Friday, February 21, 2014

"1960'S ALL-DECADE TEAM" SUB-SET FOR THE 1970 TOPPS SET: SHORTSTOPS

Today let's revisit my imagined 1960's "All-Decade" sub-set and move on to shortstop. 
After trying to justify getting Jim Fregosi in there as the American League shortstop of the decade, I decided that really, I need to go with Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio.
For the National league I went with speed demon Maury Wills and his baskets full of stolen bases and his 1962 M.V.P. award. Ernie Banks was over at first base by 1961/62, so what would have been a given actually isn't.
Anyway, let's take a look at the card I designed:


Aparicio had a fine decade in the 1960's, pacing the American League in stolen bases with five crowns from 1960-1964, winning a World Series with the Orioles in 1966, being named to five all-star teams, and winning six Gold Gloves.
All in all I just feel he was a lot more solid overall than Fregosi, who had a nice run of offensive seasons  from the mid-60's to 1969.
Aparicio even had six years during the decade where he got some M.V.P. attention, with a peak finish of ninth in that championship 1966 season at Baltimore.
For the National League, no one really dominated the position, so I went with another stolen base machine, Maury Wills.
It's not like it was a pity-pick though, as Wills really did have a good decade, leading the lead in steals six straight years between 1960-65, with a high of 104 that took the baseball world by storm in 1962, leading to his Most Valuable Player Award.
He also finished in third for M.V.P. in 1965, when he stole 94 bases to go along with his 186 hits and 92 runs scored for Los Angeles. 
During the decade Wills topped 170 hits seven times, with a high of 208 in 1962 (even though that total didn't get him a .300 batting average because of his 695 at-bats in 165 games!).
Nevertheless, I think the shortstop duo of Aparicio and Wills stands up against any other shortstop combo.
What do you think?
Next up on this thread, we move over to third base, which was the easiest to pick so far…
Stay tuned.

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