Meet the Barnstormers

So we've got our 30 All-Time Teams rosters, with 25 players each. Obviously these 750 players aren't the best 750 baseball players ever, they're just the best players by position for their respective teams. That alone leaves out some very good players, as you saw in this series. 

How do we account for above-average ball players who were stuck in a positional logjam or switched teams too often to rank high enough with any one franchise? The first thing we do is add a reserve list. Each of the 30 MLB franchises will have five more unofficial All-Timers - two pitchers, an infielder, an outfielder, and a utility player - many of whom were cut from the original All-Time Team rosters.


The second thing we do is add a 31st team.

If you followed All-Time Teams 1.0 (or the NHL All-Time Teams series) you know I like to include a "best of the rest" roster to scoop up all the star players who couldn't fit anywhere else. We called this rag-tag bunch of misfits the Barnstormers (or Barnes-stormers?), gave them a Hall of Fame manager and two dozen players, and sent them on their way.

Like every other All-Time Team, Joe Torre has the opportunity to tinker with his original lineup.

Unlike every other manager, Torre has no minimum season constraints to deal with. He can choose from any available player, in any era. Hey, that third baseman looks familiar...

Leadoff man Kenny Lofton should have no trouble staying in the starting lineup. Right?

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Center Field	*Kenny Lofton	68.4	0.299	0.372	0.423	0.794	107
	Brett Butler	49.7	0.290	0.377	0.376	0.753	110
	Curtis Granderson	47.2	0.249	0.337	0.465	0.803	113
	Earle Combs	45.0	0.325	0.397	0.462	0.859	125
	Al Oliver	43.6	0.303	0.344	0.451	0.795	121
	Torii Hunter	50.7	0.277	0.331	0.461	0.793	110
	Pete Browning	40.4	0.341	0.403	0.467	0.869	163

On second thought, he might not make the team at all. Combs and Browning are far better hitters, even if they lack Lofton's all-around game.

19th-century great Ross Barnes and Hall of Famer Joe Gordon are entrenched at second base.

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2nd Base	*Ross Barnes	27.7	0.360	0.389	0.468	0.857	167
	*Joe Gordon	55.6	0.268	0.357	0.466	0.822	120
	Billy Herman	57.2	0.304	0.367	0.407	0.774	112
	Buddy Myer	48.4	0.303	0.389	0.406	0.795	108
	Cupid Childs	44.4	0.306	0.416	0.389	0.805	120
	Julio Franco	43.6	0.298	0.365	0.417	0.782	111
	Tony Phillips	50.9	0.266	0.374	0.389	0.763	109

Billy Herman was a Cubs reserve in the original series but lost his spot to Bill Dahlen. He can't crack this roster, either.


Torre has more options at designated hitter, but the Giambino isn't worried.

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Des. Hitter	*Jason Giambi	50.5	0.277	0.399	0.516	0.916	139
	Jack Clark	53.1	0.267	0.379	0.476	0.854	137
	Rusty Staub	45.8	0.279	0.362	0.431	0.793	124
	Greg Luzinski	26.3	0.276	0.363	0.478	0.840	130
	Mickey Tettleton	29.3	0.241	0.369	0.449	0.818	122
	Victor Martinez	32.0	0.295	0.360	0.455	0.815	118

Jack Clark and Rusty Staub can try to win a spot in right field. As for that other Giants slugger named Clark...

Hall of Famer Dan Brouthers has the starting first base job on lock; the competition here is for Will Clark's backup spot.

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
1st Base	*Dan Brouthers	78.7	0.342	0.423	0.520	0.943	171
	*Will Clark	56.5	0.303	0.384	0.497	0.880	137
	Mark Teixeira	50.6	0.268	0.360	0.509	0.869	126
	Ed Konetchy	46.5	0.281	0.346	0.403	0.749	123
	Jack Fournier	41.2	0.313	0.392	0.483	0.875	142
	Tino Martinez	29.0	0.271	0.344	0.471	0.815	112

 
I had never heard of Jack Fournier until researching this. He's pretty good. Not good enough to beat out "The Thrill" though.

Baseball-reference lists Joe Torre under first basemen, though his primary position is actually catcher. So why is he starting at third for the Barnstormers?

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
3rd base	*Joe Torre	57.5	0.297	0.365	0.452	0.817	129
	Darrell Evans	58.7	0.248	0.361	0.431	0.792	119
	Jimmy Collins	53.3	0.294	0.343	0.409	0.752	113
	Bob Elliott	50.9	0.289	0.375	0.440	0.815	124
	Deacon White	45.5	0.312	0.346	0.393	0.740	127
	Bill Madlock	38.2	0.305	0.365	0.442	0.807	123
	Aramis Ramirez	32.4	0.283	0.341	0.492	0.833	115
	Bobby Bonilla	30.2	0.279	0.358	0.472	0.829	124

Because there's less competition here. Evans and Madlock could be in the mix for a reserve role.

Gavvy Cravath and Willie Keeler are holding down right field. Is there a change to be made?

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Right Field	*Gavvy Cravath	33.0	0.287	0.380	0.478	0.858	151
	*Willie Keeler	54.3	0.341	0.388	0.415	0.802	127
	Harry Hooper	53.7	0.281	0.368	0.387	0.755	114
	Rusty Staub	45.8	0.279	0.362	0.431	0.793	124
	Bill Nicholson	41.9	0.268	0.365	0.465	0.830	132
	Reggie Sanders	39.8	0.267	0.343	0.487	0.830	115
	Roger Maris	38.3	0.260	0.345	0.476	0.822	127

If there is, it would be a change in deployment, not personnel. Perhaps Keeler could start (and lead off) while Combs starts in center field.

Joe Torre's decision to play Joe Torre at third base frees up a spot behind the dish. Thurman Munson is the incumbent here, with Hall of Famer Roger Bresnahan backing him up.

Are there better options?

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Catchers	*Thurman Munson	46.1	0.292	0.346	0.410	0.756	116
	*Roger Bresnahan	42.9	0.279	0.386	0.377	0.764	126
	Wally Schang	48.0	0.284	0.393	0.401	0.794	117
	Russell Martin	38.9	0.248	0.349	0.397	0.746	101
	Charlie Bennett	38.8	0.256	0.340	0.387	0.728	119
	Smoky Burgess	33.4	0.295	0.362	0.446	0.807	116
	Mickey Tettleton	29.3	0.241	0.369	0.449	0.818	122
	Victor Martinez	32.0	0.295	0.360	0.455	0.815	118
	Tony Pena	24.7	0.260	0.309	0.364	0.673	84

Once again, the Yankees star stays. Pena is in the discussion exclusively for defense (he is a Torre guy after all.) Wally Schang is a slight upgrade over Bresnahan. He'll back up Munson.

Let's look at left field, where Jesse Burkett is being backed up by Lefty O'Doul.

A couple of pre-war Hall of Famers and yet another Yankee are among the options at Torre's disposal.

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Left Field	*Jesse Burkett	59.7	0.338	0.415	0.446	0.861	140
	*Lefty O'Doul	25.6	0.349	0.413	0.532	0.945	143
	Jim O'Rourke	52.2	0.310	0.352	0.422	0.775	134
	Joe Kelley	50.4	0.317	0.402	0.451	0.853	133
	Roy White	46.9	0.271	0.360	0.404	0.764	121
	Harry Stovey	45.0	0.288	0.361	0.462	0.822	144
	Moises Alou	39.9	0.303	0.369	0.516	0.885	128

No threat to Burkett, but O'Doul could be on the chopping block.


Finally we'll look at the 'Stormers shortstop competition.

	career stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
Shortstop	*Hughie Jennings	42.3	0.312	0.391	0.406	0.797	118
	Bobby Wallace	76.4	0.268	0.332	0.358	0.690	105
	Jack Glasscock	61.6	0.290	0.337	0.374	0.712	112
	Joe Tinker	53.2	0.262	0.308	0.353	0.661	96
	Vern Stephens	46.3	0.286	0.355	0.460	0.815	119
	Omar Vizquel	45.6	0.272	0.336	0.352	0.688	82
	Phil Rizzuto	42.1	0.273	0.351	0.355	0.706	93
	Dave Concepcion	40.1	0.267	0.322	0.357	0.679	88
	Francisco Lindor	37.9	0.275	0.340	0.471	0.811	116

Lots of big names with not so big numbers. Put a pin in Lindor for a minute.

The Barnstormers' starting pitchers can hold their own with most established teams.
 

	career stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	*Tim Keefe	86.9	2.63	126	2.08	1.123	594
	*Old Hoss Radbourn	75.4	2.68	119	2.09	1.149	502
	*Tim Hudson	57.9	3.49	120	2.27	1.239	479
	*Don Newcombe	38.7	3.57	114	2.24	1.207	305
	*Jim McCormick	76.2	2.43	118	2.28	1.132	485

Can Torre improve upon this group?

Ah, the Gerrit Cole conundrum. Both he and Francisco Lindor are good enough to earn a place on an All-Time team but they haven't yet qualified for their respective New York-based clubs and couldn't find a place on their original squads. I hesitate to put either of them here since they are still active, but they shouldn't fall through the cracks in the mean time. Then again, there are other arms available.

	career stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	Pud Galvin	73.4	2.85	107	2.43	1.191	688
	Mickey Welch	62.3	2.71	113	1.43	1.226	549
	Tommy John	61.6	3.34	111	1.78	1.283	700
	Bobby Mathews	55.1	2.86	104	2.87	1.237	568
	Bartolo Colon	46.2	4.12	106	2.67	1.312	552
	Cliff Lee	43.2	3.52	118	3.93	1.196	324
	Andy Messersmith	40.2	2.86	121	1.96	1.143	295
	Gerrit Cole	36.3	3.21	128	4.48	1.101	278

And Cole would probably choose to rep his real team anyhow. 

The Barnstormers' bullpen was weakened by a pair of defections - Bob Wickman was assigned to the Brewers while Arthur Rhodes joined the Mariners. Who can Joe Torre call on to replace them?

Some solid closers are out there and... how the heck did Baltimore let Darren O'Day get away?

	career stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	games
	Darren O'Day	21	2.59	167	3.70	1.034	644
	Jeff Shaw	203	3.54	119	2.33	1.244	633
	Joe Smith	30	3.14	129	2.62	1.190	866
	Mike Stanton	84	3.92	112	2.13	1.352	1178
	Paul Assenmacher	56	3.53	118	2.56	1.323	884
	Paul Quantrill	21	3.83	118	2.16	1.416	841
	Takashi Saito	84	2.34	185	3.70	1.059	338
	Rafael Soriano	207	2.89	144	3.25	1.078	591

Torre would love to pick his guy Stanton here but the GM is overruling him and adding O'Day. As a compromise, Rafael Soriano is also selected over non-Yankees like Saito and Shaw. 

The Barnstormers' roster is set. Combs and Keeler will start. Neither Cravath nor O'Doul played a whole lot of games but both were equally productive. Lofton's speed, glove, and longevity are enough to earn the fourth outfielder spot. Cravath will join him on the Barnstormer bench.


TL; DR: Four changes from the original roster. O'Doul, Bresnahan, Wickman, and Rhodes out. Combs, Schang, O'Day, and Soriano in.



That's our 31st team, but now we need another squad to even things out. We'll put a bow on this series for good with the Negro League All-Stars and full roster reveals tomorrow night.


Thanks for reading!


 

~