Dennis Eckersley - sports

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This was not an easy thing to do. There are sooo many players that could have fit in just as easily as the one I have in there. Here are the players, along with the reasons I chose them:Sandy Koufax: The best pitcher of all time in my opinion. No one had a lower ERA at any time from 1961-1966. His career was cut short due to a bum elbow.Cy Young: All-time leader in wins and has the award for best pitcher named after him. Nuff said.Bob Gibson: Dominance in 1964 World Series was the reason Major League Baseball lowered the mound.Satchel Paige: Amazing in the Negro Leagues and even pitched a major league game at age 59.Tom Seaver: Awesome career with the Mets included 300 wins, a World Series title, and 3 Cy Youngs.Johnny Bench: Was the catcher that powered the Big Red Machine, the best team of the 70's. Won 2 World Series, 2 MVPs and 10 Gold Gloves.Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse batted cleanup for the amazing Yanks of the 20's and 30's. Won 2 MVPs and was a 7-time All-star. Also hit for an amazing .340 career batting average.Pete Rose: All time leader in hits with over 4,000.Mike Schmidt: Great thirdbaseman won 3 MVP awards. 12- time all-star and 10 gold gloves.Cal Ripken, Jr: Had 400+ Homeruns, 3,000+ hits, 2 MVP awards, and a World Series ring.Ted Williams: Probably the best natural hitter of all time, the last one to hit .400 in a season.Willie Mays: Member of the 3,000 hit/600 homerun club and an awesome defender, too.Roberto Clemente: Able to compile 3,000 hits and a World Series in a career shortened by a tragic plane crash.Babe Ruth: No team is complete without the Bambino, who hit 714 homeruns and was another big part of the amazing Yankees of the 1920's and 30's.Dennis Eckersley: Amazing reliever from Oakland won an MVP and made 6 All-star appearances."Goose" Gossage: Made 9 All-star appearances and is the Yankees career leader in ERA and hits allowed/9IPMariano Rivera: The person you think about when you think of closers. Truly a great pitcher and a future Hall Of Famer.Song used: "Signs" by CreedANYONE WHO WANTS TO ARGUE ABOUT NOLAN RYAN PLEASE READ: A good chunk of my comments were coming from the logic that I "forgot" to put Ryan as a pitcher. Yes, he is the all-time leader in strikeouts, but he had almost as many walks as he did strikeouts.Yes, he had his number retired by 3 different teams, but that proves nothing except that he was on a lot of teams.And what I think is the biggest thing is that you may say he is the best pitcher of 3 decades, but how come he NEVER, in his 26 year career, won a Cy Young award? Now, please continue to bash away on my comments, but I think I've made my point.