MLB History

Recent baseball wisdom has held that having two great pitchers is the path to postseason success.  This must have been what the Yankees were thinking as they acquired C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett a year ago. 

I’m sure it also crossed the minds of the Seattle Mariners’ management and fans as they just got Cliff Lee to go with Felix Hernandez in their planned rotation for next year.

We've already covered Brandon League, and I've tried to soothe Seattle's uncertain ego by establishing his rising value.

But what about this other guy, Johermyn Chavez?

Chavez is a 6' 3", slugging outfielder whose 220-pound frame will turn 21 on Jan. 26, 2010.

Kid can't even buy a drink yet.

An undrafted righty, Chavez was signed into the Toronto organization in 2005.  In four years in the Blue Jays' farm system, the young Venezuelan has demonstrated developing power.

In 2009, Chavez batted .283 with 21 homers and 89 runs batted in for Class A Lansing.

For a franchise that has managed one post season in their 12 year history, the Tampa Bay Rays (formerly known as the Devil Rays) do not possess an all time roster filled with hall of famers.

However, during the last decade, the Rays definitely have fielded some talented players that deserve recognition for being among the best the franchise has had to offer.

While many players deserved consideration for this list.

Boy do I miss my childhood days of being paraded into the good ole Astrodome to watch the Houston Astros.

Walking up those long, wide ramps and your feet sticking to the ground with every step; the smell of beer, popcorn, and hotdogs; the long lines to the bathroom to stand over a urinal that looked more like something you’d see in a jail over a baseball stadium.

But wow, those are some of my best memories from my childhood.

No.

I could probably end the article right there, but perhaps I should elaborate.

After winning the World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui has drawn praise from Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese-born player to play in the MLB.

Murakami stated that "Ichiro Suzuki has had many accomplishments, but they've all been in the regular season. As the first Japanese to win an MVP in the World Series, this is a great accomplishment for Matsui and will have a huge impact."

You have got to be kidding me.

Barry Larkin spent his entire 19-year career playing for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Considered by many to be one of the best all-around players of his era, Larkin is now eligible for baseball's highest individual honor.

While statistics are the primary tool for measuring a baseball player's greatness, there are vital qualities and characteristics that a computer can't necessarily figure out. Larkin excelled in many of those categories.

As a devoted Chicago Cubs fan for more than a decade now, I have long been keenly aware of the plight of Ron Santo. Santo, who was a key cog during the Cubs' quasi-revival in the late 1960s and early 1970s, now broadcasts Cubs games for WGN radio, and so remains (alongside Ernie Banks) the face of the Cubs franchise, some 35 years after the end of his illustrious career.

Last year at this time, if you remember, I bought into the falsified Tex to Baltimore rumors hook, line, and sinker.

We are only a few weeks until it is the end of this decade, I was thinking and I decided that I would make the New York Baseball All-Decade Team.

This decade was great for the Yankees in winning two World Series but not great for the Mets in only making the playoffs a couple of times.

In fact, in the first World Series of the decade the two New York teams faced eachother in the Subway Series, The Yankees won the series in five games with Derek Jeter being named the MVP.

In this decade, both New York teams had players that will forever be a part of the franchises' history such as Piazza, Jet

This marks the third edition in my new series in which I am attempting to name the top ten players in the history of each MLB franchise. This one will take a look at some of the Rockies greats.

With as prolific an offense as the Rockies have had through the years, it only makes sense that the top seven guys on this list would be hitters.