The two-time MVP, 19-time All-Star, and record-holder for most consecutive games played will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the finest, if not the greatest, shortstops of all time. From the 1983 season until his retirement after the 2001 season, he was named to the All-Star game every year. In that time, he won four Gold Gloves and is a member of the Hall of Fame. His number 26 has been retired throughout both the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox systems.
Tony Oliva was born on January 4th, 1950 in Puerto Rico. He moved with his family at a young age to Florida where he grew up. He started playing baseball when he was six years old and by the time he was ten he was already playing travel ball. At fifteen years old, he began playing college baseball and earned himself a scholarship to the University of Miami (UM). While attending UM, he played on three national championship teams. In 1971, he had a great season hitting.443 with 1 home run and 49 RBI's. He finished his career at UM with a.462 average, 17 homeruns and 122 RBI's.
After graduating from UM, Oliva signed with the Boston Red Sox as an outfielder. But after only one season, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Jerry Kenney.
The Iron Man lived up to his reputation straight immediately and never looked back: 1982 American League Rookie of the Year, 1983 American League Most Valuable Player award, 1991 AL MVP, The Streak, a Cooperstown plaque. What's more, he did it all while working as a security guard after baseball games had finished for the day.
Buckner was one of eight players to win both awards in the same year (along with George Brett, Carl Yastrzemski, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Willie McCovey). The other seven are Ted Williams, Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Charlie Gehringer, and Eddie Murray.
Buckner is one of only four players who have won the MVP award in its current form (three times): Bert Blyleven (1972, 1990, 1991), Greg Maddux (1995, 1996, 1997), and Randy Johnson (2001, 2002, 2003). The others are Williams, Ott, and Yastrzemski.
Buckner's teammate on the Boston Red Sox team that won the World Series in 1986 was Dave Henderson. In 1987, Buckner was traded to the California Angels where he played one season before finishing his career with the Toronto Blue Jays.
George Sisler was an unique non-power first baseman who hit.420 as the St. Louis Browns' MVP in 1922, the highest average in the modern era. In his 15-year career, he only hit 102 home runs, but he also had 163 triples, 425 doubles, and 375 stolen bases. He was a true master of the single, working the ball around the field with great accuracy and making everything look easy while playing the position.
Sisler received many votes from baseball writers for the Hall of Fame, including his own club in St. Louis. However, he never got in because he spent most of his time with the Browns, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, only allows players on the ballot to appear on at least 10 percent of their team's ballots before they are eliminated from consideration. Sisler qualified by this standard, but not enough to get in.
In fact, there has been some debate about whether or not Sisler is even in the top 100 players of all time at his position. The majority opinion seems to be that he is not, but that's only because no one knows how good other first basemen were really able to be. No one else except George Sisler himself truly knows how good he really was.
After his death in 1958 at the age of 58, his wife donated his body to Boston University for medical research.
Murphy, oddly enough, appears on a Rookie Catchers card in the 1978 Topps collection with a number of players who were All-Stars at some point in their careers. Lance Parrish was an eight-time All-Star who earned multiple gold and silver slugger awards. He finished his career with 462 home runs and 1238 RBI's. Terry Kennedy was also an eight-time All-Star who played first base for the Chicago Cubs. He finished his career with 393 home runs and 1044 RBI's.
Murphy only appeared in 78 games over four seasons (he missed two years due to military service), but he still hit.284 with 15 home runs and 62 RBI's. He became one of the top power hitters behind the plate during his time with the Twins.
He ended up playing 11 seasons in Minnesota and finished with a batting average of.272 with 100 or more hits five times. Murphy caught 166 games throughout his career and had a good understanding of the strike zone based on his high batting average. In 1977, his first season as the team's catcher, he had a.992 fielding percentage. That was second only to John Stearns' 1.000 mark from 1960 to 1969.
In addition to being an excellent receiver, Murphy was also known for his strong throwing arm. In 1977, his last season with the Twins, he threw out 35 percent of base stealers.
The club's usual shortstop, Hall of Famer Pee Wee Reese, was given the day off, and Robinson batted cleanup and played his sole game at shortstop that year, hitting.329/.425/.502. Robinson walked all four times he batted in the contest. His final batting average for the season was.329.
Robinson went on to have a great career with the Dodgers, playing 2,130 games over 15 seasons. He is one of only eight players to hit over.300 with at least 400 homers and 1000 RBIs, and the only one who did not play in a major league stadium.
Jackie Robinson broke down barriers throughout baseball, as well as in other sports and social movements. In 1997, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
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