Simply the Best

Who's the best baseball player you've ever seen play in person?

— Cespedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) February 8, 2019

So I am kind of obsessive about things like this, so I figured that I would, you know, as one does, do a whole 25-man roster.

Catchers

Ivan Rodriguez
Johnny Bench

Infielders

David Ortiz
Julio Franco
Cal Ripken
George Brett
Adrian Beltre
Pete Rose
Alex Rodriguez

Outfielders

Ken Griffey, Jr.
Rickey Henderson
Ichiro Suzuki
Mike Trout

Starting Rotation

Nolan Ryan
Roger Clemens
Tom Glavine
David Cone
Yu Darvish

Relief Pitchers

Mariano Rivera
Goose Gossage
John Wetteland
Billy Wagner
Eric Gagne
Kenny Rogers
Sparky Lyle

Lineup

LF Rickey Henderson
2B Julio Franco
RF Ichiro Suzuki
DH Alex Rodriguez
CF Ken Griffey, Jr.
1B David Ortiz
3B George Brett
SS Cal Ripken, Jr.
C Ivan Rodriguez

So this is kind of a sentimental list, as it probably ought to be. Lots more Rangers on here than you’d probably like–and lots of Mariners, because that tended (for whatever reason) to be the team I saw more at Arlington when I lived there than anyone else. The lineup leads fairly left-handed, but the bench has a lot of right-handed hitters, so you can substitute as you like. I have Rose in as a super-utility guy, and Kenny Rogers in as a long-relief spot-starter.

I probably shouldn’t have Sparky Lyle in there, but I honestly couldn’t think of anyone better, and he was the long-time manager of our local independent league team, so he stays. I probably should have someone else in there other than Darvish, but I wanted another Ranger and he was just so awesome to see in person.