Baby Boomer Scoresheetwiz’s birth-year all-star team
The players of my birth year all-star make a solid all-around team deepest at firstbase, on the mound, and in outfield, while most shallow at the rest of the infield. The best player left off was Jason Thompson (Det-cal-Pit-mon). I gave Thompson’s co-star teammate Steve Kemp the nod over Dwayne Murphy (Oak-det-phi) who was a much better fielder and Claudel Washington (Oak-tex-ChW-nym-Atl-NYy-cal-nyy) who was faster and had a much longer career, because with the starting outfielders each having played centerfield much of their careers, Kemp’s slowness wasn’t a problem. More importantly, he did have better On Base and Slugging (especially the On Base). Another equally outstanding outfielder had my favorite name of the era: Sixto Lezcano (Mil-stl-SD-phi-pit). (That’s excluding Rusty Kuntz (chw-min-det), of course.)
The next best outfielder was the recently fired Orioles manager Lee Mazzilli (NYM-tex-nyy-pit-nym-tor). Joe Kerrigan (mon-bal) became one of the top pitching coaches.
Charlie Moore (Mil-tor) had a longer career than Brenly, but was nowhere near as good during their best seasons. Both played for one team except for a final sad season with Toronto.
The pitching on this team is even deeper than it is with outfielders. Hence, this team was best with only one spare outfielder. Even so, I had to omit a fine starter in Scott McGregor (Bal) and an MVP wining reliever with several other very good years: Willie Hernandez (ChC-phi-Det). Believe me, as a decades long Tigers fan, it pained me to leave off Thompson and Hernandez.
One Tiger I will add to this honorable mention area was one of the most entertaining players of the era and one of the biggest one year wonders of all-time: Mark Fidrych (Det).
lfRobin YountMil
2bWillie Randolfpit-NYY-la-oak-mil-nym
1bKeith HernandezStL-NYM
dh-1brfJack ClarkSF-StL-nyy-SD-bos
rfAndre DawsonMon-ChC-bos-fla
ssOzzie SmithSD-StL
cfChet LemonChW-Det
3bLarry ParrishMon-Tex
cGary CarterMon-NYM-sf-la-mon
spJack MorrisDet-Min-Tor-cle
spDennis MartinezBal-Mon-Cle-sea-atl
spBob KnepperSF-Hou-sf
spJohn TudorBos-pit-StL-la-stl
spMike Scottnym-Hou
clsr-pDennis EckersleyCle-Bos-ChC-Oak
if Julio CruzSea-ChW
3b1bofKeith Morelandphi-ChC-sd-det-bal
ofSteve KempDet-ChW-nyy-pit-tex
cBob BrenlySF-tor
rpJeff ReardonNYm-Mon-Min-Bos-atl-cin-nyy
rpDave SmithHou-chc
pRick HoneycuttSea-Tex-LAD-Oak-nyy-stl
pJohn CandelariaPit-cal-nym-nyy-mon-min-lad-pit
pEd Whitsonpit-SF-cle-sd-nyy-SD
pBob StanleyBos