CG: The Complete Games

Infield: Second baseman Charlie Gehringer (1924-42) was known as “The Mechanical Man,” which was intended not only as a comment on his quiet, businesslike nature, but also on his tremendous consistency. He was sort of the Ryne Sandberg of the 1920s, playing his whole career for one team (the Tigers), going out year after year and hitting .320-.330 with 40-some doubles and 15-20 home runs. He was a fine defensive second baseman, and when he got the chance to play in three World Series with Detroit, he was as consistent as ever (career batting average - .320 regular season, .321 World Series). Gehringer had seven seasons with 200 or more hits, seven season with 100 or more RBI, and a dozen seasons with 100 or more runs (including several when he was in the 130s and the 140s).First baseman Charlie Grimm (1916-36), known as “Jolly Cholly,” is best known as the longtime manager of the Cubs and Braves, but he also had a long playing career (much of it with the Cubs, leading to his transition as a player-manager). He was a .290 career hitter, but he played in an era when that was a very ordinary average, and he didn’t have any power. He never led the league in anything, and in fact he was rarely among the league leaders, but he was consistently OK and a respected player. Third baseman Carlos Guillen (1998- ) has been a quietly, consistently efficient player for more than a decade in the majors - .285 career average with more than 120 home runs. Versatile enough to play all over the field, but not an especially good glove anywhere. Shortstop Cristian Guzman (199-2010) had some wheels. He was a starter at age 20 and had led the American League in triples three times before he turned 25. His poor command of the strike zone prevented him from developing the way some thought he might.

Outfield: Right fielder Curtis Granderson (2004- ) is one of the few players in modern times to have 20 doubles, triples and homers in the same season (38-23-23 for the Tigers in 2007). He strikes out a lot, but he draws some walks, too, and he runs well and plays hard. Still in mid-career, he put up 41 home runs and a league-leading 119 RBI for the Yankees in 2011. Granderson has played mostly center field, but he moves to right to make room for Cesar Geronimo (1969-83), the brilliant defensive center fielder on The Big Red Machine. Geronimo wasn’t much of a hitter, but the Reds had enough big boppers in the lineup that they could afford to carry a glove man, and the up-the-middle combination of Bench, Concepcion, Morgan and Geronimo was the backbone of the great team’s defense. Left fielder Clarence “Cito” Gaston (1967-78) was a pretty ordinary player with some bad teams – the expansion Padres and the Atlanta Braves of the Rowland Office Era.

Catcher: Charlie Ganzel (1884-97) spent a long time with Detroit and Boston in the early years of the Natonal League.

Rotation: Clark Griffith (1891-1914) left a huge impact on the sport. He pitched for 20 years, managed for 20 years and owned the Washington Senators for about 30 years. He was one of the founders of a forerunner of the players’ union, and a key figure in launching the American League as a rival to the established National League. During World War I, he helped galvanize support for the U.S. service members by organizing “Griffith Days” all around the majors to collect donations. A 5-foot-6 righty, he had a career pitching record of 237-146, compiled through his mastery of breaking balls, offspeed stuff and trick deliveries such as the quick pitch. He was very bold about disfiguring the ball in order to get the break he wanted – he would sometimes use his cleats to gouge the ball on the mound – but as a manager he led the charge in 1920 to ban the spitball and other “freak pitches.” Charlie “Pretzels” Getzien (1884-92) went 30-11 for Detroit in 1886 and 29-13 the following year (his catcher was Charlie Ganzel, so he’ll feel right at home on this team). Getzien was a pretty ordinary pitcher, but he was durable and worked with good teams, so he had a career record of 145-139. Chad Gaudin (2003- ) has been unable to sustain a spot in a major-league rotation and has bounced all over the majors in recent years. He’s still in his late 20s and trying to hang on as a reliever. Chris George (2001- ) was a highly touted lefty prospect who got hammered with the Royals for a few years and is still hanging around in the minors in his early 30s. Chris Gardner (1991) pitched in a few games for the Astros at age 22. He struggled with his control, hurt his arm and was out of baseball before he turned 30.

Bullpen: Closer Cecilio Guante (1982-90) had a good fastball, and he saved 35 games in his career. He was never a dominant pitcher, but he had several years when he was pretty good. Charlie “Pass That” Gassaway (1944-46) was a lefty from Gassaway, Tenn., which probably isn’t a coincidence. He played for three teams in the mid-1940s and wasn’t anything special. Chippy Gaw (1920) won 100 games in the minors but just one in the majors. Charlie Gettig (1896-99) was 15-12 for the Giants in the final years of the 19th century. He also played second base and outfield, but based on his lousy hitting, it was probably a good idea to try his hand on the mound. Charlie Gorin (1954-55) was a career minor-leaguer who got a few shots with the Braves and actually pitched alright. Connie Grob (1954) was a good minor-league pitcher who got lit up like a pinball machine when he pitched for the Senators. Carlos “Don’t Call Me Che” Guevara (2008) had a brief shot with the Padres and went 1-0 with a 5.84 ERA.

Bench: Backup catcher Charlie Greene (1996-2000) batted .173 in his short major-league career. Infielder Chris Gomez (1993-2008) had a long career as a utility infielder and role player, batting .262. A fine bench player. Carlos Garcia (1990-99), another utility infielder, is sort of like Chris Gomez, but in a shorter career. Chick Galloway (1919-28), another utility infielder, wasn’t as good as Gomez or Garcia. Outfielder Curtis Goodwin (1995-99) had a bit of speed but not much else.

Manager: Jolly Cholly Grimm will be player manager, but he will get considerable input from his player-coaches Clark Griffith and Cito Gaston. Grimm had a career record of 1,287-1,067 and he won three NL pennants. Griffith, who will also run the front office along with his son Calvin, had a career record of 1,491-1,367, but his only pennant came in his first year as player manager. Gaston was 894-837 with Toronto, and he was the first black manager to win a World Series title (and, for that matter, the first black manager to win back-to-back World Series titles).