Best religion teams

[stejay]

I was wondering what would the best Catholic and Jewish teams would look like. Get researching, Wikipedia should have the answers.

[stejay]

Jewish team-

C- Jeff Newman
1B- Hank Greenberg
2B- Buddy Myer
3B- Flip Rosen
SS- Lou Boudreau
OF- Shawn Green
OF- Richie Scheinblum
OF- Art Shamsky
SP- Sandy Koufax
RP- Scott Radinsky

Catholic team-

C- Johnny Bench
1B- Cap Anson
2B- Rod Carew
3B- Ron Santo
SS- Phil Rizzuto
OF- Joe DiMaggio
OF- Stan Musial
OF- Babe Ruth
SP- Lefty Gomez
RP- Juan Marichal

[Dodgerfan1]

I was wondering what would the best Catholic and Jewish teams would look like. Get researching, Wikipedia should have the answers.

Not to belabor the point, as I know this has been touched on before, but every time I see someone espousing the virtues of Wikipedia, I feel compelled to point out that while it is an easy and convenient source of information, it is also hit-and-miss on many subjects. Wikipedia is a free 'encyclopedia' whose contributors are people like you and me, and who are virtually untraceable. Like anyone with a website and a keyboard, one can literally print anything they want to on Wikipedia, often leading to mistakes and, in some cases, outright lies and malicious content. Ostensibly, the content is quality-checked on a regular basis and false or misleading entries are removed or corrected, however it's practically impossible to monitor every entry, and the bogus info is out there for all to see. The misinformation and disinformation on Wikipedia is legion. You can type in 'Wikipedia' in your favorite search engine and come up with many stories and complaints about it.

Having said that, I am not implying that Wikipedia should never be accessed and cited, just be careful. Always have a second and/or third reference source. Never rely solely on Wikipedia.

Sorry, stejay, I did not mean to step on your toes here, and your subject matter is not without interest. I have been burned in the past by swearing up and down that something was a fact because I saw it on Wikipedia, only to find out that it was wrong. It was then that I found out how easy it is for someone to post bogus information on it. I feel this post is pertinent to a baseball forum such as BBF in that many people, including myself, from time to time, utilize Wikipedia as a source of info. I've become much more careful and now use it as a starting point for source info. Once I find something interesting on it, I then double-check using other sources.

Similarly, I enjoy posting random tidbits of baseball trivia now and then, and I have posted some trivia that has been debunked or corrected because the source material was flawed. That can embarrassing. It's not always easy to detect a bad source until you find it's wrong more than a couple of times.

Sorry for the rambling oratory....

Another catcher on your all-Catholic team could be Mike Piazza, who is a devoted practicing Catholic. Also Jeff Suppan and Mike Sweeney. It sounds like you only want the best players though, so maybe only Piazza fits in your lineup?

[stejay]

You are right about Piazza, but I actually prefer Bench in this situation, who is also a devout Catholic. I actually only got 3 names from Wikipedia, contrary to what I said. Koufax, Greenberg and Radinsky. All the others, I got from other sites, and the schools they went to (catholic players)

[EdTarbusz]

Jewish team-


SS- Lou Boudreau

I don't think that Lou Boudreau was Jewish.

[stejay]

You are right about malicious and wrong content too. It says that Rod Carew converted to Judaism after marrying a Jewish women. I have actually met Rod Carew, and know it is the other way around.

[Dodgerfan1]

You are right about Piazza, but I actually prefer Bench in this situation, who is also a devout Catholic.

I would have to agree with you on your choice of Bench. I'd take him over Piazza in a heartbeat. Piazza may have a slight edge hitting-wise, but Bench's defense and cannon-like arm more than offset that.

[dgarza]

Having said that, I am not implying that Wikipedia should never be accessed and cited, just be careful. Always have a second and/or third reference source. Never rely solely on Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is really not that different than a player's biography. They should be viewed in the same way. Plenty of biographies are biased, have authors who hold grudges, or have incorrect information in them. Never rely on 1 source.

[dgarza]

How good was the old House of David team?

[stejay]

I've heard they were pretty good. A sort of a worse-baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotter. I dont think any famous players played for them.

[stejay]

I don't think that Lou Boudreau was Jewish.

Well, he was. He was of Jewish and French ancestry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Boudreau#Early_life

I don't like using Wiki much, but I had to this time to prove a point.

[RuthMayBond]

If only we could include Billy Sunday, Deacon McGuire, Preacher Roe, Dave Pope, Frank Pastore, Dave Elder, Mother Watson, Howie Nunn . . .

[Otis Nixon's Bodyguard]

You are right about malicious and wrong content too. It says that Rod Carew converted to Judaism after marrying a Jewish women. I have actually met Rod Carew, and know it is the other way around.

I have heard that it is a common misconception (perpetuated by Adam Sandler) that Rod Carew is Jewish. I believe he married a Jewish woman, but never converted himself.

What about an All-Latter Day Saints Team? They'd have Dale Murphy and Harmon Killebrew...

[stejay]

I considered both of those players, but I stick by my decisions. I may do a bench team for the Catholic team, as there are many other talented players I haven't mentioned. Same with the Jewish team.

[stejay]

I have started doing the bench teams. Who else would you like to see?