ambler

I'm looking at 5

The people who have made the biggest impact on the game


1) Cartwright or Doubleday...to whichever invented the game

2) Babe Ruth. Who knows if the game would still exist if it weren't for him. Trivia:When he finished his career with 714, who was 2nd all time? The disparity is proportionally greater than that of any other career record, other than the HR rcoerd, that exists today.

3) Branch Rickey. Jackie gets all the credit, but it was Rickey who made it possible for this to happen and did so at huge personal risk.

4) Some commissioner...Kuhn...the man who opened up the marketplace...or the commissioner who presided over the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

5) Steinbrenner...the dubious distinction on this list. The man who created the irreparable have/have not scenario by pumping unprecedented anounts of $$$ into the game.


Any others?

advocatediabolus

I can't see how you can leave Jackie off the list. Yes its true that Branch made it possible, but he wasn't the one who had to deal with all the hatred day-in and day-out. Who had to bite his lip and turn the other way when almost any other mortal man would have snapped. It was his graciousness under extreme conditions that made integration of the leagues possible, so he has to be up there.

ambler

Yeah, you're right. I'd add him. But Rickey stays!

advocatediabolus

That's fine by me, but he should not EVER be considered more important to baseball history than Jackie.

MetfanBren

There's only one Rickey buddy! Everyone else needs a full name...

Green Must Go

Julio Franco, who's career has spanned the entire history of baseball.

__________________
Obama's least favorite scripture: Even while we were with you, you gave you this rule: "Whoever does not work should not eat." - 2 Thes 3:10

Paulie Cee

Thanks pal.

mets84

what about o'malley and stoneham expanding the bigs west? (I suppose one could argue that somebody would have moved west eventually if they did not, but still... the dodgers and giants were probably the NL's flagship franchises at the time).

CharlieH

It was Cartwright.

Agreed.

Must add Jackie. He's the one who actually had his ass on the line.

Here's where you go off the rails.

Point 1: Bowie Kuhn did not open up the market. Neither Kuhn nor his bosses (the 24 owners at the time) wanted any part of free agency. They had negotiated arbitration -- grudgingly -- during the 1972 players strike. The Andy Messersmith/Dave McNally 1975 case opened up free agency. An abitrator ruled in favor of the players. If not for that, we'd still have the Reserve Clause -- basically indentured servitude for the players.

If you want to credit anybody for this and put them on your list, it should be first Players' Union head Marvin Miller.

Point 2: there was no Commissioner in 1919. The scandal led to the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the game's first "Czar," if you will. Prior to that, baseball was "ruled" by a 3-man commission -- the NL Presdient, the AL President and 1 owner to break ties. This worked not at all...


Again, you're as wrong as could be. Steinbrenner didn't give millions to the likes of Wayne Garland, Bill Campbell or Rennie Stennett. Those ridiculous contracts were awarded by the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants, respectively.

Where Fat George deserves credit is in using the rules that already exist to his greatest advantage. He's also one of the few owners in the game who's more interested in winning on the field than winning at the box office -- perhaps he was the first modern owner to grasp that one would lead to the other...

__________________
Hey! My blog is back! Check it out!

http://servalzippers.sportsdayblogs.com/

NickPapagiorgio

C'mon how could this list be complete with out ol' Capt. Fistpump?

__________________
NickPapagiorgio Posting Alert System (current status): Green

METSSC

Jose Canseco: Where would we be without steroids

Marco Polo: Didnt he discover the Polo grounds?

Arnold Rothstein: I wish I could fix the World Series

Mike Piazza: Opened doors for queers in all sports

OMAR Minaya: Know what I'm sayin

__________________
GET THE PIECE OF CRAP McGimpy OFF MY TEAM NOW!!!!!

The McGimpy does most things upside down: eats, sleeps (an average of 23 hours per day), mates, and gives birth. Because of the McGimpy's upside down life, many of the McGimpy's internal organs (liver, stomach, spleen, pancreas) are in different positions from other mammals. McGimpy sometimes lets out a cry or hissing sound.

During the rare times the McGimpy goes down to the ground (such as to change trees for food), it moves very slowly.

Green Must Go

Who instituted the designated hitter?

__________________
Obama's least favorite scripture: Even while we were with you, you gave you this rule: "Whoever does not work should not eat." - 2 Thes 3:10

KingOlerud

Why isn't Bill on this list.

Paulie Cee

He's on my list.

KingOlerud

Did you ever give him the character reference for that furniture he was buying?