[the 'stache]

Ok, if we're going by best we ever saw play? I'd say Robin Yount. And I've seen a lot of players. I've been to many games, at Milwaukee County Stadium, at Arlington Stadium and the Ballpark In Arlington, at Bank One Ballpark, too. And I've seen many more live on MLB.tv. But Yount before he hurt his shoulder was the best player I've ever seen. He did everything so well, and sometimes it was just stupid how easy he made the game look. When I read about, or hear people talk about Joe DiMaggio, and how effortless everything he did looked, that's exactly how I felt watching Yount. Later, I felt the same about Ken Griffey Jr.

Yeah, Yount and Clemente are my favorite players ever, so I wouldn't have any problem if somebody said "you are letting your personal bias enter into the equation". Well, that may be so, but I'd counter by saying that a big part of the reason why they are my favorites is how incredible they were. I also love that they were great people who played their entire careers for one team. Clemente had no say over that, but I have a feeling he'd have stayed in Pittsburgh, anyway, even if he could have moved. He had a lot of close bonds with players on that team one he was into the 60s.

But Yount...people that never saw him play in person, in his prime, cannot possibly get how unreal he was. The guy could hit for power to any field. You couldn't intimidate him. I saw him get brushed back. And like Frank Robinson, he would just move in close.

"Go ahead, hit me. I'll just steal second, and score on a bloop single."

The guy had a natural instinct for the game that I've only seen from a few other players. The closest two players I ever saw to Yount in person, I'd have to say George Brett and Ivan Rodriguez. Griffey I never saw in person, but I've watched the Kid on television several times.

But Yount could go to the hole, and get anything hit to his right. And every time, he'd plant that right leg, come up, and just rip a perfect strike to first base. Before his shoulder fell apart, his arm was strong and accurate. And at the plate, he was sensational.

Between 1980 and 1984, only Mike Schmidt had a higher WAR (37.7) than Robin Yount's 35.6. How Yount didn't win the Gold Glove in 1981 is a mystery to me. He had a 1.8 dWAR in 1982, and won it, but he didn't win it in 1981 when he had a 2.8 dWAR. Obviously, WAR hadn't entered into baseball's lexicon yet, but the play that inspired the metric was there for all to see. And to get a 2.8 dWAR in only 96 games (remember, 1981 was the strike shortened season) is simply incredible. The Gold Glove winner, Alan Trammell, got a 2.3. Good, but Yount clearly outperformed him. Yount also outperformed him in 1980. Trammell won the Gold Glove with a 1.2 dWAR, and Yount had a 1.5 dWAR. Yount's 1.8 dWAR in 1982 was great, but Trammell had a 2.1.

But while Yount was special defensively, he was otherworldly at the plate. Yount's 179 doubles tied for the most in the Majors between 1980-84 with Al Oliver. His 44 triple trailed only Willie Wilson (54) and Larry Herndon (46). Only Rickey Henderson (537) scored more runs than Robin Yount's 507. Three players would have more hits than Yount in the first half of the decade, Cecil Cooper (926), Willie Wilson (879), and Al Oliver (857) topped Yount's 856 hits. By the end of the decade, Yount would have more hits than anybody else in the 80s. Yount hit .303 for the five year period, and his OPS of .854 was 13th best of all Major League position players, unheard of for a shortstop. Yount hit 95 home runs, and drove in 410 runs. He was an exceptional offensive force. Yet the things that don't show up in the box score, the way Yount battled every time he came to the plate, waiting for his pitch. The way he ran out every hit, or out, like he was the last batter of the World Series. The way Yount did everything perfectly. If you wanted to shoot a video of a player to show kids how the game should be played, Robin Yount was your man.

He only played in one World Series, in 1982, but like Clemente, he shined his brightest on the biggest stage. Yount hit .414 against the Cardinals, with a 1.072 OPS. To this day, Robin Yount is the only man in World Series history to have two four hit games in their career. Yount did it in game one, and game five.

He was a fearless leader. He was always the first guy to welcome a teammate entering the dugout after a big play. He could always be counted on in the biggest of moments. When the Brewers had a one game playoff to win the American League East in 1982, Yount had the biggest game of his MVP season. He went 3 for 4 at the plate with a triple and two home runs. It was his seventh two home run game of the year...Ernie Banks never had that many multi home run games in one season. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Yount, now a center fielder, made a diving catch, at a full sprint, to save Juan Nieves' no hitter, the only one in Brewers history.

Yount was a rock.

The thing that puts Robin above everybody else, in my mind, is that I never got the feeling that Robin was taking a play off. He battled every at bat. It always seemed he knew where he was going when the ball came to him. He always threw to the cutoff man as an outfielder, or he put the ball exactly where it needed to be for the second baseman to turn the double play. He and Gantner were so good together.

He was a joy to watch.