Your all-time favorite baseball team of your lifetime

I grew up a Dodgers fan because the Pirates were rolling in cocaine in the mid-1980s. 87 Dodgers were completely shitty as well but it was covered up by the fact that Pedro Guerrero was back. Fred Claire Picking up Gibson in free agency plus the trade with the A's that brought Mike Davis and a couple others really propelled that team in 88, plus Hershiser having a monster seasson.

 

I think Mike Davis had a low RAW in 1988.

 

Mike Davis had one of the best base on balls in history.

 

Players I'd have rooted for even if they played for the stinkin rotten awful Yankees:

C: Johnny Bench
1B: Pete Rose
2B: Ryne Sandberg
3B: George Brett
SS: Ozzie Smith
LF: Kevin Mitchell
CF: Dale Murphy
RF: Ben Zobrist
SP: David Price, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Justin Verlander
RP: Dan Quisenberry, John Smoltz, Lee Smith
Mgr: Joe Maddon

Favorite one-year teams, by decade: 1976 Reds, 1985 Royals, 1994 Reds, 2008 Rays, 2015 Royals.

 

My dad took me to the 1971 ASG. For the generations of the 1950s-70s, that was probably the most star-studded game ever.

We were in the left field upper deck. I still remember the crowd gasping/hushing at Reggie Jackson's blast, and then the "thoom" when it crashed into the metallic box on the light tower 200 feet above the right field roof.

The crowd stayed dead silent for a second, stunned, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. As the ball dropped straight down to the field, the place went crazy.

Earlier in the game, Hank Aaron hit a home run.

 

Too many guys with tough-to-spell Polish names on that team. Anyone else remember Jerry Dubzinski?

 

1980 Phillies. After three consecutive postseason flops (1976-78), this team managed to take it. Gripping NLCS vs. the Astros, and a World Series I believe could have turned the other way if not for this play:

I swear, it looked like Tug McGraw was throwing lollipops in that ninth inning.

The 76 Phils were the greatest 1-8 lineup I've ever seen from that franchise. Only problem was, the Cincinnati Reds matched or exceeded them in just about every spot.

 

Confused?

 

Might be different if you ask me tomorrow...

C - Thurman Munson
1b - Harmon Killebrew
2b - Ron Hunt
3b - Scott Rolen
ss - Tim Foli
lf - Barry Bonds
cf - Rickey Henderson
rf - Dave Parker
sp - Pedro Martinez
sp- Bob Gibson
sp - Orlando Hernandez
sp - Steve Rogers
sp - Greg Maddux
rp - Sparky Lyle
rp - Tom Henke
rp - Latroy Hawkins.

 

As far as all-time favorite team to hate, no one will ever surpass the 90s Braves for me. I actually pulled for them in the 91 playoffs for the sake of my homeroom teacher, a genuine diehard. (She was crying the morning after the Game 7 loss to the Twins.) But holy hell, in short order my entire hometown went from giving no shits about the Braves to the biggest bunch of bandwagon jumpers you ever saw, all of them proclaiming they'd been there for all the Dale Murphy 100-loss clunkers.

Once I graduated high school in Tennessee and moved south to Alabama, it only got worse. It certainly didn't help that I moved in August 1993, during the middle of the last real pennant race, and endured the Braves edging out the 103-win Giants when Salomon Torres imploded against LA on the last day of the season.

 

Individuals
C: Carlton Fisk
1B: Don Mattingly
2B: Ryne Sandberg
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Graig Nettles
LF: Rickey Henderson
CF: Lenny Dykstra
RF: Reggie Jackson
SP: Dwight Gooden, Ron Guidry, Phil Niekro, Randy Johnson, Sid Fernandez
CL: Mariano Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Dan Quisenberry, Randy Myers, John Franco
Bench: Pete Rose, Carl Yazstremski, Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, Joe Carter.

 

'79 Pirates and '82 Angels.

Battery: Gaylord Perry, Tony Pena
1B: Don Mattingly
2B: Bobby Grich
SS: Dave Concepcion
3B: Bill Madlock
OF: Clemente, Mike Easler, Dave Parker
P: Pedro Martinez, Koufax, Gibson and Jim Rooker
Bullpen: Bruce Sutter, Kent Tekulve, Dennis Eckersly and Rivera
Bench: Duke Snider, Mantle, Yaz. Rusty Staub, Van Slyke, Johnny Ray