All-Missouri All-Time Team

[Throwback]

Shortly before my long hiatus, Nightal asked me to construct an All-Missouri Team. Well, Al, I've spent most of the past two days researching it, and here you go. These are hitters with at least 1000 ABs and Pitchers with at least 450 Innings only (basically no 1-year wonders), and players with significantly more innings/games tend to get preference, although I was more concerned with things like percentages vs. league average over a given period than with career totals. The criteria for being from Missouri is birthplace (costing me plenty of guys like Jim Bottomley, Stan Musial, and Dizzy Dean).
Active Roster:
Regulars:
C- Yogi Berra (St. Louis)
1B- Jake Beckley (Hannibal)
2B- Jimmy Williams (St. Louis)
3B- Ken Boyer (Liberty)
SS- Lonny Frey (St. Louis)
LF- Zack Wheat (Hamilton)
CF- George "Rip" Van Haltren (St. Louis)
RF- Bob Allison (Raytown)
Bench:
C------Walker Cooper (Atherton)
1B/OF--Roy Sievers (St. Louis)
OF-----Pete Reiser (St. Louis)
3B-----Clete Boyer (Cassville)
SS-----John Peters (Louisiana)
OF-----Bug Holliday (St. Louis)
Starting Pitchers:
1- Smokey Joe Wood (Kansas City)
2- Carl Hubbell (Carthage)
3- Silver King (St. Louis)
4- Mort Cooper (Atherton)
5- Clark Griffith (Clear Creek)
Bullpen:
P- David Cone (Kansas City)
P- Pud Galvin (St. Louis)
P- Steve Rogers (Jefferson City)
P- Mel Stottlemyre (Hazleton)
RP-Mike Henneman (St. Charles)
CL-Tom Henke (Kansas City)
Reserve (40-Man Roster)
Pitchers:
P- Curt Davis (Greenfield)
P- Jeff Tesreau (Silver Mine)
RP-Darold Knowles (Brunswick)
RP-Dick Hall (St. Louis)
P- Jumbo McGinnis (Alton)
P- Sonny Siebert (St. Mary's)
P- Murry Dickson (Tracy)
Position Players:
C- Elston Howard (St. Louis)
3B-Harry Steinfeldt (St. Louis)
LF- Bernard Gilkey (St. Louis)
RF- Bake McBride (Fulton)
1B/OF-Norm Siebern (St. Louis)
SS- Charlie Hollocher (St. Louis)
2B- Ron Hunt (St. Louis)

MGR/Res.OF- Casey Stengel (Kansas City)

Honorable Mention: Pitchers: Mark Buehrle (St. Charles), Steve Mingori (Kansas City), Ken Sanders (St. Louis), Mark Littell (Cape Girardeau), Ted Breitenstein (St. Louis), Bob Miller (St. Louis), Bud Byerly (Webster Groves), Joe Boever (Kirkwood), Lefty Williams (Aurora), Ken Holtzman (St. Louis), Jerry Reuss (St. Louis)
Position Players: Catchers: Muddy Ruel (St. Louis), Darrell Porter (Joplin), Johnny Kling (Kansas City), Heinie Peitz (St. Louis) 1B: Donn Clendenon (Neosho), Patsy Tebeau (St. Louis) 3B: Mike Shannon (St. Louis) OF: Hoot Evers (St. Louis)

Hope you like it Al, and everyone else who cares also!

[Ytown Tribe fan]

Good work!

Take a look at this old thread, if you're interested in other states' all-time teams:

http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/...ht=state+teams

[Throwback]

Dang...I'm sorry I missed that. It's eerie how similar our lineups are, WiredTiger and I. Although they were all basically cut-and-dry except maybe Bob Allison and Lonny Frey. I was surprised he picked Wright though. To me it seemed pretty clear that Frey, Peters, and Hollocher were all superior, especially when defense is factored in. I didn't like the bench or pitching staff at all though. I think mine probably could have won the midwest.

By the way...anybody got any clues why Silver King and Rip Van Haltren aren't in the Hall? When I saw how dominant they actually were, I was aghast...big-time oversite as far as I'm concerned.

The thing I was most surprised about though was Mark Buehrle. He's amazing. If it wouldn't be for the fact that he only has 3 years and change under his belt, the man would be in my rotation ahead of some hall of famers. I'd have to say he's a guy to look out for in the years to come.

[SmedIndy]

King barely qualifies - 10 years only even with a late comeback and a 5 game stint with KC before he went to St. Louis. Only had an ERA+ of over 100 in six of those seasons: one of which he went 14-29 and another where he made just 16 starts for a bad Washington team. He was hurt by the change from a pitchers box to a mound. He used to have a crazy delivery where he would go from the back left corner of the box and spin to the front right of the box. I couldn't advocate a HOF plaque for him because his peak, good as it was, was just three excellent seasons. (His 32-12 season was quite good, but his ERA+ was 'just' 120).

As for Van Haltren, people just don't know any better. He had a long, pretty consistent career and had good power for the time.

[Rajah]

speaking of the old USBL, did BravesWin ever finish running that admittedly massive project? It would be interesting to see the final results.

[Throwback]

Smed, I'm going to have to disagree on King. I mean no matter what you say about him only having a few dominant years, the fact remains that his career ERA+ (unless I got bad info or read it wrong) was 123, which beats out contemporaries like Griffith and Galvin that are enshrined, as well as future hall of famers like David Cone. And true, he barely qualifies in years pitched, but he still amassed plenty of innings as compared to other pitchers with more years under their belt, so I don't really see a problem with that.

As a matter of fact, I'm for Joe Wood going in also. I mean, sure, he only has enough years in because he had a post-pitching career as an outfielder, but come on...he was arguably as dominant in his 6 years or so on the mound as any player ever has been. I mean the man's ERA+ is 146!!!

[SmedIndy]

T-back - I'm for tougher HOF standards, and if we want to continue this discussion let's start another thread.

[Throwback]

Nah, Smed, I'll pass on the new thread. I don't mind tough standards at all. I wasn't really trying to get into that. I just think that no matter how many players in the hall...whether 50 or 1000, you need to make sure to get the BEST 50 or the BEST 1000. I guess I'm getting a little off-topic unless I'm talking specifically about King, Van Haltren, or another member of the All-Missouri team. So back to that, I just think Silver King is definitely better than some pitchers in the hall. I agree with you that the Hall of Fame isn't always as selective as it should be, but can we at least agree that King would not be out of place in the hall as it exists?

[SmedIndy]

King's peak may have been better but I can't sniff a HOF for him - remember - I'd crowbar some guys out before I put 'em back in.

[Throwback]

Yeah I gotcha. I agree with you to an extent. Come to think of it, that's a rarity for you and I, no?