Baseball Mt. Rushmore by decade, according to Soxtalk

[Jack Parkman]

If you have to pick a baseball Mt. Rushmore for every decade of your baseball-watching life, who would be on it? 

Criteria: 1 RHSP, 1 LHSP, 1 RH hitter and 1 LH hitter

Possible additions: 1 RP and 1 Switch hitter

For me, the 90s is the easiest

Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. 

You could have an argument for Pedro Martinez being in place of Maddux, but Maddux's dominance over every year of the decade puts him over the top, IMO. 

Randy Johnson is quite possibly the best LHP ever and probably the best pitcher I've ever seen in his prime period. More dominant than Kershaw, IMO. 

2000s I'm having a really hard time with this one. I'm talking about the players who have had their best years during the majority of the decade. Trying to exclude roiders for this one. 

RHP Candidates: Roy Halladay? 

LHP Candidates: Johan Santana? Sabathia? 

RH Hitter- Pujols

LH Hitter Candidates: Ortiz? Can't think of anyone better but I also can't help wondering about roiding and having 1B/DH for both of the best hitters of the decade. 

2010s (so far)

LHP-Kershaw

RHP-Verlander 

RH Hitter-Trout(Miguel Cabrera is 2nd, but he has a lot of overlap in the previous decade)

LH Hitter(struggling) Harper? I know I could think of someone better, but it isn't coming to me currently

We can also have the disgraced player mt rushmore as well. 

 

I'll defer to the Soxtalk old-timers for the 60s, 70s and 80s. Please only comment on players you can clearly remember watching with your own eyes. 

Considering adding a 5th and 6th player to cover Relief pitching from 1970-present and Switch hitters A switch hitter could be optional, if there is one of the caliber of Mickey Mantle, Pete Rose or Chipper Jones. If you take RP into account, Mariano Rivera definitely fits in the 2000s closer category, but I don't remember relievers that well from the 90s, other than guys that played in town. Didn't watch a ton of out of town baseball until like 98-99 ish. 

This isn't a solo project, so I'm looking for assistance here. 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Jack Parkman

[Middle Buffalo]

1980s:

rhp - Jack Morris 

lhp - Fernando Valenzuela 

rhh - Robin Yount

 lhh - Tony Gwynn

[LittleHurt05]

If you are excluding roiders,  you might want to delete David Ortiz. And if you want to exclude roiders, then it's not a real Mount Rushmore, because that's what the MLB was in the 90s, that's what the Commish wanted, that's what the fans wanted. 

[iWiN4PreP]

This is a great thread.

I'm going to do something I usually don't do and that's NOT go by any research statistics and just go by my feel for the 90's. I began watching in the 90's (born in '89).  Unfortunately, I've always had issues with knowing who is left handed and who is right, so I won't go with those rules and simply pick 2 hitters and 2 pitchers.

 

I guess the first names that pop up for batters are Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. I know, lame roiders, but man as a kid these guys made baseball so fascinating watching them break the all time HR record. 

I'd also say Randy Johnson who was a marvel of his time and then Pedro Martinez who I was extremely fearful of facing. 

 

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

You could certainly make a very strong argument for Barry Bonds as your LHH for the 1990's or 2000's . Not every players career lines up perfectly within a decade but Bonds won 3 MVP's in the 1990's and got MVP votes every year for all 10 years. You could also make the argument that in the 90's Bonds was drug free.

Then in the 2000's when his appearance from whatever he was on made him a joke he won 4 MVPs in a row and broke the single season HR record and put up some of the most obscene OPS numbers and SLG % ever and that was only in half a decade . 2005-2007 (his age 40-42 seasons he never had over 500 PA's but still had incredible OBP 's of .454 and .480 .

2008 he was a free agent  at age 43. No one signed him despite his great numbers the last 2 years because he was making a mockery of the game with his roid or HGH usage and no one wanted that headache.

Not wanting roiders is all very noble but leaves open the debate of who exactly was roiding. Bond's was never convicted of anything despite 10 yrs of intense pressure.

 

[Jack Parkman]

On 9/18/2018 at 9:45 AM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

You could certainly make a very strong argument for Barry Bonds as your LHH for the 1990's or 2000's . Not every players career lines up perfectly within a decade but Bonds won 3 MVP's in the 1990's and got MVP votes every year for all 10 years. You could also make the argument that in the 90's Bonds was drug free.

Then in the 2000's when his appearance from whatever he was on made him a joke he won 4 MVPs in a row and broke the single season HR record and put up some of the most obscene OPS numbers and SLG % ever and that was only in half a decade . 2005-2007 (his age 40-42 seasons he never had over 500 PA's but still had incredible OBP 's of .454 and .480 .

2008 he was a free agent  at age 43. No one signed him despite his great numbers the last 2 years because he was making a mockery of the game with his roid or HGH usage and no one wanted that headache.

Not wanting roiders is all very noble but leaves open the debate of who exactly was roiding. Bond's was never convicted of anything despite 10 yrs of intense pressure.

 

Griffey Jr. was better than Bonds pre-roids. It is my belief and I stand by it. It was close, but I'd give the edge to Jr.