Infield: First baseman Jason Giambi (1995- ) has never led the league in home runs, but he’s hit more than 400 in his career. He’s led the league in walks four times, on-base three times and slugging and doubles once apiece. Oh, yeah, and hit by pitches twice. This guy is one hell of a good hitter – a wild-and-crazy type in Oakland who cleaned himself up when he signed with the Yankees. He was strongly suspected of using steroids and eventually issued a very emotional apology, without ever actually saying what the apology was for. Playing out the string now, but still mashing as a role player in Colorado. Second baseman Joe Gordon (1938-50) was a Hall of Famer with the Yankees and Indians. He hit 253 home runs, had more walks than strikeouts and was a great defensive second baseman. Gordon won the AL MVP award in 1942, and he played on five World Series champions. Jim Gilliam (1953-66) was a beloved Dodgers fixture for a long time. He played for the team during the transition from Brooklyn to L.A., won seven pennants and four World Series titles, and then coached for the Dodgers until his death in 1978. He was primarily a second baseman, but he played 761 games at third and also saw time in the outfield. He was part of the Dodgers’ all-switch-hitting infield in the 1960s. He was a great hit-and-run man, drew 90-100 walks a year and basically never struck out, and he was a good glove wherever you put him. He’ll be starting at third base here. Shortstop Pebbly Jack Glasscock (1879-95) got his nickname for his habit of picking out tiny rocks from the infield before games. He was a big star in the 19th Century, a .290 hitter and a fine shortstop, and one of those dandies with a big handlebar mustache.
Outfield: Right fielder Juan Gonzalez (1989-2005) looked, early in his career, like he might hit 700 home runs. Known as “Juan Gone,” he was a regular in his early 20s, playing in a great hitter’s ballpark, and from 1992-98 (a seven-year stretch that included a strike season) he blasted 269 home runs, had 826 RBI and won a couple of MVP awards. But in his early 30s, he began developing back problems, and he soon became a slow, clanky, one-dimensional player, and he slid very quickly from a 40-homer guy to a spare part. He was done by age 35. It says an awful lot about a guy that he can finish with a .295 average, 434 home runs, 1404 RBI, two MVPs and be thought of as somehow disappointing. Left fielder Jack Graney (1908-22) was your basic .250 hitter who spent his career in Cleveland, but he had all sorts of little distinctions about his career. In 1914, he was the first batter to step up to the plate against a rookie southpaw named Babe Ruth. In 1915, when the Indians became the first team to put numbers on their uniforms, he was batting leadoff and therefore the first player ever to bat with a number on his back. After his playing career was done, he became the first player to make a fulltime transition from the field to the radio booth. But the strangest incident of Graney’s career came in 1920, after the death of teammate Ray Chapman because of a beanball. It seems that Chapman was baptized in the Protestant church, so Tris Speaker (a Protestant) believed Chapman should have Protestant funeral. But Chapman’s wife was a Catholic and said he was about to convert, so Graney (a Catholic) said he should have a Catholic burial. An argument ensued, which grew into a fistfight so violent that both Speaker and Graney had to miss Chapman’s funeral service because of their injuries. (Other sources say Graney and Speaker missed the funeral because they were too grief-stricken, but the fistfight version is more entertaining.) Center fielder Johnny Grubb (1972-87) spent much of his career as a fourth outfielder and a lefty platoon hitter. He was a .278 hitter who had more walks than strikeouts and some line-drive pop. He was a far better hitter than anyone ever acknowledged, and as a bonus, in nine postseason games he batted .429.
Catcher: Negro League legend Josh Gibson is on the short list of the greatest power hitters of all time. Some say he sits atop that list. No one knows for sure how many home runs he hit, but it was a lot and they were gargantuan. In his time, he was compared to Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and guys of that caliber. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in his early 30s but declined to have surgery to remove it. He died of a stroke at age 35 just a few months before Jackie Robinson integrated the majors.
Rotation: Juan Guzman (1991-2000) and Jose Guzman (1985-94) weren’t related, but their careers overlapped and they were fairly similar pitchers. Jose Guzman, from Puerto Rico, had an 80-74 record and a 4.05 ERA; Juan Guzman, from the Dominican, was 91-79 with a 4.08 ERA. They both had some fine seasons, and they were both finished by their early 30s. Juan pitched for the Blue Jays, led the league in ERA and winning percentage once each (as well as losses once and wild pitches twice). He was a part of two World Series champions, and his postseason record was 5-1 with a 2.44 ERA. Jose didn’t pitch for championship teams, and he never led the league in anything, but he won as many as 16 games and was a pretty solid starter for a few years. Jon Garland (2000- ) is a durable middle-of-the-rotation guy who has racked up 130 career victories before his 31sth birthday (which fell in the final days of the 2010 season). If he keeps plugging and sticks with good teams, there’s no reason he can’t hit 200 victories and maybe more. Jeremy Guthrie (2004- ) had a couple of pretty good seasons for the Orioles. Then the wheels came off, and now he’s trying to get things back together if he wants to stay in this rotation. Joe Genewich (1922-30) was a pretty ordinary pitcher for some bad Boston Braves teams. He served in both World War I and World War II, and he arrived in the majors at age 25 without ever pitching in college or in the minors.
Bullpen: Jim Gott (1982-95) had a long career as a set-up guy and was sometimes pressed into duty as a closer, resulting in 91 career saves. The closer role is his to lose on this team. His surname is the German word for "God," and he once gave up a home run to Tim Teufel, whose surname is the German word for "devil," which is pretty cool. Joe Grahe (1990-99) was a nondescript reliever who was nominally the closer for the Angels for a few years, saving 45 games. Lefty Joe Gibbon (1960-72) spent most of his career with Pittsburgh and San Francisco. He won 61 games and had a 3.52 ERA. John Grabow (2003- ) has done a good job in the “lefty one-out specialist” role to this point in his career. Jerry Don Gleaton (1979-92) was a lefty who bounced around the American League for a decade and was generally effective. Jimmy Gobble (2003- ) is another lefty who has had an up-and-down career in the majors and who is a partner in the fictional minor-league law firm of Egbert, Gobble and Whisler. Jason Grimsley (1989-2006) had a long, relatively productive career that is now being overshadowed by the fact that some have cast him as the Johnny Appleseed of the steroid/HGH generation. On a team with Jason Giambi and Juan Gonzalez, he might be able to get bulk rates.
Bench: First baseman Diamond Jim Gentile (1957-66) hit almost 200 minor-league home runs before he turned 25, but big-league scouts stubbornly believed he wouldn’t be able to hit major-league pitching. He finally got a full-time job in Baltimore in 1960 and had a good season, and then in 1961 he went .302-46-142 and got everyone’s attention. He never approached those numbers again, but he was a good hitter for several more years. Second baseman Jim Gantner (1976-92) was a fine defensive player and ordinary hitter and spent many years turning double plays in Milwaukee with Robin Yount. Outfielder Jose Guillen (1997- ) has a cannon arm from right field and, given playing time, will generally hit enough doubles and home runs to be useful offensively. Outfielder Jody Gerut (2003- ) is a lefty with some line drive power. Backup catcher Jerry Grote (1963-81), best known for his role on the Miracle Mets of 1969, was a weak hitter but a solid catcher. He’ll give Josh Gibson’s knees a rest every now and then.
Manager: Joe Girardi was about as good a catcher as Grote, but we’ll let him stick to managing. He’s intense enough that he might burn himself out as a player-manager. He won three World Series titles backing up Posada with the Yankees, and in 2009 he won his first as a manager.
Outfield: Right fielder Juan Gonzalez (1989-2005) looked, early in his career, like he might hit 700 home runs. Known as “Juan Gone,” he was a regular in his early 20s, playing in a great hitter’s ballpark, and from 1992-98 (a seven-year stretch that included a strike season) he blasted 269 home runs, had 826 RBI and won a couple of MVP awards. But in his early 30s, he began developing back problems, and he soon became a slow, clanky, one-dimensional player, and he slid very quickly from a 40-homer guy to a spare part. He was done by age 35. It says an awful lot about a guy that he can finish with a .295 average, 434 home runs, 1404 RBI, two MVPs and be thought of as somehow disappointing. Left fielder Jack Graney (1908-22) was your basic .250 hitter who spent his career in Cleveland, but he had all sorts of little distinctions about his career. In 1914, he was the first batter to step up to the plate against a rookie southpaw named Babe Ruth. In 1915, when the Indians became the first team to put numbers on their uniforms, he was batting leadoff and therefore the first player ever to bat with a number on his back. After his playing career was done, he became the first player to make a fulltime transition from the field to the radio booth. But the strangest incident of Graney’s career came in 1920, after the death of teammate Ray Chapman because of a beanball. It seems that Chapman was baptized in the Protestant church, so Tris Speaker (a Protestant) believed Chapman should have Protestant funeral. But Chapman’s wife was a Catholic and said he was about to convert, so Graney (a Catholic) said he should have a Catholic burial. An argument ensued, which grew into a fistfight so violent that both Speaker and Graney had to miss Chapman’s funeral service because of their injuries. (Other sources say Graney and Speaker missed the funeral because they were too grief-stricken, but the fistfight version is more entertaining.) Center fielder Johnny Grubb (1972-87) spent much of his career as a fourth outfielder and a lefty platoon hitter. He was a .278 hitter who had more walks than strikeouts and some line-drive pop. He was a far better hitter than anyone ever acknowledged, and as a bonus, in nine postseason games he batted .429.
Catcher: Negro League legend Josh Gibson is on the short list of the greatest power hitters of all time. Some say he sits atop that list. No one knows for sure how many home runs he hit, but it was a lot and they were gargantuan. In his time, he was compared to Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx and guys of that caliber. He was diagnosed with a brain tumor in his early 30s but declined to have surgery to remove it. He died of a stroke at age 35 just a few months before Jackie Robinson integrated the majors.
Rotation: Juan Guzman (1991-2000) and Jose Guzman (1985-94) weren’t related, but their careers overlapped and they were fairly similar pitchers. Jose Guzman, from Puerto Rico, had an 80-74 record and a 4.05 ERA; Juan Guzman, from the Dominican, was 91-79 with a 4.08 ERA. They both had some fine seasons, and they were both finished by their early 30s. Juan pitched for the Blue Jays, led the league in ERA and winning percentage once each (as well as losses once and wild pitches twice). He was a part of two World Series champions, and his postseason record was 5-1 with a 2.44 ERA. Jose didn’t pitch for championship teams, and he never led the league in anything, but he won as many as 16 games and was a pretty solid starter for a few years. Jon Garland (2000- ) is a durable middle-of-the-rotation guy who has racked up 130 career victories before his 31sth birthday (which fell in the final days of the 2010 season). If he keeps plugging and sticks with good teams, there’s no reason he can’t hit 200 victories and maybe more. Jeremy Guthrie (2004- ) had a couple of pretty good seasons for the Orioles. Then the wheels came off, and now he’s trying to get things back together if he wants to stay in this rotation. Joe Genewich (1922-30) was a pretty ordinary pitcher for some bad Boston Braves teams. He served in both World War I and World War II, and he arrived in the majors at age 25 without ever pitching in college or in the minors.
Bullpen: Jim Gott (1982-95) had a long career as a set-up guy and was sometimes pressed into duty as a closer, resulting in 91 career saves. The closer role is his to lose on this team. His surname is the German word for "God," and he once gave up a home run to Tim Teufel, whose surname is the German word for "devil," which is pretty cool. Joe Grahe (1990-99) was a nondescript reliever who was nominally the closer for the Angels for a few years, saving 45 games. Lefty Joe Gibbon (1960-72) spent most of his career with Pittsburgh and San Francisco. He won 61 games and had a 3.52 ERA. John Grabow (2003- ) has done a good job in the “lefty one-out specialist” role to this point in his career. Jerry Don Gleaton (1979-92) was a lefty who bounced around the American League for a decade and was generally effective. Jimmy Gobble (2003- ) is another lefty who has had an up-and-down career in the majors and who is a partner in the fictional minor-league law firm of Egbert, Gobble and Whisler. Jason Grimsley (1989-2006) had a long, relatively productive career that is now being overshadowed by the fact that some have cast him as the Johnny Appleseed of the steroid/HGH generation. On a team with Jason Giambi and Juan Gonzalez, he might be able to get bulk rates.
Bench: First baseman Diamond Jim Gentile (1957-66) hit almost 200 minor-league home runs before he turned 25, but big-league scouts stubbornly believed he wouldn’t be able to hit major-league pitching. He finally got a full-time job in Baltimore in 1960 and had a good season, and then in 1961 he went .302-46-142 and got everyone’s attention. He never approached those numbers again, but he was a good hitter for several more years. Second baseman Jim Gantner (1976-92) was a fine defensive player and ordinary hitter and spent many years turning double plays in Milwaukee with Robin Yount. Outfielder Jose Guillen (1997- ) has a cannon arm from right field and, given playing time, will generally hit enough doubles and home runs to be useful offensively. Outfielder Jody Gerut (2003- ) is a lefty with some line drive power. Backup catcher Jerry Grote (1963-81), best known for his role on the Miracle Mets of 1969, was a weak hitter but a solid catcher. He’ll give Josh Gibson’s knees a rest every now and then.
Manager: Joe Girardi was about as good a catcher as Grote, but we’ll let him stick to managing. He’s intense enough that he might burn himself out as a player-manager. He won three World Series titles backing up Posada with the Yankees, and in 2009 he won his first as a manager.
Nice team! Hey check out the baseball roster at http://www.allnameteam.com
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