Team with the most borderline Hall of Famers

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I also have a soft spot for Don Baylor, who had a very interesting career to me. Would anybody have guessed/remembered that the big guy had 52 Stolen Bases the one season he played for the A's, just before he signed with the Angels.

He was also part of the trade that sent Reggie Jackson to the Orioles for one season, before Free Agency kicked in for both of them.

Of course he also won an MVP and had a magnet installed in his left bicep, that seemed to attract an alarming number of baseballs into committing suicide by Baylor, once it left a pitchers hands.

I'll conveniently forget his atrocious defensive analytics, when he wasn't DH'ing.

In 1987,when the Twins were coming down the stretch, they traded for Baylor. He hit .286 the rest of the way, then .400 in the ALCS, and .385 in the World Series. I think that only Twins fans remember how Baylor saved the Series. In Game 6, the Twins were down 5-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Baylor launched a 3-run home run to get them back in it, and Hrbek's grand slam the next inning sent it to Game 7.

I remember when the trade was made, one of Baylor's teammates on the Red Sox predicted he'd get some big hits for the Twins. No kidding.

[Mike D.]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I remember when the trade was made, one of Baylor's teammates on the Red Sox predicted he'd get some big hits for the Twins. No kidding.

Not surprising a teammate said that. Baylor hit a key HR in the 1986 ALCS on his way to hitting .346/.469/.577 in that series (sadly, the WS didn't go nearly as well for Baylor OR the Sox).

[Shoeless Moe]

The Reds:

Pete Rose
Dave Concepcion
George Foster
Ken Griffey
Dave Parker
Eric Davis (just kidn, but he was great for a few years)
Jose "Blame it on" Rijo (same)
John Franco (but would go in as a Met)
Mario Soto
Lee May
Vida Pinson
Ted Kluszewski
Johnny Vander Meer
Bucky Walters
Heinie Groh
Dummy Hoy

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

The Reds:

Pete Rose
Dave Concepcion
George Foster
Ken Griffey
Dave Parker
Eric Davis (just kidn, but he was great for a few years)
Jose "Blame it on" Rijo (same)
John Franco (but would go in as a Met)
Mario Soto
Lee May
Vida Pinson
Ted Kluszewski
Johnny Vander Meer
Bucky Walters
Heinie Groh
Dummy Hoy

You could field a pretty solid team with Reds that didn’t make the Hall:
1B: Ted Kluszewski
2B: Pete Rose (could put him almost anywhere)
SS: Dave Concepcion
3B: Heinie Groh
LF: George Foster
CF: Vada Pinson
RF: Dave Parker
C: Smoky Burgess?

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Mark17

In 1987,when the Twins were coming down the stretch, they traded for Baylor. He hit .286 the rest of the way, then .400 in the ALCS, and .385 in the World Series. I think that only Twins fans remember how Baylor saved the Series. In Game 6, the Twins were down 5-2 in the bottom of the 5th, but Baylor launched a 3-run home run to get them back in it, and Hrbek's grand slam the next inning sent it to Game 7.

I remember when the trade was made, one of Baylor's teammates on the Red Sox predicted he'd get some big hits for the Twins. No kidding.

And the odd 86, 87,88 three different teams he was on finished first in the division

[egri]

The late-1940s/early-1950s Red Sox had a few: Rudy York, Dom Dimaggio, Ellis Kinder, Vern Stephens, Billy Goodman, Mel Parnell, and Walt Dropo got off to a good start before an injury.