My Homework Assignment from John, Part 3

Let's finish this off.  These are players from the post-Cold War era, which I have defined as 1988-present.  Unlike the first two parts, I've actually seen these players.

9.  Jose Canseco (1985-2001).  He unintentionally saved baseball from steroids.  I read his book in one day as I was traveling from Notre Dame to Chicago and then home for either spring break or Easter in 2005 (I later gave that book to Vinny and never got it back).  I think he deserves Hall of Fame consideration for Juiced.  I'm not joking.  He was the only player who was honest at the steroid hearing in Congress on St. Patrick's Day in 2005.

8 and 7.  Torii Hunter (1997-present) and Matt Kemp (2006-present).  Torii Hunter's son is going to Notre Dame to play football next year.  Matt Kemp has become a Notre Dame fan because of this (he was at the Stanford game and seemed very excited about it on twitter).  Also, Torii Hunter was the most enjoyable player to watch in the field in his day.  Matt Kemp's 2011 season was the best season I've ever seen from a Dodgers hitter.  Kemp should have been the MVP, but some guy using steroids won instead.  He's got all the talent in the world.

6.  Roy Halladay (1998-present).  I love good pitching.  I hated the Phillies for beating the Dodgers in 2008 and 2009.  When they traded for Halladay, I found myself rooting for them.  He's pitched a perfect game and one of two playoff no-hitters.  If not for Frank McCourt, the Dodgers might have traded for Halladay.  Let's just move on.

5.  Mariano Rivera (1995-present).  I've already covered him in the blog.  He's the best player I've ever seen.  I hope he's back next year.

4.  Ken Griffey, Jr. (1989-2010).  I believe Griffey was just a supremely talented athlete who has the misfortune of being lumped in with all the dirtbags that sullied the game with their cheating.  With 630 home runs, he should be fourth all time behind Aaron, Ruth, and Mays.  He was a great outfielder.  I'd rank him as the second best player I've ever seen behind Rivera.  I put him ahead of Rivera on this list because I want to believe I saw one of the game's all time great hitters and that he wasn't a product of steroids.  Here's evidence to believe that he was clean (besides that fact that he never got suddenly ginormous like so many others):  he had a clear decline after the age of 29.  At age 30, he hit 40 home runs.  Still a lot, but not what he was doing from 23-29.  After age 30, he only hit more than 30 once.  Take a look at his career numbers.  He was the best player in the game from 23-29 and then he went downhill.  An athlete should be at his best from 23-29 and then decline after that.  I think I'm right about Griffey.

3.  Derek Jeter (1995-present).  Another great player that was clean.  He won the World Series five times and played the game the right way.  He's been great in the clutch.  I respect greatness and Jeter has been great.  I'd rank him as the third best player I've ever seen (you could come up with some guys that you think should be ahead of him, but they were probably on steroids).  I hope Jeter comes back as soon as possible.  These last few days gave us a glimpse into the future of the Yankees with no Jeter and Rivera.  I don't want that day to come.

2.  Clayton Kershaw (2008-present).  He's my boy.  I'm a sucker for left-handed pitchers.  He's the best one I've ever seen for the Dodgers.  He's going to be the Dodgers' second best pitcher ever.  If he could keep this up for a long time, he'd be better than Koufax as a regular season pitcher.  He hasn't been quite as good as Koufax at his best, but Koufax only did it for six years.  But it's going to be almost impossible for Kershaw to pass Koufax because of what Koufax did in the World Series.  But he's been a joy to watch.  Kershaw and Kemp made what could have been an absolutely miserable season for the Dodgers in 2011 into a fun season.  His 2011 was the best season I've seen from a Dodgers pitcher.  He won the Cy Young last year and I contend that he deserves it again this year, but he probably won't win it.  He's only 24 so I would expect that there will be more Cy Youngs in his future.  Hopefully his first World Series championship isn't that far off.  He's got a good chance to pass the number 1 guy on my last by the time he's done.

1.  Orel Hershiser (1983-2000).  If I agreed with the standard accepted end of the Cold War, I would have put Hershiser number 2 on Part 2 behind Sandy Koufax.  He's number 1 because of 1988.  He was the hero of that season for the Dodgers.  He holds the record for consecutive scoreless innings.  That's a really cool record to have.  Of all the great pitchers that baseball has had, Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless innings in 1988 is the best such streak ever.  He dominated the Mets in the NLCS and the A's in the World Series.  I don't remember watching any of those games, but the fact that the Dodgers won the World Series that year is my first sports memory.  (I can very clearly identify 1988 as the first year I remember.  The 1988 presidential election is my first political memory.  Again, I don't remember details.  I just remember that it happened and George Bush won.  Sadly, I have no memory of Reagan as president.)  I went to my first baseball game ever in 1989 and he was the starter for the Dodgers.  After 1989, he was never a dominant pitcher again, but he was still a good postseason pitcher for the Indians and Mets (he only pitched 5 and a third innings for the Mets in the playoffs, but he didn't give up a run).  For being the Dodgers' best player in their best season of my lifetime, he gets the nod as my favorite player I've ever seen.

I actually enjoyed writing these a lot.  I picked 22 players and had at least one at every position except for catcher (edit:  read the comment I wrote, I'm an idiot).  So let me add Roy Campanella and Mike Sciosia as honorable mentions.  That gets us to 24.  I'll add Don Drysdale as an extra arm that we could put in the bullpen and our 25th player and we have the All-Jim Team.  Thanks for the idea, John.