Chris Rock inspired a post about the All Star Team

In the DVD extras for The Tenth Inning, Chris Rock talked about “Affirmative Action Home Runs.” He was referring to the level of play in baseball before integration and how major league baseball’s all white competition lowered the level of the game. He asked us to imagine the All Star Game with no black players and no Latino players.

“David Wright would be the best player in baseball.”

The staff here at Sully Baseball had made this point a few years ago when I posted about “Jackie Robinson and today’s talent pool” and lamented the lost opportunity for great moments with “A Dream Team in honor of Dr. King.”

Beyond the social injustice of segregation, history was denied great baseball!

I thought about what Chris said about the All Star team and it got my obsessive compulsive list making fires burning.

What would the current American League and National League All Star Teams look like if baseball were still segregated?

And what would an All Star roster look like if it consisted SOLELY of players who would not have been allowed to play.

And remember segregation would have kept Latin players out as well as Asians.

So I created 4 All Star Rosters…

An American League and a National League made up of only white players.

And an American League and National League team using players who would have been shut out.

Using All Star Rules, each team is represented in the rosters (it was tough finding a Cleveland or Arizona All Star of ANY race!)

So let’s take a look at the alternate universes and see the segregated All Stars

All White American League All Star Team

Starting Catcher – JOE MAUER, Twins

Starting First Baseman – MARK TEIXEIRA, Yankees

Starting Second Baseman – DUSTIN PEDROIA, Red Sox

Starting Shortstop – REID BRIGNAC, Rays

Starting Third Baseman – EVAN LONGORIA, Rays

Starting Left Fielder – LUKE SCOTT, Orioles

Starting Center Fielder – JOSH HAMILTON, Rangers

Starting Right Fielder – NICK SWISHER, Yankees

Starting Pitcher – JON LESTER, Red Sox

ADDITIONAL PITCHERS

DAVID AARDSMA, Mariners ANDREW BAILEY, Athletics CLAY BUCHHOLZ, Red Sox TREVOR CAHILL, Athletics ZACK GREINKE, Royals CLIFF LEE, Rangers JONATHAN PAPELBON, Red Sox MITCH TALBOT, Indians JUSTIN VERLANDER, Tigers JERED WEAVER, Angels

Reserve Players

JOHN BUCK, Blue Jays MICHAEL CUDDYER, Twins MARK ELLIS, Athletics J. J. HARDY, Twins PAUL KONERKO, White Sox NICK MARKAKIS, Orioles JUSTIN MORNEAU, Twins KEVIN YOUKILIS, Red Sox MICHAEL YOUNG, Rangers

Minority American League All Star Team

Starting Catcher – VICTOR MARTINEZ, Red Sox

Starting First Baseman – MIGUEL CABRERA, Tigers

Starting Second Baseman – ROBINSON CANO, Yankees

Starting Shortstop – DEREK JETER, Yankees

Starting Third Baseman – ALEX RODRIGUEZ, Yankees

Starting Left Fielder – CARL CRAWFORD, Rays

Starting Center Fielder – TORII HUNTER, Angels

Starting Right Fielder – ICHIRO SUZUKI, Mariners

Starting Pitcher – FELIX HERNANDEZ, Mariners

ADDITIONAL PITCHERS

FAUSTO CARMONA, Indians NEFTALI FELIZ, Rangers GIO GONZALEZ, Athletics FRANCISCO LIRIANO, Twins DAVID PRICE, Rays MARIANO RIVERA, Yankees C. C. SABATHIA, Yankees ERVIN SANTANA, Angels JOAKIM SORIA, Royals RAFAEL SORIANO, Rays

RESERVE PLAYERS

ELVIS ANDRUS, Rangers JOSE BAUTISTA, Blue Jays ADRIAN BELTRE, Red Sox ORLANDO HUDSON, Twins ADAM JONES, Orioles JORGE POSADA, Yankees ALEXI RAMIREZ, White Sox VERNON WELLS, Blue Jays DELMON YOUNG, Twins

All White National League All Star Team

Starting Catcher – BRIAN McCANN, Braves

Starting First Baseman – JOEY VOTTO, Reds

Starting Second Baseman – CHASE UTLEY, Phillies

Starting Shortstop – TROY TULOWITZKI, Rockies

Starting Third Baseman – DAVID WRIGHT, Mets

Starting Left Fielder – MATT HOLLIDAY, Cardinals

Starting Center Fielder – COLBY RASMUS, Cardinals

Starting Right Fielder – HUNTER PENCE, Astros

Starting Pitcher – ROY HALLADAY, Phillies

ADDITIONAL PITCHERS

TIM LINCECUM, Giants ADAM WAINWRIGHT, Cardinals CHRIS CARPENTER, Cardinals JOSH JOHNSON, Marlins TIM HUDSON, Braves MAT LATOS, Padres EVAN MEEK, Pirates BRIAN WILSON, Giants HEATH BELL, Padres BRAD LIDGE, Phillies

RESERVE PLAYERS

COREY HART, Brewers BUSTER POSEY, Giants AUBREY HUFF, Giants DAN UGGLA, Marlins STEPHEN DREW, Diamondbacks RYAN ZIMMERMAN, Nationals RYAN BRAUN, Brewers JAYSON WERTH, Phillies ADAM DUNN, Nationals

Minority National League All Star Team

Starting Catcher – CARLOS RUIZ, Phillies

Starting First Baseman – ALBERT PUJOLS, Cardinals

Starting Second Baseman – BRANDON PHILLIPS, Reds

Starting Shortstop – HANLEY RAMIREZ, Marlins

Starting Third Baseman – PLACIDO POLANCO, Phillies

Starting Left Fielder – MARLON BYRD, Cubs

Starting Center Fielder – MICHAEL BOURN, Astros

Starting Right Fielder – CARLOS GONZALEZ, Rockies

Starting Pitcher – UBALDO JIMENEZ, Rockies

ADDITIONAL PITCHERS

FRANCISCO CORDERO, Reds YOVANI GALLARDO, Brewers JAIME GARCIA, Cardinals LIVAN HERNANDEZ, Nationals HONG-CHIH KUO, Dodgers CARLOS MARMOL, Cubs RICKY NOLASCO, Marlins JONATHAN SANCHEZ, Giants JOHAN SANTANA, Mets

RESERVE PLAYERS

PEDRO ALVAREZ, Pirates ANDRE ETHIER, Dodgers PRINCE FIELDER, Brewers ADRIAN GONZALEZ, Padres JASON HEYWARD, Braves RYAN HOWARD, Phillies OMAR INFANTE, Braves YADIER MOLINA, Cardinals JOSE REYES, Mets JUSTIN UPTON, Diamondbacks

Of the four rosters, I would have to say the Minority American League Roster is the best… 3 legit Cy Young candidates, power from both sides of the plate and a defensive outfield of Crawford, Hunter and Ichiro which would cut down doubles against any team.

Each team has its strengths and weaknesses, but one thing is certain:

Baseball is better with these 4 rosters combined into 2… and I am NOT talking about the Whites of both leagues versus the Minorities.

Once again, we can give thanks to Jackie Robinson, Monte Irvin, Satchel Paige, Larry Doby, Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe for paving the way… lament that Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, Oscar Charleston and Cool Papa Bell never had their shot… and be happy that we don’t have to wonder what it would be like to see Joe Mauer face Mariano Rivera.

I’m sure Chris Rock would agree.

Does Omar Vizquel have 201 hits left in him?

Omar Vizquel is going to be 44 next season… and he has a contract to play for the White Sox.

He will be a mentor to the talented young infielders with Chicago. Gordon Beckham at second, Alexei Ramirez at short and Dayan Viciedo at third could be as talented a collection of infielders as you will see in the bigs… and each can learn a little from the master.

Vizquel will always be considered one of the great defensive shortstops in history. And a few years ago I made the case that he belongs in the Hall of Fame regardless of his offensive short comings. He was a good hitter, but his defense and the number of hits and runs he took away I felt put him over the top.

If he can get 201 more hits, that won’t be an issue.
He sits at 2,799 career hits. 201 more gives him 3,000 and the issue is closed. No using his 11 Gold Gloves as his resume highlight.

Obviously he isn’t going to get 201 in 2011 unless he suddenly becomes Ichiro.
But if he gets around 95 hits like he did this past season in Chicago, then it will almost be a foregone conclusion that he will play in 2012 and make a run at it.

He’s played 22 seasons already and if he got 10 more hits each of those years, he’d be past 3,000 already. This reminds me of the Harold Baines dilemma and how close HE came to 3,000 and Cooperstown. But unlike Baines, who by the end of his career didn’t need to OWN a glove, Vizquel remained the gold standard (literally) BECAUSE of his glove, adding to his trophy case as recently as 2006.

The only thing with more range than his defense is the time that Omar stretched across in baseball.

He was a rookie in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners. That was the same year that another rookie named Ken Griffey Jr. made the squad and a minor leaguer named Randy Johnson came over from Montreal. Could that team have had three Hall of Famers on the roster?

Hall of Famers such as George Brett, Nolan Ryan, Carlton Fisk, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and Jim Rice were all still active when he broke in… as were names from another era like Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans, Dave Parker, Keith Hernandez, Chet Lemon and Tommy John.

He was a teammate with Ken Griffey Sr on the Mariners… and with Tim Lineccum, Matt Cain, Brian Wilson and Pablo Sandoval on the Giants… and with Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Neftali Feliz and C. J. Wilson on the Giants… connecting both 2010 World Series teams with the Big Red Machine.

And was as vital a part of the great Cleveland revival in 1995 as any of the (probably juiced up) sluggers.

He already has more hits than Ozzie Smith, the other standard of shortstop wizardry.

Stick around Omar. Stay in shape. (Clearly Vizquel wasn’t on the juice!) And get 201 more hits… then rehearse that Cooperstown speech.