Remember, no need to draft a player at his primary position as long as he played the position you want him at for a reasonable time or could easily transition. Also, if you change your mind later you can move a guy to a different spot.
Philospher
Algonad
Mike
SoCalTwinsFan
Freealonzo
sean
bhiggum
Nibbish
brianS
CarterHayes
Beau
TheDreadPirate
cheaptoy
hungryjoe
rowsdower
I missed out on Lou Gehrig, and I missed out on Jackie Robinson. With 2 strikes on me, and very much wanting an historical good guy, I know if I didn't grab him now, I'd be striking out.
So my third pick is:
I mean, baseball's Man of the Year award is named after him. He was so beloved that he didn't have to wait 5 years to get into Cooperstown. He died doing charity work, specifically risking his life because he knew by his presence the work would be more effective. There are even those who suggest he should be canonized a saint. That's just kind of cool.
Also, he as stupid good at baseball, has the 4th highest WAR7 for RF, and had exactly 3,000 hits, which is pretty darn cool.
It'd be cooler if he didn't die young and had 3,347 hits.
I considered zigging while everyone else zags here and skipping pitching until the 4th or 5th round. The problem with that was that the position player I want at this pick has about five other players at this same position that I like so I'll have to miss out on him.
I considered a couple other pitchers but there are so many that rank high by WAR7 that I've never heard of. Two that I have heard of are really just based on their names. One because he has a funny Twitter. The other because he has a girl's name. I decided to go with the guy that was so good that they changed the rules after he had an adjusted ERA+ of 258 at age 32. He was also rumored to be a tough SOB.
I didn't know much of this guy beyond the funny name, but the more I read about him, the more I like him. Led the league in OPS three times, and had a different season with 10.0(!) WAR, from a historically weak position. They even renamed the team after him when he played in Cleveland; too bad they changed the name again, I'd much rather call them the Napoleons than their current nickname. Putting the all-time highest single-season batting average in the AL hitting in front of Barry Bonds sounds pretty nice. Plus, there's a big drop-off at this position after him, so I figure now's the time to grab him.
I was considering a different funny name, or the two players had posters of on my wall in middle school. Or, maybe starting in with catchers or third base, just in case all the top ones go before my next turn comes around.
I feel like the further in this goes, the more options there are with each pick. I'm looking forward to seeing who y'all choose once the inner-circle guys are gone.
By "funny" I'm assuming you mean "awesome" here.
Found this of note, bearing to a previous discussion:
With Kirby off the board, I wasn't going to wait any longer for this selection. He was a great hitter for any position, but to do it at catcher made him an all-time great. Three batting titles, an MVP, 5 Silvers Sluggers and 3 Gold Gloves, plus he was possibly the most clutch player ever. Even in his later years when he was no longer catching and no longer threatening to win batting titles, no one upped his game better in clutch situations. And he was just a class act all around.
Second Basemen coming off the board like hotcakes so I better nab one. Plus I like that the dude could hit and field.
Continuing the up-the-middle selections for me, time for a catcher. I waffled between Carter and Pudge and ultimately opted for Carter. Never won an MVP, losing to Dale Murphy in his best season from lack of RBI and HR.
which Pudge?
I have attachments to few of these players so I kneel at the rWAR altar. I should figure out how to mix in fWAR for the pitchers.
That weirdly did not respond to my question
I noticed but was too confused to chime in
Carter is bracketed by Pudges for catcher rWAR. I have zero attachment to any of the three, and only remember the final few years for the younger namesake, so default to picking the top player. I picked Carter over Bench but realized before submitting that Rodríguez was next so the ambiguity was fun.
I did this mostly because I want him and Rickey on the same team.
And because he's my favorite (non-Mauer) catcher.
Rickey went 3-for-25 with a homer, 5 walks and 3 steals (120/258/240 slash line) in 6 games with him as his manager at the beginning of 1985.
That fact is exactly as weird to me as the one about John Tyler still having living grandchildren.
I was totally going to go with a pitcher, but when you've been given the chance to draft the best catcher ever right before a run on catchers, ys gotta take it, Right?
Goddamn summbitch. The run on catchers....
Ok, fine, you guys want catchers? I have a catcher too! [Checks rules, doesn't see anything that says I CAN'T]
Minds blown. I wanted Johnny, but nibs ran, dripped and erred him off the board. So I am taking Black Babe Ruth.
Love it!
I was hoping he'd sneak past everyone.
He was my next pick. Sheeeeeeeit.
Yuuuup. Great pick
That's as good a reason as any
When I saw the spoilers I was so hoping that was the rationale. Well played CH.
Does that picture strongly remind you of one of our shared acquaintances? Or was that just me?
Oh no, it's 100% him. I think I've even told him as much before.
I was ever so slightly suprised the reason wasn't a gif of a massive 12-to-6 curve, but this is also highly acceptable.
I bet more than a few batters felt his Uncle Charlie was the pitch equivalent of breaking wind.
for all we know, they there may have been some cause-and-effect
Well, when the best player at a position if still available in round 4, it's hard not to take him.
round 3, even
That's who I was considering with my pick.
The Old Professor foiled my plans, so I'll just settle for another top-ten all-time player (Bill James ranked him fourth all time) at a premium position. Not bad for late in the third round!
He ranks in the top five in homeruns, steals, and batting average among Negro Leaguers. He hit .326 in his career against white major leaguers in exhibition games, and hit .361 in nine winters playing in Cuba. He was also known as a very good defensive centerfielder who played extremely shallow (like Tris Speaker).
A longtime St. Louis Cardinals scout said, "The greatest ballplayer I've ever seen is [this pick]. When I say this, I'm not overlooking Ruth, Cobb, Gehrig, and all of them." Buck O'Neil said this player was even better than Willie Mays and described him as "Ruth, Cobb, and Speaker all rolled into one."
I read an article about him before I took Schmidt. If I didn't have Musial already I might have gone there.
💅
I figure its a good idea to get some infielders. I probably should have looked for some up the middle defense, but so far I've got a fairly power hungry strategy going so why not MOAR DINGERS!?
what position?
First base
You're supposed to say "I don't know."
Justification: First base because that's the position he was playing when he had a giant frickin cold sore on his lip during a world series.
No, then you're supposed to say, "THIRD BASE!"
Ida know!
Albert Pujols: actually old enough to be a contemporary of most of the guys drafted before him.
I can't really look at this right now, so to keep things moving and people happy, I'll just say
Yessssssssssss!
And with the last pick in Round 3 I'll take one of my all time favorites from my youth. (Although he broke my heart when he left, I knew it wasn't his fault really.)
Yeah, I was going back and forth between Carew and Schmidt. I wanted better defense. \
Also, Round 4 is posted