One of the questions I get asked often during radio interviews and other discussions of my book Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises is: Which teams are particularly strong or weak at each position? After all, even the best overall dream teams have some relatively strong or weak spots.
This is the second post in a series, this time focusing on first basemen (see also catcher). The oldest teams have had a lot more history to draw from, so I’ll separate the analysis into two groups: the original 16 franchises (where the AL teams date back to 1901 and the NL teams date back to the 1800s) and the 14 expansion-era teams that date to the 1960s-1990s only. And for each team I’ll list only the most notable candidates: the starter and backup I selected and one or two others I considered, though in many cases I considered several others in the book.
The Best of the Original 16 Franchises
Giants: Willie McCovey, Bill Terry (Roger Connor, Will Clark, Johnny Mize)
The Giants are loaded with Hall of Fame and star candidates at 1B, including a tough choice for starter and backup between McCovey and Terry. Connor was a superstar old-timer, and Clark started his fine career with San Francisco. Johnny Mize makes the all-time Cardinals roster, as he only had five seasons for the Giants. Others I considered included George Kelly, Fred Merkle, J.T. Snow, and Brandon Belt. And of course Orlando Cepeda was a great Giants player, but this position was too crowded so I got him onto the Giants roster via the outfield where he also played significantly.
Cardinals: Albert Pujols, Johnny Mize (Keith Hernandez, Jim Bottomley, Bill White, Mark McGwire)
Albert Pujols is one of the two best 1B of all-time (along with Lou Gehrig), and he of course played his best seasons in St. Louis. Mize only played for the Cardinals for his first six seasons, but he put up really big numbers so deserved the back-up spot. Keith Hernandez and Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley would have made fine selections for an all-time dream team roster, and along with Bill White and Big Mac’s few seasons in St. Louis, you could make a case that this cohort is the best overall. And this is all ignoring Stan Musial, who played a lot of 1B in addition to all three OF positions.
Red Sox: Carl Yastrzemski, David Ortiz (Jimmie Foxx, Mo Vaughn, George Scott, Kevin Youkilis)
Like Musial and Cepeda, Yastrzemski could be considered as an outfielder or a first basemen, but given the many candidates the Red Sox had in LF I had to include Yaz here. David Ortiz of course spent more time as a DH, but he did play some 1B and so gets included here. And Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx split his career between the Red Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics, but he did enough in seven seasons to get included on Boston’s all-time roster. That means slugger Mo Vaughn doesn’t have a spot, but he along with Scott and Youkilis, add a lot of depth to this list.
Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Don Mattingly (Bill Skowron, Jason Giambi, Mark Teixeira, Tino Martinez)
As just noted, Lou Gehrig remains one of the top one or two 1B of all time, and Don Mattingly is a star backup. The Yankees have had many other good 1B such as those listed above, plus a few others I considered like Wally Pipp, Hal Chase, Joe Pepitone, and Chris Chambliss.
The Other Original Franchises (alphabetical order)
- Athletics: Jimmie Foxx, Mark McGwire (Harry Davis, Jason Giambi)
- Braves: Freddie Freeman, Joe Adcock (Fred Tenney, Fred McGriff)
- Cubs: Cap Anson, Anthony Rizzo (Frank Chance, Mark Grace, Phil Cavarretta)
- Dodgers: Gil Hodges, Steve Garvey (Dolph Camilli, Wes Parker, Eric Karros)
- Indians: Jim Thome, Hal Trosky (Travis Hafner, Andre Thornton, Mike Hargrove)
- Orioles: Eddie Murray, George Sisler (Boog Powell, Rafael Palmeiro)
- Phillies: Dick Allen, Ryan Howard (John Kruk, Fred Luderus)
- Pirates: Willie Stargell, Jake Beckley (Gus Suhr, Albie Fletcher)
- Reds: Joey Votto, Ted Kluszewski (Frank McCormick, Jake Beckley)
- Tigers: Hank Greenberg, Norm Cash (Rudy York, Cecil Fielder)
- Twins: Kent Hrbek, Mickey Vernon (Joe Judge, Justin Morneau)
- White Sox: Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko (Jose Abreu, Dick Allen)
Plenty of Hall of Famers and other star names here. And there are several missing too, as some teams had relatively weaker 3B candidates and so I shifted some 1B/3B guys over to 3B, including Miguel Cabrera on the Tigers, Tony Perez on the Reds, and Harmon Killebrew on the Twins. If you included Miggy here at 1B, then coupled with Greenberg, and with Cash, York, and Fielder in reserve, I would rate that cohort as one of the best alongside the Giants, Cardinals, Red Sox, and Yankees.
Dick Allen was another 1B/3B, but in the case of the Phillies their 3B position had more strong candidates, so I included Allen here at 1B (As noted, Allen also was considered for the White Sox, but he only played three seasons for them). The weakest group here is the Pirates, where I had to shift Stargell from LF to 1B, both because of a glut of great LF candidates they had and their very weak 1B options. Hopefully Josh Bell will continue what he did in 2019 and stay with the Pirates long enough to make their all-time dream team roster.
The Best of the 14 Expansion Era Franchises
Blue Jays: Carlos Delgado, Edwin Encarnacion (Fred McGriff, John Olerud, Willie Upshaw)
Great depth here, as Blue Jays have almost always had a solid hitter covering 1B. I think Delgado is among the top five overall 1B from these 14 teams.
Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro, Mark Teixeira (Mike Hargrove, Pete O’Brien, Will Clark)
Again, nice depth here and Palmeiro and Teixeira are a formidable top two.
Astros: Jeff Bagwell, Glenn Davis
Rockies: Todd Helton, Andres Galarraga
Diamondbacks: Paul Goldschmidt, Chad Tracy
Three more teams deserve mention because they provide the top three 1B from these 14 franchises. The Astros also have Bob Watson as an additional 1B, but he split his time in the OF and I actually included him on their roster there instead.
The Other Expansion Era Franchises
- Angels: Wally Joyner, Rod Carew (Albert Pujols)
- Brewers: Cecil Cooper, George Scott (Prince Fielder, Richie Sexson, John Jaha)
- Mariners: Alvin Davis, John Olerud (Bruce Bochte, Tina Martinez)
- Marlins: Derrek Lee, Justin Bour
- Mets: Keith Hernandez, John Olerud (Dave Magadan, Carlos Delgado, Lucas Duda)
- Padres: Adrian Gonzalez, Nate Colbert (Fred McGriff, Wally Joyner)
- Rays: Carlos Pena, Fred McGriff
- Royals: Mike Sweeney, John Mayberry (Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler)
- Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman, Ron Fairly (Andres Galarraga, Nick Johnson)
Some good names here, including Hall of Famers Rod Carew and Albert Pujols on the Angels (though they each had their best seasons elsewhere). Fred McGriff appears two more times here, and there are many who advocate for him as a Hall of Famer. My top HOF snub in this group is Keith Hernandez, who makes the Mets all-time dream team after not having a spot available on the loaded Cardinals’ roster.