the number of players on multiple rosters has gone over 100<\/a> which makes the SHL MIA even more intriguing.<\/p>\nBrian’s SHL MIA Team<\/strong><\/p>\nCatcherPossible Teams – Cardinals, Phillies, Red Sox, Nationals<\/em><\/p>\nMaybe he’ll find his way to the broadcast booth for the SHL but James Timothy McCarver failed to land a spot on the four teams he played on in his career.\u00c2\u00a0 Behind Ted Simmons<\/strong> — on the SHL Cardinals\u00c2\u00a0Great\u00c2\u00a0team — and Del Rice<\/strong>— not on the SHL Cardinals Great team — McCarver has more games at catcher than anyone at 960.\u00c2\u00a0 As a member of the Phillies, Red Sox and Expos, McCarver’s case is weak but time served behind the dish in St. Louis surely got him some consideration.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, Simmons, Walker Cooper <\/strong>and a versatile Joe Torre <\/strong>will be available come Opening Day behind the plate for the Cardinals.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nFirst BasemanPossible Teams – Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, Royals<\/em><\/p>\nIf the SHL Red Sox make the postseason, they won’t have to worry about a Buckner misplay at first.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s tough to make a case for Buckner on any of the teams he played for but he’s probably most qualified to play on the SHL’s version of the Cubs.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of Buckner, the Cubs are loaded at first with Cap Anson<\/strong>, Frank Chance<\/strong> and Mark Grace<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 If Buckner was chosen over Chance, none of the (Joe) Tinker-(Johnny) Evers-<\/strong>Chance trio would be on the Cubs.\u00c2\u00a0 At least one of the three are represented.<\/p>\nSecond BasemanPossible Teams – Yankees, Dodgers, Athletics, Brewers, Mets, Pirates<\/em><\/p>\nEven with Randolph having six teams on his resume, the only teams he can even be considered for are the Yankees and the Brewers (yes, the Brewers!).\u00c2\u00a0 Randolph was blocked out on the SHL Yankees by Joe Gordon <\/strong>and Tony Lazzeri<\/strong>and it’s tough to argue with those choices but Randolph did play 1,688 games in pinstripes at second\u00c2\u00a0— 247 more than the next on the list, Lazzeri — and definitely has All-Time Great caliber numbers.<\/p>\nThird BasemanPossible Teams – Phillies, Athletics, Dodgers, Cardinals, Twins, Indians<\/em><\/p>\nDespite playing over 1,700 games at third, Cross couldn’t land a spot on an SHL roster.\u00c2\u00a0 If he were selected for the SHL Phillies, Cross would have given the team depth at catcher since he played over 100 game with the club at that position.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of Cross, the Phillies have Mike Schmidt<\/strong>, Dick\u00c2\u00a0Allen\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>and Scott Rolen<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s a tough trio to argue against.\u00c2\u00a0 Late in his career, Cross played five seasons with the Athletics and his overall numbers with the club were watered down by his last two years with the A’s that might have made him a\u00c2\u00a0good exclusion here.\u00c2\u00a0 Cross missed out with the Athletics where he fell behind at least Sal Bando<\/strong>, Carney Lansford<\/strong>, Frank Baker<\/strong> and Eric Chavez<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nShortstopPossible Teams – Giants, Dodgers<\/em><\/p>\nWhat makes Ward an interesting choice for the Giants is his ability to pitch in addition to his availability at short.\u00c2\u00a0 That being said, I think that the Giants have one of the best rosters in the SHL and I don’t know if I would have included Ward.\u00c2\u00a0 However, he is a Hall of Famer and when I look at the Giants roster, the only guy with significant playing time at short is Rich Aurilia<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 The only other player with even a little bit of playing time at short on the team is Matt Williams<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\nLeft FielderPossible Teams – Cardinals, Phillies, Royals, Braves, Orioles, Pirates<\/em><\/p>\nSix different clubs and five World Series appearances with four different teams has to be enough to make you take a flyer on “Skates”, doesn’t it?\u00c2\u00a0 However, no one took a shot on the lifetime .288 hitter with a career OPS+ of 118.\u00c2\u00a0 As a Cardinal, Lonnie finished second in MVP voting in 1982.\u00c2\u00a0 The problem with Smith is that there isn’t one team where he had significant playing time and for every two seasons he threw out there, Smith threw in an average one.\u00c2\u00a0 If I was the GM of the Cardinals, Phillies, Royals or Braves though, I would have found a spot for him.<\/p>\n
Center FielderPossible Teams – Reds, Indians, Angels, Royals, Cardinals<\/em><\/p>\nNot only does it seem that Pinson’s numbers are just not good enough to find him a spot in the Hall of Fame, no one saw fit to find a place for him in the SHL either.\u00c2\u00a0 Pinson made more starts at center than any player in the history of the Reds but the 40-man SHL Reds roster is absent of Pinson who put up some pretty strong numbers in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n
Right FielderPossible Teams – Yankees, Dodgers, Giants<\/em><\/p>\nKeeler was a member of the fourth Hall of Fame class but wasn’t granted a spot on the rosters of the Yankees or Dodgers.\u00c2\u00a0 While there’s probably a list of Yankees and Dodgers that could make up their own SHL MIA team, Keeler has to be the guy with the best name.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, he was a lifetime .341 hitter, too.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess that deserves to be mentioned also.<\/p>\n
Left Handed PitcherPossible Teams – Athletics, Rangers, Cubs, Phillies, Cardinals, Orioles, Nationals<\/em><\/p>\nKnowles had five good seasons with the Rangers (four of them when they played in Washington), three of his four seasons with the Athletics were solid plus he had a good year with the Cubs, Phillies and Nationals (when they were the Expos).\u00c2\u00a0 Despite 16 Major League seasons, 765 games, 143 saves and a 3.12 lifetime ERA, Knowles wasn’t found worthy of a roster spot in the SHL.\u00c2\u00a0 Who says lefties always get preferential treatment?<\/p>\n
Right Handed PitcherPossible Teams – Indians, Orioles, Athletics<\/em><\/p>\nPaige was a two-time All-Star as a member of the St. Louis Browns — known later as the Baltimore Orioles — but SHL Orioles GM Roy Firestone stuck with a roster full of Baltimore Orioles only.\u00c2\u00a0 In addition to his time with the Browns, Paige’s two seasons in Cleveland — at age 41 and 42 — were also good enough to make a case for a spot on the SHL Indians.\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately, no one found Paige a home and the SHL will be absent of the Hall of Famer’s talents.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All the rosters are in and almost all of the stats are edited and ready to be uploaded to the OOTP simulation.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, that doesn’t mean the SHL will start tomorrow but barring any major SNAFU the SHL should be starting sooner rather than later.\u00c2\u00a0 (No firm date yet because we’d rather under-promise and over-deliver).\u00c2\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t