Birthday June 6 All-Time Teams
They're not all great, but they're all legitimate major leaguers
| POS | NAME | YRS |
|---|---|---|
| C | Bill Dickey | 1928-1946 |
| 1B | Dave Bergman | 1975-1992 |
| 2B | Mark Ellis | 2002-2005 |
| 3B | Tony Graffanino | 1996-2008 |
| SS | Ed McKean | 1887-1899 |
| LF | Max Venable | 1979-1991 |
| CF | Bill Lange | 1893-1899 |
| RF | Merv Rettenmund | 1968-1980 |
| DH | Fresco Thompson | 1925-1934 |
| SP | Jim Devlin | 1875-1877 |
| RP | Joe Pate | 1926-1927 |
Unlike most birthday teams, there is no one on this roster who got a job just because he played 6 games at a position back in 1897. All 9 hitters had legitimate major league careers. The top of the order is set with Ed McKean and Bill Lange. McKean is a lifetime .302 hitter with 323 steals. Lange is even better with a .330/.401/.459 line and 399 stolen bases (66th best all-time). The middle of the order will feature Merv Rettenmund, a career .271 hitter with a .381 OBP and Bill Dickey, one of the greatest catchers to ever play the game and a Hall of Famer. The worst hitter on the team is likely Max Venable, a lifetime .241 hitter. He'll be hitting behind a couple of names we know, Tony Graffanino and Mark Ellis. Jim Devlin will be the ace of this team. Although he pitched for only 3 years, he dominated with a 2.05 ERA (143 ERA+) in 1405 IP. He didn't strike many out with just 273, but he had pinpoint control with just 89 career BB's allowed and kept the ball in the yard, allowing only 7 homers. With a couple of stars at the top of the order and solid players right on down to the end, this is a team that could probably compete in the major leagues.
