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He's a Hometown Hero, He's Got Stars in his Eyes
2006-07-18 22:12
by Mike Carminati

Major League Baseball has started a Hometown Heroes contest for apparently no other reason than my amusement.

Fans get to select the best player per franchise. Hmm, we Phillie fans get to pick from, it must be, Larry Bowa, Steve Jeltz, Lance Parrish, Travis Lee, and Rico Brogna. Decisions…decisions…

Actually the nominees are a bit more appetizing, but it really is no contest. Hands down the best player the Phils have ever had is Mike Schmidt.

The ones that will be really difficult are the newer franchises like the D-Rays and Marlins. Let's see, is it Wade Boggs well past his prime or Fred McGriff well past his prime? Or is it Aubrey Huff, who just got traded to the Astros?

I thought I would look at the franchise leaders in Win Shares to see who comes out as the "best". So here goes (through 2005), sorted best to worst including some of the best among defunct teams just for the heck of it:

FranchiseWin SharesNameTeam Active?On Ballot?
Detroit Tigers688Ty CobbYY
Atlanta Braves629Hank AaronYY
San Francisco Giants625Willie MaysYY
St. Louis Cardinals604Stan MusialYY
Pittsburgh Pirates598Honus WagnerYY
New York Yankees574Babe RuthYY
Minnesota Twins560Walter JohnsonYN
Boston Red Sox555Ted WilliamsYY
Philadelphia Phillies467Mike SchmidtYY
Cincinnati Reds454Pete RoseYY
Kansas City Royals432George BrettYY
Baltimore Orioles427Cal RipkenYY
Milwaukee Brewers423Robin YountYY
Houston Astros414Craig BiggioYY
San Diego Padres398Tony GwynnYY
Chicago Cubs381Cap AnsonYN
Chicago White Sox378Luke ApplingYY
Los Angeles Dodgers373Zack WheatYN
Cleveland Indians338Tris SpeakerYY
Oakland Athletics308Eddie PlankYN
Seattle Mariners305Edgar MartinezYY
Cleveland Spiders296Cy YoungNN
Washington Nationals265Tim RainesYN
Providence Grays262Charley RadbournNN
New York Mets258Tom SeaverYY
Louisville Colonels254Guy HeckerNN
Buffalo Bisons244Pud GalvinNN
Texas Rangers236Rafael PalmeiroYN
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim229Tim SalmonYY
Toronto Blue Jays212Carlos DelgadoYN
Colorado Rockies211Todd HeltonYY
Cleveland Blues203Jim McCormickNN
Arizona Diamondbacks174Luis GonzalezYY
Philadelphia Athletics167Harry StoveyNN
Baltimore Orioles162John McGrawNN
Florida Marlins135Luis CastilloYY
Tampa Bay Devil Rays75Aubrey HuffYY

Well, overall 23 of the best payers per franchise actually made the ballot. Sorry, Walter Johnson, we need a spot for Kent Hrbek. Tim Raines? No, but how about Brian Schneider? Oopha!

Anyway, of those 23, I doubt that half will garner enough votes to come out on top. How many fans even know who Honus Wagner was? How many will vote for Albert Pujols over Stan the Man?

I can't wait for the carnage. Oh, and where's the write-in spot for Steve Jeltz?

Comments
2006-07-19 06:56:46
1.   Shaun P
What a joke that the Nationals list has no room for Rock Raines, Andre Dawson, Steve Rogers, or Vlad Guerrero - but does have room for Schneider, Livan, and Vidro.

Not worth getting upset over, for sure, but talk about glaring omissions! Cripes, how many years did MLB own the Expos/Nats - you'd think they would actually know something about the team and its history.

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