Best baseball team ever?...1936 Pittsburgh Crawfords
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by user Shrubbery
A recent post spawned a debate as to who was the best baseball team ever. So, being a champion of shameless self-promotion I’ve found the best baseball team ever assembled, non-all star of course. Let me just whisper a hint in your ear…it’s not the 1927 New York Yankees. The best team ever assembled was *queue drum roll* the 1936 Pittsburgh Crawfords.
The ’36 Crawfords were a dazzling collection of hitting, fielding, and pitching. The team featured five, count ‘em, five future Hall-of-Famers and perhaps the greatest single collection of baseball talent to ever set foot in a ball park.
Here’s a rundown of the staggering talent on the ‘Fords.
Josh Gibson was arguably the greatest player ever. He boasted hitting over 1,000 career homeruns but the number is probably closer to 700-800. Some historians have claimed he clubbed 84 HR’s in one year and his bombs were the stuff of legend. He hit a homerun in Yankee Stadium that traveled 580 feet to deep center, two feet below the top of the bleachers’ wall. Infielder Jack Marshal claims Gibson hit one over the roof in left field, in fair territory. Though some numbers are unverifiable Gibson was credited with two seasons in which he hit well over .400 and had a slugging percentage over 1.000. He died of a stroke at the age of 35, barely three months before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Gibson was #16 on The Sporting News Top 100 players ever.
Satchel Paige may have been the greatest pitcher ever. The estimated career numbers are overwhelming…2,000 wins, 300 shutouts, 64 straight scoreless innings, 21 straight wins, pitched for over four decades, first Negro Leaguer enshrined in Cooperstown. Some give Paige credit for a god-like 62-13 record in 1932. While the stats for Paige are difficult to quantify, with all his exhibitions, barnstorming, and his all-too-brief Major League career, his mastery of nearly every pitch is unquestionable. He once told Josh Gibson to expect three fastballs…Gibson whiffed on all three. Paige was a consummate showman and shit-talker who was reputed to pull his entire defense off the field and mow down the side with nine pitches. He was named to The Sporting News Top 100 players of all-time.
It was once said of Cool Papa Bell that he could flip off the light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. Exaggerations aside, Bell is likely the fastest baseball player ever. He was recorded circling the bases in 13.3 seconds and some claim he could round all four bases in 12 seconds flat. Possessing a quick bat Bell hit for average and was a terror on the base pads. Plus he flashed unreal defensive skills. Bell is widely considered the best outfielder the Negro Leagues ever produced. He was #66 on TSN’s Top 100.
Baseball historian Bill James ranked Oscar Charleston as the fourth best baseball player ever, and he may have been the greatest Negro League star. Charleston boasted a .355 lifetime average and was the best power hitter in the Negro Leagues, save only Josh Gibson. Along with Bell, Charleston was a brilliant defensive outfielder. He was #67 on TSN’s Top 100. A gifted player, Charleston was also manager of the ’36 Crawfords.
Judy Johnson hit .344 for his career, was the captain of the ’36 ‘Fords, and was arguably the best fielding 3B ever. His uncanny ability to shine in pressure situations was legendary. His will held together the ’36 Crawfords, a volatile mix with Gibson, Paige, and Charleston all possessing temperaments eerily reminiscent of the reviled Ty Cobb. Johnson was elected to the Hall in 1975.
William Bell had a lifetime .721 winning percentage, averaged 18 wins a season, a 124-48 record, 74% of his starts were complete games, and allowed less than one hit per inning pitched. Bell has been a finalist for enshrinement in the Hall.
The 1936 Crawfords had the most complete team in baseball history. Just imagine Cool Papa hitting lead-off, Johnson hitting second or third, Gibson at clean up, and Charleston at the third or fifth spot. Scary. Then parade out Satchel Paige and William Bell. In a seven game series I’d bet a fairly large amount of money that the ’32-’36 Crawfords could beat ANY team in MLB history.
Date
Wed 06/14/06, 8:52 am EST
