Post by Sha-Le Unique on Aug 19, 2015 15:10:55 GMT -5
Less than a month ago during the real life 2015 MLB All-Star Game festivities, each team's "Franchise Four" was revealed before the All-Star Game itself. Earlier in the season, fans were asked to vote for the 4 best players in each team's franchise history out of 8 nominees. This inspired me and got me thinking...what would each HOFFBL team's Franchise Four look like at this point?
Thus, I went through the site and CATO extensively to search through every team's history and see who their 4 best players were that had the biggest impact on the given team for a long period of time. I'll then show what they did for their team(s) to show what kind of impact they had. Players can be eligible for multiple teams as long as they played for 3 full seasons, but if they spent a significant portion of their careers with 1 team, I will try to not consider them as part of another team as well. Longevity with the same team will be valued quite a bit here. I'll also provide 4 additional players per team as honorable mention nominees to make it look like an 8-nominee fan ballot like it was in reality.
Expansion teams will not be included unfortunately in this edition because of their very limited histories. They need more time for this.
Last but not least, we have the NL West teams!
Cincinnati Reds
C Ed Bailey (1953-1964)
- Hit 181 home runs with Reds with 677 RBI, 580 walks and 639 runs
- Made 2 consecutive trips to All-Star Game in 1955 and 1956
- Won an NL Gold Glove Award at catcher in 1963
CF Gus Bell (1953-1963)
- Reds career leader in hits, doubles and RBI
- Won NL batting title in 1963, hitting .345
- Went to 2 All-Star Games with Reds in 1953 and 1956
- Won an NL Gold Glove Award at center field in 1960
1B Ted Kluszewski (1953-1961)
- Hit .281 as a Red with 202 doubles, 240 home runs and 825 RBI over 9 seasons
- Made 4 All-Star Game appearances in 1953, 1956, 1957 and 1959
- Won 3 NL Gold Glove Awards in 1953, 1956 and 1958
LF/RF Frank Robinson (1953-1962)
- Reds career leader in average, OBP, slugging, OPS, runs, home runs and walks
- Made 6 consecutive trips to the All-Star Game between 1957-1962
- Won 2 NL Gold Glove Awards in left field in 1958 and 1961
Honorable Mentions: Tom Acker, Orlando Cepeda, Warren Hacker, Don Kaiser
Los Angeles Dodgers
RF Roberto Clemente (1955-present)
- Won 1955 NL Rookie of the Year Award, hitting .329 with 13 home runs and 103 RBI
- Has a .311 career average, with 391 doubles, 307 home runs, 1256 RBI, 575 walks and a .900 OPS
- Led NL in hits and doubles in 1964 and led in slugging, OPS, home runs and RBI in 1965
- Is an 8-time All-Star (1955, 1959-1965)
- Won an NL Gold Glove Award in right field in 1958
- Helped lead the Dodgers to 9 postseason appearances, including 3 championships in 1958, 1961 and 1964
- Won the Postseason MVP Award in all 3 of the Dodgers' World Series championships
2B Jim Gilliam (1953-present)
- Dodgers career leader in hits, runs, doubles, triples, walks and stolen bases
- Led NL in triples 5 consecutive seasons (1954-1958) and stolen bases in 7 seasons (1954-1957, 1960-1962)
- Is an 8-time All-Star (1954, 1955, 1957-1959, 1961, 1962, 1965)
- Helped lead the Dodgers to 9 postseason appearances, including 3 championships in 1958, 1961 and 1964
SP Mickey McDermott (1954-present)
- Won a record 5 NL Cy Young Awards in 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1962
- Dodgers career leader in wins, ERA, complete games and shutouts
- Led NL in wins 4 times, ERA 5 times, complete games once and shutouts 4 times
- Made 9 consecutive All-Star Game appearances between 1955-1963
- Has led the Dodgers to 9 postseason appearances, including 3 championships in 1958, 1961 and 1964
CF Duke Snider (1948-1962)
- Won a record 5 NL MVP Awards in 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957 and 1958
- Dodgers career leader in OBP, slugging, OPS, home runs and RBI
- Won NL Triple Crown in 1957
- Led NL in average once, slugging 5 times, OPS 5 times, hits once, doubles twice, triples once, home runs 5 times, RBI 6 times and runs 4 times
- Made 10 consecutive trips to the All-Star Game as a Dodger between 1953-1962
- Led the Dodgers to 7 postseason appearances, including 2 championships in 1958 and 1961
Honorable Mentions: Carl Erskine, Jim Gentile, Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax
Milwaukee Braves
CF Hank Aaron (1953-present)
- Won 4 NL MVP Awards in 1959, 1961, 1963 and 1964
- Braves career leader in average, slugging, OPS, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, and RBI
- Won 5 NL batting titles (1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961), 2 NL home run titles (1959, 1963), 2 NL RBI titles (1961, 1963)
- Also led NL in slugging 4 times, OPS 4 times, hits 5 times, runs 5 times and doubles 4 times
- Has made 11 consecutive All-Star Game appearances between 1955-1965
- Led the Braves to their 1953 NL pennant
1B Joe Adcock (1953-1960)
- Hit .271 over 8 seasons as a Brave, with 201 home runs and 743 RBI
- Made 3 All-Star Game appearances with the Braves in 1953, 1955 and 1958
- Won 2 NL Gold Glove Awards at first base in 1957 and 1960
- Helped lead the Braves to their 1953 NL pennant
3B Eddie Mathews (1952-1962)
- Won 1956 NL MVP Award with Braves, hitting .332 with 41 home runs and 124 RBI
- Braves career leader in OBP and walks
- Led NL in OBP twice, slugging once, OPS once, home runs twice, RBI once and walks twice
- Was an 8-time All-Star with the Braves between 1953-1958 and 1960-1961
- Led the Braves to their 1953 NL pennant
SP Warren Spahn (1942, 1946-1958)
- Won 4 NL Cy Young Awards in 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1957
- Braves career leader in wins, ERA, complete games and shutouts
- Led NL in wins 4 times, ERA 3 times, complete games twice and shutouts once
- Made 5 trips to the All-Star Game from 1953-1955 and 1957-1958
- Led the Braves to their 1953 NL pennant
Honorable Mentions: Ed Charles, Wes Covington, Ernie Johnson Sr., Bill Monbouquette
San Francisco Giants
CF Willie Mays (1952-present)
- Won 1962 NL MVP Award, hitting .356 with 60 home runs (single season record) and 154 RBI; also won the NL Triple Crown that season
- Giants career leader in average, OBP, slugging, OPS, hits, runs, doubles, triples, home runs, RBI, walks and stolen bases
- Led NL in average 3 times, OBP once, slugging once, OPS once, hits twice, home runs once, RBI once, and runs once
- Has been a 10x All-Star (1953-1957, 1960, 1962-1965)
- Won an NL Gold Glove Award in center field in 1961
1B Willie McCovey (1957-present)
- Ranks 2nd among Giants career leaders in home runs and walks; 3rd in RBI
- Made 1st All-Star Game appearance in 1964
- Led NL with 94 walks in 1965
- Set career highs of 44 home runs and 111 RBI in 1964
C Gene Oliver (1959-1964)
- Ranks 4th among Giants career leaders in home runs
- Made 3 consecutive All-Star Game appearances between 1961-1963
- Had his best season with Giants in 1962, with a .285 average, 35 home runs, 114 RBI and an .877 OPS
3B/LF Bill White (1956-present)
- 2nd among Giants career leaders in slugging, hits, runs, doubles, RBI and stolen bases; 3rd in average and OPS
- Led NL in hits in 1963, triples in 1962 and runs in 1960
- Made 6 consecutive trips to the All-Star Game between 1960-1965
Honorable Mentions: Al Dark, Jim Duffalo, Ruben Gomez, George Spencer
I'll update this list from time to time.
