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- Roger Clemens
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- Greg Maddux
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- Randy Johnson
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- Pedro Martinez
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- Johnny Bench
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- Albert Pujols
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- Joe Morgan
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- Mike Schmidt
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- Alex Rodriguez
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- Barry Bonds
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- Willie Mays
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- Ted Williams
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- Frank Thomas
I came upon an interesting study a few months ago. It was written by Don Davis, Mathematics Professor at Lehigh University, Bethleham, PA. There’s a lot of criteria used in determining different aspects of this study, but for the most part the players names are all recognizable and only a few to make the list are surprises. The following table lists the top five All Star Teams, using 4 pitchers per team. It also lists the overall rating percentage by player. Take a look:
| Pos’n | First team | Second team | Third team | Fourth team | Fifth team |
| P1 | Roger Clemens, 266.2 | Tom Seaver, 166.9 | Bob Gibson, 129.2 | Jim Palmer, 106.4 | Johan Santana, 85.4 |
| P2 | Greg Maddux, 203.9 | Warren Spahn, 160.5 | Robin Roberts, 128.3 | Gaylord Perry, 96.1 | Tom Glavine, 84.8 |
| P3 | Randy Johnson, 202.4 | Bob Feller, 143.7 | Sandy Koufax, 126.0 | Phil Niekro, 96.1 | Curt Schilling, 80.7 |
| P4 | Pedro Martinez, 185.7 | Steve Carlton, 140.7 | Juan Marichal, 109.5 | Fergie Jenkins, 91.7 | Bob Lemon, 79.9 |
| C | Johnny Bench, 115.5 | Yogi Berra, 97.2 | Mike Piazza, 82.2 | Ivan Rodriguez, 77.7 | Gary Carter, 75.5 |
| 1B | Albert Pujols, 145.4 | Jeff Bagwell, 103.2 | Eddie Murray, 95.2 | Willie McCovey, 92.1 | Harmon Killebrew, 86.4 |
| 2B | Joe Morgan, 140.3 | Rod Carew, 94.5 | Ryne Sandberg, 92.4 | Jackie Robinson, 82.4 | Roberto Alomar, 81.1 |
| 3B | Mike Schmidt, 173.2 | George Brett, 119.2 | Eddie Mathews, 111.7 | Wade Boggs, 108.0 | Brooks Robinson, 88.4 |
| SS | Alex Rodriguez, 145.4 | Cal Ripken, 113.6 | Robin Yount, 93.0 | Ernie Banks, 90.7 | Derek Jeter, 81.6 |
| OF1 | Barry Bonds, 270.7 | Stan Musial, 205.2 | Frank Robinson, 145.3 | Ken Griffey, 114.2 | Tony Gwynn, 100.3 |
| OF2 | Willie Mays, 226.8 | Mickey Mantle, 198.3 | Rickey Henderson, 141.5 | Al Kaline, 110.1 | Pete Rose, 99.7 |
| OF3 | Ted Williams, 213.4 | Hank Aaron, 195.6 | Carl Yazstremski, 127.5 | Reggie Jackson, 108.9 | Roberto Clemente, 99.3 |
| DH | Frank Thomas, 115.0 | Edgar Martinez, 64.4 | Paul Molitor, 62.4 | David Ortiz, 43.4 |
Are you kidding me? Can you even begin to imagine a game with all of these guys on the same team? What was particularly interesting to me is that mathematically Roger Clemens is the highest rated pitcher and Barry Bonds is the highest rated batter. These ratings are through the 2009 season, and personalities and private lives are not taken into account. This is just using good old fashioned baseball statistics.
I found the study intriguing and spent a lot of time viewing the criteria used in coming up with the lists. Rather than go into all the particulars here, you can view the study yourself @ Lehigh University http://www.lehigh.edu/~dmd1/baseball.html
This information is being used with the permission of Professor Davis.
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