Let’s take a little journey through my personal ABCs of baseball, one letter at a time.
– A is for Aaron, as in Hank, who is still the greatest homerun hitter of all time in my books. He was listed as 6-foot (actually more like 5-foot-11) and 185 pounds yet he still pounded out 755 homers in his prolific career.
– B is for Brooks Robinson, the Baltimore Orioles legend who I consider the greatest fielding third baseman of all time.
– C is for Carl Yastrzemski who played the left field wall at Fenway Park better than anyone ever has and most likely ever will.
– D is for Dusty Baker, the man who was on deck when Hank Aaron belted his historic 715th home run.
– E is for Earl Williams, who won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1971 for the Atlanta Braves.
– F is for Fred McGriff, the Crime Dog himself, who became the Fire Dog when he joined the Atlanta Braves in 1993.
– G is for Garr, as in Ralph. The speedy outfielder who hit .353 in 1974 and .343 in 1971, was known as the Roadrunner.
– H is for Rickey Henderson, one of the most effective lead-off hitters in baseball history.. He led the league in stolen bases 12 times, including hitting the century mark three times, sealing an amazing 130 bases in 1982.
– I is for the Iorg brothers, Dane and Garth.
— J is for Mr. October, Reggie Jackson himself.
— K is for another amazing father-son Duo, Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey, Jr.
— L is for Barry Larkin who starred for the Cincinnati Reds, but I saw play in the NCAA regionals in Starkville in 1985 as a member of the Michigan Wolverines.
— M is for Mickey Mantle, who some say is the best centerfielder of all-time.
— N is for Phil Niekro, my all-time favorite Atlanta Brave.
– O is perhaps the greatest shortstop MLB has ever seen, Ozzie Smith, the Wizard of Oz
— P is for Albert Pujols, who currently has 679 career homers.
— Q is for Dan Quisenberry, who led the American League in saves six times, including a career best 45 in 1983.
— R is for Nolan Ryan, one of the most dominant pitchers in Major League Baseball history.
— S is for Willie Stargell, one of the most intimidating left-handed hitters of the 1970s.
— T is for Tom House, a little known left-handed reliever, who caught Hank Aaron’s 715th homerun while standing in the bullpen.
— U is for Bob Uecker, who played Major League Baseball, but reached fame as a comedian, actor, and play-by-play announcer.
— V is for Vladimir Guerrero and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , the slugging father-son duo.
— W is for the “Say Hey Kid” Willie Mays.
— X is for Xander Bogarts, the slugging shortstop for the Boston Red Sox who is a three-time All-Star had has driven in more than 100 runs twice so far in his career.
— Y is for Robin Yount who played his first Major League game at the age of 18 and was named Al MVP in 1982, hitting .331, smacking 46 doubles, and 29 homers for the Brewers, while knocking in 114 runs.
— Z is for Richie Zisk, who played 13 years in the Major League, including the 1974 season when he hit .313 and drove in 100 runs for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Austin Bishop, AKA The Old Sports Dude, has been covering high school, college, amateur, and professional sports since 1975. He is currently pastor of Great Commission Assembly of God in Philadelphia, Miss. He may be contacted by email at starsportsboss@yahoo.com.
