What if you could transport all the great players from major league and the negro leagues into one league. From the 1890s to the modern day. From the days where they started to throw overhand until the days when all pitchers where clocked at throwing every pitch. The days of push ’em up to exit volicity stats on home runs.
Names like Bonds, Cobb, Robinson, Simmons, Williams, Ruth, Trout, Heilmann, Hornsby, Speaker, J. Gibson, Edmonds and Magee would be among the batting leaders. Top hurlers would include; Rixey, W. Johnson, Lemon, Roberts, Franco, Rivera, Aguilera, Wetteland, Holland, Paige, Feller, Mathewson, and Ryan.
With the help of Dave Koch’s PC Baseball’s BBHistory2025 database we can do just that. From over 3000 players I have narrowed down the list to include 24 teams, one club from each league, american and national from every era.
Outcomes
There are twelve different eras represented here. Therefore it made sence to run a replay for each era.
Power Rankings
1- 1928 St. Cardinals, Won 4 and lost 3 world series and 11 division titles
2- 1968 Detroit Tigers and the 1962 San Francisco Giants Won 2 world series and 4 division titles
4- 1954 Cleveland Indians and the 1995 Atlanta Braves. Won 1 world series and 6 division titles
6- 1944 St. Louis Browns won 1 world series and 4 division titles
7- 1915 Boston Red Sox won 1 world series and 1 division title
8- 2008 Tampa Rays won 3 division titles
9- 1993 Toronto Blue Jays won 1 division title
10- 1957 Milwaukee Braves won 1 division title
The remaining 14 teams did not win a division title
Batting Leaders
Mickey Mantle 4 times MVP, once OPS and BA leader
Babe Ruth 3 times MVP. 9 times HR leader, and 3 times OPS leader
Rogers Hornsby 3 times MVP, and 3 times OPS leader
Ted Williams 1 MVP, 6 times batting champion, and 5 times OPS leader
Barry Bonds 1 MVP
Hack Wilson 2 HR, 3 times RBI leader
Carl Yazstremski 3 times batting champion
Ty Cobb twice batting champion
Billy Hamilton and Tim Raines 6 times SB leaders
Pitching Leaders
Walter Johnson 5 Cy Youngs, twice tops in wins and era, 5 times WHIP leader
Bob Feller 1 Triple Crown, 4 Cy Youngs, twice tops in wins, and 10 times strikeout leader
Eppa Rixey 2 Cy Youngs, twice tops in wins
Bob Lemon 2 Cy Youngs
Mariano Rivera 7 times Save leader
Ed Walsh 4 times WHIP leader
Roger Clemens twice era leader
Billy Wagner twice Saves leader
Dan Quisenberry twice Saves leader
Kenley Jensen once Saves leader
The teams and some of their stars;
Pioneer Era;
1891 – NL Boston. Tim Keefe, John Clarkson, Dan Brouthers, Billy Hamilton, Hugh Duffy
1894 – AL Baltimore Orioles. Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, and Guy Hecker
Spitball Era;
1901 – NL Pittsburgh Pirates. Christy Mathewson, Noodles Hahn, Honus Wagner, and Jimmmy Collins
1906 – AL Chicago White Sox. Nap Lajoie, Jesse Burkett, Cy Young, and Eddie Plank. With Andrew “Rube” Foster of the Nego League joining the club in the bullpen.
Dead Ball Era;
(7) 1915 – AL Boston Red Sox. Walter Johnson, Jack Quinn, Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker, Sam Crawford, and Joe Jackson. With Juan Padron and Jose Mendez both join the starting staff. Ben Taylor will be splitting time at first base.
1917 – NL New York Giants. Sherry Magee, George Burns, Pete Alexander, Hippo Vaughn with ‘Smoky’ Joe Williams and ‘Cannon Ball’ Dick Redding join the starting pitching staff. Catcher James ‘Biz’ Mackey is the starting catcher.
Lively Ball Era;
(1) 1928 – NL St. Louis Cardinals. Eppa Rixey, Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige and William Bell join the pitching starting rotation. Rogers Hornsby, Bill Terry and Paul Waner in the batting lineup.
1927 – AL New York Yankees. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are joined by Jud Wilson and Oscar Charleston will be batting in the DH role. Pitchers Earl Whitehall, George Uhle and Wes Ferrel are included in the pitching staff.
Golden Era;
1941 – NL Brooklyn Dodgers. Paul Derringer, Bucky Walters, Ray Brown and Wilmer Fields join the pitching staff. The batting lineup includes Joe Medwick, Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard is the DH.
(6) 1944 – AL St. Louis Browns. Bob Feller and Hal Newhouser are joined by pitchers Hilton Smith and Ted Trent. Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg and Charlie Gehringer are the core of the starting batting lineup.
Integreation Era;
(4) 1954 – AL Cleveland Indians. Ted Williams, Larry Doby and Roy Sievers from the plate. Bob Lemon, Early Wynn, Billy Pierce and Virgil Trucks anchor the pitching staff.
(10) 1957 – NL Milwaukee Braves. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial are the heart of the batting lineup. Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn are the core of the pitching staff.
Expansion Era;
(2) 1962 – NL San Francisco Giants. Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, and Billy Williams are the heart of the batting lineup. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Gaylord Perry are the core of the pitching staff.
(2) 1968 – AL Detroit Tigers. Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, Al Kaline and Norm Cash at the plate. Whitey Ford, Jim Kaat and Stu Miller on the mound.
Pitching Era;
1972 – NL Cincinnati Reds. Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, Johnny Bench, Bobby Bonds fill the lineup. Tom Seaver, Ferguson Jenkins, Bob Gibson and Bruce Sutter are the core of the pitching staff,
1972 – AL Oakland Athletics. Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, and Sal Bando from the plate. Nolan Ryan, Catfish Hunter, and Jim Palmer on the hill.
Free Agency Era;
1982 – AL Milwaukee Brewers. Roger Clemens, Frank Viola, Jack Morris and Dan Quisenberry on the hill. Eddie Murray, George Brett, Don Mattingly and Kirby Puckett in the lineup.
1983 – NL Philadelphia Phillies. Mike Schmidt, Dale Murphy, Dave Parker and Tim Raines in the lineup. Steve Carlton, Fernandez Valenzula, Rick Reushchel and John Franco in the pitching staff.
Long Ball Era;
(9) 1993 – AL Toronto Blue Jays. On the hill David Wells, Kevin Brown, Jimmy Key and Rick Aguilera. Starting batting lineup; Mark McGwire, Juan Gonzalez, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr.
(4) 1995 – NL Atlanta Braves. Hitters; Barry bonds, Jim Edmonds, Jeff Kent and Mike Piazza. Pitching staff; Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and John Wetteland in the bullpen.
Analytics Era;
2006 – NL New York Mets. Pitchers; Roy Hallady, Jake Pevy, Derek Lowe and Billy Wagner in the bullpen. Batters; Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Lance Berkman.
(8) 2008 – AL Tampa Bay Rays. At the plate; Ichiro Suzuke, Carlos Beltran, Miguel Cabrerra, David Ortiz and Jim Thome. Pitching staff; Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and closer Mariano Rivera.
Modern Era;
2019 – NL Los Angeles Dodgers. Starters; Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, with Kenley Jansen and Craig Kimbrel in the bullpen. Starting lineup; Bryce Harper, Christian Yelich, and Buster Posey.
2019 – AL Houston Astros. At the plate; Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Jose Altuve and Josh Donaldson. Hurlers; J.A. Happ, Lance Lynn, and Greg Holland in the pen.
