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How To: My Select MLB Team of the Seventies |
| Written by Bill Hanks |
 With the All Star Game on the horizon, I decided to list my team from the seventies. The seventies had many great baseball players. This article reviews my selection of the top players from that era and why they made my team. Stats were provided by www.baseball-almanac.com. Pitchers Jim Palmer (1965-84) Jim played all 19 years with the Orioles. He had a career record of 268-152. He was considered one of the best situation pitchers of all times. Tom Seaver (1967-86) Seaver pitched for 4 teams during his 20 year career. During that time, he had a record of 311-205. He had 12 seasons of 15 or more wins. Nolan Ryan (1966-93) Ryan played for 4 teams during his 27 years in the majors. He threw 7 no hitters and had more strikeouts (5,714) than any pitcher in the game. Many players felt that his fastball would kill them, if they were hit by it in the right place. Phil Niekro (1964-87) Phil had a record of 318-274. He played for 4 teams during his 24 year career. He had 45 shutouts during this time. He was a very durable player. Bob Gibson (1959-75) Bob played all 17 years for the Cardinals. He had the lowest season ERA of 1.12 in 1968. He won 251 games and struck out 3,117, during that time. He would be my starting pitcher. Steve Carlton (1965-88) Left Handed Specialist Although he was a starter, he was the best left handed pitcher that I ever saw. Steve spent 24 years in the majors with 6 teams. He won 329 games and had 4,136 strikeouts. Goose Gossage (1972-94) Set Up Pitcher Goose played for 9 teams in 22 years. He had a total of 310 saves. Bruce Sutter (1976-88) Closer Bruce only pitched 12 years in the majors for 3 teams. He had career total of 300 saves. In 1979, he had 37 saves with the Cubs. Reserves Reggie Jackson (1967-87) Reggie was known as Mr. October. He delivered many home runs in the post season. He played for 4 teams in his 21 years. He hit 563 home runs and drove in 1,702 runs. Carl Yastrzemski (1961-83) Carl played his entire 23 year career with the Red Sox. During that period he hit 452 home runs with 1,844 RBI's and a life time average of .285. Mike Schmidt (1972-89) Mike played for 18 years with the Phillies at third base. During this time, he hit for a .267 average with 548 home runs and 1,595 RBI's. Starters 1B George Brett (1973-93) Brett played all 21 years with the Royals. During the 1980 season, he batted .390. He had a career batting average of .305. Although he played other positions, I like him best at first base. 2B Rod Carew (1967-85) Rod played 19 years with the Twins and Angels. He had a life time average of .328. He batted 388 in 1977. 3B Brooks Robinson (1955-77) Brooks is considered to be the best defensive third baseman to play the game. He played all 23 years with the Orioles. He had a career fielding percentage of .971 at third base. He owned the hot corner. SS Dave Concepcion (1970-88) Dave played in many all star games as the shortstop of the National League. He played all 19 years with the Reds. He had a lifetime average of .267. RF Pete Rose (1963-86) Known as Charlie Hustle, Pete played for 3 teams during his 24 years. He has the record for most hits (4,256) in a career. He had a life time batting average of .303. CF Willie Mays ( 1951-73) Mays career was fast coming to an end. He played 3 years in the 70's. This was enough to include him on this team. To me, he is the greatest player to play the game. He hit 660 home runs with 1,903 RBI's while batting .302 for his career. Mays played for Giants and Mets during his 22 years. LF Roberto Clemente (1955-72) Roberto played all 18 years with the Pirates. He had a career average of .317 with 3000 hits. He batted .312 in the season before his death. Many post season awards are named after him. C. Johnny Bench (1967-83) Bench is possibly the best catcher of all time. He spent all 17 years with the Reds. He hit 389 home runs and drove in 1,376 runs. He had a career average of .267. DH Henry Aaron (1954-76) Aaron hit a total of 755 home runs and drove in 2,297 runs. He had a career batting average of .305. He played 23 years with the Braves and Brewers. He would be the ideal DH. This my select baseball team of the seventies.
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