Since 1904, the South Atlantic League has seen some of baseball’s greatest players. In fact, Ty Cobb played in that first season, getting the league off to a great start. In the 105 years that followed, players at every position on the diamond shined in the SAL and went on to Hall of Fame careers. Here is a look at our version of the All-Time SAL Team:

SP: Bob Gibson – Played with Columbus in 1957. Went on to win 251 games and maintain a 2.91 career ERA.
SP: Steve Carlton – Went 10-1 with a 1.03 ERA with Rock Hill in 1964. Won 329 games in the major leagues.
SP: Nolan Ryan – Finished 17-2 with Greenville in 1966. Holds the MLB records for seasons played, strikeouts and no-hitters.
SP: Phil Niekro – Went 6-4 with a 2.79 ERA with Jacksonville. Went on to win 318 MLB games and play in five All-Star games.
SP: Pedro Martinez – Had a 1.97 ERA with Charleston in 1989. He is a three-time Cy Young award winner.
Cl: Hoyt Wilhelm – Won 17 games and had a 2.66 ERA for Jacksonville in 1949. Appeared in 1,070 games and had a 2.52 career ERA.

OF: Hank Aaron – Hit .362 with 22 home runs with Jacksonville in 1953. Hit 755 career home runs, and has 2,297 RBI, first all-time.
OF: Ty Cobb – Hit .305 to lead the league in 1905 for Augusta. Second all-time in MLB with 2,245 runs and 4,191 hits.
OF: Frank Robinson – Hit .336 with 25 HR for Columbia in 1954. Belted 586 HR and played in five World Series in his HOF career.

1B: Eddie Murray – Hit 17 HR and drove in 68 with Asheville in 1974. Only one of three players to record 3,000 hits and 500 HR.
2B: Ryne Sandberg – Led the SAL in at-bats in 1979 with Spartanberg in 1979. Won nine gold gloves in the majors with the Cubs.
SS: Derek Jeter – Hit .295 with Greensboro in 1993. One of the best shortstops ever, will amass 3,000 hits by the time he retires.
3B: Harmon Killebrew – Hit .325 with Charlotte in 1956. Had 573 career HR in his 22 seasons in the MLB.
C: Ivan Rodriguez – At 17, he played 112 games with Gastonia in 1989. Rated as one of the best defensive catchers of all time.

MGR: Walter Alston – Played for Columbus in 1939. Managed the Dodgers for 23 years, winning 2,040 games and 4 World Series.
Owner: Branch Rickey – Financed the Western Carolinas League. Signed Jackie Robinson, thus breaking the MLB color barrier.

Players who just missed the cut:
Sparky Anderson, Don Mattingly, Willie Stargell, Enos Slaughter, Tommy Lasorda, Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, Bobby Bonds.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 11:50 am and is filed under General Baseball, South Atlantic League. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.