BF: The BFFs

Infield: First baseman Brad Fullmer (1997-2004) was a decent power hitter whose career ended because of injuries before he turned 30. He wasn’t much of a defender, even at first base, and he wasn’t much of a baserunner (though he did steal home in a World Series game). But Fullmer was a solid batter, a .290 hitter who would draw some walks and who would hit 20-30 home runs in a full season. He went .295-32-104 for Toronto in 2001. Third baseman Bob “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson (1871-84) was a decent ballplayer and a highly respected man during the early years of organized baseball. His reputation for intelligence and leadership led to further work as an umpire and an administrator, but he also had a nasty temper and a stubborn streak; once while working as an umpire he got into an argument with a player and ended it by grabbing a bat and breaking the guy’s arm. Ferguson’s middle name was Vavasour, and his famous nickname was a tribute to his reputation on defense. Second baseman Bernie Friberg (1919-33) was a versatile player who moved around the infield and the outfield and was a decent contributor wherever he played. An adequate offensive player, but the only categories he ever led the league in were caught stealing and strikeouts. Shortstop Bob Fisher

(1912-19) had 2,200 hits in a long, successful minor-league career but he never did much in the majors.

Outfield: Left fielder Bibb Falk (1920-31) was a fine hitter, with a .314 career average, but his playing career is completely overshadowed by the three decades he spent coaching at University of Texas, where he won two national titles. But he was a fine player, the guy who took over left field for the White Sox after Shoeless Joe was banned. Falk was a good line drive hitter and a feisty competitor, nicknamed “Jockey” for his ability to taunt opponents and get under their skin. Right fielder Buck Freeman (1891-1907) was a small but powerful lefty who led the league twice in home runs and twice in RBI. He hit 25 home runs in 1899, the most ever from the 60-foot, 6-inch distance until Babe Ruth came along. He was also good for 15-25 triples per year and finsihed with more career triples than home runs. Ben Francisco (2007- ) is a corner outfielder but will be stretched to play center here in between Freeman, Falk and occasionally Fatty Fothergill. Francisco was a minor-league batting champion (see note below) who has been a solid major-leaguer, a .260-.270 hitter with some power.

Catcher: Bill Freehan (1963-76) was a tremendously underrated player, probably the best catcher in the majors in the years between Berra and Bench. Freehan, who played his who career for the Detroit Tigers, was durable player and a strong defensive catcher. He played the prime years of his career in the pitching-dominated 1960s, but he hit 200 home runs and had a fine batting eye.

Rotation: Bob Feller (1936-56) was one of the great flamethrowing pitchers of all time. He had a career record of 266-162 and 2,581 strikeouts despite missing three full seasons and most of a fourth to military service during World War II. Give him those missing seasons back, and he might have had 350 wins and 3,500 strikeouts – though there are those who suggest the military service may have saved his career from an extraordinary workload. Feller signed with the Cleveland Indians while he was still in high school and was pitching in the majors at age 17. He had 107 wins and 1,233 strikeouts before he turned 23 years old, and in 1941 he worked 343 innings at age 22. In his first full season back from World War II, he worked 371 innings. After that, he cut back to a more manageable workload, and it’s possible that if he had tried to keep working 350 innings a year throughout his early- and mid-20s, that his arm would have given out. Or maybe he would have been like Nolan Ryan, a physical marvel whose wing was impervious to overuse. We can’t know, so we won’t speculate – but judged solely on what he did, and not on what he might have done, Feller earned his spot among the best starting pitchers of all time. Bob Friend (1951-66) won 197 games (and lost 230) in a career spent mostly with the Pirates. He led the NL with 22 wins in 1958 and with a 2.83 ERA in 1955, but he also led the league in losses twice. Bob Forsch (1974-89) was a very ordinary pitcher for the Cardinals who won 168 games by throwing strikes and letting his defense do the job behind him. He threw two no-hitters, the first of which (in 1978) was marred by an obvious single that a generous official scorer called an error or third baseman Ken Reitz. (The second one, in 1983, was legit.) Benny Frey (1929-36) won 57 games for the Cincinnati Reds and had some decent years along the way, but arm troubles ended his career at age 30. Apparently despondent over his inability to make a comeback, Frey committed suicide a year later. Bill Foxen (1908-11) was a lefty who went 16-20 for the Phillies and the Cubs.

Bullpen: Closer Brian Fuentes (2001- ) finished 2011 with 199 saves, and we’ll assume that he will make it to 200. He’s been consistently good but rarely great, and in 2009, when he led the AL with 48 saves, his ERA for the Angels was 3.93. Bryce Florie (1994-2001) was a journeyman who went 20-24 for four teams. He wasn’t great, but he was the best player in baseball history named Bryce, a distinction we suspect he will be losing fairly soon. Bill Fischer (1956-64) bounced around the American League for a decade and won 45 games. He had fine control and once went 84 innings between walks. Brian Fisher (1985-92) was a hot prospect with the Yankees who had a modest career as a swingman. Bill Faul (1962-70) won a dozen games for the Tigers and Cubs. Bill Fleming (1940-46) went 16-21 for the Red Sox and Cubs. Bob File (2001-04) had a solid rookie year fror the Blue Jays and then never pitched well again.

Bench: Outfielder Bob “Fatty” Fothergill (1922-33) was 5-11 and was listed at 230 pounds, though it was suggested that his true weight was more in the 260-270 range. He wolfed down steaks, guzzled beer and died of a stroke at age 40. Fothergill was a fine hitter, with a .325 career average and some line drive pop. He rarely struck out. Fothergill, a righty, might work as a platoon combination with Buck Freeman. Bobby Floyd (1968-74) was a weak-hitting utility infielder. Bill Friel (1901-03) could play infield or outfield but wasn’t anything special at the plate. Backup catcher Barry Foote (1973-82) was never in the same battery as Bill Hands. The final roster spot goes to a third catcher, Boob Fowler (1923-26), because it’s hard to resist a guy answered to Boob and was also nicknamed “Gink.”

Manager: Death to Flying Things Ferguson and Bibb Falk will be co-player-managers.

Note on Ben Francisco: In 2007, Ben Francisco batted .318 for Buffalo to win the International League batting title by one point over Richmond’s Martin Prado. Folks in Richmond were extremely bitter because blogger Mike, who serves as official scorer for the Norfolk Tides, called an error in the final days of the season that would have given Prado the batting title if it had been called a hit. Blogger Joe, who serves side-by-side with blogger Mike as the online datacaster for Tides games, went back through his notes and found that earlier in the season, Mike had also scored a ball as an error while Ben Francisco was batting against the Tides. So you see, it all evened out.