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MLB All-Stars – Tony Gwynn, Don Mattingly, and My Favorites
Designated Hitter and Pitchers
Designated Hitter
Oct 31, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants former left fielder
Barry Bondswaves to the crowd during the World Series celebration at City Hall. The San Francisco Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in game seven of the World Series. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
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Ok, I’m going to cheat a little here and add a DH because I was unable to fit in all of the outfielders that were influential to me. My DH will be someone who is more of a physical specimen like Henderson. Barry Bonds was an incredible player before he did what he did on steroids and I couldn’t get enough of him. Like Alomar, he may not be the greatest guy, but he was someone I could watch play baseball all day long.
If he was hitting, I wasn’t going to turn the channel. If I was filling out a ballot, he was always on it. Bonds was perhaps the best player I’ve ever seen, like him or not.
Pitchers
My pitchers would be Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens. Enough said.
Guys I hated leaving off this list were plentiful, but my honorable mention starts with Ken Griffey Jr. like Frank Thomas, I just see him being a little outside of this era, although he technically is right in the middle. Andre Dawson was one of my guys, but there just wasn’t room for him.
Players like Eric Davis, Darryl Strawberry, Glen Davis and Bo Jackson just didn’t do enough for me, although I clearly liked them enough to give them a mention. It’s a hard list to create. I challenge you to create your own. Tell me your nine (or ten) and we can discuss the good old days together.
Aug 9, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds former outfielder
Ken GriffeyJr. speaks after being inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports