Your Franchise Player(s)

Also some of these posts are disregarding some players like Pudge in Texas because they became somewhat transient at the the end of their careers, yet other post have no problem posting A-Rod and Nolan ryan multiple times.

What is the consensus?

 

I think Carl Crawford would be the face of the Rays. Been there the longest, and has been a consistently strong performer.

You might be able to make a case for Kazmir, with the time he's spent there. Fred McGriff would be the one player I would think of from the early years. 32 and 27 homers for the club in back-to-back seasons, and another 19 before he got dealt to the Cubs in 2001.

 

Just going off spnited's great list here. My changes in bold, comments in italics:

Atlanta/Milwauke/Boston Braves: Henry Aaron (Absolute no-brainer)
Arizona Diamondbacks: Luis Gonzalez (Can't disagree, although Randy Johnson could make a case, too)
Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns: Frank Robinson George Sisler (Not easy, not easy at all; Robby had too many of his great years with Cincy, so I sided with Sisler because he had twice as many PAs as a Brown than Robby as an Oriole; Ripken and Murray -- who had some pretty damn good years with the O's -- are next in line)
Boston Red Sox: Ted Williams (Absolute no-brainer)
Chicago Cubs: Ernie Banks (Absolute no-brainer)
Chicago White Sox; Joe Jackson Frank Thomas (Big Hurt -- a legit choice regardless -- also had 6K more plate appearances for the Sox than Jackson)
Cincinnati Reds; Frank Robinson Johnny Bench (Robby, hurt again by the fact that he spent so much time elsewhere -- but, man, Bench was a friggin' legend)
Cleveland Indians: Bob Feller Tris Speaker (Just preference here; Feller wasn't even best pitcher on his team after '47)
Colorado Rockies: Larry Walker Todd Helton (Overlooked, and for good reason due to Coors factor, but Helton's numbers are a shade better)
Detroit Tigers; Ty Cobb (Absolute no-brainer)
Florida Marlins: None I can think of (Pretty awful that Luis Castillo leads more categories than anyone else ... him or Conine)
Houston Astros: Craig Biggio (By a nudge over Bagwell)
Kansas City Royals: George Brett (Absolute no-brainer)
Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers: Sandy Koufax Zack Wheat (Controversial choice -- but damn, Koufax had five great years for the Dodgers; Wheat had 18. The fact that he's still the franchise leader in G, AB, H, 2B, 3B, TB, RC, and second to Snider in a few others, 80 years after he retired ...)
Los Angeles Angels: Rod Carew Garret Anderson (Another controversial choice, but check out the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ANA/leaders_bat.shtml">franchise leaders</a>: G.A. leads in a shitload of categories. Clearly, Carew was a better player -- but strictly as an Angel? Anderson's the best.)
Milwaukee Brewers/Seattle Pilots: Robin Yount (Absolute no-brainer)
Minnesota Twins/Washington Senators: Walter Johnson (Absolute no-brainer)
New York Mets: Tom Seaver (Piazza's No. 2, but it's really not that close)
New York Yankees: Babe Ruth (Absolute no-brainer)
Oakland/Kansas City/Philadelphia A's: Jimmie Foxx (Tougher than it seems; Double X *barely* beats out Rickey Henderson, Al Simmons and Eddie Collins, but all four have <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/leaders_bat.shtml">strong cases</a>)
Philadelphia Phillies: Mike Schmidt (Absolute no-brainer)
Pittsburgh Pirates: Roberto Clemente Honus Wagner (Roberto's next, but the Dutchman is one of the top 5 ever -- absolute no-brainer, to me)
St. Louis Cardinals: Stan Musial (Absolute no-brainer)
San Diego Padres: Tony Gwynn Absolute no-brainer)
San Francisco/New York Giants: Willie Mays (Absolute no-brainer ... but Mathewson is close)
Seattle Mariners: Ken Griffey Jr. (Absolute no-brainer)
Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays: None I can think of (Crawford, I guess. If I have to.)
Texas Rangers/Washngton Senators: Alex Rodriguez Ivan Rodriguez (Tough one, but Pudge has 4x as many PAs with the Rangers as A-Rod -- and as many MVPs.)
Toronto Blue Jays: Joe Carter Carlos Delgado (Not really close, either)
Washington Senators/Montreal Expos: Tim Raines (Yeah, over Dawson and Guerrero)

 

Jays' franchise player? Robbie Alomar, no doubt about it. Best player the team has ever had.

Best pitcher? Halladay.

 

Yanks - Babe Ruth
Red Sox - Ted Williams
Orioles - Eddie Murray
Blue Jays - Dave Stieb
Devil Rays - ???
Twins - Rod Carew
Tigers - Ty Cobb
Royals - George Brett
White Sox - Joe Jackson
Indians - Bob Feller
Rangers - Nolan Ryan
Mariners - Ken Griffey Jr. or A-Rod
Angels - Rod Carew
A's - Ricky Henderson
Phillies - Yeah, good luck choosing between Carlton and Schmidt
Mets - Tom Seaver
Nats/Expos - Tim Raines, Gary Carter or Andre Dawson?
Marlins - Beckett?
Braves - Hank Aaron
Brewers - Robin Yount.
Cubs - Ernie Banks.
Astros - Nolan Ryan
Cardinals - Stan Musial
Pirates - Roberto Clemente
Reds - Frank Robinson or Pete Rose
Rockies - Todd Helton or Larry Walker
Dodgers - Jackie Robinson
Giants - Willie Mays or Barry Bonds
Padres - Tony Gwynn
Diamondbacks - Randy Johnson

 

That's a great list...

 

How many teams is this a slam dunk for?

Royals for Brett.
Yankees for Ruth.
Tigers for Cobb.
Red Sox for Williams.
Cubs for Banks.
Padres for Gwynn.
Braves for Aaron.

I think all others are a pretty good debate. Frank Robinson should be a lock somewhere, but I don't know if it's Cincy or Baltimore. I don't think too many people would argue Bonds over Mays, but probably not a slam dunk.

 

I'd make a case for Wille Stargell.

I'd even be more inclined to vote for Dave Parker than Barry Bonds for the Pirates. There was a time while he was in a Pirates uniform when he was considered the best player in the game. Barry didn't get to that point until he was a Giant, if ever.

 

Great list. I agree with you on Honus Wagner for the Pirates. I'm sure the fan vote will go for Clemente, but Wagner is the choice. The only real question should be for third, and I would go with Bonds. I know Bonds was only a Pirate for seven seasons, but Kiner was only with the franchise for seven full seasons and part of his eighth.

 

Sirs, Madames,

Both true.

YD&OHS, etc

 

Obviously the Tribe's No. 1

 

That's the thing, though. Look at what the two accomplished in their time with the club, which is almost the same length. ...

Bonds: 672 runs, 984 hits, 220 doubles, 176 home runs, 556 RBIs, two MVPs in his first seven years.
Kiner: 727 runs, 1,057 hits, 147 doubles, 294 home runs, 772 RBIs, seven home run crowns in his first seven year -- in the major leagues.

I don't think there's any way Bonds is ahead of Kiner. For me, it'd be Clemente/Wagner, Kiner, Bonds, etc.