A Decade of Brilliance

With Ripken Jr closing in on its 10 year anniversary, it is only fitting to acknowledge those players that have made the first decade memorable. While there have been many ups and downs throughout the years, Ripken Jr has always produced competitive seasons and teams, year in and year out.


Today we will be releasing the first Ripken Jr Decade team. This team consists of the very best players in the league throughout this first decade and honors them for their contribution to this great world. During the Winter Meetings we will honor the Franchise of the Decade.


Without further delay, let us unveil the team!


The obvious choice for the Ace of the team was 9 time All-Star and 4 time Cy Young winner - Oscar Baumann. Baumann is the career wins leader with 179 and has a sparkling career ERA of 2.42. Baumann is also the career strikeout leader with 2174 k's in his career. While there may be other pitchers who have the talent that Baumann has there is no doubt that he has outperformed every other pitcher throughout his career. Baumann has won one World Championship and has started 14 postseason games. He is 6-4 with a 3.83 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 89.1 innings.


The second starter on the Decades team is 8 time All-Star and 2 time Cy Young winner, lefty Pat Politte. Polite is currently third on the career wins list with 159 and is the top lefty in the game. Politte is one of the few pitchers who have a chance to break some of Baumann's records once he decides to hang it up. Politte is one of the best postseason pitchers in the game. He has started 24 games and is 15-5 with 135 strikeouts and a 3.38 ERA in 160 postseason innings, recording a single complete game.


In the third slot is 5 time All-Star and Cy Young winner,Chad Lamb. Lamb is one of the youngest studs in the game and already is fifth on the all-time wins list with 144. He has a career ERA of 3.08 and has won three World Series Rings. Lamb rivals Politte in the postseason. He has 16 postseason wins to go along with 12 losses and a 3.82 ERA. Lamb has started 31 postseason games and has pitched 195.2 innings.


Fourth in the rotation is Torey Fernandez. Torey is an 8 time All-Star and a Cy Young winner. Fernandez is the youngest starting pitcher on the team and the future looks bright for him. At 28 Torey is fourth on the wins list with 154 and has a career ERA of 3.85, which should only continue to drop as he continues to develop. Fernandez has pitched in 25 postseason games and for two World Champions. He is 10-7 with a 4.29 ERA in 151 innings.


Rounding out the Starting Rotation is six time All-Star and yet another Cy Young winner, Jesus Fernandez;. Fernandez has been a workhorse his entire career and this rotation would not be complete without him in it. Even at age 35 he still continues to baffle hitters and put up amazing numbers. Jesus is second on the All-Time wins list with 168. At his age it doesn't appear he will be able to catch Baumann but 200 wins is easily within his reach. His career ERA is 3.35 and he has the most mileage on him in the league with 2,254 innings. Fernandez has pitched in 19 postseason games and started 18. He has also won a World Championship. Fernandez is 6-7 with 2 complete games. He has a glistening 3.13 ERA in 135 innings of work.
 
Of course you can't win games without anyone to relieve these guys, so let's take a look at the decade's relievers. The long relief pitchers are all current starters who may have failed to make the rotation but deserved to be on the team.


The top Long Reliever is two time Cy Young winner and 5 time All-Star - Julio Santiago. It was a very tough decision to not put him in the rotation, but there was never a doubt that he belonged on the team. Santiago is fourth on the All-Time ERA list, with a career ERA of 2.68 to go along with his 134 wins and sits third with a career WHIP of 1.08. Santiago also has a career 183 Quality Starts, which is good for fourth place all time. Santiago has started 9 postseason games and is 3-4 with a 4.14 ERA in 54.1 innings of work.


Second out of the bullpen is lefty hurler Rod Young. Young has a career 107 wins and an ERA of 2.60 which is second All-Time, despite having a .59 Groundball to Flyball Ratio, which is good for third worst All-Time. Young is a 4 time All-Star and has a Cy Young to his name. Rod Young has not pitched in the postseason.


Rounding out the Long Relief is Sandy Murphy. Murphy has a career 130 wins and 3.06 ERA. He is a 3 time All-Star but has yet to win a Cy Young. Murphy has started 265 career games and is 131-72 with a career 3.05 ERA and 1366 strikeouts. Murphy has pitched in 16 postseason games, starting 15. He is 4-5 and has completed 2 games with a 3.12 ERA.



No team is complete without the back of the bullpen, responsible for closing out every win. These next set of guys have shown throughout their career, and especially this last decade, to be the best at maintaining a lead late in the game.


First the three setup men, all either currently are or have been closers for their respective teams throughout their careers. Lefty Harold Blake leads the way. He has recorded 293 saves in his career, which is good for first place all time. Blake and his 3.17 ERA passed Thurman Wright earlier this season on the All-Time Saves list. Blake has pitched in 20 postseason games and is 14 for 15 in save opportunities with a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings of work. Wright, who has 288 career Saves is another member of the decades team. He has a career 3.75 ERA and has struck out 402 career batters. Wright has pitched in 21 postseason games and is 11 for 13 in save opportunities with a 5.50 ERA. Last is Danny Brinkley, who is one of the younger members on the team and is largely helped out by 3 of his last 4 years. Brinkley recorded an incredible 1.28 ERA just 3 seasons ago in route to a career 3.72 ERA and 221 Saves. Brinkley has pitched in 15 postseason games and is 9 for 9 in save opportunities with a 3.00 ERA in 12 innings of work.


Closing out games is none other than Pablo Bonilla. Bonilla has baffled batters for years while amassing 67 wins, 227 saves, 942 strikeouts and a nasty 1.05 WHIP. As a closer he has pitched in over 100 games twice in his career and has pitched in 923 innings. There is no relief pitcher who can match his dominance. Unfortunately Bonilla's regular season dominance has yet to carry over into the postseason. He has pitched in 26 games and is 3-2 with 4 saves and a 4.89 ERA in 38.2 innings of work.


 
Now that we have taken a look at the Decades Pitching Staff it is time to turn our attention to the guys that score the runs, allowing these pitchers to record all their wins and saves! The team has a starter at each position and a bench consisting of five players. 


Leading off for the Decades team is All-Star 2b Ed Donovan. Donovan is one of only two players in the World that have achieved a Runs Created Per Game of more than 1. Donovan mixes speed with power and has a career .323 batting average to go with 230 Home Runs, 887 RBI and 421 Stolen Bases. Donovan is the career leader with 345 doubles and is second with 62 Triples. Donovan is a 6 time All-Star and an MVP. He has won 3 Silver Slugger Awards and a single Gold Glove. In 53 playoff appearances Donovan has a .381 Batting Average with a 1.062 On Base plus Slugging Percentage and 50 Runs.


Batting second in the lineup is 3b Ryan Carr. Carr is an electric, multitalented player and that can be seen in the numbers he has put up throughout the decade. Carr is a 5 time All-Star and 3 time Silver Slugger. Surprisingly Carr does not rank in the top 5 in league history in any major category but his talent and production still speaks for itself. Carr has the ability to hit for average, career .323, and power, career 242 Home Runs. He has a career On Base Percentage of .422, which currently is just shy of 5^th all time. Carr has two World Series Rings and has played in 86 postseason games. He has 11 Home Runs and 50 RBI to go with a .317 Batting Average and .409 On Base Percentage and is 1 Hit shy of 100.


Batting third in the lineup is rf Damaso Peron. Peron is another unique talent, with elite speed and power. Peron has 314 career Home Runs and 823 RBI but does not rank in the Top 5 in either category All-Time. He also has 224 career Stolen Bases, which is quite a few for someone with as many Home Runs as he has. One of the biggest drawbacks of Peron's game is his near 1 strikeout per game. Peron is a 6 time All-Star and 4 time Silver Slugger and has won has been a league MVP. Peron is also a member of the 40/40 club. 


Batting cleanup for the Decades team is none other than 3 time MVP and 7 Time All-Star lf, Andy Clayton. Clayton is the only other player in Ripken Jr to have a career Runs Created per Game of more than 1. Clayton is the career leader in On Base Percentage with a .437 and just pasted Ted Wilson for 1^st in RBI with 1112. He is also 2^nd in Home Runs with 392. His career 1.098 On Base plus Slugging Percent's also sits at the top of the career list. Clayton helped lead Syracuse to the World Title last season and added to his impressive post season numbers. Clayton is also a 4 time Silver Slugger Award winner. Clayton has played in 82 postseason games and boasts 26 Home Runs and 76 RBI.


Protecting Clayton on the decades team and batting fifth is 7 time All-Star and 5 time Silver Slugger as well as his current teammate , c Endy Suzuki. Suzuki is right on Clayton's tale in many categories, he currently ranks 3^rd All-Time with a 1.029 On Base plus Slugging Percent and is 4^th in Home Runs with 381. Suzuki is has a very good eye at the plate, walking 483 times in his career while striking out only 381 times. Suzuki may not be the best defensive catcher, but his career ERA is 4.10, which is not too bad, although it has helped that he has been catching Hall of Fame arms his entire career. Suzuki has been great in the postseason, with a career .303 batting average and 18 Home Runs in 79 games.


Batting sixth for the Decades is 2 time MVP and current teammate of two other starters, 1b Mikey Robbins. Robbins has exceled in every aspect of the game throughout his career and is the current career hits leader with 1,684 and holds the career batting average record at .342. Robbins is also in the Top 5 in career walks with 798. He has been selected to 3 All-Star games and is a 2 time Silver Slugger. Robbins finally won his first Ring last season, leading the Syracuse Tyrants to the Title and bolstering his Post Season numbers which include 94 Hits, 23 Home Runs and a .402 On Base Percentage in 320 At Bats.


Batting seventh in the lineup is cf Vic Sosa. Sosa is a 5 time All-Star and 2 time Silver Slugger. He does not rank in the Top 5 in any statistic but has clearly separated himself from the pack in centerfield. Sosa has a career .305 batting average and has added 217 Home Runs and 814 RBI. At 26 I'd expect to see Sosa on the next installment of the decade team as well.


Batting eighth for the decades is 3 time All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner, ss Diego Johnson. Deciding the Short Stop position was the hardest one to decide but Johnson ended up getting the nod for his superb defensive play. His career Fielding Percentage of .981 sets him apart from the rest. But don't think Johnson doesn't have a bat – while his career batting average of .258 is not stellar, he does have 151 Home Runs and 612 RBI.
 
With the lineup set, we still have 5 places left for the bench. These last five positions were the hardest to fill as there are quite a few qualified candidates. These next five players are listed in no particular order.

First on the bench is our backup c, 4 time All-Star and 4 time Silver Slugger, Jolbert Mieses. This was another hard position to fill, especially with Mieses switching between Designated Hitter and Catcher throughout his career, but his offensive statistics make him stand out among the rest of the catchers in the league. Mieses is 5^th All-Time with a career .421 On Base Percentage and is 3^rd All-Time with 836 Walks. Mieses may not be the best catcher behind the plate but his bat sets him apart from other catchers. While Mieses has yet to win a World Series Ring, he has help lead his team to the AL Pennant. He has 16 postseason Home Runs and 40 RBI in 46 Games.


Second on our bench is 3 time MVP, 1b Clarence Guiel. it was tough not getting Guiel into the starting lineup, but playing 1b has its downfalls. Guiel currently sits 5^th on the All-Time Home Run list with 362. A major accomplishment of Guiel's career is the fact that he is a two time member of the 40/40 club and he has 244 career stolen bases. Guiel is hurt slightly by his .288 career batting average. 


Third on the bench is 8 time All-Star, 2 time Gold Glove and 5 time Silver Slugger, as well as former league MVP, Philip Cashman. Cashman ranks 5^th on the All-Time RBI list with 1061 and while he does not rank in the Top 5 in any other statistic he has magnificent career numbers. He has a career .316 batting average to go along with 331 Home Runs, 184 Stolen Base and 993 Runs. Cashman has played a variety of positions throughout his career, including SS, CF and 3B. While Cashman has only played in 31 postseason games, he does have a .320 Batting Average with 26 Runs and 12 Home Runs.


Fourth on the bench is 5 time All-Star, 2 time Gold Glove winner and 2 time Silver Slugger cof/3b Hick Hartley. Hartley does not rank in the Top 5 in any major statistic but he has some amazing offensive numbers to go along with his Golden Glove. Hartley has a career .292 Batting Average and .359 On Base Percentage to go along with 282 Home Runs and 853 RBI. Hartley has also flirted with the 40/40 club in his past, but has not reached that milestone yet. His closest year was Season 6 where he hit 44 Home Runs and stole 32 bases. Hartley has been a major contributor to two world Championship teams, playing in 61 Games and recording 15 Home Runs and 49 RBI to go along with 18 Stolen Bases and 43 Runs.


And now it is time to announce the final member of the Decades Team. This was a very hard decision to make but a few stats stood out among others for this player and one in particular that made his inclusion on the team a must.


The last player is 2 time All-Star and the only member of the 300 Home Run and 300 Stolen Base club, 1b/lf Walter Miller. Miller has a unique skill set, which can be seen with his inclusion in his very own club. Miller passed Ted Wilson this year for 3^rd All-Time on the Runs list with 1,029 and is the career leader in Triples with 71. Miller has a career .343 On Base Percentage to go along with 1,434 Hits, 314 Home Runs, 917 RBI and 354 Stolen Bases. Miller is also one of three members of the 40/40 club, all of which made the decades team. Miller has played in 41 postseason games and has had good success. He has a .308 Batting Average, 8 Home Runs and 29 RBI to go with 9 Stolen Bases and 30 Runs.
 
And that concludes the first addition of the Ripken Jr – Decade Team. While there can be arguments made for players that did not make the team I believe we have selected players that accomplishments make them worthy of the recognition. Many of these players look to continue their dominance in hopes of being elected to the Hall of Fame once they decide to hang up the shoes and retire from the game. Tune back in a decade from now when we will honor the next decades worth of stars!


Please check out here for the spreadsheet where I calculated and recorded career stats for players as well as other information to this process.