Team icons

[bportjoey]

MY LIST
New York Yankees-Babe Ruth
Tampa Bay Rays-Evan Longoria OF COURSE
Boston Red Sox-Ted Williams
Toronto Blue Jays-Carlos Delgato
Baltimore Orioles-Frank Robinson
Minnesota Twins-Harmon Killebrew
Chicago White Sox-BIG HURT Frank Thomas
Detroit Tigers-Ty Cobb
Kansas City Royals-George Brett
Cleveland Indians-Al Rosen
Texas Rangers-Frank Howard
LA Angels-Doug DeCinces
Oakland A's-Jimmy Fox
Seattle Mariners-Ken Griffey Jr.
Atlanta Braves-Hank Aaron
Philadelphia Phillies-Mike Schmidt
Florida Marlins-Miguel Cabrera
New York Mets-Tom Seaver
Washington Nationals-Strazzzzz...Ryan Zimmerman
Cincinnati Reds-Pete Rose
St. Louis Cardinals-Albert Pujols
Houston Astros-Jeff Bagwell
Milwaukee Brewers-Robin Yount
Chicago Cubs-Ryan Sandburg/Sammy Sosa*
Pittsburgh Pirates-Roberto Clemente
San Diego Padres-Tony Gwynn
San Francisco Giants-Willie Mays/Barry Bonds*
Colorado Rockies-Todd Helton
Los Angeles Dodgers-Mike Piazza
Arizona Diamondbacks Louis Gonzalez

 

[leatherman]

Jackie Robinson is a good answer for the Dodgers, but even on the teams he played, the face of the Dodgers was captain Pee Wee Reese.

Likewise, you can't really argue about Roberto Clemente for the Pirates, but for many die-hard Pittsburghers, Honus Wagner is the penultimate Pirate.

I think you might be confused with the definition of penultimate. Penultimate means second to last, or in this case second to first. Either way what you said still has Wagner at number two.

But it sounded good.

 

[gracecollector]

Jackie Robinson is a good answer for the Dodgers, but even on the teams he played, the face of the Dodgers was captain Pee Wee Reese.

Likewise, you can't really argue about Roberto Clemente for the Pirates, but for many die-hard Pittsburghers, Honus Wagner is the penultimate Pirate.

I think you might be confused with the definition of penultimate. Penultimate means second to last, or in this case second to first. Either way what you said still has Wagner at number two.

I is dumb. Thanks for schooling me.

You're right. I'm wrong. (See people, you can admit it on this board.)

 

[predatorkj]

Am I the only one that hears Dodgers and thinks of Koufax first?

Astros are definitely Bagwell and Biggio as a tandem. You can't pick just one.

Ryan gets my vote for the Rangers, and Thomas for the White Sox. I'm surprised that Ozzie Guillen hasn't even been mentioned for the Sox.

True dat!

 

[predatorkj]

Texas - Same thing here. Ryan was there as a player for FIVE seasons, and two of those seasons were pretty poor seasons. I assume this discussion is about players, not "front office" people, so I don't see how it can't be Rodriguez.

So when people think of the Rangers...they think of Pudge? I will have to agree to disagree on that. Nobody remembers Ryan for the Angels. Nobody remembers him for what he did in New York. They remember him for the last 10 or so years of his career, because of all the records he started eclipsing ,which were played between Houston and the Rangers. While we love him down here...he seems to mean more to the Rangers fans.

 

[Sly]

Texas - Same thing here. Ryan was there as a player for FIVE seasons, and two of those seasons were pretty poor seasons. I assume this discussion is about players, not "front office" people, so I don't see how it can't be Rodriguez.

So when people think of the Rangers...they think of Pudge? I will have to agree to disagree on that. Nobody remembers Ryan for the Angels. Nobody remembers him for what he did in New York. They remember him for the last 10 or so years of his career, because of all the records he started eclipsing ,which were played between Houston and the Rangers. While we love him down here...he seems to mean more to the Rangers fans.

To me, it's the other way around:

I think of Nolan Ryan, I think Astros and Rangers.
I think of Texas Rangers, I think of the best catcher I've ever seen play. Hell, I think of Juan Gonzalez before I think of Nolan Ryan.

Ryan was well established before coming to Texas. He had already owned the strikeout record. What people remember are the no-hitters in Texas. But again to me, that's remembering Ryan as a Ranger.

I really think it's hard to put Ryan as a "Team Icon" anywhere he played. He was more of a baseball icon than a specific team icon. He just didn't do enough in Texas to be considered THE Texas Rangers icon (5 years, average of 10 wins, 188 K's per season, 3 CG's per season). Are the two no-hitters in Texas enough to make him the Icon of the Texas Rangers? To me, no. Now granted, you guys in Texas may feel different (just as those outside Seattle feel it's Griffey over Edgar) and you guys are closer to it. But taking out his front office/ownership duties (again I see this whole thing as PLAYING icons), I don't see it.

 

[colts1888]

MY LIST
New York Yankees-Babe Ruth
Tampa Bay Rays-Evan Longoria OF COURSE
Boston Red Sox-Ted Williams
Toronto Blue Jays-Carlos Delgato-still think its halladay
Baltimore Orioles-Frank Robinson-Ripken iis the first guy that comes to mind when i hear Orioles
Minnesota Twins-Harmon Killebrew
Chicago White Sox-BIG HURT Frank Thomas
Detroit Tigers-Ty Cobb
Kansas City Royals-George Brett
Cleveland Indians-Al Rosen
Texas Rangers-fr-i think its Pudge
LA Angels-Doug DeCinces-hae no idea who i would put here
Oakland A's-Jimmy Fox-same as the angels
Seattle Mariners-Ken Griffey Jr.
Atlanta Braves-Hank Aaron
Philadelphia Phillies-Mike Schmidt
Florida Marlins-Miguel Cabrera- Hanley ramirez
New York Mets-Tom Seaver
Washington Nationals-Strazzzzz...Ryan Zimmerman
Cincinnati Reds-Pete Rose
St. Louis Cardinals-Albert Pujols
Houston Astros-Jeff Bagwell
Milwaukee Brewers-Robin Yount
Chicago Cubs-Ryan Sandburg/Sammy Sosa*
Pittsburgh Pirates-Roberto Clemente
San Diego Padres-Tony Gwynn
San Francisco Giants-Willie Mays/Barry Bonds*
Colorado Rockies-Todd Helton
Los Angeles Dodgers-Mike Piazza
Arizona Diamondbacks Louis Gonzalez

aside from those 5 or so I agree with everyone you mentioned

 

[SamHell]

I'll just give a bit of background from the Rangers/Ryan era for those that were too young to remember or wasn't real familiar with the team back then. The Rangers were a bottom of the barrel team back then. We had never went to the playoffs. Ownership historically had been horrible. We played in Arlington Stadium, a minor league park that they had built stands around. It was a miserable place to watch a game. There was no shade and what fans(like me) did show up baked in the sun to watch bad teams play. No legitimate free agent would come to Texas even if ownership would have been willing to pay them. Our teams consisted of what young guys the farm system could grow and castoffs from other teams. Nolan Ryan was already a legend(especially in Texas) when he decided to play for the Rangers. The Ranger fans ecstatic when he signed with Texas. Here was a HOF(and a Texan as well) pitcher choosing to pitch for us. We didn't care that he was 42 years and had seen his better days. 1989 was Ryan's first year as a Ranger. He was 16-10 with a 3.2 ERA and had over 300 K's. We had a winning record and attendance grew by 500,000. People were excited. Ownership started spending money. We were able to keep talent like Julio Franco and bring young guys in like Rafael Palmeiro and farmhands like Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez. Nolan only pitched 5 years. He was a very effective pitcher for 4 of them. What he brought off the field meant just as much. He showed ownership that the fans would support a winning team and that they should put money into the team. The Ballpark at Arlington does not get built if Nolan Ryan didn't pitch for the Rangers. The division winning teams of the late 90's don't exist if Ryan didn't pick the Rangers. That's why he is the Rangers Icon.

 

[predatorkj]

I'll just give a bit of background from the Rangers/Ryan era for those that were too young to remember or wasn't real familiar with the team back then. The Rangers were a bottom of the barrel team back then. We had never went to the playoffs. Ownership historically had been horrible. We played in Arlington Stadium, a minor league park that they had built stands around. It was a miserable place to watch a game. There was no shade and what fans(like me) did show up baked in the sun to watch bad teams play. No legitimate free agent would come to Texas even if ownership would have been willing to pay them. Our teams consisted of what young guys the farm system could grow and castoffs from other teams. Nolan Ryan was already a legend(especially in Texas) when he decided to play for the Rangers. The Ranger fans ecstatic when he signed with Texas. Here was a HOF(and a Texan as well) pitcher choosing to pitch for us. We didn't care that he was 42 years and had seen his better days. 1989 was Ryan's first year as a Ranger. He was 16-10 with a 3.2 ERA and had over 300 K's. We had a winning record and attendance grew by 500,000. People were excited. Ownership started spending money. We were able to keep talent like Julio Franco and bring young guys in like Rafael Palmeiro and farmhands like Juan Gonzalez and Pudge Rodriguez. Nolan only pitched 5 years. He was a very effective pitcher for 4 of them. What he brought off the field meant just as much. He showed ownership that the fans would support a winning team and that they should put money into the team. The Ballpark at Arlington does not get built if Nolan Ryan didn't pitch for the Rangers. The division winning teams of the late 90's don't exist if Ryan didn't pick the Rangers. That's why he is the Rangers Icon.

Pretty much. I was going to get at that next. He pretty much made the Rangers possible to care about. The astros had a few guys here and there that were fan favorites. The Rangers were dead in the water. That is why I say...people remember him more for the Rangers than they do the astros or mets or angels. But I guess SLY is right. First of all...its only an opinion and second of all...you would see it more and understand it better if you lived in Texas.

 

[Mozzie22]

As a life long Cardinals fan I can inform any that think it is Albert Pujols that it is not. If Pujols plays another 10 years for the Cardinals and is voted on by baseball historians to be the greatest baseball player of all time he will still not be it. If upon arriving on earth for the second time Jesus Christ's first words are, "Albert is the Cardinals," it will still not be true.

Stan Musial is, has been, and will forever be, "the Cardinals." Albert wouldn't even be second, Red Schoendienst has been with the organization for over 60 years! I think Pujols is great and will be right up there with the other Cardinal legends when it is said and done but there simply is no argument here, "The Man" is the Cardinals.

 

[Super Mario]

I just went with the first player that popped into my head when I seen the franchises name, not the best.

New York Yankees-Derek Jeter
Tampa Bay Rays-Carl Crawford
Boston Red Sox-Ted Williams
Toronto Blue Jays-Joe Carter
Baltimore Orioles-Cal Ripken Jr.

Minnesota Twins-Kirby Puckett
Chicago White Sox-Frank Thomas
Detroit Tigers-Ty Cobb
Kansas City Royals-Bo Jackson
Cleveland Indians-Rick Vaughn

Texas Rangers-Nolan Ryan
LA Angels-Rod Carew
Oakland A's-Mark McGwire
Seattle Mariners-Ken Griffey Jr.

Atlanta Braves-Greg Maddux
Philadelphia Phillies-Mike Schmidt
Florida Marlins-Mike Piazza
New York Mets-Keith Hernanzez
Washington Nationals-Ryan Zimmerman

Cincinnati Reds-Pete Rose
St. Louis Cardinals-Albert Pujols
Houston Astros-Killer B's
Milwaukee Brewers-Robin Yount
Chicago Cubs-Sammy Sosa
Pittsburgh Pirates-Roberto Clemente

San Diego Padres-Tony Gwynn
San Francisco Giants-Barry Bonds
Colorado Rockies-Todd Helton
Los Angeles Dodgers-Tommy Lasorda
Arizona Diamondbacks-Randy Johnson

 

[JoshHamilton]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

 

[Super Mario]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

Yeah.

 

[cowboysrule48]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

I really don't understand how people are putting Cabrera or Hanley on their lists either. There's only one answer for the Marlins.

 

[JoshHamilton]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

I really don't understand how people are putting Cabrera or Hanley on their lists either. There's only one answer for the Marlins.

Who?

 

[predatorkj]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

I really don't understand how people are putting Cabrera or Hanley on their lists either. There's only one answer for the Marlins.

Oh and who is that. i would go with either of those two over anybody else. I would go with Cabrera though.

 

[mannyramirezcollec]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

I really don't understand how people are putting Cabrera or Hanley on their lists either. There's only one answer for the Marlins.

Who?

Jorge Cantu

 

[BunchOBull]

For the Marlins I always think of Charles Johnson or Jeff Conine.

 

[JoshHamilton]

Sam, when you think of the last 18 years of the Marlins franchise, two World Series titles, the first thing you think of is a guy who played for them for ONE WEEK?

Seriously?

I really don't understand how people are putting Cabrera or Hanley on their lists either. There's only one answer for the Marlins.

Who?

Jorge Cantu

Josh Booty!

 

[leatherman]

Astros are definitely Bagwell and Biggio as a tandem. You can't pick just one.

True dat!

Like asking a mother which twin she likes most.