[todeen]

Originally Posted by bk400

Yes, I found this exercise to be challenging because greatness and legacy can be defined in so many ways. If it were purely based on numbers, then Ozzie doesn't make the cut (defensive WAR notwithstanding), and neither does Jeter. But they both defined their franchises.



Mariano Rivera falls in the same bucket. I'd argue that he performed under high pressure situations than anyone on the short list, but is he a better pitcher than Randy Johnson? As a general matter, I think the post 2000 period had some awesome pitchers. (If you include 1999, you even get Tom Seaver.)



Rickey Henderson makes the list in spite of his personality and selfishness, since his career numbers are probably unbeatable.

So for Ozzie Smith, he retired shortly after I came to full consciousness about baseball. 1995 and 1996 were the first years I fully understood the baseball playoffs and watched national broadcasts. So I never became emotionally tied to him.

While Rickey played after my maturity, it was for some teams that were not making the playoffs. So when I finally turned on the TV in October, he was never part of any Bob Costas stories. So again, my emotional ties don't tie to him.

But I saw the Braves and Yankees win win win win win. It was sickening. But not so sickening that I can't respect the rosters they put together. So I picked Jeter to represent the NYY dynasty, and Maddux to represent the Braves. Rivera or Chipper would be back up candidates.

While I didn't list Piazza as an honorable mention, he too had emotional ties since he was Nomo's catcher with LAD. Nomo-mania was also alive in Montana during my youth. I had a Nomo poster on my wall. And then Piazza was in the subway series. I rooted hard for the NYM to defeat the evil empire.

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