The Champions Aren't Always the Greatest

by Harold Friend

No team in baseball history had more great players than the 1928 Philadelphia Athletics. The team won 98 games, finishing in second place, 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees. Philadelphia's roster included Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Eddie Collins, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons, Mickey Cochrane, and Lefty Grove, all of whom are in the Hall of Fame. The only problem was that Cobb and Collins were 41 years old, Speaker was 40 and Foxx was only 20. Cobb batted .323 but appeared in only 95 games, Collins batted only 33 times, and Speaker appeared in 64 games, batting .267. Simmons had his usual outstanding season, batting .351, Foxx, in his first full season, hit .328, and Grove, possibly the greatest left handed pitcher of all time, won 24 games.

The team with the worst record of all time, the 1962 New York Mets, had many outstanding players, including Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn, Gil Hodges, Gus Bell, Frank Thomas, Gene Woodling, and Roger Craig. The problem was that all but Craig had seen better days, and despite his ability, Craig managed to lose 24 games that season. Having great players is great, but timing is everything. The 1928 Athletics and the 1962 Mets had a few great players who were past their prime, a situation that might good at the box office but one that is not good on the field. Championship teams need balance and having a few great players or formerly great players does not guarantee a winning team.

Some consider the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers the best team ever to lose the World Series. Gil Hodges was at first, Rookie of the Year Jim "Junior" Gilliam took over for Jackie Robinson at second, Pee Wee Reese was at shortstop, Billy Cox was the third baseman, Roy Campanella caught, and the outfield had Robinson in left, Duke Snider in center, and Carl Furillo in right. Robinson, Reese, Snider, and Campanella are in the Hall of Fame, but Brooklyn's problem was a lack of pitching. The team had a 4.10 ERA, which modern fans might consider decent, but in 1953, that was not very good. Carl Erskine was the only starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.00, as he won 20, lost 6, and pitched to a 3.54 ERA. In the World Series against the Yankees, Billy Martin punished Brooklyn pitching for 12 hits in 24 at bats as the Yankees took the Series in six games.

The 1998 Yankees won 114 regular season games and another 11 in October. Among the regulars, the only Hall of Famer will be Derek Jeter. Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez, and Jorge Posada were fine players, but none is quite of Hall of Fame calibre, and neither was Tim Raines, who appeared in 109 games. Closer Mariano Rivera will be a Hall of Famer, but no other pitcher on that staff will make it. Remarkably, both David Wells (1998) and David Cone (1999) pitched perfect games in their careers, and both were fine pitchers, but neither is a Hall of Famer and that is just the point. In 1998, the Yankees had the right mixture of players, most of whom had an excellent season, to be considered one of the best teams of all time, yet only Jeter and Rivera can be considered among the all time greats.

Since their last World Championship in 2000, future Hall of Famers Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, and Gary Sheffield, as well as outstanding stars Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, and even the once highest paid pitcher ever, Kevin Brown have belonged to the Yankees, but the World Championship has not. It takes more than Hall of Famers and great stars to win a championship.