Infield: Second baseman Bobby Grich (1970-86) was one of the most underrated players of his generation. His career batting average was .266, but he drew lots of walks and he hit for power and he played outstanding defense. He spent the first half of his career with Baltimore and the second half with the Angels – a durable player who won four Gold Gloves, hit 224 home runs and scored more than 1,000 runs. First baseman Billy Goodman (1947-62) was a .300 hitter who had no power and no speed, but he drew twice as many walks as strikeouts. He won an AL batting title (.354 in 1950), but other than that he never led the league in anything. Shortstop Bill Gleason (1882-89) – no relation to Kid Gleason, though his given name was also William – was a fine player for the St. Louis Browns back when they were one of the better teams in the American Association. Gleason’s numbers aren’t superficially great – he hit .267 with no power – but he managed to score 613 runs in 798 career games. He played in the era when players doubled as base coaches, and his habit of wandering down the line to insult and distract the opposing catcher helped bring about the development of coaches’ boxes. Third baseman Billy Grabarkewitz (1969-75) was another in the long line of Dodgers third base prospects (in the years before Ron Cey) who failed to pan out. As a 24-year-old rookie in 1970, he batted .289 with 19 home runs, 84 RBI, 92 runs and 95 walks – numbers that were awfully good for an infielder playing in Dodger Stadium in 1970. In fact, he led the team in homers, runs and on-base percentage that year. He looked like an emerging star. But he got hurt – Grabarkewitz was always hurt, so much so that he once observed that he had been X-rayed so much that he glowed in the dark – and by the time he started to get healthy the Dodgers had produced so many talented young infielders that he had noplace to play. He bounced around the majors for a few years, never played in 100 games again after that fine rookie year, and he finished with a .236 career batting average.
Outfield: Bernard Gilkey (1990-2001) spent his whole career playing left and right field, but he will be stretched on this team to play center. He was an outstanding fielder, but there was always a Ray Lankford or a Lance Johnson around to play center. Gilkey came up with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, had a few good years for the Mets, and then bounced around the league for a few years. He was a solid but unspectacular player – a .275 career hitter who drew a few walks, had some line drive pop and ran well enough. Right fielder Brian Giles (1995-2009) was a terrific hitter for the Indians, Pirates and Padres. At his peak, he would bat .300 with 100 walks, 30-40 home runs, 30-40 doubles. His defense was poor and his speed was average, but if you stuck him in the middle of a decent batting order he would produce a ton of runs. For his career, he batted .291 (.400 on-base, .502 slugging), scoring 1,121 runs and driving in 1,078. Left fielder Ben Grieve was the AL Rookie of the Year for Oakland in 1998 – at age 22, he batted .288 with 41 doubles, 18 home runs, 89 RBI and 94 runs, drawing 85 walks. He had a couple of good seasons, but in his mid-20s his offense started to gradually move backward. By the time he reached what should have been his prime, he had become completely one-dimensional – a decent hitter, but injury-prone, slow and a disaster on defense. He was out of baseball before he turned 30. His father – former outfielder and general manager Tom Grieve – said he was a victim of high expectations. (Memo to management: Bernard Gilkey can probably handle center field, but he’s gonna have his hands full trying to play in between these two lummoxes.)
Catcher: Bob Garbark (1934-45) played parts of seven seasons with four different teams but he never hit for any of them. After he retired, he coached the Allegheny College baseball team for more than 30 years.
Rotation: Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (1959-75) was one of the most dominant pitchers, and one of the more ferocious competitors, of his generation. He spent his whole career with the Cardinals, winning 251 games and striking out 3,117 batters. He had five 20-win seasons, bringing home two Cy Young Awards and the NL MVP Award in 1968, when he put up a 1.12 ERA and pitched 13 shutouts. He was an outstanding athlete (he previously played basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters), and he had 44 doubles and 24 home runs in his career. Gibson pitched in three World Series, making nine starts, completing eight of them, and putting up a 7-2 record with a 1.89 ERA. In 81 World Series innings, he struck out 92 and gave up just 55 hits and 17 walks. He even hit two home runs in the World Series. Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes (1916-34) won 270 games. He is best remembered today as the last of the legal spitballers who were grandfathered in after the spitball was banned in 1920. Grimes was a workhorse journeyman who won 20 games five times and frequently led the NL in complete games and and innings pitched. He was called Ol’ Stubblebeard because he did not shave on days when he pitched; he chewed slippery elm in order to properly lubricate his spitball, and the whiskers kept his skin from being irritated by the slippery elm spittle. Bill Gullickson (1979-94) was a durable middle-of-the-rotation guy for several teams, winning 162 games. He was never a great pitcher, but he put up double-digit victory totals for 10 straight years, highlighted by a 20-9 record for the Tigers in 1991. Bob Groom (1909-18) had a career record of 119-150, in part because he pitched for bad teams. He led the league in losses three times, including a 7-26 record as a rookie for the 1909 Senators. Lefty Bill Grahame (1908-10) went 14-29 in a brief career.
Bullpen: Bob Grim (1954-62) won 20 games and the AL Rookie of the Year Award for the Yankees in 1954, starting 20 games and relieving in 17. He was mostly a reliever for the rest of his career, winning 12 and saving 19 with a 2.63 ERA for the Yankees in 1957. After that, he bounced around the majors for a few years. He could be used in several different ways, but he’ll work as the closer on this team. Lefty Buddy Groom (1992-2005) was a pretty ordinary reliever who occasionally worked as a closer. Bill Greif (1971-76) went 31-67, mainly pitching for bad Padres teams. He went to college during his career and earned a degree in psychology (Phi Beta Kappa) and later earned a Master’s degree. Lefty Bob Giollombardo (1958) was teammates with Sandy Koufax both in high school and with the 1958 Dodgers. He pitched well in a short trial with the Dodgers at age 21, then went back to the minors for a few years before hanging it up. Bert Gallia (1912-20) was a pretty decent swingman who pitched for the Senators and the Browns. He won 66 games and saved 10. Bill Gogolewski (1970-75) won 15 games for four teams. Bob Geary (1918-21) won 186 games in the minors and three in the majors.
Bench: Outfielder Brett Gardner (2008- ) is a speedster who is just getting started with the Yankees. He’s a fine defensive center fielder, so at this point his role on the B.G. team will be as a defensive replacement – taking over center and allowing Gilkey to move to left or right. Gardner led the American League in steals in 2011. Utility man Barbaro Garbey (1984-88) was a great athlete from Cuba (his brother was an Olympic boxer, his sister a track star). He was a standout in Cuba but was banned after a gambling scandal and made his way to the United States, where he signed with the Detroit Tigers. Sparky Anderson immediately billed him as “another Roberto Clemente,” which proved to be a bit of an overstatement, as Garbey had exactly 2,833 fewer career hits than Clemente. Infielder Brent Gates (1993-99) batted .290 as a rookie and went downhill from there, though he was a useful utility guy. Infielder Billy Gilbert (1901-09) stole 167 bases in his career and will work as a defensive sub and pinch-runner. Backup catcher Bob Geren (1988-93) had a longer career than starter Bob Garbark but he wasn’t any better. They can share time.
Manager: Billy Gardner managed the Twins for five years and the Royals for part of one season. He had a career record of 330-417. He’ll get some help from Bob Geren, who managed the A’s for four years.
Outfield: Bernard Gilkey (1990-2001) spent his whole career playing left and right field, but he will be stretched on this team to play center. He was an outstanding fielder, but there was always a Ray Lankford or a Lance Johnson around to play center. Gilkey came up with his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, had a few good years for the Mets, and then bounced around the league for a few years. He was a solid but unspectacular player – a .275 career hitter who drew a few walks, had some line drive pop and ran well enough. Right fielder Brian Giles (1995-2009) was a terrific hitter for the Indians, Pirates and Padres. At his peak, he would bat .300 with 100 walks, 30-40 home runs, 30-40 doubles. His defense was poor and his speed was average, but if you stuck him in the middle of a decent batting order he would produce a ton of runs. For his career, he batted .291 (.400 on-base, .502 slugging), scoring 1,121 runs and driving in 1,078. Left fielder Ben Grieve was the AL Rookie of the Year for Oakland in 1998 – at age 22, he batted .288 with 41 doubles, 18 home runs, 89 RBI and 94 runs, drawing 85 walks. He had a couple of good seasons, but in his mid-20s his offense started to gradually move backward. By the time he reached what should have been his prime, he had become completely one-dimensional – a decent hitter, but injury-prone, slow and a disaster on defense. He was out of baseball before he turned 30. His father – former outfielder and general manager Tom Grieve – said he was a victim of high expectations. (Memo to management: Bernard Gilkey can probably handle center field, but he’s gonna have his hands full trying to play in between these two lummoxes.)
Catcher: Bob Garbark (1934-45) played parts of seven seasons with four different teams but he never hit for any of them. After he retired, he coached the Allegheny College baseball team for more than 30 years.
Rotation: Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (1959-75) was one of the most dominant pitchers, and one of the more ferocious competitors, of his generation. He spent his whole career with the Cardinals, winning 251 games and striking out 3,117 batters. He had five 20-win seasons, bringing home two Cy Young Awards and the NL MVP Award in 1968, when he put up a 1.12 ERA and pitched 13 shutouts. He was an outstanding athlete (he previously played basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters), and he had 44 doubles and 24 home runs in his career. Gibson pitched in three World Series, making nine starts, completing eight of them, and putting up a 7-2 record with a 1.89 ERA. In 81 World Series innings, he struck out 92 and gave up just 55 hits and 17 walks. He even hit two home runs in the World Series. Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes (1916-34) won 270 games. He is best remembered today as the last of the legal spitballers who were grandfathered in after the spitball was banned in 1920. Grimes was a workhorse journeyman who won 20 games five times and frequently led the NL in complete games and and innings pitched. He was called Ol’ Stubblebeard because he did not shave on days when he pitched; he chewed slippery elm in order to properly lubricate his spitball, and the whiskers kept his skin from being irritated by the slippery elm spittle. Bill Gullickson (1979-94) was a durable middle-of-the-rotation guy for several teams, winning 162 games. He was never a great pitcher, but he put up double-digit victory totals for 10 straight years, highlighted by a 20-9 record for the Tigers in 1991. Bob Groom (1909-18) had a career record of 119-150, in part because he pitched for bad teams. He led the league in losses three times, including a 7-26 record as a rookie for the 1909 Senators. Lefty Bill Grahame (1908-10) went 14-29 in a brief career.
Bullpen: Bob Grim (1954-62) won 20 games and the AL Rookie of the Year Award for the Yankees in 1954, starting 20 games and relieving in 17. He was mostly a reliever for the rest of his career, winning 12 and saving 19 with a 2.63 ERA for the Yankees in 1957. After that, he bounced around the majors for a few years. He could be used in several different ways, but he’ll work as the closer on this team. Lefty Buddy Groom (1992-2005) was a pretty ordinary reliever who occasionally worked as a closer. Bill Greif (1971-76) went 31-67, mainly pitching for bad Padres teams. He went to college during his career and earned a degree in psychology (Phi Beta Kappa) and later earned a Master’s degree. Lefty Bob Giollombardo (1958) was teammates with Sandy Koufax both in high school and with the 1958 Dodgers. He pitched well in a short trial with the Dodgers at age 21, then went back to the minors for a few years before hanging it up. Bert Gallia (1912-20) was a pretty decent swingman who pitched for the Senators and the Browns. He won 66 games and saved 10. Bill Gogolewski (1970-75) won 15 games for four teams. Bob Geary (1918-21) won 186 games in the minors and three in the majors.
Bench: Outfielder Brett Gardner (2008- ) is a speedster who is just getting started with the Yankees. He’s a fine defensive center fielder, so at this point his role on the B.G. team will be as a defensive replacement – taking over center and allowing Gilkey to move to left or right. Gardner led the American League in steals in 2011. Utility man Barbaro Garbey (1984-88) was a great athlete from Cuba (his brother was an Olympic boxer, his sister a track star). He was a standout in Cuba but was banned after a gambling scandal and made his way to the United States, where he signed with the Detroit Tigers. Sparky Anderson immediately billed him as “another Roberto Clemente,” which proved to be a bit of an overstatement, as Garbey had exactly 2,833 fewer career hits than Clemente. Infielder Brent Gates (1993-99) batted .290 as a rookie and went downhill from there, though he was a useful utility guy. Infielder Billy Gilbert (1901-09) stole 167 bases in his career and will work as a defensive sub and pinch-runner. Backup catcher Bob Geren (1988-93) had a longer career than starter Bob Garbark but he wasn’t any better. They can share time.
Manager: Billy Gardner managed the Twins for five years and the Royals for part of one season. He had a career record of 330-417. He’ll get some help from Bob Geren, who managed the A’s for four years.
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