CKL All Decade Team: Firstbase

[leecemark]

--Here are the basic stats for all firstbasemen who met the basic requirements for the ballot. You may vote for someone not on the ballot and I'll be happy to add their info here upon request. The Batting and Fielding Leaderboards can be found in post one of the All Decade team geneal discussion thread. We will be selecting first, second and third teamers. Voting will be open for two weeks. Please vote for 5. Votes will be counted 5 for 1st, 4 for 2nd and so on. The candidates;

Willie McCovey: 289/379/540, 281 HR, 903 RBI, 845 runs, 6 time All Star, 10th in 1961 MVP, 7th in 1963 MVP, 3rd in 1968 MVP and 3rd in 1969 MVP.

Jim Gentile: 288/389/574, 188 HR, 551 RBI, 469 runs, 3 time All Star, Unanimous MVP in 1961, 9th in 1962 MVP

Orlando Cepeda: 304/353/506, 194 HR, 753 RBI 651 runs, 3 time All Star, Unanimous MVP in 1963

Norm Cash: 295/385/499, 226 HR, 845 RBI, 769 runs, 2 time All Star, 845 RBI, 769 runs, 2 time All Star, 4th in 1961 MVP, 7th in 1966 MVP

Bill White: 289/363/433, 110 HR, 568 RBI, 611 runs

Norm Seiburn: 288/383/434, 67 HR, 431 RBI, 470 runs

[leecemark]

1) Willie McCovey: Strech has been a force all decade. Leads all 1B in HR/RBI/runs and is amoung career leaders regardless of position. 4 top 10 MVP finishes. Much as I'd like to to cast the homer vote for Knights hero Jim Gentile, it would be an injustice to leave McCovey off the first team.
2) Jim Gentile: Diamond Jim's 1961 season remains the gold standard for CKL sluggers. He still holds the single season record for HR, SLG, OPS and runs. He is also still the leader in career slugging. Gentile followed up that magical season with another top 10 MVP campaign in 62 and one more All star season in 63.
3) Norm Cash: Stormin Norman hasn't been quite as spectacular as Gentile or McCovey at their best, but he has been a consistent performer all decade.
4) Orlando Cepeda: The Baby Bull put it all together in 1963, winning the Triple Crown and MVP. Cepeda has two other All Star seasons, but injuries sidetracked him for several years in mid-decade.
5) Bill White: Big drop off from 4 to 5 here, but White was a solid performer for much of the decade.

[jkc32]

Shoeless Votes:

1. McCovey
2. Cash
3. Cepeda
4. Gentile
5. White

[Erik Bedard]

1. McCovey
2. Cash
3. Gentile
4. Cepeda
5. White

[Windy City Fan]

1. McCovey
2. Cash
3. Gentile
4. Cepeda
5. White

[jaybird_1981]

1. Willie McCovey
2. Norm Cash- Another Tiger I love voting for these guys.
3. Jim Gentile
4. Orlando Cepeda
5. Bill White

[catcher24]

1. Willie McCovey - Has been with the Legends through thick and thin, but this is no homer vote. One of the top sluggers in CKL history.
2. Norm Cash - With all due respect to Mr. Gentile, Norm has anchored first base for the Hard Cider for the entire decade. Longevity puts him here.
3. Jim Gentile - Although I think everyone knows I take those first three seasons with a grain of salt - even more so for 1961 - Gentile had a great career and was a leader on the decades second greatest team, the Knights - and perhaps the greatest team of the decade's first half.
4. Orlando Cepeda - Had that one huge season and a couple other very good ones.
5.Bill White - Best of the remaining two in a surprisingly weak group.

[J W]

1) Willie McCovey - slam-dunk choice
2) Norm Cash - unsung hero of the Hard Cider (well, maybe sung a little bit)
3) Orlando Cepeda - I'll take the triple crown over the HR title among similar players

4) Jim Gentile - will his HR crown in season one last until the end of this project?
5) Boog Powell - homer write-in vote. Comparable to White.

Powell's up-and-down nature and dead-pull splits hurt him in the DMCKL. A good number of other notable hitters spent some time at 1B so actual 1B candidates are indeed thin.

[catcher24]

JW, I probably would have voted for Boog at first base, but didn't he spend his first two or three years in the outfield? I would certainly take him over Bill White (and Jim Gentile) lifetime at first base, and he might even beat out Cepeda.

[J W]

Powell:
1B - 712 games
LF - 6 games
RF - 1 game

Starts @ 1B
Cash - 1214
McCovey - 1085
White - 1046
Cepeda - 1025
Siebern - 813
Powell - 683
Gentile - 629
Mincher - 622
Banks - 609
Killebrew - 596

That said, Powell shouldn't be ranked ahead of Cepeda or Gentile on this team. He underachieved a bit.

[mac195]

1. McCovey
2. Cash - He has been a second franchise player for us. I used to think I'd try to get rid of him when his salary got up over $11 million but he always seems to earn his money.
3. Cepeda
4. Gentile
5. White

[catcher24]

Powell:
1B - 712 games
LF - 6 games
RF - 1 game

Starts @ 1B
Cash - 1214
McCovey - 1085
White - 1046
Cepeda - 1025
Siebern - 813
Powell - 683
Gentile - 629
Mincher - 622
Banks - 609
Killebrew - 596

That said, Powell shouldn't be ranked ahead of Cepeda or Gentile on this team. He underachieved a bit.

Thanks for that info, JW. I did review the lifetime totals for both White and Powell, and find that I still go with White, based mainly on the fact that his OPS is only 2 points less than Boog (.797 to .799) but he's played nearly 400 more games. So I'll stick with Bill.

[leecemark]

1) Willie McCovey 40
2) Norm Cash 31
3) Jim Gentile 23
4) Orlando Cepeda 18
5) Bill White 7
6) Boog Powell 1
--Strech is a unanimous choice for the first team. The Hard Cider's steady Norm Cash claimed second team honors. Early 60s superstar Jim Gentile took the bronze. Orlando Cepeda looks like a strong candidate for the 40th man run off. Bill White made all but one ballot, but was never better than 5th.