DH: The Dan Holtzclaws

Infield: Shortstop Dick Howser (1961-68) wasn’t a great hitter, but he drew a lot of walks, rarely struck out, had some speed and was a good bunter. As a rookie for the Kansas City A’s in 1961, he batted .280, stole 37 bases and scored 108 runs, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. He wasn’t really a .280 hitter, or a very good offensive player at all, but he did make certain contributions. Third baseman Dave Hollins (1990-2002) was never a star but was generally quite good. He batted .260, but with a good number of walks and the power to hit 15-20 home runs. He scored 100 runs in three different seasons. First baseman Dick Hoblitzell (1908-18), who also qualifies for this team under his nickname “Doc,” was a fine contact hitter who batted .278 for his career with a good number of doubles and triples. He won two World Series titles with the Red Sox. Second baseman Donnie Hill was a completely forgettable ballplayer. He batted .257 – not good but not terrible – and he had no power, no speed and didn’t draw many walks. He could play second, third or shortstop, and he was OK at each without actually being good.

Outfield: Dummy Hoy (1888-1902) was the best among a handful of deaf players from the late 19th century, back when the nickname was considered to be a sign of acceptance and not a "politically incorrect" insult. Hoy was a 5-foot-6 outfielder who generally batted around .290, drew a good number of walks, and stole almost 600 bases in his career. Some historians have written that umpire began using hand signals because Hoy could not hear “safe” and “out” calls, though that theory is a matter of some dispute. He lived to age 99, one of the longest life spans of any major-league baseball player. Dave Henderson (1981-94) was a big guy with an infectious, gap-toothed smile. He hit 197 career home runs, and his hitting in the 1986 World Series took the Red Sox to the precipice of the championship – if Bill Buckner, Bob Stanley, Rich Gedman and the fates hadn’t conspired to throttle the Red Sox in Game 6, Henderson would be remembered as a World Series hero. He also was a key player on some fine Oakland teams, and in 36 postseason games he batted .298 and slugged .570 (seven home runs, 24 runs and 20 RBI in 121 at-bats). Darryl Hamilton (1988-2001) was a good role player who spent his best seasons with the Brewers. He was a .291 career hitter who had a good command of the strike zone and good speed. He was a sure-handed outfielder who could cover some ground. Among Hoy, Henderson and Hamilton, any of the three could play a capable center field. For now, the alignment will have Hamilton in center, Henderson in right and Hoy in left.

Catcher: Dixie Howell (1947-56), real name Homer Elliott Howell to differentiate him from the relief pitcher of the same era, never hit much and was largely a backup or platoon player, mostly for the Reds.

Rotation: Dan Haren (2003- ) is a durable righty who has pushed past 100 victories and is still in the middle of his prime, with a good career ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 4-1. Dustin Hermanson (1995-2006) won 73 games in a career divided evenly between the rotation and the pen. He was in general a good pitcher, won 14 games a couple of times, and he liked to grow his goatee into the shape of a star on his chin. Lefty Dutch Henry (1921-30) was a nondescript .500 pitcher until 1930, when he went 2-17 with the seventh-place White Sox and torpedoed his career won-lost record. He was out of the majors after that season, though he did win 23 games in the minors the following year. Lefty Don Hood (1973-83) leaned more toward the relief end of the swingman role. He never started 20 games in a season and never pitched enough to qualify for an ERA title. In general, he was an average pitcher, and we’ll be pushing his limits to see how much work we can get out of him in this rotation. Dick Hughes (1966-68) pitched well in a brief callup with the Cardinals in 1966, and the following year he was one of the keys to the Cardinals winning the 1967 pennant. With Bob Gibson sidelined with a broken leg, Hughes went 16-6 with a 2.67 ERA – finishing second to Tom Seaver for Rookie of the Year and even garnering some MVP votes. He developed arm trouble and was finished after the 1968 season at age 30. In his career, he won just 20 games, but he pitched in two World Series for the Cardinals.

Bullpen: Closer Dick Hall (1952-71) won 93 games and saved 68, spending his best years with the Orioles. In fact, he was 65-40 with a 2.89 ERA and 58 saves with the Orioles, and he was 28-35 with 10 saves and a 3.99 ERA for three other teams. Darren Holmes (1990-2003) pitched for eight teams, winning 35 games and saving 59. Lefty Dave Hamilton (1972-80) was a member of three championship teams in Oakland. He’ll draw some starts on this team to alleviate the thin rotation. Dave Heaverlo (1975-81) had one of the great names ever for a pitcher. He was so excited to make the San Francisco roster as a rookie in 1975 that he celebrated by shaving his head. He had a very symmetrical career – 26 wins, 26 losses, 26 saves – and was a fine pitcher until arm problems stopped him at age 30. Doug Henry (1991-2001) had 82 saves for five teams, but he had more seasons over 4.00 in ERA than under, so we’re not really looking at him to move up the closer-by-committee ladder. Dick Hyde (1955-61), no relation to Dr. Jekyll, was a bespectacled sidearmer who had a great year for the Senators in 1958 – 10-3 with 18 saves and a 1.75 ERA in 103 innings of relief. Take away that season, and he really wasn’t very good. Dixie Howell (1940-58), real name Millard Howell to differentiate him from the catcher, won 175 games in the minors and 19 in the majors. Other than three games for the Indians in 1940 and six for the Reds in 1949, he did not establish himself in the majors until 1955, when he was 35 years old. Once he got there he pitched reasonably well, with an ERA better than the league average despite walking more batters than he struck out. In 1957 he had five hits – a double, a triple and three home runs, setting a record that still stands for the most hits in a season without a single. His 18 career hits included five home runs, giving him a career batting average of .243 but a slugging average of .500.

Bench: Dave Hansen (1990-2005) will get some starts at both first and third on this team. He was a solid role player for the Dodgers for many years. Outfielder Don Hurst (1928-34) played in Philadelphia and took advantage of the Baker Bowl ato hit 115 career home runs (almost two-thirds of them hit at home). He drove in 125 runs in 1929 and led the NL with 143 RBI in 1932. Dick Higham (1871-80) was a fine outfielder in the early days of professional baseball, who could also player catcher and even some infield. He was a .300 hitter who led his league twice in doubles and once in runs scored. Throughout his career he was followed by rumors of gambling and fixed games, and those accusations grew more serious during his later career as an umpire. Though he never admitted to any wrongdoing, he is the only umpire in the history of major-league baseball to be banished for the appearance of impropriety. Don Heffner (1934-44) was a light-hitting middle infielder. Backup catcher Dapper Dan Howley (1913) was a weak hitter in a long minor-league career (.228 average) and in a short major-league career (.125). If Higham can handle the backup catching duties, Howley could get dropped in favor of Danny Heep or Don Hahn or Don Hoak, who all had substantive major-league carers.

Manager: Dick Howser, who took the Yankees to 103 wins in 1980 and the Royals to the World Series championship in 1985, will be player-manager. He was a very nice, low-key man who was loved and respected by his players. He died of a brain tumor less than two years after the 1985 championship.

DJ: The Disc Jockeys

Infield: Shortstop Derek Jeter (1995- ) is at once the most popular and the most polarizing player in the game. No one denies his talent, or his “baseball IQ,” or his status as a very deserving (future) Hall of Famer and recent 3,000-hit man. But there’s a question of degree that divides people, often bitterly. For example, he has won five Gold Gloves, but statistical analysts point out that he is closer to the worst defensive shortstop in baseball than the best. His fans respond by claiming that he does dozens of things that don’t show up in statistics, and they point to individual plays in which he runs headlong into the stands or retrieves an errant throw and relays it to home plate. He is known as “Captain Clutch,” and yet his postseason numbers – while very, very good – are no better than those of his teammate and foil Alex Rodriguez, who is often dismissed by fans as a choker. He is given credit for “lifting his teammates to a higher level,” even though he has been surrounded by Hall of Famers and near-Hall of Famers for his entire career; when the Yankees win the World Series, Jeter is given credit for “knowing how to win,” but when they fall short no one ever suggests that he has forgotten. For now, we put all of that aside and acknowledge that he is one of the top 10 shortstops of all time, a durable and consistent .300 hitter with some pop in his bat, decent speed and strike zone judgement, and a good head on his shoulders. Second baseman Davey Johnson (1965-78) hit 43 home runs in 1973, joining Henry Aaron and Darrell Evans as the only trio of teammates to hit 40 home runs in the same season. That was a bit deceptive, really, since Johnson’s 1973 home run total is equal to the sum of his next three best seasons combined. That said, he was a legitimate Gold Glove infielder, part of the famous defense that helped the Orioles win four pennants and two World Series titles, and a good hitter with some pop. He was Bobby Grich Lite (to invoke the name of the guy who replaced him in Baltimore). First baseman Deron Johnson (1960-76) was a journeyman right-handed slugger who hit 245 career home runs and led the NL with 130 RBI in 1965. He was a two-sport star from San Diego who turned down football scholarships from all of the nation’s top college programs in order to play professional baseball. Third baseman Dalton Jones (1964-72) was a utility infielder who was a starter with the Red Sox at age 20 and whose best season came during Boston’s “Impossible Dream” pennant run in 1967. He batted .235 for his career.

Outfield: Left fielder Davy Jones (1901-18) spent most of his career in Detroit playing alongside Ty Cobb. Jones was college educated, with a law degree, but also had a temper on him and was reportedly one of the players who in 1912 encouraged Cobb to lunge into the stands and punch out a heckler in a famous incident. Jones was a .270 hitter in the deadball era, and a good fielder with decent speed. He will keep his clothes and his valuables in a clubhouse stall that shall be designated as Davy Jones’ Locker. (Yeah, it’s easy, but we had to go there.) Right fielder David Justice (1989-2002) played for four different franchises, made the playoffs with all four, and played in the postseason 10 times in his 14-year career. For a while, he held the career record for postseason RBI (63). Justice was a good hitter – his career average was .279, with 305 home runs, 1,017 RBI and lots of walks – who was known for his sweet lefty stroke and his marriage to Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry. Center fielder Darrin Jackson (1985-99) was a slick glove man who was mostly a role player in a career that saw him move around seven teams in nine seasons. He was basically a .260 hitter with a little bit of pop and a little bit of speed but no command of the strike zone.

Catcher: Duane Josephson (1965-72) only had one season in which he played more than 100 games. That was 1968, when he batted .247 with six home runs and a .284 on-base percentage. He was picked for the all-star team, which even in “The Year of the Pitcher” is a little bit crazy.

Rotation: Lefty Danny Jackson (1983-97) was part of the Kansas City Royals’ outstanding staff in the mid-1980s, winning 14 games for the 1985 World Series champs and going 23-8 for Cincinnati three years later. He was still just 26 years old, but arm troubles began to set in and his career was spotty after that. He finished with a career record of 112-131. Dave Johnson (1987-93) was out of baseball and driving a truck when his hometown Orioles signed him before the 1989 season he pitched reasonably well in 14 starts that year and then won 13 games in 1990. He wasn’t a great pitcher, but he filled a role for a few years. Though he was right-handed, he allowed just one stolen base in 368 career innings. Lefty Darrell Jackson (1978-82) was a 20-game winner for the Minnesota Twins. That’s right. He won 20 games in his five-year career. Lefty Doug Johns (1995-99) was a 20-game winner, too. Career record of 20-22 with the A’s and the Orioles. Don Johnson (1947-58) – no relation to the sockless, stubbled star of “Miami Vice” – was a journeyman who walked more batters than he struck out.

Bullpen: Closer Doug Jones (1982-2000) worked in 846 games for seven teams, saving 303 in his career. For several years he was very good – 155 saves from 1988-92, with a 2.72 ERA and less than two walks per nine innings – and after that he was just very ordinary and got by on the reputation of a former closer. Dave Jolly (1953-57) had a fine years for the Braves in 1954, winning 11, saving 10 and posting a 2.43 ERA in 111 innings of work. But he walked more than he struck out, even in that season, and the rest of his career was not nearly as good. Dane Johnson (1994-97) was a career minor-leaguer who fell off the map for a few years in mid-career but eventually made it to the majors for 63 games with three different teams in his 30s. He allowed almost 16 baserunners per nine innings but managed a winning record (6-2) and an ERA right around the league average (4.70). Delvin James (2002) went 0-3 for Tampa Bay. Domingo Jean (1993) was a promising pitcher from San Pedro de Macoris who had a long minor-league career, but his time in the majors was limited to 10 games with the Yankees at age 24 (though, unlike Delvin James, he did manage one career victory). Deacon Jones (1916-18) predated the famous defensive lineman (and “Brady Bunch” crooner) by several decades. He had a career record of 7-6 for Ty Cobb’s Tigers.

Bench: Infielder D’Angelo Jimenez (1999-2007) was one of the top prospects in baseball in 1999. The Yankees had both Jimenez and Alfonso Soriano as young middle infield prospects, and with Derek Jeter entrenched at shortstop it was unclear what the Yankees were going to do with them. At age 21, he batted .327 in Triple-A with gap power, some speed and decent strike-zeone judgement, and when he joined the Yankees at the end of the season he had eight hits in 20 at-bats. That winter, he was involved in a serious car accident and suffered a broken neck. His recovery was slow, but given regular playing time in the majors he was still effective – a .270 hitter who drew a good number of walks, hit a dozen homers , stole some bases and played decent defense. But lingering injury problems, and questions about conditioning and motivation, derailed his career before he turned 30. Backup catcher Darrell Johnson (1952-62) was an absolutely terrible hitter but went on to manage the Red Sox to the 1975 pennant. First baseman Doc Johnston (1909-22) spent most of his career with the Indians. His real name was Wheeler Johnston, and if you had a cool first name like Wheeler, we have no clue why you would let people call you Doc. Utility infielder Damian Jackson (1996-2006) wasn’t a great hitter but he had some speed. Dan Johnson (2005- ) is the classic player to come up with the contemporary Oakland A’s – low average, lots of walks, good power, no speed. He’s a first baseman, suggesting that it would benefit either him or Doc Johnston to learn to play corner outfield.

Manager: Davey Johnson will work as player-manager. He has had an outstanding managerial career, with more than 1,100 victories, and he recently returned to the dugout to take over the Washington Nationals. He has had just one losing record in any full season. He won the World Series with the 1986 Mets. In 1997 he led the Orioles to 98 wins and a division title. He was named the AL’s Manager of the Year on the same day that he was fired by owner Peter Angelos over a petty disagreement. The Orioles have not had a winning season since Johnson was fired.

DK: The Duke Kahanamokus

Infield: Shortstop Don Kessinger (1964-79) batted leadoff for the Cubs throughout the mid- to late-1960s. He did this despite hitting about .260 with a very average number of walks, though with a powerful lineup behind him, he did score 100 runs a couple of times. He played in six all-star games, won two Gold Gloves and was a beloved and respected member of the very fine Cubs teams of his era. Kessinger played in more than 2,000 games and hit a total of 14 career home runs. His single-season career high was 4. We point this out in order to make the point that compared to second baseman Duane Kuiper (1974-85), Kessinger looked like Ralph Kiner. Kuiper, who played for the Indians and Giants, appeared in 1,057 career games and hit … uh … one home run. That home run came on Aug. 29, 1977, in the first inning off of Chicago White Sox starter Steve Stone. The White Sox shortstop was (drumroll, please) Don Kessinger, who by the way was still batting leadoff despite the fact that he was 34 years old and hitting .235. Did Kessinger tip off Kuiper on the pitch? You know, to help out his future “initial team” double play partner? We can’t say for sure, but it makes you wonder. Another (sort of) connection between the two: Kessinger stole 100 bases in his career but got thrown out 85 times, which suggests he would have helped his team more by stealing less. Kuiper stole 52 bases but got thrown out 71 times, which suggests that he would have helped his team if he thought that he could not run until the batter hit the ball. First baseman Dick Kryhoski (1949-55) never batted 500 times in a season, but he had three years with double-digit home run totals, so he had a little bit of pop. He was traded from the Senators to the Yankees in a deal that involved 17 players (several of the categorized as “to be named later”). Third baseman Dick Kenworthy (1962-68) was part of the Chicago White Sox revolving door at the hot corner. He hit 141 home runs in the minors but never did much in the majors, batting .215 with four home runs in 251 at-bats. (The White Sox were indecisive with him – he was called up four times between 1962-66 but played in a total of 17 games and came to the plate just 34 times in that period.)

Outfield: Left fielder Dave Kingman (1971-86) is sort of a legendary figure. A 6-foot-6 slugger, he hit 442 home runs and drove in 1,210 runs in his career. He also batted .236, struck out almost once per game, was an atrocious fielder (an announcer once suggested that to repair Kingman’s mitt, the team would need to hire a welder) and had one of the most combative and obnoxious personalities in baseball. He was a talented, if one-dimensional, player but he tended to wear out his welcome and ended up playing for seven teams. Quite famously, in 1977 he set a record that will likely stand forever when he hit home runs for four different teams in one season. While playing for Oakland near the end of his career, he voiced his displeasure with a particular sportswriter by gift-wrapping a dead rat and having it sent up to the press box. Center fielder Dave Krynzel (2004-05) was a first-round draft pick who didn’t pan out. He had a long career in the minors that included more than 200 stolen bases, but he batted .188 in his brief major-league career. Right fielder Dick Kokos (1948-54) was born Richard Kokosza but shortened his surname to a more Anglicized version. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns at age 20 and batted .298 with 40 runs and 40 RBI in just 71 games. For the next few years, he was a solid hitter – modest average, but lots of walks and decent power – but he fell off the radar screen in 1954 at age 26 and was never seen again. Injuries seem likely, but we don’t know for sure. (Kokos can wear number 00 if we can get George Costanza’s “KOKO” jersey from that “Seinfeld” episode.)

Catcher: Doc Kennedy (1879-83) had a couple of good seasons with the Cleveland Blues, and he was a member of the team that was the victim of the baseball’s first perfect game (Lee Richmond, 1879).

Rotation: Darryl Kile (1991-2002) was still at the top of his game when he died in his sleep at age 33 in a Chicago hotel room during a Cardinals road trip to Wrigley Field. Kile had gone 20-9 for the Cardinals in 2000 and 16-11 in 2001 despite lowering his ERA by almost a full run. He was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA in June 2002 when he died. He won 133 games in his career for the Astros, Rockies and Cardinals, and he might have made a run at 200 victories if he had lived. Dave Koslo (1941-55) went 92-107 in his career, mostly with the New York Giants. Despite the losing record, his ERA was better than league average, and in 1949 he went 11-14 while leading the NL in ERA (2.50). Dickie Kerr (1919-25) was a rookie on the 1919 White Sox, and he pitched brilliantly and won two games during the World Series that his crooked teammates were throwing to the Cincinnati Reds. He subsequently won 21 games for the Sox in 1920 and 19 in 1921 but then quit in a bitter salary dispute. A 5-foot-7 pepperpot, he later became a minor-league manager and was responsible for coverting young Stan Musial, then a sore-armed pitcher, into an outfielder. (Musial respected Kerr so much that he named his first son Richard Kerr Musial.) Dave Keefe (1917-22) won nine games as a swingman for the Philadelphia A’s, which means he was only 333 victories away for the record of most career wins by a player named Keefe. Dick Kelley (1964-71) won twice as many games as Dave Keefe.

Bullpen: Closer Darold Knowles (1965-80) was a lefty who saved 143 games over the course of 16 seasons. With the 1973 A’s, he set a record that absolutely will not be broken (barring major rule changes) when he pitched in all seven games of the World Series. (He was in the A’s bullpen for the 1974 World Series, too, but where Dick Williams used him in every game in 1973, manager Alvin Dark did not use him once in 1974.) Righty Danny Kolb (1999-2007) had a two-year run as a very effective closer for the Brewers, putting up a 1.96 ERA and 21 saves in 2003, followed by a 2.98 ERA and 39 saves in 2004. His career went downhill from that point. Dae-Sung Koo (2005) was a South Korean star who played one season with the Mets at age 35, putting up a 3.91 ERA in 33 appearances. Koo had two at-bats in his major-league career. In his first, against Todd Coffey, he stood as far away from the plate as possible and struck out without moving his bat. In his second, against The Big Unit Randy Johnson, he banged a double over the center fielder’s head and – incredibly – then scored from second base on a sacrifice bunt on a mad dash when he noticed that no one was covering home plate. Go figure. Lefty Dennis Kinney (1978-82) pitched in 97 games for four different teams and had a career ERA of 4.55. Don Kirkwood (1974-78) was a swingman who won 18 games for three teams. Don Kaiser (1955-57) was a 6-foot-5 country boy who was signed by the Cubs as a “bonus baby,” came straight to the majors, and was immediately fleeced by a cab driver who took him several miles out of his way en route to the ballpark, an event that apparently caused a great deal of mirth in the Chicago media. Kaiser hung around for three years, went 6-15, and was out of the majors for good by age 22. Dana Kiecker (1990-91) had a decent year as a 29-year-old rookie with the Red Sox, winning 8 games with a 3.91 ERA, but the next year he developed elbow problems, posted a 7.36 ERA and drifted out of baseball.

Bench: Infielder Don “Cab” Kolloway (1940-53) might well wrest the starting second base job away from Kuiper, though his versatility will come in handy on the bench as he can play all over the infield. A career .271 hitter, he led the AL with 40 doubles in 1942. Danny Klassen (1998-2003) was a Canadian-born utility infielder who batted .226 in a short career. Dick Kauffman (1914-15) was a switch-hitting first baseman who played briefly with the St. Louis Browns. Outfielder Dan Kerwin (1903) had a long career in the minors, but his big-league career lasted just one day. On the final day of the 1903 season, he played in both games of a doubleheader for Cincinnati. He went 4-for-6 with a double and two walks, giving him a career batting average of .667, on-base of .778 and slugging of .833. If he keeps that up, he’ll move into the starting outfield on this team. Danny Kravitz (1956-60) spent five years as a backup catcher with the Pirates, who traded him early in the 1960 season and made him miss the World Series championship that came later that year.

Manager: Don Kessinger will serve as player-manager, as he did for the White Sox in 1979. He wasn’t successful in that role, but he later went on to a highly successful six-year career as head coach at Ole Miss.

DL: The Dave Litzingers

Infield: Second baseman Davey Lopes didn’t make it to the majors until he was 27 and didn’t become a starter until he was 28, but he managed to score 1,023 runs and become one of the top base stealers of all time. Lopes, the leadoff batter from the fine Dodgers teams of the 1970s and early 1980s, stole 557 bases in his career at an 83 percent success rate. (He was a smart enough baserunner that at age 40, playing 99 games for the Cubs, he stole 47 bases in 51 attempts.)He was a .263 career hitter, but he drew some walks and had a bit of power and was, all in all, a fine player. First baseman Derrek Lee (1997- ) doesn’t steal bases like Davey Lopes, but he does everything else. He’s a .280 hitter who won the NL batting title in 2005, and he’s got enough pop to have well over 400 doubles and 300 home runs. Lee is over 1,000 in both runs and RBI, and he has won three Gold Gloves at first base. He was part of the Florida Marlins’ 2003 World Series championship team. Third baseman Denny Lyons (1885-97) led the American Association in on-base and slugging in 1889, finishing second in batting average. That’s the only time he led the league in an offensive category, but he was a consistently good hitter. His batting average was .310, and he drove in 100 runs twice and scored 100 four times. Shortstop Doc Lavan (1913-24) was a light-hitting infielder who spent most of his career in St. Louis with the Browns and Cardinals. He was a dreadful fielder – he rotinely made 45-55 errors in a year with a high of 75, and no, this was not back in the era when they played bare-handed.

Outfield: Left fielder Duffy Lewis (1907-27) won three World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox, highlighted by the 1915 Series when he batted .444 and drove in five runs in five games. Lewis played the outfield alongside Hall of Famers Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper in what some have characterized as the greatest defensive outfield of all time. He was a career .284 hitter who was good for 30 doubles a year, and he was the first batter ever to pinch-hit for a young southpaw named Babe Ruth. Center fielder Don Lock (1962-69) batted .238 for his career, but no one hit for a good average in the 1960s. He drew a good number of walks and hit 122 career home runs. Left fielder Danny Litwhiler (1940-51) was a solid ballplayer, a .300 hitter in good seasons and the first major-league outfielder to play 150 games in a season without making an error. He spread his career fairly evenly over four teams, winning two pennants and a World Series title with the Cardinals. When he was done in the majors, he won more than 600 games as the head coach at Florida State and Michigan, helping to mold such ballplayers as Kirk Gibson, Steve Garvey and Dick Howser.

Catcher: Don Leppert (1961-64) was a backup and platoon player for a few years. His major-league career consisted of 532 at-bats, fairly close to one full season for a starting catcher. He batted .229 with 15 home runs and 59 RBI. Oddly enough, there was another ballplayer at the same time, a second baseman, named Don Leppert. They were apparently not related. This is almost as strange as there being two unrelated Steve Ontiveroses who played around the same time.

Rotation: There were two Dutch Leonards, both of whom were pretty good pitchers. Emil “Dutch” Leonard (1933-53) was a knuckleball specialist, and Hubert “Dutch” Leonard (1913-25) was perhaps most noteworthy for being the man who accused Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker of participating in a plan to fix games. Hubert “Dutch” Leonard won 139 games for the Red Sox and Tigers, and in the heart of the deadball era he went 19-5 with an O.96 ERA for Boston. He won two World Series titles with the Red Sox, pitching brilliant complete game victories in both 1915 and 1916. Leonard spent his entire career feuding with teammates, managers, owners and umpires, and he especially battled with Cobb, his player-manager in Detroit. Cobb made it clear that he didn’t like Leonard, and he amused himself by overworking the pitcher to wear out his arm. In one famous game, he left Leonard in to work a complete game even though he had given up 20 hits and 12 runs. After the 1925 season, the Tigers released him and Cobb used his connections to make sure that no other teams signed him. Leonard was furious at Cobb for blackballing him, and at Speaker, the Indians manager and Leonard’s former teammate in Boston, for refusing to sign him. He retaliated by accusing Cobb and Speaker of fixing a game in 1919 between their teams. Commissioner Landis asked Leonard to meet with him to discuss the allegations, but Leonard refused. Landis cleared both managers. After his baseball career, Leonard retired to California and became a millionaire in the wine business. Emil “Dutch” Leonard spent most of his career with bad teams, and he led the league twice in losses, but his career record was 191-181. He gave up a lot of hits, but unlike the stereotypical knuckleballer, he had outstanding control, and he produced very few walks and very few strikeouts. Dennis Leonard (1974-86), who somehow avoided the nickname “Dutch,” spent his entire career with the Kansas City Royals and won 144 games for them. He was a key player on the teams that dominated the AL West in the late 1970s, winning 20 games twice and leading the league three times in games started. He began to break down in his early 30s, perhaps because of the heavy workload, and he was not on the postseason roster when the Royals finally won the World Series in 1985. Dolf Luque (1914-35) was a hot-headed Cuban who won 194 games for Cincinnati and Brooklyn. In his best season, he went 27-8 for the Reds in 1923 while leading the NL with a 1.93 ERA, less than half the league average. Derek Lowe (1997- ) came to the Red Sox in a famously lopsided trade – the Mariners packaged Lowe and Jason Varitek in order to acquire reliever Heathclff Slocumb. Lowe was a reliever for the first half of his career, leading the AL with 42 saves in 2000. But when the Red Sox needed him to move to the rotation, he won 21 games in his first full season in the rotation, and he has won 12-17 games every year since including a no-hitter in 2002. He's up over 160 career victories now and still productive as he approaches age 40. One hell of a deep rotation.

Bullpen: With Lowe in the rotation, lefty Dave LaRoche (1970-83) will serve as closer. He won 65 games in his career and saved 126, working for five teams. He enjoyed serving as the player rep for his teams and took great joy in agitating, once reportedly filing a union grievance because he didn’t like the flavor of ice cream the Twins stocked in the clubhouse. He was a flamethrower early in his career, but as the heat began to cool off, he developed a pitch he called LaLob – an overhand toss that would arc about 20 feet in the air on the way to home plate. He is the last pitcher to regularly use a variation of the “eephus” pitch in the majors. Dave Leonhardt (1967-72), the last major-leaguer to come out of Johns Hopkins University, was part of Earl Weaver’s pitching staffs that helped win three pennants and one World Series title. Dave LaPoint (1980-91) was a junkballing lefty who specialized in working his way into trouble and then getting out of it. He spent much of his career moving between the rotation and the bullpen, winning 80 games for nine teams. Denny Lemaster (1962-72) was a hard-throwing lefty who won 90 games, mostly as a starter for the Braves and the Astros. Derek Lilliquist (1989-96), yet another lefty, had two very fine years in the Indians’ bullpen in the middle of an otherwise mediocre career. Dennis Lamp (1977-92) began as a starter for the Cubs but gradually moved into a middle relief role and hung around until he was almost 40, finishing with a career record of 96-96. Don Larsen (1953-67) was a pretty forgettable pitcher. His career record was 81-91 with seven teams, and he never won more than 11 games in a season. His career ERA was right around league average, but for one day during the 1956 World Series he was perfect.

Bench: Backup first baseman Dale Long (1951-63) was a big slugging journeyman with a lefty power stroke. He hit 132 home runs in his career, including one stretch when he homered in eight consecutive games in 1956 (a record since tied by Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr.). Long also caught a couple of innings for the Cubs in 1958, making him one of the few lefty catchers of the20th century. Dwight Lowrey (1984-88), who threw with his right arm, will be the actual backup catcher. Don “Footsie” Lenhardt (1950-54) had 22 home runs and 81 RBI as a rookie with the Browns. He was a corner infielder-outfielder, and he moved around quite a bit, rarely starting and finishing the season with the same team. But the man could hit – a .271 career average with decent power and good strike zone judgement – and his career was cut short by a leg injury in his early 30s. Darren Lewis (1990-2002) played for seven teams as a good glove man with a weak stick. He will serve as Don Lock's defensive replacement in center. Dario Lodigiani (1938-46) was an infielder who batted .260 with the A’s and the White Sox.

Manager: Davey Lopes will serve as player-manager, but on the recommendation of his old teamate Steve Garvey, he will give considerable weight to the opinions of Danny Litwhiler.

DM: The Dean Martins

Infield: First baseman Don Mattingly (1982-95) was almost preternaturally respected. He was known as “Donnie Baseball,” and analyst Bill James once described him quite succinctly as “100 percent ballplayer, zero percent bullshit.” He is an iconic Yankee, and fans bemoan the fact that he came up in the years after the Bronx Zoo and retired (due to back problems) just before the Jeter Era, resulting in a career that included 1,785 regular season games and none in the postseason. Mattingly was a graceful, athletic defensive player, and before his back started giving him trouble, he had a sweet lefty swing that produced line drives like lightning bolts. He led the AL in hits twice, doubles three times, RBI once, won a batting title and an MVP – all before he turned 26. Over the first eight years of his career, he batted .323/.368/.521 and averaged 44 doubles and 27 home runs per 162 games; from age 28 until his retirement at age 34, those numbers fell to .286/.345/.405, averaging 36 doubles and 13 home runs. He would have been an easy Hall of Famer is his back had held up. Second baseman Dick McAuliffe (1960-75) might have been the most underrated player of the 1960s. He played his prime years in a pitcher’s era and he batted .247 for his career, but he was a middle infielder (971 games at second, 666 at short) who drew a lot of walks and hit for power – 197 careeer home runs. He wasn’t fast but was routinely among the league leaders in triples, and he wasn’t a Gold Glover but was adequate anywhere in the infield. If he had played a few more games at short, he could have been reasonably argued to be the best shortstop of the 1960s. Third baseman Don Money (1968-83) was somewhat similar to McAuliffe – a .261 hitter with mid-ranger power (302 doubles, 176 home runs in his career) and a decent batting eye (though not as good as McAuliffe’s). Like McAuliffe, he came to the majors as a shortstop and moved to another position not because he couldn’t handle short, but because better options presented themselves. Between McAuliffe and Money, this team has two consistently productive players who should thrive as role players and provide decent defense. Shortstop Dal Maxvill (1962-75) was about as bad a hitter as a guy can be and still earn a paycheck. He batted .217 for his career with zero power and no speed to speak of. But he played fine defense at shortstop and was a starter on three pennant winners and two World Series champions with the Cardinals. The fact that McAuliffe and Money can both play shortstop will give the team some defensive flexibility after Maxill has been replaced by a pinch-hitter.

Outfield: Right fielder Dale Murphy (1976-93) was one of the most respected and popular players of the 1980s, a clean-living Mormon who was beloved by teammates and fans. A 6-foot-4 catcher who converted to center field and won five Gold Gloves, he led the NL twice in RBI and twice in homers, in four separate seasons. A two-time MVP (in 1982 and ’83), he finished with 398 home runs and 1,266 RBI, and while he wasn’t a speedster, he stole 161 bases with a good success rate. Murphy switches from center to right field because (a.) his defense in center was a bit overrated, and (b.) his similarly named contemporary Dwayne Murphy (1978-89) has got center field nailed down. Dwayne Murphy was a fabulous player but few people realized it because he batted .246 and had injury problems. But he had power and speed and drew a ton of walks and played center field as well as anyone in the period between Garry Maddox and Devon White. In 1982, for example, Murphy batted .238 – but he drew 94 walks, hit 27 homers, stole 26 bases and won the Gold Glove in center. With Dwayne Murphy and McAuliffe batting ahead of Mattingly and Dale Murphy, the team will put up some runs. Completing the All-Murphy outfield is left fielder Danny Murphy (1900-15), who actually played more games at second base but still logged 600 games in the outfield, mostly for the Philadelphia A’s. He was a .289 hitter who had good speed and gap power during the deadball era. He won four pennants and three World Series titles with the A’s, batting .305 in 16 World Series games and driving in a dozen runs. He could bat fifth, or he could push for one of the top two spots in the batting order. The original second baseman in Connie Mack’s celebrated $100,000 Infield, he can move back to the infield when Maxvill is not in the game.

Catcher: Deacon McGuire (1884-1912) spent 26 seasons in the majors, though that’s a little bit misleading – from 1907-12, he appeared in a total of 11 games. But still, he came to the majors at age 20 and got regular playing time until he was 42. He played for 11 different teams, a record that stood for almost a century. His career record of 1,859 assists as a catcher will likely never be broken (they attempted a lot more steals back in those days). As a hitter, he was good but not a star – a .278 hitter with some extra-base pop.

Rotation: Dennis “El Presidente” Martinez (1976-98) is the winningest Hispanic pitcher in major-league history and a legend in his native Nicaragua. He was a talented young pitcher with the Orioles, but his career was derailed by alcoholism just as he was hitting his prime. After a couple of largely lost years, he beat the bottle and returned better than ever. He won 245 games in his career, more than half of them in his 30s and 40s after he had stopped drinking. He pitched a perfect game for the Expos in 1991. Lefty Dave McNally (1962-75) was part of the great Baltimore rotations in the late 1960s and early ‘70s, winning 20 or more for four straight years and compiling a 2.49 ERA in a dozen postseason starts. He won 184 games in his career, which ended due to arm trouble after one season with the Expos. But even though he retired following that 1975 season, he had agreed to join starting pitcher Andy Messersmith in a legal challenge of the reserve clause (on the premise that it would be harder for the owners to shut down the lawsuit if a second player was involved). The abriter ruled in their favor, paving the way for free agency, even though McNally never pitched again. Denny McLain (1963-72) won 31 games for the Tigers in 1968, making him the only pitcher since 1934 to win 30 games. He won the Cy Young Award and the MVP that year, and then won the Cy Young again in 1969 when he went 24-9. He was on top of the world, one of the top pitchers in baseball and just entering his prime, and he even augmented his primary income as a musician, playing the organ in the offseason. His career was derailed by arm problems and a self-destructive gambling habit. Not content with placing bets, he eventually set up his own bookmaking operation and he was once sidelined by a foot injury that Sports Illustrated reported was mob retribution for gambling debts. (McLain gave several different alternate explanations for the foot injury, the most fanciful of which involved his falling into a manhole while fleeing from a pack of wild dogs.) After his career ran dry – he won 131 games but was done before he turned 30 – his greed continued to get the best of him, and he ended up serving prison terms on charges ranging from cocaine trafficking to embezzlement and fraud. Danny Macfayden (1926-43) won 132 games, one more than McLain, but his career was the exact opposite – long and methodical, rather than short and meteoric, and the fact that the bespectacled Macfayden was known as “Deacon Danny” suggests that he had a different personality than McLain as well. His fastball disappeared early in his career and he reinvented himself as a wily curveballer. Doc McJames (1895-1901) went 27-15 for the Baltimore Orioles in 1898, which was the highlight of a career in which he went 79-80.

Bullpen: Don McMahon (1957-74) will serve as the closer. He won 90 games and saved 153 in a long, consistent career (extended twice after his initial retirement when the Giants’ bullpen became so depleted that they had to activate McMahon, the team’s pitching coach). He worked 874 games for seven teams and was generally quite good. Donnie Moore (1975-88) saved 89 games, including 31 in 1985 when he had a 1.92 ERA in 103 innings for the Angels. Moore was a good reliever but will always be remembered for his implosion during the 1986 ALCS against the Red Sox. Fans blamed Moore for the playoff loss and booed him for the next two years. Shortly after he was released, he committed suicide (and shot his wife, who survived the attack). His grieving teammates blamed the media for Moore’s suicide, though it was later revealed that he had a long history of alcoholism, drug abuse and domestic violence that predated the 1986 playoffs. Dale Murray (1974-85) saved 60 games but was mostly a set-up man in a 12-year career with six teams. Dale Mohorcic (1986-90) knocked around theminors for several years, arrived in the majors at age 30, and then pitched quite well – a 3.49 career ERA in 254 games. Dan Miceli (1993-2006) pitched for 10 teams in 14 seasons and was generally adequate. No relation to former Cardinals second baseman Tony Miceli. Lefty Darrell May (1995-2005) was a swingman who lost 19 games for the Royals in 2004. Lefty Dan McGinn (1968-72) had a career ERA of 5.11, and he was consistent – in four of his five seasons in the majors, his ERA was in the 5.00s.

Bench: First baseman Don Mincher (1960-72) was a big, burly lefty hitter who hit 200 home runs despite playing in a pitcher’s era and despite spending the first half of his career primarily as a platoon player. He batted .249 for his career but had a good batting eye and tremendous power. Outfielder Dale Mitchell (1946-56) batted .312 in his career and struck out just 119 times in 4,357 at-bats. Ironically, he is best known for a strikeout – he was the last out in Don Larsen’s perfect game. Outfielder Dave Martinez (1986-2001) played for nine teams and had the first hit in Tampa Bay Devil Rays history. He played in almost 2,000 games but was honestly better suited to be a fourth outfielder. He’ll be an effective reserve on this team. Infielder Dots Miller (1909-21) was a decent hitter who knocked out a lot of triples. He got his nickname in 1909 when a reporter asked Honus Wagner for the rookie’s name and Wagner replied “That’s Miller.” The reporter misunderstood Wagner’s accent and assumed that the kid’s name was Dots Miller, and it stuck. Catcher Damian Miller (1997-2007) reached double-figures in home runs for four straight seasons, though his career high was only 13. He’ll be a solid backup to the Deacon.

Manager: Danny Murtaugh won 1,115 games with the Pirates, including World Series titles in 1960 and 1971.

DP: The Double Plays

Infield: Second baseman Dustin Pedroia (2006- ) is a diminutive sparkplug for the Red Sox who won the American League Rookie of the Year in 2007 and the MVP in 2008. He’s a .300 hitter who draws walks, steals bases, bangs doubles and plays Gold Glove defense. Combine all that with the “plucky little guy” image and the high profile afforded to a Boston Red Sox star, and you’ve got a sensation. Still in his prime and going strong. First baseman Del Pratt (1912-24) was primarily a second baseman, and a good one, but he’ll move to his secondary position on this team and start at first base. Pratt was a .300 hitter with power. Playing for the St. Louis Browns in 1916, he led the AL with 103 RBI, a total that represented 17 percent of all runs scored by the Browns that season. Finished his career with 968 RBI. Third baseman Dean Palmer (1989-2003) batted .250, hit home runs (275 in his career) and struck out a lot. Per 162 games, he averaged 33 home runs, 101 RBI and 159 strikeouts. He had four seasons with 100 or more RBI, and he drove in 849 in his career. Shortstop Dickey Pearce (1871-77) will make double play partner Dustin Pedroia look like the Jolly Green Giant. Pearce, listed at 5-foot-3 and sporting a bushy handlebar mustache, basically invented the defensive position of shortstop. He was born in 1836 and was already in his mid-30s by the time professional baseball began to emerge in the years following the Civil War. At the time, the infielders played close to their bases and the shortstop played sort of a “rover” position in the shallow outfield. Pearce made the strategic decision to shift to a shallower spot in the hole between second and third, thus establishing the shortstop position as we now know it. He remained in the sport in various capacities for many years after his playing career ended, and his impact on the game far exceeds anything represented by his statistical line.

Outfield: Right fielder Dave Parker (1973-91) came up with the Pirates as a lean, powerful kid nicknamed “Cobra,” who won batting titles and Gold Gloves and the 1978 MVP award. He had a powerful arm that brought back memories of Clemente, and in the late 1970s he was probably as good a player as there was in the sport. He had good speed and was a very aggressive, intimidating baserunner – while recuperating from a fractured cheekbone in 1978, he attached a football facemask to his batting helmet and began running over infielders like a fullback. (His first attempt was a hard plastic hockey goaltender’s mask, painted Pirates gold, but he abandoned that after one pinch-hitting appearance because if affected his vision too much.) His 6-foot-5 frame grew a lot bulkier – he was one of the first players to have a weight clause written into his contract – and he eventually became much slower and less graceful, due in part to a drug problem he developed when cocaine took root in the game’s clubhouses. In the long run, people lost sight of how good he really was – a borderline Hall of Fame candidate who finished with more than 2,700 hits (including 526 doubles and 339 home runs) and almost 1,500 RBI. Center fielder Dode Paskert (1907-21) was an outstanding all-around player who hit for a decent average, drew some walks, ran well, had gap power and played a very good center field. He did this during the dead ball era, splitting his career among three teams, so he is not much remembered today. But he was a fine player – Bill James notes that when Richie Ashburn was emerging as a star he was described as “the new Dode Paskert,” though James also notes that this was the rare occurrence when the “new” somebody turned out to be better than the original. Left fielder Dave Philley (1941-62) did indeed play for the Phillies, as well as seven other teams. He spent the biggest part of his career with the White Sox. A switch-hitter who lost several prime years to World War II, he was a solid, unspectacular player who generally helped the teams that he played for. Was a renowned pinch-hitter in the second half of his career, but he’ll be a starter here.

Catcher: Darrell Porter (1971-87) was a fascinating story, both tragic and uplifting. At his peak he was a power hitter and a strong defensive catcher, and in 1979 he led the AL with 121 RBI. But he was part of a Kansas City Royals clubhouse that was falling under the influence of drugs, and he realized that he had become an alcoholic and an addict. He cleaned himself up and devoted himself to God, but for whatever reason, he was never quite as good as a player. He was solid but unspectacular, and he was wonderfully friendly and popular. He was MVP of the 1982 World Series for the Cardinals (who celebrated with milk instead of champagne out of respect to Porter’s alcholism). He hit 188 home runs and drove in 826 runs, and the story of his recovery from addicition and his dedication to religious faith was one of baseball’s feel-good stories in the 1980s. He suddenly died in 2002 at age 50. He had cocaine in his system, in amounts that suggested regular recreational use. Addiction sucks.

Rotation: Deacon Phillippe (1899-1911) won 189 games in the majors and has many, many footnotes to his life and career. He was the winning pitcher in the first ever World Series game, pitching for the Pirates and beating Cy Young and the Boston Americans in Game 1 of the inaugural 1903 World Series. He threw a no-hitter as a rookie, and for his career he averaeged 1.3 walks per nine innings, the lowest average of any pitcher who worked his whole career from the current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. His nickname reflected the fact that he had a quiet, respectful demeanor that stood out among the ruffians and roustabouts of turn-of-the-century baseball. He was a distant relative of actor Ryan Phillipe, who had a son with Reese Witherspoon and named him Deacon. Dan Petry (1979-91) was not terribly memorable. He was an average pitcher but very durable, and if he had a good team around him he could put up good numbers, such as an 18-8 record with the great Tigers team of 1984. He won 125 games in his career, mostly for Detroit. Lefty David Price (2008- ) was picked by the Tampa Rays with the first pick of the 2007 draft and has established himself as part of the team’s foundation. He won 19 games for the Rays in 2010 at age 24 and should be just entering his prime years. He is, to date, the only pitcher to win a World Series game for the Tamap Rays. David Palmer (1978-89) was a solid pitcher who once threw a rain-shortened five-inning perfect game. He won 64 games in his career. Duane Pillette (1949-56) went 38-66 in his major-league career, mostly with the Browns and Orioles. In 1951, he went 6-14 for the Browns, leading the AL in losses. His father, minor-league legend Herman “Old Folks” Pillette, went 14-19 for the Detroit Tigers in 1923, making them the only father and son in major-league history to each lead the league in losses.

Bullpen: Closer Dan Plesac (1986-2003) is on the short list of pitchers who worked in more than 1,000 games (1,064, sixth all-time). He won 65, saved 158 and had a career ERA of 3.64. He was not terribly memorable, as closers go, but he was a very effective pitcher, striking out more batters than he allowed hits over the course of a very long career. Danny Patterson (1996-2004) won 24 games for the Tigers and the Rangers. He threw a pitch called the “Vulcan change-up,” which was basically a forkball held between the middle and ring fingers instead of the middle and first fingers. Darryl Patterson (1968-74) went 11-9 in his career, mostly for the Tigers. Donn Pall (1988-98) was a reliable set-up man for the White Sox who wandered around the majors in the second half of his career. And, yes, he spelled his first name with two N’s, which suggests that somehow at some point he should have worked with catcher Dann Billardello. Dave Pagan (1973-77) was a Canadian right-hander who had trouble getting people out. Lefty Dennis Powell (1985-93) was occasionally effective but usually not. Dick Pole (1973-78) is Beavis & Butt-Head’s favorite player. He pitched for the pennant-winning 1975 Red Sox.

Bench: Outfielder Dan Pasqua (1985-94) was a lefty slugger who spent most of his career in a platoon role, hitting for a low average but hitting 15-20 home runs per year. Catcher Don Pavletich (1957-71) had a little bit of pop and was a pretty fair player. Catcher-outfielder Don “Life’s Rich” Padgett (1938-48) was a role player for the post-Gashouse Gang Cardinals, and the finest player ever to come out of Lenoir-Rhyne College. Outfielder Dick Porter (1929-34) was a .300 hitter who knocked out of a lot of doubles. He had two nicknames – “Wiggles” and “Twitches” – and somehow we don’t really want to know the derivation. Infielder Dick Padden (1896-1905) was nicknamed “Brains,” which is nicer than Ol’ Wiggles and Twitches.

Manager: The immortal Doc Prothro managed the moribund Philadelphia Phillies for three seasons, amassing 320 losses and a princely .301 winning percentage. Not really his fault – the team was awful before he got there and awful after he left. We’ll see what Doc can do with this team. He’ll get some help from Dickey Pearce and pitching coach Dick Pole.

DR: The Dave Rosenfields

Infield: Third baseman Doug Rader (19667-77) was a fine ballplayer whose talents were somewhat masked by the AstroDome and somewhat overshadowed by his offbeat personality. Rader, known as The Red Rooster, was a free thinker with a sharp wit and a flair for the dramatic. He once ate a baseball card during a postgame TV interview and told kids that eating baseball cards was a good way to absorb information about the sport. In “Ball Four,” Jim Bouton wrote about how Rader secretly defacated on a teammate’s birthday cake in the hopes that someone would think it was fake and take a bite. He batted .251 for his career with 155 home runs, and he won five Gold Gloves at third base. First baseman Dave Revering (1978-82) was a lefty slugger who was trapped in the Big Red Machine’s farm system by the presence of Tony Perez and Dan Driessen. Traded to Oakland, he hit a total of 50 home runs in his first three seasons but had injury problems and faded out of baseball before he turned 30. Dave Rosello (1972-81) was a middle infielder who was once expected to take over in Chicago for either Don Kessinger or Glenn Beckert, but he never hit enough to land a fulltime job. The DRs don’t have Kessinger or Beckert, so Rosello will start at second base. Shortstop Desi Relaford (1996-2007) played for seven teams. He had good speed and a strong arm, but he never hit enough to have a firm grasp on a regular job.

Outfield: Left fielder Dusty Rhodes (1952-59) was never more than a role player for the Giants, but he played his role reasonably well as a pinch-hitter and reserve outfielder. He will always be remembered for his heroics in the 1954 World Series. He won the first game with a walk-off pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the 10th. He went 4-for-6 with two home runs and seven RBI in the Giants’ sweep of Cleveland. He was the last New York Giants player to bat in the Polo Grounds, and he played briefly for the Giants in San Francisco before retiring. Center fielder David Ray Roberts (1999-2008), hereinafter known as Dave Roberts the Speedster, stole 243 bases in his career. Three times he stole more than 40 bases, and he very rarely got thrown out. He wasn’t a great hitter, but his speed almost always created a market for him. He secured his niche in baseball history during the 2004 ALCS, when the Red Sox inserted him as a pinch-runner and his dramatic stolen base and subsequent run keyed a rally against Mariano Rivera that was crucial to Boston’s first World Series title since 1918. Right fielder Dave Robertson (1912-22) was from our very own Hampton Roads area in Virginia – born in Portsmouth, died in Virginia Beach, buried in Norfolk. He’s hardly a household name, but he was a pretty fair ballplayer – led the NL in home runs twice for the Giants during the deadball era. During his only postseason appearance, in the Giants’ loss to the White Sox in 1917, he went 11-for-22 with a home run. For his career, he batted .287 with power, and when he was done in the majors, he returned to Virginia and batted .350 in the minors for several more seasons.

Catcher: Double Duty Radcliffe, a Negro League legend who earned his nickname by catching one game of a doubleheader and then pitching the second game, will be the regular catcher here. (His real first name was Ted, but he is certainly remembered by the moniker that was bestowed upon him by Damon Runyon, who will be assigned to cover the D.R. team for the local paper.) He played in the Negro Leagues for two decades and was a good pitcher and an even better catcher. He was 45 when the color line was broken and never got the chance to play in the majors, but he lived to be 103 years old.

Rotation: Dick "Cannonball" Redding was a flamethrower in the Negro Leagues for more than a decade. While statistics from his career are sketchy, there are reports that he threw as many as 30 no-hitters. Lefty Dutch Ruether (1917-27) won 137 games for four different teams and was part of the Cincinnati team that beat the tanking Black Sox in the 1919 World Series. He was a solid pitcher who could also contribute with the bat, and his last season in the majors he went 13-6 with the legendary 1927 Yankees. Dick Rudolph (1910-27) was a 5-foot-9 righty who won 121 games for the Boston Braves, including a high of 26 victories in 1914. He was a durable pitcher who led the NL in innings pitched twice, and he pitched spectacularly in the 1914 World Series – 2-0, two complete games, 0.50 ERA, 15 strikeouts in 18 innings – to help the Braves to their famous “Miracle” championship. Dick Ruthven (1973-86) won 123 games as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, with a high of 17 wins for the World Series champion Phillies of 1980. He led the NL in earned runs allowed twice and losses once. He had a twin sister who married his teammate, first baseman Tommy Hutton. Lefty Doug Rau (1972-81) played on three Dodgers pennant winners, but unlike Ruether, Ruthven and Rudolph, he never won a World Series. He won 81 games and was generally a pretty good pitcher.

Bullpen: Closer Dave Righetti (1979-95) was actually a pretty fair starting pitcher. He once struck out 21 batters in a nine-inning game in the minors. He won the AL Rookie of the Year award with the Yankees in 1981, leading the league with a 2.05 ERA, and in 1983 he threw a no-hitter against the Red Sox on the Fourth of July. In 1984, the Yankees moved him to the bullpen, and in the next seven years he saved 223 games for them, including a league-leading 46 in 1986. He finished with 252 saves. Dick Radatz (1962-69) was 6-foot-6, 230 pounds and known as The Monster. He threw very, very hard, and he struck out almost 10 batters per nine innings over the course of his career. For the first three years of his career, he pitched about as well as a guy can pitch – 40 wins, 78 saves, a 2.17 ERA, and in 414 innings he gave up just 292 hits and struck out 487. For the rest of his career, though, he was 12-22 with a 4.54 ERA. Don Robinson (1978-92) was a swingman with Pittsburgh and San Francisco, winning a World Series title with the “We Are Family” Pirates of 1979. He was one of the best hitting pitchers of his generation, with 13 career home runs, and he finished with 109 wins and 57 saves. Dennys Reyes (1997- ) is a lefty set-up man, listed at 6-3 and 250 pounds, whose head looks like a big round pumpkin sitting on top of a roly-poly body. He came to the majors at age 20, has worked almost 700 games and is still just in his mid-30s. His 2011 season was a disaster, but if he gets back on track and extends his career the way lefty specialists are known to do, he could reach the 1,000-game mark. Dave Rozema (1977-86) won 15 games as a 20-year-old rookie for the Tigers, but that season represented one-quarter of his career victories. He remained a solid pitcher for the Tigers, working both in the rotation and in the bullpen, and he was a member of the 1984 championship team (though he did not appear in the World Series). He is perhaps best remembered for a brawl against the Twins in 1979, when he attempted a flying karate kick on John Castino, missed, and ended up suffering a season-ending knee injury when he landed. David Arthur Roberts (1969-81), hereinafter known as Dave Roberts the Lefty, was a swingman who won 103 games for eight teams over the course of his career. In 1971 he had a 2.10 ERA in 270 innings of work but finished with a 14-17 record because he was pitching for the lousy Padres. Denny Riddleberger (1970-72) was a promising lefty with a big, slow, looping curveball whose career ended in his mid-20s due to injuries.

Bench: David Wayne Roberts (1972-82), hereinafter known as Dave Roberts the SuperSub (to differenitate him from Dave Roberts the Speedster and Dave Roberts the Lefty), was selected by the Padres with the first pick of the 1972 draft. He went straight from University of Oregon onto the Padres’ roster and he played in 100 games that year. In his second season, at age 22, he batted .286 with 21 home runs, but he went backward from there. Still, he was a third baseman who could also cover other infield spots and even catch in a pinch. That made him a valuable guy to keep around. He won’t have to catch much on this team. Catcher Del Rice (1945-61) never hit much but was an outstanding defensive catcher, which was enough to give him a 17-year career, about a third of which was spent as a starter. He was the backup on two World Series champions (1946 Cardinals and 1957 Braves). Dave Rader (1971-80) was another good defensive catcher. He batted over .290 a couple of times, but his career average was .257 and he didn’t have much power. (The presence of two full-time backup catchers, as well as Roberts the SuperSub, will allow Double Duty Radcliffe to pitch as much as the team needs him to.) Outfielder Dick Reichle (1922-23) spent one season and part of another with the Red Sox. Domingo Ramos (1978-90) was a utility infielder who couldn’t hit.

Manager: There have been a handful of DR managers, including Doug Rader and Del Rice, but we’re handing the reins over to the namesake of this team, our friend Dave Rosenfield, the longtime minor-league general manager (make that ”lo-o-o-ongtime”) and patriarch of the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. We have the utmost faith in his abilities to run things.

DS: The Donna Summerses

Infield: First baseman Dick Stuart (1958-69) was a big, hulking slugger whose fielding was so inept that was given one of the sport’s all-time great nicknames – Doctor Strangeglove (he gets bonus points for having a D.S. nickname as well). Supposedly he once got an ovation from the fans near first base when he picked up a hot dog wrapper that had blown onto the field – because the fans knew it might be the only thing he fielded cleanly all day. But he could hit the ball a long way. He hit 221 minor-league home runs, including 66 in one season, and then he went up to the majors and hit 228 homers. He never led the league, though he did hit 48 one year with a league-high 118 RBI. He couldn’t run, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was terrible, and his defense was atrocious (his 29 errors at first base remains a single-season record), but he hit the ball a long, long way. Daryl Spencer (1952-63) was a utility infielder who will start at third base for this team. He wasn’t a great hitter, but he had some pop – he hit 105 home runs in the majors, and another 142 during his seven years playing in Japan in his late 30s and early 40s. His aggressive style of baserunning helped bring an American touch to the Japanese game. Shortstop Dick Schofield Jr. (1983-96) was a very weak hitter - .230 career, never managed 20 doubles in a season, though he did once have 13 home runs. He was a solid fielder and spent most of his career playing for some pretty decent California Angels teams. Second baseman Dave Shean (1906-19) played for six teams during his nine-year career, including both Philadelphia franchises and both Boston franchises. He played for the Cubs, too, but never the White Sox.

Outfield: Right fielder Darryl Strawberry (1983-99) was one of the most talented players of his generation, a 6-foot-6 greyhound with a sweet left-handed power stroke and a strong arm from the outfield. He won the Rookie of the Year award at age 21 and teamed with Dwight Gooden to form a duo that people thought would be the Mantle and Ford of the New York Mets (with Gary Carter playing the role of Yogi). In the end, Strawberry’s career was derailed by back problems, drug addiction and cancer. He finished his career with 335 home runs, 1,000 RBI and 221 stolen bases, but he is still looked at as a “What-Coulda-Been” guy. Through it all - through more comebacks and relapses than anyone would care to count - he remained popular with fans and media, and everyone was happy for him when he won a couple of World Series titles as a role player with the Yankees. Center fielder Duke Snider (1947-64) was the third-best center fielder in New York City for most of his career, but then, when the other two guys are Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, that’s some pretty tough competition. Snider wasn’t as transcendent as Mays, and he wasn’t as handsome and popular as Mantle, and he didn’t run like those two guys – but he was a pretty great player just the same. He was one of the stars of the “Boys of Summer” Brooklyn Dodgers, and in various seasons he led the NL in runs, RBI, home runs, hits, on-base, slugging and total bases. He played on five pennant winners and two World Series champions. His 11 World Series home runs are the most by any National Leaguer, and if you look at the top 10 RBI totals in World Series history you will find nine Yankees and Duke Snider (in seventh place with 26 RBI). Left fielder Denard Span (2008- ) is just getting started with the Minnesota Twins. He’s a fleet runner and a guy who can hit .290-.300 with good command of the strike zone. His fielding stats in the majors, playing mostly center field, have been just so-so, but those of us who saw him in the minors saw flashes of brilliance that portend regular appearances on ESPN’s Top 10 Plays segments.

Catcher: A very fine platoon combination of lefty-swinging Duke Sims (1964-74) and righty Don Slaught (1982-97). Sims was a .239 career hitter, but don’t let that fool you. He played his prime seasons in the depths of the pitching-dominated 1960s, and he drew enough walks to push his on-base percentage to .340. He had enough power to hit double-digit home runs four times (career high of 23) despite never having 400 at-bats in a season. Slaught was a different type of hitter - .283 career and .300 in his better seasons, but with fewer walks, less power and a weaker arm.

Rotation: Hall of Famer Don Sutton (1966-88) pitched for 23 years and finished with 324 wins and 3.574 strikeouts. He came up as a teammate of Sandy Koufax and stuck around long enough to pitch, not with Pedro Martinez, but with Pedro’s brother Ramon. He was extraordinarily durable – only Cy Young and Nolan Ryan made more starts than Sutton – and remained a useful starter well into his 40s. He was a combination of smart and smart aleck, and when his fastball lost some of its zip, he became craftier and figured out ways to doctor the ball without getting caught. He only won 20 games one time, but he was between 15-19 in 11 other seasons. Dave Stieb (1979-98) was another talented, durable pitcher – probably a bit better than Sutton, but he didn’t hang around as long. He won 176 games, all but one for the Blue Jays, and if he was never the single best pitcher in the AL (even when he led the league in ERA in 1985, he tied for seventh in the Cy Young voting), he was among the best for the better part of a decade. Speaking of durable righties, Dave Stewart (1978-95) had a meandering career as a swingman until he arrived in Oakland at age 29 and won 84 games between 1987-90. He wasn’t the best pitcher in the league, but he never missed a start, he kept his team in the game and he had an outstanding team around him. He glared at batters from beneath a dirty, worn cap, and he looked very intimidating (though he never lead the league in hit batsmen, while Stieb led the league five times). He played on six pennant winners, went 8-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 10 ALCS starts, and he won World Series titles with the Dodgers, A’s and Blue Jays. Doc Scanlan (1903-11) was a fairly nondescript righty who pitched for Brooklyn in the deadball era and won 65 games. Dave Sisler (1956-62) was the son of Hall of Fame first baseman George Sisler and the brother of Dick Sisler, who will be managing this squad. He was a swingman for the Red Sox and three other teams, and was generally OK but never much more than that. He is one of several swingmen who will take turns in the fifth spot in the rotation.

Bullpen: Closer Dave Smith (1980-92) holds the Houston Astros career record for games pitched, and as no current Houston pitcher is within 300 games of him, it appears he’ll hold that distinction for the foreseeable future. Smith was a very fine pitcher who saved 216 games and had a career ERA of 2.67. Don Stanhouse (1972-82) was a colorful character known as “Stan the Man Unusual,” but when he was the Orioles closer, manager Earl Weaver called him by another nickname – “Full Pack,” because Stanhouse’s propensity for walking batters and running up huge pitch counts prompted Weaver to smoke a full pack of cigarettes during the ninth inning. Diego Segui (1962-77) was a high-kicking Cuban swingman who will be taking some times in the fifth spot in the rotation. His best pitch was a forkball, and he used it to win 92 games and save 71, winning the American League ERA title in 1970. Trivia note: Diego Segui is the only person to have played for both the Seattle Pilots and the Seattle Mariners, and in fact, he appeared in the inaugural game for both franchises (a relief appearance for the 1969 Pilots and Opening Day starter for the 1977 Mariners). Dan Spillner (1974-85) spent most of his career working middle and set-up relief with the Padres and Indians. He did manage to save 50 games, including 21 for Cleveland in 1982 when he was their main closer. He also started more than 100 games in his career, including two 1-hitters, so look for him to work his way into the 5-hole in the rotation occasionally. Dave Schmidt (1981-92) was a consistent and durable set-up guy who could slip into the closer role as needed, so he won 54 games and saved 50. Lefty Dan Schatzeder (1977-91) spent 15 seasons with the Expos and eight other teams, winning 69 games and generally being around the league average in ERA. He’s another swingman, but as this bullpen needs lefties, he won’t get a lot of starts. He was one of the better hitting pitchers of his generation, with a .240 career average and five home runs. Duaner Sanchez (2002-09) pitched for five teams in seven seasons.

Bench: David Segui (1990-2004), son of Diego, was a sure-handed first baseman who could hit a bit, too (.291 lifetime with 139 home runs). He will get his share of starts, but he will also fill the all-important role of defensive replacement for Dr. Strangeglove. Dick Schofield Sr. (1953-71), fondly known as Ducky, was a light-hitting middle infielder who played for seven teams in 19 seasons, and while he only played for two pennant winners (1960 Pirates and 1967 Cardinals), his travels around the league afforded him the opportunity to play with about two dozen future Hall of Famers as teammates, as well as at least seven other non-Hall-of-Famers who nonetheless won MVP awards. In addition to being the father of Ducky Jr., he is the grandfather of Jayson Werth. Unlike Segui and Schofield, infielder Dale Sveum (1986-99) has no relatives on this roster, though he was a cousin of John Olerud. Sveum was a first-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers and was groomed to replace Robin Yount at shortstop. He hit 25 home runs and drove in 95 runs at age 23 but went backward from there and settled into a backup role. One of the two platoon catchers, Slaught and Sims, will be on the bench on any given day. Outfielder Neon Deion “Prime Time” Sanders (1989-2001) beats out Dwight Smith in a close call for the final spot on the bench, in part because he is more marketable and in part because he will kick ass in the pickup flag football games during spring training.

Manager: Dick Sisler, son of George and brother of Dave, managed the Reds in the mid-1960s. He put up a career record of 121-94, including an 89-74 record in his only full season. Despite this success, he never managed again, serving as a coach for several teams. He appears to have been a shy, soft-spoken man who simply preferred a secondary role out of the spotlight.