Best Baseball Player by Birth Year - 1945

[Cowtipper]

Here's another fun project idea I had - we are going to name the best baseball players by birth year. The rules are simple: Vote for who you believe to be the best player on the given list, with each player on that list sharing the same year of birth.

You are allowed to vote for a maximum of two players (because oftentimes it seems individuals prefer not to choose between batters and pitchers, rather choosing one of each).

A few of the early years are already taken care of for us, as there was only one person who played Major League Baseball born that year.

A couple notes about this project:

1) The lists are constructed using information from Baseball-Reference.com. They are rather arbitrarily made, however I think they will cover the top players from each year.

2) The lists will, at most, contain 20-25 names.

3) Only MLB players (including NA players) are being considered for this project. I am omitting Negro Leaguers, pre-Major Leaguers, Japanese guys etc. for the sake of ease.

4) Though I am including only major league players, for those who spent time playing in the pre-Major League era or the Negro Leagues (et cetera), you may take into consideration this peripheral playing experience. Weigh it as as you see fit.

5) The poll will stay open for one week.

Which of the following individuals was the best player? You may vote for up to two players.

Larry Bowa
Rod Carew
Tony Conigliaro
Dick Drago
Dock Ellis
Ralph Garr
Ken Holtzman
Jay Johnstone
Davey Lopes
Hal McRae
Bill Melton
Andy Messersmith
Rick Monday
Tom Murphy
Jim Palmer
Mike Paul
Horacio Pina
Reggie Smith
Ed Sprague
Don Sutton
Bobby Tolan
Don Wilson
Rick Wise
Geoff Zahn

Best players by birth year:

1831: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/berkena01.shtml"]Nate Berkenstock[/URL]
1832: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carlle01.shtml"]Lew Carl[/URL]
1833: None
1834: None
1835: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/wrighha01.shtml"]Harry Wright[/URL]
1836: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pearcdi01.shtml"]Dickey Pearce[/URL]
1837: None
1838: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/birdsda01.shtml"]Dave Birdsall[/URL]
1839: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/barkeal01.shtml"]Al Barker[/URL]
1840: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reachal01.shtml"]Al Reach[/URL]
1946: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jacksre01.shtml"]Reggie Jackson[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hunteca01.shtml"]Catfish Hunter[/URL])
1947: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/benchjo01.shtml"]Johnny Bench[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml"]Nolan Ryan[/URL])
1948: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garvest01.shtml"]Steve Garvey[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/houghch01.shtml"]Hough[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nolanga01.shtml"]Nolan[/URL])
1949: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schmimi01.shtml"]Mike Schmidt[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/reuscri01.shtml"]Rick Reuschel[/URL])
1950: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guidrro01.shtml"]Ron Guidry[/URL] (best batter: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/downibr01.shtml"]Brian Downing[/URL])
1951: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/winfida01.shtml"]Dave Winfield[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blylebe01.shtml"]Bert Blyleven[/URL])
1952: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lynnfr01.shtml"]Fred Lynn[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dennyjo01.shtml"]John Denny[/URL])
1953: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brettge01.shtml"]George Brett[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suttebr01.shtml"]Bruce Sutter[/URL])
1954: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cartega01.shtml"]Gary Carter[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/eckerde01.shtml"]Dennis Eckersley[/URL])
1955: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yountro01.shtml"]Robin Yount[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morrija02.shtml"]Jack Morris[/URL])
1956: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murraed02.shtml"]Eddie Murray[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/welchbo01.shtml"]Bob Welch[/URL])
1957: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whitalo01.shtml"]Lou Whitaker[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stiebda01.shtml"]Dave Stieb[/URL])
1958: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/henderi01.shtml"]Rickey Henderson[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hershor01.shtml"]Orel Hershiser[/URL])
1959: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raineti01.shtml"]Tim Raines[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/burnsbr01.shtml"]Burns[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mooremi01.shtml"]Moore[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/worreto01.shtml"]Worrell[/URL])
1960: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ripkeca01.shtml"]Cal Ripken, Jr.[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valenfe01.shtml"]Valenzuela[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/violafr01.shtml"]Viola[/URL])
1961: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mattido01.shtml"]Don Mattingly[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/keyji01.shtml"]Jimmy Key[/URL])
1962: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/clemero02.shtml"]Roger Clemens[/URL] (best batter: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/strawda01.shtml"]Darryl Strawberry[/URL])
1963: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johnsra05.shtml"]Randy Johnson[/URL] (best batter: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martied01.shtml"]Martinez[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcgwima01.shtml"]McGwire[/URL])
1964: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bondsba01.shtml"]Barry Bonds[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/goodedw01.shtml"]Gooden[/URL]/[URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/saberbr01.shtml"]Saberhagen[/URL])
1965: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/biggicr01.shtml"]Craig Biggio[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownke01.shtml"]Kevin Brown[/URL])
1966: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maddugr01.shtml"]Greg Maddux[/URL] (best batter: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/walkela01.shtml"]Larry Walker[/URL])
1967: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/smoltjo01.shtml"]John Smoltz[/URL] (best batter: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/loftoke01.shtml"]Kenny Lofton[/URL])
1968: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thomafr04.shtml"]Frank Thomas[/URL] (best pitcher: [URL="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mussimi01.shtml"]Mike Mussina[/URL])

[Cowtipper]

I went with Rod Carew and Jim Palmer, though Don Sutton also received some consideration.