The Diamond King recently posted his favorite card for his favorite player A to Z and challenged others to follow suit. I thought it seemed like a fun idea, so thought I would jump in. Along with each player is an actual card from my collection.
A - Grover Cleveland Alexander
Old Pete Alexander was a complex and troubled man, but a highly talented pitcher. He won 373 games and closed out game 7 of the 1926 World Series for the Cardinals at age 39. He was also a star pitcher for my Cubs for 9 seasons. Still need a Cub card of him.
Other favorite: Hank Aaron
B - Ernie Banks
Banks is a true legend. There are some other players that I really like, but I can't argue with Mr. Cub.
Other favorites: Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown, Jim Banning, Jeff Bittiger, Kris Bryant, Chief Bender
C - Chris Coste
From my hometown, Coste was my favorite non-major leaguer growing up when he played for our city's independent minor league team. He later went on to make the major leagues.
Other favorites: Tony Campana, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente
D - Dave Dravecky
Dravecky's biography Comeback was one of the first baseball books I read and was really inspiring. I later got a chance to meet Dave, and he is a truly good guy.
E - Darin Erstad
Another local favorite, Erstad grew up about 90 miles from my hometown. A favorite memory is him and the Angels winning the 2002 World Series. He also won Gold Gloves at first base and center field and had 240 hits one season.
F - Julio Franco
I always liked Franco's batting stance and as well as players that seemed to play forever. Fun fact: Franco hit .222 in 27 at-bats playing independent baseball in 2014. He was 55 at the time.
G - Mark Grace
A close second for my favorite Cub, behind Ryne Sandberg. Grace played the game hard, had an awesome swing, was a great fielder, and just a true pro for many years. I was upset when he left Chicago for Arizona, but loved seeing him win it all in 2001 with the Diamondbacks.
Other favorites: Mudcat Grant, Tom Glavine, Dave Goltz
H - Rick Helling
A graduate of my high school (14 years my senior), Helling had a solid pitching career and even won 20 games one year.
Other favorites: Travis Hafner, Billy Hamilton (21st century player), Charlie Hough
I - Monte Irvin
Not many to choose from for this letter, but you really can't go wrong with this Hall of Famer. Plus, he was a Cub for a year!
J - Bo Jackson
Bo was a once in a generation talent.
Other favorites: Walter Johnson, Jay Johnstone
K - Sandy Koufax
Koufax had one of the best, if not THE best, 5 year stretch of any pitcher ever. Plus, he's a really interesting guy in my opinion.
Other favorites: Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat
L - Nap Lajoie
This guy was so great he got a team named after him (the Cleveland Naps). Incidentally, I'd love to see that be their "new" name. Would be cool if this card wasn't a reprint.
Other favorite: Kenny Lofton, Michael Lorenzen
M - Roger Maris
I really like a lot of "M" players. But Maris is pretty much a no brainer here. An alumnus of my high school and a legend in my town.
Other favorites: Gus Munch, Greg Maddux, Minnie Minoso, Jamie Moyer, Christy Mathewson, Darryl Motley, Biz Mackey
N - Phil Niekro
Not a ton of players to choose from here, but can't go wrong with a guy who was effective into his late 40s.
O - Buck O'Neil
I honestly don't know the purpose of having a Baseball Hall of Fame without having this guy in it.
Other favorites: Sadaharu Oh, Tony Oliva, Shohei Ohtani
P - Deacon Phillippe
To my surprise, this turn of the century great who won nearly 200 games played a season in my hometown, Fargo, ND. He was one of the players I researched when I wrote my
book on the 1897 Red River Valley League. This is the oldest card in my collection, too.
Other favorite: Satchel Paige
Q - Dan Quisenberry
Not many to choose from here, but Quiz was a cool dude with an awesome delivery.
R - Old Hoss Radbourn
This pick is due in large part to a fantastic baseball read called 59 in '84, by Edward Achorn. Radbourn is now credited with 60 wins for the 1884 season. He also gave a subtle middle finger to the camera nearly a century before Billy Martin did on his 1972 Topps card. In fact, that's the photo featured in the card shown above.
Other favorites: Nolan Ryan, Anthony Rizzo, Jackie Robinson
S - Ryne Sandberg
Ryno's my all-time favorite. A no brainer here.
Other favorites: Ron Santo
T - Jim Thorpe
Thorpe was the original all-around athlete. Baseball was not even close to his best sport, yet he still played parts of 6 seasons in the majors.
Other favorite: Luis Tiant
U - Bob Unglaub
This one's due to a local connection. Unglaub had just finished his third season as player/manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Graingrowers when he died in a tragic accident while repairing a locomotive. He was just 36 years old. I'm in the market for a non-reprint of Unglaub.
V - Omar Vizquel
I was never an Indians fan, but Vizquel was just too good not to like.
W - Kerry Wood
Kerry Wood stole the hearts of many Cubs fans in 1998 as a dominant 20-year-old. Striking out 20 Astros in a game certainly helped.
Other favorites: Maury Wills, Rube Waddell
Y - Michael Young
I became a Rangers fan in the mid-2000s after getting a chance to visit the Ballpark in Arlington. Young and Mark Teixeira were my favorites.
Other favorite: Cy Young
Z - Ben Zobrist
I first liked Zobrist when he helped the Royals win the World Series, so I was excited when he signed with Chicago. He came up clutch for the Cubs in 2016, too.
Other favorite: Bill Zink
Thanks for reading!
