Despite the intense debate a few weeks ago in our discussion of the greatest shortstops of all-time, left field has to be considered the toughest position so far, in terms of narrowing the field down to a top four.
The main reason for this is there are three candidates who received strong support but are being left off of Mount Otsego. Two of those players, though, most likely missed out due to their own mistakes, although most would say that one of them clearly made more unforgivable decisions than the other. The third runner-up, however, is one who we could sympathize with, that is if this was truly a major honor, and if he was actually still alive.
Without further adieu, here are the Mount Otsego honorees out in left field:
Rickey Henderson
Stan Musial
Ted Williams
Carl Yastrzemski
Of course, those of you who have been following this thread know that the players on the outside looking in are Barry Bonds, Joe Jackson and Al Simmons, and that Simmons is the one who didn’t hurt his own case with poor off-field decisions.
Next up, of course, is center field, but that won’t be this week, as we’ll be taking a little break from this series.
A well-deserved break …. thanks, Chas & Smitty! Happy weekend.
Ditto what Wally said. You guys have done a great job getting the ball rolling and then keeping it rolling with cogent comments throughout the heated discussions.
Smitty and Chas – my apologies for not taking part in the left field discussion. I was on vacation for a good 10 days and was drained when I returned home. After some time off, I’m back online until next week when I have to attend a conference.
Looks like the discussion was bogus anyway. Albert Belle didn’t make the top four? Please. If we’re in center next week, let me get you started: Kenny Lofton.
And for what it’s worth, my top four would be:
Williams
Musial
Joe Jackson
Yaz
Reynell – I thought I was going to see Pedro Serrano on your list. 🙂
Why didn’t I think of that?! And I just saw a #13 Cerrano jersey while attending a game in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago.
Real Indians, fictional Indians, they all seem Otsego-worthy…or not!