Fantasy baseball battle for the ages
It’s time to end the California debate: Have the state’s best majorleaguers come from the north or the south?
Who produces the best baseball players, Northern or Southern California? You get to choose the NorCal squad, who’ll play their counterparts in a simulated game. Bruce Jenkins explains.
The Chronicle and Los Angeles Times are launching a project that stands alone in the realm of fantasy baseball: Northern California’s greatest players against the best from Southern California. Think Dennis Eckersley facing Jackie Robinson and you’re well on your way.
Beyond flights of fancy or mere imagination, “Golden Greats: The I5 Series” will be a bestofseven unfolding through APBA, a baseballsimulation game that has cultivated a national following since 1951. It will be played May 26 online for all to see, and each team’s rosters will be determined by readers’ vote.
Each player will be represented in his best season, so we’ll see Ted Williams hitting .406, Barry Bonds in 73homer form, Tom Seaver at his overpowering best and Joe Morgan at the height of his powers. It’s hard to say for certain which part of the state produces the best ballplayers, but this promises to be a rich exercise in braggingrights discovery.
The list of roster candidates dates to the turn of the 20th century, with a crucial distinction: It’s based not on birthplace, necessarily, but on where the players grew up, learned the game, went to high school — all of those, ideally. It wouldn’t be a Southern California team without Robinson, who grew up in Pasadena after moving from Georgia, and the Northern California team certainly wouldn’t be complete without Morgan (born in Texas), Rickey Henderson (Illinois), Willie Stargell (Oklahoma) and Frank Robinson (Texas), all of whom moved to the East Bay at an early age.
At a time we’re all yearning for baseball in its purest form, this concept strips away the contracts and deals and payroll discrepancies that go into building a team. It goes well beyond the notion of the alltime Giants against the alltime Dodgers. This is about the history of a state, as rich in baseball talent as any in the country, and it’s strictly personal, no frills attached.
Gazing at the NorCal options, you realize that Henderson and Bonds both play left field — but how can you leave either out of the starting lineup? You don’t want to mess with center fielder Joe DiMaggio, that’s for sure. Contemporary A’s fans would love to see Marcus Semien at shortstop, coming off his MVPcaliber season, but maybe he’s looking up at Troy Tulowitzki, Jimmy Rollins and Hall of Famer Joe Cronin. Mike Norris’ career was no tribute to longevity, but you’re getting him in 1980, when he was damn near unhittable; does he crack a rotation including Seaver, Randy Johnson, Lefty Gomez and Dave Stewart?
Things are just as delightfully complicated on the SoCal end. Maybe it’s easy to start Williams, Duke Snider and the vintage Bobby Bonds (perhaps the game’s best player in ’73) in the outfield, but how do you sort out Tony Gwynn, George Foster and Christian Yelich? Maybe you go all badass with Kevin Mitchell, Dusty Baker and Reggie Smith.
As much as we love the similarities between Nolan Arenado and the A’s Matt Chapman at third base, that’s looking like Eddie Mathews or George Brett, conveniently batting .390, with Graig Nettles a pretty fair choice for lateinning defense. The shortstop position is at least seven deep in iconic players, led by Ozzie Smith. Mark McGwire and Cecil Fielder offer massive power at first base, but then again — Eddie Murray. Looking at second base, does Jeff Kent even make the club?
Very cool bonus: We were thrilled to learn that Jon Miller, the Giants’ Hall of Fame broadcaster, is excited to be part of this. Once the games are completed, we’ll do a comprehensive podcast running down the results and Miller providing highlight calls throughout. (If he does a couple as Vin Scully in Japanese, all the better.)
The particulars:
Voters will be asked to go three deep at every infield position, plus nine outfielders and 10 pitchers, for a 34man roster. The designated hitter will be in play, selected from each team’s field of 24. That’s an overload, to be sure, but it’s all about maximizing star power; this won’t turn into a springtraining fiasco of substitutions.
Visit SFChronicle.com to fill out the NorCal ballot. LATimes.com is hosting the SoCal voting. Polls close at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.
This is the culmination of a project I began in the mid1970s, researching the biographies and acquiring the necessary APBA cards. As such, I’ll manage the NorCal team, and L.A. Times sportswriter Houston Mitchell will handle SoCal.
Thanks to the Times for contacting the APBA company, which generously offered to host the games online through its computerized version. Details coming on how and when to sign on.