japes Era - First Base

 First Basemen of the japes Era

There were lots of players that could have been chosen for this section.  I know there that I probably missed some well deserving players.  I did eliminate some highly ranked players such as Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, and Paul Goldschmidt on the grounds that they are still active.  But there were plenty of Hall of Fame players in this era at first base as well.  I was originally intending to only include a few DH players in my set but there were a few DH/1B types that I ended up shifting to the DH list so I could get a as many deserving players in this set as I could.

For those that may not be aware...I detest count downs. I'm not too concerned with the minutia of ranking the decimal point differences between great players.  I prefer to celebrate greatness for what it is.  So instead of ranking them in any particular order, I will just present these 10 players randomly as the mood strikes me.  Another note, we are currently running a simmed league on the Discord called 30 for 30.  You can learn more about this from some "good friends of our show" over at GreatestMLBShowdown.  As such many cards for great seasons have been created for that league using the bot.  Because of this, in many instances I purposely didn't use those seasons for players.  This gives us more variety in team building.

Enough chit chat...on to the show.

First up was an easy selection.  The hardest part for him was selecting a season.  With a Rookie of the Year card and THREE MVP seasons to choose from it was quite a decision.  Luckily his 2008 card was used in the league.  Therefore, I chose this card in the great career of Albert Pujols.

Next up is a man that has been severely underestimated his whole career.  A man that won 3 Gold Gloves (way fewer than he deserved), a Batting Title (flirting with 400 all the way into August), All-Star Appearances (despite competing against future hall of famers at his position in his league), and was key contributor to two World Series titles.  He also got overshadowed finishing fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting behind the likes of Sandy Alomar, Kevin Maas, and Kevin Appier.  in 1993, not only did his team win the World Series but he led the league in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, OPS, OPS+, and IBB which led to him only finishing 3rd in the MVP vote behind the likes of Frank Thomas and Paul Molitor.  John Olerud didn't get the accoladed he probably deserved due to a few huge weaknesses.  First, he wasn't flashy and didn't have a cool nickname like "The Big Hurt" or "The Ignitor".  Also throughout his career, his own teams usually had future Hall of Fame players taking the spotlight. And yet another "weakness" Olerud suffered, He spenct the first eight years of his career north of the border (quietly playing a major role in two World Series championships).

The card I intended to use is his 1993  Toronto Blue Jays 560 point OB 11 card.  But this was used for his 30 for 30 card.  So I instead decided to use one of his several other OB10 or better cards.  Yes, he had several.  Hard to believe for a guy that is mostly remembered as the guy that wore a hard batting helmet type of hat in the field.  So here is 1998 Mets version of Olerud.

Following up his 2000 MVP season he finished second only to Ichiro in the 2001 MVP race. Jason Giambi was set up to show that he was a suitable fill in as Mark McGwire's replacement.  He may not have won the MVP this season but he set himself up for a nice pay day as he joined the Yankees the next season.

Eddie Murray had a long career that started with a Rookie of the Year award and ended in the Hall of Fame.  Along the way he was an All-Star 8 times, won three Gold Gloves, and three Silver Slugger awards and was part of the 1983 World Series Champs. He also runner up for the MVP twice with 5 total top 5 finishes with two additional top 8 finishes.

1994 was a banner year for 1st basemen.  both MVP's that year came from the position and they were incredible seasons.   First up was Frank "the Big Hurt" Thomas.  My favorite first basemen growing up.  Following up his 1993 MVP season with an even better 1994.  With six total top 4 MVP finishes, Big Frank was a bonified star well deserving of his Hall of Fame induction.  With skills that ranged from his batting title all the way to HR derby Champ.  Power and Average.

Jeff Bagwell won Rookie of the year and three seasons later won his MVP.  Solid all around Hall of Fame.  His 1994 season card comes complete with "A" Speed, solid Defense at first, and a 10 OB.

  

The next player is one that is overshadowed by the rest of his group due to his home run total being low compared to his peers.  However, he had a lot of value as a first basemen.  Keith Hernandez was the first 1B in the long history of the Cardinals to win the Silver Slugger, he was also the first 1B to win the Silver Slugger for the Mets.  He also won a World Series with both teams.  He also won eleven consecutive Gold Gloves.  

If not for a freak accident Todd Helton may have had a career in a different sport.  Unfortunately for his football career his backup at the time was none other than Peyton Manning.  So of course Helton never had a chance to prove his worth as a QB.  So he fell back on trying to be a decent baseball player.  In his first season he finished second in the Rookie of the Year behind Kerry Wood.  In his long career Helton was an All-Star five times which included a season winning the Batting Title.

Will "the Thrill" Clark, had a full career.  Not only did he play in a College World Series but he also won the Golden Spikes award.  Which is equivalent to the Heisman trophy for baseball.  He then went on to  play for the US national team in the Olympics winning a Silver Medal.  With the Giants he even made it to the World Series.  

Everyone see's pitchers and catchers meeting on the mound with their face covered by their gloves however, most don't realize that Will Clark is the main reason for this.  On his way to winning the NLCS MVP in 1989, while sitting in the On Deck circle he witnessed a conversation between Greg Maddux and catcher Rick Wrona.  He managed to read Maddux's lips saying "fastball high, inside".  The first pitch of the at bat was indeed a fastball high inside that he sent into the street just beyond right field for a grand slam.

 

 

Plenty of people have posted cards from his Cardinals HR record breaking season and that range.  So I wanted to focus more on his time in Oakland.  Thought about the ROY season but when with this one instead.