a good player, a .290 hitter with speed. His given name was William Van Winkle Wolf, and his nickname was “Chicken.” Outfielder Johnny Wyrostek (1942-52) was .270 hitter with some gap power, but with the starters looking pretty good, and with Chicken and Smokey Joe Wood ahead of him in line for playing time, he won’t do much more than pinch hit. Infielder Jimmy Walsh (1910-15) was a pretty decent line drive hitter. Jemile Weeks (2011- ) is a diminutive second baseman who had an impressive rookie year with Oakland in 2001 - a .303 average with 26 doubles, eight triples and 22 steals in fewer than 100 games. If he continues to build on that, he will crack the starting lineup on this team. Backup catcher John Wathan (1976-85) was a mediocre hitter who suddenly started stealing bases at age 30. He finished his career with 105 steals in 141 attempts, which is pretty good for a catcher.

Manager: Jimy Williams managed the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Astros. He had a winning record with all three teams, and was fired by each of them. He’ll be getting plenty of advice, solicited or otherwise, since Jimmie Wilson, John Wathan and Chicken Wolf were all managers as well, and since John Montgomery Ward will definitely have some input. They'll stay busy shuffling Wood and Ward between the rotation and the field and keeping three catchers busy.