[Exhibitman]

Fun idea. Here's my lineup:

1. Rickey Henderson LF
2. Willie Mays CF
3. Babe Ruth RF
4. Lou Gehrig 1B
5. Honus Wagner SS
6. Jackie Robinson 2B
7. Mike Schmidt 3B
8. Johnny Bench C
9. Walter Johnson RHP, Sandy Koufax LHP, Mariano Rivera closer
if we get a DH:
9. Ted Williams

My bench (4):

Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson.

A few are surprises, I guess, so I will explain:

Rickey Henderson: I want a leadoff hitter to get on base for the heavy lumber I have coming up next. Look at these on-base figures:

1980 AL .420 (3rd)
1981 AL .408 (3rd)
1982 AL .398 (3rd)
1983 AL .414 (2nd)
1984 AL .399 (3rd)
1985 AL .419 (4th)
1988 AL .394 (5th)
1989 AL .411 (3rd)
1990 AL .439 (1st)
1991 AL .400 (6th)
1992 AL .426 (2nd)**
1993 AL .432 (3rd)
1994 AL .411 (8th)
1995 AL .407 (10th)
1996 NL .410 (5th)
1999 NL .423 (7th)

in his prime, Henderson was as good as anyone at getting on base and a walk or single for Rickey was often a de facto double or triple for Rickey.

I put Robinson on the team for the same reason: he got on base a lot and drove pitchers and catchers crazy.

Why Koufax? I picked players for their peak performances, and Koufax at his best was a world-killer. Besides, speed kills; you can't hit what you can't see.

I did not put Cobb or Hornsby on the team. Great players, no questions there, but lousy teammates. I don't think Cobb could have stomached the blacks and Jews and Hispanics on the team, so why have him? Hornsby was so loathed as a player that he was traded twice in three seasons in his prime.

I left out all of the steroid-linked players, which kept Bonds and possibly Clemens off. I happen to believe that Bonds and Clemens are worthy of any alltime team except that I am convinced that they cheated, so the heck with them.