If you had to choose an all time Major League Baseball team, which 25 players would you pick? Who would be the starters in the field and?

What a great question, and one that I have been thinking of for some time. Thank you for posting this question so that I can finally put it in writing! Executive: Branch Rickey, for his innovations to the game, particularly breaking the color barrier (both with African-American players by the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1947, and hispanic players by the singing of Roberto Clemente), formation of the minor leagues, and pioneered the batting helmet.

Runner up: George Steinbrenner Manager: Bobby Cox (4th in all time wins as a manager). Why not Connie Mack? Read here: Mack's strength as a manager was finding the best players, teaching them well, and letting them play."He did not believe that baseball revolved around managerial strategy.

"13 He was "one of the first managers to work on repositioning his fielders" during the game, often directing the outfielders to move left or right, play shallow or deep, by waving his scorecard from the bench.15 After he became well-known for doing this, he often passed his instructions to the fielders by way of other players, and simply waved his scorecard as a feint.19 Baseball historian Bill James sums up Mack's managerial approach as follows: he favored a set lineup; did not generally use a platoon approach; preferred young players to veterans; preferred hitters with power who got on base a lot to high-batting-average players; did not often send in a pinch-hitter; did not often use his bench players; did not often employ the sacrifice bunt; believed in "big-inning" offense rather than small ball; and very rarely issued an intentional base on balls.20 Bobby Cox wins in my book because he is a master strategist, gets the most out of his players, and truly is a "manager" in the sense of the word. He makes brilliant substitutions, plays small ball, and has a high winning percentage (vs. just a long career) and two world series championships. S teams always seem to be in the thick of a pennant race: he leads baseball history in amount of postseason games managed.

Bench Coach: Tommy Lasorda. A wonderful man, brilliant baseball man, and long dedicated history to the Dodger organization. Pitching Coach: Dave Duncan.

Even though he was not a pitcher during his career, he has a long history of successfully improving pitchers careers (Dennis Eckersley), helping establish stars (Chris Carpenter) and consistently improving entire pitching staffs (Oakland and St. Louis). Now, for the 25 man roster.It's important to realize here that these players cross different eras, so I wanted to establish a team with stars that could compete across any era in baseball, for instance pitchers in the deadball era I chose because I think they'd make great pitchers in the steriod age, etc. THE PITCHING STAFF: Starters: 1. ) Nolan Ryan (ridiculous K records, retired number with 3 teams, 7 career no hitters) 2.) Sandy Koufax (though he didn't have a lengthy career, he was by far one of the best pitchers ever, winning the pitching triple crown and cy young 3x, and more notably 4x WS winner) 3.

) Walter Johnson (110 career shutouts, 417 wins, 2.17 ERA, 3508 K) 4. ) Warren Spahn (most LHP wins all time w/363, 17x all star) 5.) John Smoltz (postseason record alone: 15-4, 40 appearances, 27 starts, 2.65 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 67 BB, 194 K, 168 H, 2 CG, 1 SO, 4 Saves over 207 innings) Apologies to: Cy Young, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver The bullpen: 6. ) Long man: Cy Young (for being a true horse, innings eater, and lest we forget he has a pitching award named after him) 7.

) Setup: Rollie Fingers (one of the first true modern great relievers, 3x champion, MVP as a RP, number retired by 2 teams) 8.) Setup: Bruce Sutter (300 save club, revolutionized the splitter) 9. ) Setup: Dennis Eckersley 10. ) LH specialist: Billy Wagner (the only non-shoe in Hall of famer on the list, but a valuable asset to a team) 11.) Closer: Mariano Rivera.

S postseason stats: (8-1, 73 appearances, 0.80 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 15 BB, 87 K, 70 H, 34 saves, over 112 2/3 innings pitched. ) Just the best ever. Now, on to our starting 9: (We're putting a DH here, that's just how it's gotta be :) C: Johnny Bench.

The best all around catcher ever. Part of the Big Red Machine, he was always on great teams, and was an integral part in their success. Runner up: Yogi Berra, Josh Gibson 1B: Lou Gehrig.

A true class act, tough games streak, the Iron Horse speaks for his own, not even mentioning the unbelievable stats and success he had. Always on a winner (6x WS champion) has the most career grand slams, hit for a .340 clip and was a dangerous hitter. Runner up: Jimmie Foxx 2B: Jackie Robinson.

Imagine if he had played his entire career in the Major leagues. Robinson was bigger than baseball. He happened to be a great player, and his legacy stands as a true American hero and baseball legend.

Runner up: Joe Morgan 3B: Mike Schmidt. A brilliant hitter and fielder, 12x All star, 10x gold glover, 3x MVP. Runner up: Brooks Robinson, George Brett.

SS: Cal Ripken Jr. 19x All star, 2x MVP, he revolutionized the SS position, and broke my 1B Lou's games record. Fans voted his record breaker the best moment in MLB history.'Nuff said. Runner up: Derek Jeter, Rogers Hornsby, Ozzie Smith LF: Ted Williams: the best pure hitter.Ever.

Runner up: Ricky Henderson, Stan Musial CF: Ty Cobb. If I could go back in time to see one player play, it would be the fierce Ty Cobb. The first hall of famer, Cobb was a wizard with the bat, a demon on the basepaths, and brilliant in the field.

Though he was not a pleasant guy, I think my team much more makes up for his personality lack.(batted .366, over 4000 hits, 54 career steals of home! Mark of solid consistent average, only hit under .320 once! ) Runner up: Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays RF: Henry Aaron.

The true HR champion. Runner up: Roberto Clemente, Mel Ott, Ichiro DH: Babe Ruth, no Runner up. He speaks for himself I do believe.

The Bench (5): Backup catcher: Yogi Berra. He keeps it loose on the bench, a wonderful baseball mind, and an inspirational player. Pinch Runner: Ricky Henderson, the most all time steals, and a pretty darn good hitter too.

Pinch He's a truly great all around hitter. Super Utility: Robin Yount. Had an established career in the middle infield and outfield.

The opposing manager's nightmare pinch hitter: Mickey Mantle. He would create a mismatch headache for his unbelievable switch hitting abilities. Also one of the great fun people in the game that would keep the team loose.

Oh, and he was pretty good too ;) There's my 25! And to answer your question, not even the Big Red Machine, not even the Dynasty Yankees, could hold a candle to this team. It's just too deep; the pitchers are just too dominant, and the hitting lineup would ware out the opposing pitching staff and just tatter their durability in a short series.

What a fun time, and I hope you appreciate my answer, and I'd certainly like to hear what you think.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.