All-time National League lineup, greatest at each position?

Question

1. What players would you put at each position, including a DH?
2. Who are your top five starting pitchers?
3. Top four relievers?
4. Who manages the team?

5. Optional: What 5 non-pitchers (not in the regular lineup) would you have on the bench?
(useful if one of your favorites doesn't make first string)

Thanks for the responses so far, awesome!

PS: I may extend this for a couple of more days to allow editing time and new responses.

FYI: One user created a Major League lineup (a few American Leaguers listed). I have a separate All-time A.L. question. Thanks.

Answer 1

The names may change if the criteria is best over a career or at their peak. I tried to come up with a little of both, which led to some answers against the conventional wisdom. On the bench I valued defensive ability as well as positional versatility.

1B Stan Musial- Beats McGwire because of the steriods issue.
2B Rogers Hornsby- Beats my all time favorite player because of the stats.
SS- Ernie Banks- Power numbers for a middle infielder in his era an incredible statistical anomaly.
3B- Mike Schmidt- No one comes close as a power hitting third baseman in the NL.
OF- Duke Snider- Led the 1950s in RBI
OF- Willie Mays- Power, speed, defense
OF- Hank Aaron- Would not have placed him as his career seemed to be valued more because of longevity, but I spoke to an old time pitcher who told me the two toughest hitters he faced above all others were by far Aaron and Ted Williams.
C Roy Campanella- both good behind the plate and with the hitting. Note his home run totals and the MVPs before the steroids era and before the nerve in his hand was damaged.
DH- Albert Pujols- Provides versatility because he can play the infield and the outfield.

Bench
C Johnny Bench- The catching defensive replacement for Campanella beats Piazza because of the glove work.
SS- Ozzie Smith- Defensive replacement for the middle infield.
OF- Roberto Clemente- Defensive outfield replacement for his cannon arm.
OF- Tony Gwynn- Ultimate pinch hitter off the bench, especially when he still had the speed to steal bases.
Utility- Craig Biggio- Bill James has the stats to show how he is one of the greatest players who has ever played based on his offense, especially because of his power and speed. He was an All-Star at two difficult positions of catcher and second base and also played center field, which makes him one of the ultimate utility players.


SP- Christy Matthewson
SP- Sandy Koufax- In his peak years, the most untouchable pitcher in baseball
SP- Bob Gibson
SP- Steve Carlton- A lefthander and in his peak year 1972, won 27 games for a team that won only 59 games.

With respect to Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, and Warren Spahn who all had far more successful careers in terms of longevity, the best big game pitcher in his peak year was Orel Hershiser in the last half of 1988 who fully controlled game after game on his historic scoreless inning streak run, both beat the Mets and came in on short rest in relief between starts, beat the Mets in Game 7 on two days rest, and then both beat and outhit the Bash Brothers A's in the clinching World Series win. His dominance is even more impressive when you realize that he utterly destroyed the first team with steroids enhanced sluggers. While the other guys had better careers and post season success, Hershiser was the best and more valuable than any other pitcher when the stakes were the highest.

RP- Eric Gagne- Consecutive saves record
RP- John Smoltz- Not only near the top in most saves in a season, but provides insurance of long relief
RP- Trevor Hoffman- Pioneered the use of the intimidating rock song to be played when running out of the bullpen
RP- Mike Marshall- Need a rubber armed setup man who could pitch almost every day and also close and get the multi-inning save. Appeared in 92 games in 1973 and 106 games in his 1974 Cy Young year.

Manager- Tony LaRussa- A tough call over Alston and Bobby Cox but I picked because of his pioneering of newer methods to win games and ability to handle a pitching staff. Lasorda would be the 3rd base coach because who better to motivate the baserunner to take the extra base.

Answer 2

Tough one. I think mine would look something like this:
1B - Willie Stargell
2B - Rogers Hornsby
SS - Ozzie Smith
3B - Mike Schmidt
C - Johnny Bench
OF - Roberto Clemente
OF - Willie Mays
OF - Hank Aaron
DH - Pete Rose

SP - Bob Gibson
SP - Steve Carlton
SP - Juan Marichal
SP - Sandy Koufax
SP - Walter Johnson

RP - Bruce Sutter
RP - Trevor Hoffman
RP - Lee Smith
RP - Goose Gossage

Bench - Willie McCovey
Bench - Honus Wagner
Bench - Frank Robinson
Bench - Tony Gwynn

Manager - Bobby Cox

This was much harder than I thought when I first looked at it. To leave off names such as Seaver, Ryan, J. Robinson, Brock, Paige, the list goes on and on...but for me, these guys not only had the numbers, but they played the game hard every time. Ran out grounders back to the pitcher, or never gave up on any play. Im interested to see what others think. Great question.

Answer 3

Pre-war
Post-war (pre-steriods) - No active players included

C - Gabby Harnett - Cubs
C - Johnny Bench - Reds

1B - Bill Terry - Giants
1B - Willie McCovery - Giants

2B - Frankie Frisch - Giants/Cards
2B - Joe Morgan - Reds

SS - Honus Wagner - Pirates
SS - Ozzie Smith - Cardinals

3B - Pie Traynor - Pirates
3B - Mike Schmidt - Phillies

CF - Max Carey - Pirates
CF - Willie Mays - Giants

RF - Mel Ott - Giants
RF - Roberto Clemente

LF - Joe Medwick - Cardinals
LF - Stan Musial - Cardinals

DH - Rogers Hornsby - Cardinals/Giants
DH - Hank Aaron - Braves

Bench:
RF - Chuck Klein - Phillies
OF - Johnny Mize - Card/Giants
OF - Hack Wilson - Giants/Cubs
RF - Paul Waner - Pirates
OF - Zack Wheat - Dodgers

C - Roy Campenella - Dodgers
SS - Ernie Banks - Cubs
3B - Eddie Mathews - Braves
UT - Jackie Robinson - Dodgers
UT - Pete Rose - Reds

Pitchers:
LSP - Carl Hubbell - Giants
RSP - Iron Joe McGinnity - Giants
RSP - Christy Mathewson - Giants
RSP - 3-Finger Mordecai Brown - Cubs
RSP - Grover Cleveland Alexander - Phils / Cubs

LSP - Sandy Koufax - Dodgers
LSP - Steve Carlton - Cards/Phillies
RSP - Warren Spahn - Braves or Juan Marichal - Giants
RSP - Tom Seaver - Mets
RSP - Bob Gibson - Cardinals

Relievers:
Lee Smith - Cards/Cubs
Bruce Sutter - Cardinals
Roy Face - Pirates
Mike Marshall - Dodgers
John Franco - Reds/Mets

Hoyt Wilhem - AL/NL
Rich "Goose" Goosage - AL/NL
Lindy McDaniel - AL/NL
Stu Miller - AL/NL
Ted Abernathy - AL/NL

Managers:
John McGraw - Giants
Walter Alston - Dodgers

Answer 4

Catcher: Yogi Berra 1st Base: Lou Gehrig 2nd Base: Charlie Gehringer Shortstop: Cal Ripken Jr. 3rd Base: Brooks Robinson Right Field: Babe Ruth Center Field: Mickey Mantle Left Field: Ted Williams DH: Ty Cobb SP: Walter Johnson SP: Nolan Ryan SP: Cy Young SP: Bob Feller SP: Lefty Grove RP: Rollie Fingers RP: Goose Gossage RP: Dennis Eckersly RP: Mariano Rivera Bench: Bill Dickey Joe DiMaggio Jimmie Foxx George Brett Carl Yaztrezemski Manager: Casey Stengel

Answer 5

I don't think you would lose many games with this line up every day.

1B Stan Musial (Pujols may end up the best ever if he stays on his pace)
2B Rogers Hornsby
SS Honus Wagner
3B Brooks Robinson (Defense, defense, defense)
C Johnny Bench (Again, defense and hitting)
OF Ty Cobb
OF Babe Ruth
OF Ted Williams
DH Barry Bonds (on Steroids)

P Walter Johnson
P Bob Gibson
P Christy Mathewson
P Sandy Koufax
P Juan Marichal

R Bruce Sutter
R Eric Gagne
R Mariano Rivera
R Hoyt Wilhelm (I've made him a reliever)

Bench:
Willie Mays
Tris Speaker
Ernie Banks
Mickey Mantle
Lou Gehrig

Answer 6

Pitcher: Bob Gibson. The rest won't matter

Answer 7

1b-albert pujols
2b-joe morgan
ss-ozzie smith
3b-pete rose
lf-barry bonds
cf-tony gwynn
rf-roberto clemente
c-mike piazza
p-sandy koufax
p-bob gibson
p-orel hershisher
p-ferguson jenkins
p-tom seaver
dh-hank aaron
rp-kent tekulve
rp-bruce sutter
rp-lee smith
rp-goose gossage
u-mike schmit
u-johnny bench
u-willie stargell
u-dave kingman
u-steve garvey
manager-walter alston

Answer 8

All very subjective, but here goes. Trying to keep it to players who spent majority of career in NL. My apologies in advance to anyone obvious I overlook. lol :-)

C - Bench
1B - McCovey
2B - Morgan
SS - Wagner
3B -Schmidt
LF - Bonds
CF - Mays
RF - Aaron
DH - Musial

SP - Mathewson
SP - Seaver
SP - Gibson
SP - Maddux

RP - Hoffman
RP - Sutter
RP - Smith
RP - Dunno - McGraw on a lark

Manager - Bobby Cox

I'll pass on the bench!

Answer 9

C - CAMPANELLA
1B - MCCOVEY
2B - MORGAN
SS - SMITH
3B - SCHMIDT
LF - AARON
CF - MAYS
RF - CLEMENTE
DH - MUSIAL
P - GIBSON
P - KOUFAX
P - MARICHAL
P - SEAVER
P - SPAHN
RP - PIAGE
RP - SMITH
RP - SUTTER
RP - WILHELM
MGR - LASORDA
BENCH PLAYERS
BANKS
BENCH
CEPEDA
J. ROBINSON
ROSE

PLEASE MAKE A NOTE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE NL AND THE AL.