All-Time Appalachian League Teams

The Appalachian League season is fast approaching, with Opening Day on Tuesday. Most of the blog posts here have been from the All-Time Bluefield-to-the-Bigs series, in which I put together a 25-man all-time roster of former Bluefield players. Because I am a huge dork, I decided to do the same for the other Appy League cities.

Feel free to peruse the rosters and skip to the bottom and vote for the one you think is best in the poll.

Programming note: Moving forward this blog (and BluefieldJays.com) will be the go-to place for Baby Jays news, game notes, audio highlights and more! I'll have live game posts right here all summer long!




First, here's an overview of past and present affiliations for each city:

Bluefield Blue Jays:
BOSN (46-51) WAS (53) BOS (54-55) BKN (57) BAL (58-10) TOR (11-Present)

Bristol White Sox:
NYG (42-51) PIT (52-53) NYY (54-55) DET (69-94) CWS (95-Present)

Burlington Royals:
PIT (52-55) CLE (58-64) WAS (65-71) TEX (72) CLE (86-06) KC (07-Present)

Danville Braves:
BOS (36-37, 39-42) NYG (45-47) WAS (52) NYG (53-57) SF (58) ATL (93-Present)

Elizabethton Twins:
BOS (37-40) BKN (41) CHN (45-48) PHI (51) MIN (74-Present)

Greeneville Astros:
CHN (38) CLE (39) CHN (40) BOSN (42) HOU (04-Present)

Johnson City Cardinals:
STL (38-55) PHI (57-60) STL (61) NYY (64-74) STL (75-Present)

Kingsport Mets:
BKN (42) BAL (57) PIT (60-63) KC (69-73) ATL (74-79) NYM (80-82, 84-Present)

Princeton Rays:
PIT (88-89) PHI (co-op 90) CIN (91-96) TB (97-Present)

Pulaski Mariners:
BKN (47-49) PHI (52-55) CHN (57-58) PHI (69-77) ATL (82-92) TEX (97-02) TOR (03-06) SEA (08-Present)


I made these imaginary rosters out of former major leaguers that played in the minors in each respective city. This is in no way scientific, it was just me scanning the internet for each club and putting the teams together. When it came to slotting everyone into positions, I cheated on some. For instance, there wasn't really anyone I could put at third base for Danville, but they've had two outstanding shortstops in Rafael Furcal and Elvis Andrus. So I kept Andrus at short and moved Furcal over to third.

I've also left out the Greeneville Astros. Professional baseball only returned there in 2004, so they've only graduated 12 players to the show. Only one is really of note and that's the wonderful Jose Altuve. Maybe it can be revisited in a few years once some former G-Ville 'Stros make it to the majors. The club moved from Martinsville, VA, which was home to the Astros (99-03) and the Phillies (88-98). Martinsville had some really good players, including Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson and Wandy Rodriguez. They even had a young Ricky Williams (I...learned something today). Even if I include those guys, it's not enough to field a whole team.


So here are the nine all-time teams listed alphabetically and at the end I'll sum things up and try to gauge which group is the best.

	BLUEFIELD, WV		BRISTOL, VA
C	Gregg Zaun	C	Lance Parrish
1B	Eddie Murray	1B	Tony Clark
2B	Bobby Grich	2B	Lou Whitaker
SS	Cal Ripken	SS	Alan Trammell
3B	Doug DeCinces	3B	Travis Fryman
LF	Don Baylor	LF	Carlos Lee
CF	Luis Matos	CF	Chris Young
RF	David Dellucci/Bob Bailor	RF	Bobby Thomson
DH	Boog Powell	DH	Rico Brogna/Frank Catalonotto
B	Mark Belanger/John Shelby	B	Doug Strange/Ryan Sweeney
SP	Dean Chance	SP	Mark Fidrych
SP	Mike Boddicker	SP	Gio Gonzalez
SP	Bill Monbouquette	SP	Dan Petry
SP	Pete Harnisch	SP	Jose Lima
SP	Storm Davis	SP	Justin Thompson
RP	Sammy Stewart	RP	Bob Cain
RP	Jim Johnson	RP	Art Fowler
RP	Arthur Rhodes	RP	Rich Monteleone
RP	Armando Benitez	RP	Carl Willis
RP	Sparky Lyle	RP	Jon Rauch

I've written at length about the Bluefield team, which has a great infield and a strong bullpen while lacking in the outfield.

The infield really stands out when looking at the Bristol team. Fittingly, there's Whitaker and Trammell together up the middle, flanked by a couple of solid 1990s players in Clark and Fryman with the underrated Parrish catching. The outfield is good as well. Carlos Lee has over 350 career homers and is still productive at 36. Bobby Thomson wasn't just The Shot Heard 'Round the World. He was a three-time All-Star and had eight 20-homer seasons. Here are the players with eight or more seasons of 20+ HR between 1946 and 1960 (spanning Thomson's career, which is a neat timeframe from post-war to expansion):

Rk		Yrs	From	To	Age
1	Ted Williams	12	1946	1960	27-41	Ind. Seasons
2	Gil Hodges	11	1949	1959	25-35	Ind. Seasons
3	Duke Snider	10	1949	1959	22-32	Ind. Seasons
4	Yogi Berra	10	1949	1958	24-33	Ind. Seasons
5	Stan Musial	10	1948	1957	27-36	Ind. Seasons
6	Eddie Mathews	9	1952	1960	20-28	Ind. Seasons
7	Mickey Mantle	9	1952	1960	20-28	Ind. Seasons
8	Del Ennis	9	1948	1957	23-32	Ind. Seasons
9	Ralph Kiner	9	1946	1954	23-31	Ind. Seasons
10	Willie Mays	8	1951	1960	20-29	Ind. Seasons
11	Larry Doby	8	1949	1956	25-32	Ind. Seasons
12	Bobby Thomson	8	1947	1958	23-34	Ind. Seasons

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 6/13/2012.

Gio Gonzalez should probably be the ace of the staff already, but I'll give the nod to the late Mark Fidrych and his magical ROY campaign of 1976. Bristol's weak spot is the 'pen, which might be the worst out of all nine teams. Art Fowler didn't really achieve success until he was a pitching coach (serving mostly under Billy Martin). Bob Cain made the last cut because he's the one who walked three-foot-seven Eddie Gaedel in his famed pinch-hit appearance in 1951.

	BURLINGTON, NC		DANVILLE, VA
C	Salvador Perez	C	Tyler Flowers
1B	Jim Thome	1B	Willie McCovey
2B	Damian Jackson	2B	Marcus Giles
SS	Toby Harrah	SS	Elvis Andrus
3B	Russell Branyan	3B	Rafael Furcal
LF	Manny Ramirez	LF	Jermaine Dye
CF	Tommie Agee	CF	Andruw Jones
RF	Brian Giles	RF	Jason Heyward
DH	Richie Sexson/Gus Zernial	DH	Leon Wagner
B	David Bell	B	Manny Mota
SP	CC Sabathia	SP	Adam Wainwright
SP	Luis Tiant	SP	Kevin Millwood
SP	Bartolo Colon	SP	Tommy Hanson
SP	Joe Coleman	SP	Matt Harrison
SP	Fausto Carmona Roberto Hernandez Heredia	SP	Brandon Beachy
RP	Jaret Wright	RP	Randall Delgado/Julio Teheran
RP	Gene Conley	RP	Jason Marquis
RP	Steve Kline	RP	Kevin McGlinchy
RP	Alan Embree	RP	Neftali Feliz
RP	Rafael Perez	RP	Craig Kimbrel

Burlington features a top-heavy team that has a great top six in the lineup and top three in the rotation. How's this for a lineup: Agee-Harrah-Ramirez-Thome-Giles-and then two of the powerful Sexson/Zernial/Branyan trio. CC-Tiant-Colon is probably the best 1-2-3 in the league. After that, Joe Coleman, Jaret Wright and The Artist Formerly Known as Fausto Carmona provide a decent back of the rotation. There are three good lefties in the bullpen with Kline, Embree and Perez. Gene Conley pitched for the great Milwaukee Braves teams of the 50s, made three All-Star Games and also played for the Boston Celtics. He is the only player to win championships in two of America's four major sports (1957 Braves, 1959-61 Celtics).

Danville has a pretty good lineup too. How about Furcal-Andrus-Jones-McCovey-Dye-Heyward-Wagner one through seven with pinch-hitter extraordinaire Manny Mota on the bench. There aren't any perennial All-Stars or Hall of Famers on the staff, but it's a deep group. Atlanta, swimming in pitching prospects, has the young troika of Beachy, Delgado and Teheran. Feliz and Kimbrel make a pretty unhittable one-two punch to close.

	ELIZABETHTON, TN		JOHNSON CITY, TN
C	Joe Mauer	C	Yadier Molina
1B	Kent Hrbek	1B	Dmitri Young
2B	Scott Leius	2B	Tom Herr
SS	Jay Bell	SS	Jack Wilson
3B	Gary Gaetti	3B	Terry Pendleton
LF	Marty Cordova	LF	Vince Coleman
CF	Kirby Puckett	CF	Ray Lankford
RF	Denard Span	RF	Bobby Murcer
DH	Justin Morneau/Jim Eisenreich	DH	Ron Blomberg
B	AJ Pierzynski	B	Ken Oberkfell/Coco Crisp/Cesar Geronimo
SP	Matt Garza	SP	Ron Guidry
SP	Denny Neagle	SP	Jeff Fassero
SP	Mark Portugal	SP	Chris Short
SP	Brian Duensing	SP	LaMarr Hoyt
SP	Cory Lidle	SP	Joe Magrane/Danny Cox
RP	Nick Blackburn/Kevin Slowey	RP	Jose Jimenez
RP	Grant Balfour	RP	Kyle McClellan
RP	LaTroy Hawkins	RP	Luke Gregerson
RP	Eddie Guardado	RP	Ron Willis
RP	Jesse Orosco	RP	Jason Motte

Elizabethton is the most successful team in the Appalachian League and their affiliation with the Twins (since 1974) is the longest active one in the circuit. They've made the postseason in each of the last seven seasons, winning three titles. 1989 marked the beginning of a string of 23 consecutive winning seasons, during which they've won seven championships and averaged a record of 42-15. There are a few stars on their all-time team, like Joe Mauer and Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett. But it's mostly comprised of solid but not great players like Hrbek and Bell. The rotation gets thin quickly behind Garza and Neagle, but the pen has two good lefties (Orosco and Guardado) and two good righties (Hawkins and Balfour).

Johnson City has been home to a St. Louis farm team for a long time, and there are plenty of good Cards in this deck. Coleman-Murcer-Pendleton-Lankford-Young is a good top five offensively and guys like Molina and Wilson are great in the field. Fittingly, Ron Blomberg is the designated hitter, as he was the first in history. The starting staff behind Guidry is only slightly above average and the relief corps isn't great outside of Motte. With Johnson City as the two-time defending Appy League champs, maybe they can add to this list someday.

	KINGSPORT, TN		PRINCETON, WV
C	Bruce Benedict	C	Shawn Riggans
1B	Gregg Jefferies	1B	Jonny Gomes
2B	Quilvio Veras	2B	Elliot Johnson
SS	Jose Reyes	SS	Pokey Reese
3B	David Wright	3B	Reid Brignac
LF	Angel Pagan/Al Cowens	LF	Carl Crawford
CF	Dale Murphy	CF	Josh Hamilton
RF	Darryl Strawberry	RF	Desmond Jennings
DH	Bob Horner/Kevin Mitchell	DH	Rocco Baldelli
B	Endy Chavez/Carlos Gomez	B	Jason Pridie
SP	Dwight Gooden	SP	Jeremy Hellickson
SP	AJ Burnett	SP	Matt Moore
SP	Dennis Leonard	SP	Wade Davis
SP	Pete Schourek	SP	Jason Hammel
SP	Steve Blass/Paul Wilson	SP	Joe Kennedy
RP	Matt Lindstrom	RP	Albie Lopez/Victor Zambrano
RP	Heath Bell	RP	Alex Cobb
RP	Randy Myers	RP	Fernando Salas
RP	Jason Isringhausen	RP	Jake McGee
RP	Steve Bedrosian	RP	Chad Fox

Kingsport has great speed at the top in Reyes and Veras and one of the league's best 3-4-5 in Murphy, Strawberry and Wright. Gooden headlines a pretty good rotation with a surprisingly good middle (Burnett, Leonard and Schourek). I figured Bluefield would easily have the best bullpen but this group, but this one made me think twice. However, the top five Bluefield relievers racked up 70 bWAR while the Kingsport five lands just south of 50.

Princeton has been with Tampa Bay since the franchise's inception. The outfield of Crawford, Hamilton and Jennings is fantastic, would a fly ball ever get down out there? But the infield is certainly the worst in the league. The pitching staff is mostly made up of very promising, yet unproven guys like Moore and McGee.

	PULASKI, VA
C	Javy Lopez
1B	Travis Snider
2B	Tony Graffanino
SS	Jeff Blauser
3B	Mike Lamb
LF	David Justice
CF	Tony Tarasco/Melvin Nieves
RF	Kevin Mench
DH	Robinzon Diaz
B	Todd Cruz/Eugenio Velez
SP	Jason Schmidt
SP	Steve Avery
SP	Colby Lewis
SP	Aaron Harang
SP	Don Cardwell
RP	Brad Clontz/Kameron Loe
RP	Turk Wendell
RP	Mark Clear
RP	Mike Stanton
RP	Mark Wohlers

Pulaski's had many different parent clubs, including the Blue Jays for four years. For a team that's been in the Appy League about as long as Kingsport and Bristol, I was surprised Pulaski's lineup isn't better. Justice and Lopez are the only two really good bats in there. Adding shortstop Urban Meyer (1983 Braves) doesn't really help. The strength of the team is definitely the pitching. One through five, the rotation might be the deepest among the nine teams and the bullpen is strong as well.


Alright, time to rank these teams. I'll put together the top three infields (including catcher), outfields, rotations and bullpens, then use a 5-3-1 point system and see how it turns out...

Infield

I went with Bluefield over Bristol for best infield, taking Hall of Famers Ripken and Murray over should-be-Hall-of-Famers Whitaker and Trammell. Bobby Grich has a strong HOF case as well, so that probably decides it.

The third spot was up for grabs and I compared Elizabethton to Danville. Here they are listed by career Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement:

Hrbek	35.7	McCovey	60.7
Leius	1.8	Giles	15.5
Bell	34.1	Andrus	9.9
Gaetti	38	Furcal	38
Mauer	34	Flowers	1.2
ELIZABETHTON	143.6	DANVILLE	125.3

Danville boasts the great Stretch McCovey, but the Twins have a very consistently productive group. Gaetti, Hrbek, Bell and Mauer all have between 34 and 38 bWAR, with Mauer still adding to his total. Leius and Flowers basically cancel each other out, but I think I'd rather have a hole at second than at catcher. On the other hand, Furcal still has something left in the tank and Andrus is only 23 (?!). It's a tough call, but I think I'll lean Danville here, even accounting for Mauer's huge advantage behind the plate and docking Furcal some points for being a fictional third baseman.

1 Bluefield
2 Bristol
3 Danville

So far it's Bluefield 5, Bristol 3, Danville 1


Outfield

Wow...a lot of contenders for the top three outfields. Ramirez is the best of the bunch and puts Burlington over the top. Bristol and Johnson City have terrific trios, but I think it's Danville/Kingsport/Princeton for the final two spots. Kingsport stars two of the best of the 80s, but both Murphy and Strawberry had their careers fizzle out (for different reasons). Danville trails them in bWAR, but Andruw Jones is a borderline HOF and Heyward still has a bright career ahead of him. The wild card is Princeton. Does Carl Crawford have anything left? How will Josh Hamilton age now that he's north of 30? Jennings is 25 and hasn't even played 162 career games yet. I'm going to go with Kingsport at number two, also giving them a bonus for having a very deep group of Bob Horner, Kevin Mitchell, Al Cowens and Endy Chavez. It's absolutely a toss-up for the three spot and I'll go out on a limb and give it to Princeton. This will be their only appearance in these top three rankings.

Lee	25.2	Ramirez	64.8	Dye	16.5
Young	12.9	Agee	23.6	Jones	59.5
Thomson	30	Giles	48.4	Heyward	10.2
BRISTOL	68.1	BURLINGTON	136.8	DANVILLE	86.2
Coleman	10.5	Pagan	12.9	Crawford	33.1
Lankford	35.7	Murphy	42.6	Hamilton	23.5
Murcer	29	Strawberry	39.2	Jennings	3.4
JOHNSON CITY	75.2	KINGSPORT	94.7	PRINCETON	60

1 Burlington
2 Kingsport
3 Princeton


So far it's Bluefield 5, Burlington 5, Bristol 3, Kingsport 3, Danville 1, Princeton 1 with no team appearing twice.


Starters

Without even looking at stats, I'd go with Burlington and the 1-2-3 of Sabathia, Tiant and Colon at number one.


Here's where it gets interesting. I would have guessed by looking at the names that Kingsport would be well into the two spot and Bluefield and Pulaski would be clustered together at three and four. Take a look at the rotations and their career bWAR:

Sabathia	49.6	Gooden	45.1	Schmidt	29.3	Chance	32.3
Tiant	61.8	Burnett	21.1	Avery	10.8	Boddicker	29.1
Colon	34.4	Leonard	23.3	Lewis	4.4	Monbouquette	20.7
Coleman	21.6	Schourek	4.7	Harang	18.7	Harnisch	16.9
Carmona	4.7	Blass	5.6	Cardwell	14.6	Davis	15.1
BURLINGTON	172.1	KINGSPORT	99.8	PULASKI	77.8	BLUEFIELD	114.1

In an earlier post that summed up the All-Time Bluefield pitching staff, I noted that it was a surprisingly good group.When you look at the fourth and fifth starters for many of these other teams, you realize that Harnisch and Davis are pretty good. I'll rank Bluefield second and Kingsport third. I like Bluefield's depth and the short-lived brilliance of Gooden puts Kingsport over the top for the three spot.

1 Burlington
2 Bluefield
3 Kingsport


So far it's Burlington 10, Bluefield 8, Kingsport 4, Bristol 3, Danville 1, Princeton 1


Bullpen

I think it's safe to say that Bluefield has the top bullpen, with Kingsport and Elizabethon behind them for the other two slots. The Elizabethton quartet of Balfour-Hawkins-Guardado-Orosco is a strong one, let's see how they stack up:

Lindstrom	2.8
Bell	7.1	Balfour	6.1
Myers	14	Hawkins	14.6
Isringhausen	11.7	Guardado	12.2
Bedrosian	14.1	Orosco	21.7
KINGSPORT	49.7	ELIZABETHTON	54.6

Even with only four guys, the Twins pen surpasses that of Kingsport.

1 Bluefield
2 Elizabethton
3 Kingsport

So the final tally between the four categories is complete:

Bluefield 13, Burlington 10, Kingsport 5, Bristol 3, Elizabethton 3, Danville 1, Princeton 1


Here's the poll.