Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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:
| Franchise | Win Shares | Name | Team Active? | On Ballot? |
| Detroit Tigers | 688 | Ty Cobb | Y | Y |
| Atlanta Braves | 629 | Hank Aaron | Y | Y |
| San Francisco Giants | 625 | Willie Mays | Y | Y |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 604 | Stan Musial | Y | Y |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 598 | Honus Wagner | Y | Y |
| New York Yankees | 574 | Babe Ruth | Y | Y |
| Minnesota Twins | 560 | Walter Johnson | Y | N |
| Boston Red Sox | 555 | Ted Williams | Y | Y |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 467 | Mike Schmidt | Y | Y |
| Cincinnati Reds | 454 | Pete Rose | Y | Y |
| Kansas City Royals | 432 | George Brett | Y | Y |
| Baltimore Orioles | 427 | Cal Ripken | Y | Y |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 423 | Robin Yount | Y | Y |
| Houston Astros | 414 | Craig Biggio | Y | Y |
| San Diego Padres | 398 | Tony Gwynn | Y | Y |
| Chicago Cubs | 381 | Cap Anson | Y | N |
| Chicago White Sox | 378 | Luke Appling | Y | Y |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 373 | Zack Wheat | Y | N |
| Cleveland Indians | 338 | Tris Speaker | Y | Y |
| Oakland Athletics | 308 | Eddie Plank | Y | N |
| Seattle Mariners | 305 | Edgar Martinez | Y | Y |
| Cleveland Spiders | 296 | Cy Young | N | N |
| Washington Nationals | 265 | Tim Raines | Y | N |
| Providence Grays | 262 | Charley Radbourn | N | N |
| New York Mets | 258 | Tom Seaver | Y | Y |
| Louisville Colonels | 254 | Guy Hecker | N | N |
| Buffalo Bisons | 244 | Pud Galvin | N | N |
| Texas Rangers | 236 | Rafael Palmeiro | Y | N |
| Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | 229 | Tim Salmon | Y | Y |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 212 | Carlos Delgado | Y | N |
| Colorado Rockies | 211 | Todd Helton | Y | Y |
| Cleveland Blues | 203 | Jim McCormick | N | N |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 174 | Luis Gonzalez | Y | Y |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 167 | Harry Stovey | N | N |
| Baltimore Orioles | 162 | John McGraw | N | N |
| Florida Marlins | 135 | Luis Castillo | Y | Y |
| Tampa Bay Devil Rays | 75 | Aubrey Huff | Y | Y |
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?
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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