How many times have you had a heated barstool debat over who is the greatest Devil Ray of all time? Well here's a chance to find out! Vote now for the best player in the history of each franchise.

Wade Boggs? Carl Crawford? Aubrey Huff? Roberto Hernandez? Fred McGriff

My votes:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Orioles-Brooks Robinson
Red Sox-Ted Williams
White Sox-Frank Thomas
Indians-Bob Feller
Tigers-Ty Cobb
Royals-George Brett
Angels-Tim Salmon
Twins-Harmon Killebrew
Yankees-Babe Ruth
A's-Rickey Henderson
Devil Rays-Aubrey Huff
Rangers-Ivan Rodriguez
Blue Jays-Joe Carter

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Diamondbacks-Randy Johnson
Braves-Hank Aaron
Cubs-Ernie Banks
Reds-Pete Rose
Rockies-Larry Walker
Marlins-Dontrelle Willis
Astros-Jeff Bagwell
Dodgers-Sandy Kofax
Brewers-Robin Yount
Mets-Tom Seaver
Phillies-Mike Schmidt
Pirates-Honus Wagner
Cardinals-Stan Musial
Padres-Tony Gwynn
Giants-Willie Mays
Nationals/Expos-Gary Carter

Talk about heated barstool debate -- put him in the Hall already!

My votes were:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Orioles - B. Robinson
Red Sox - Yaz
White Sox - Thomas
Indians - Feller
Tigers - Cobb
Royals - Brett
Angels- Don Baylor
Twins- Rod Carew
Yankees- Micky Mantle (too many choices)
A's - Catfish Hunter
Devil Rays - didn't vote (not enuf choices!)
Rangers - Nolan Ryan
Blue Jays - Carter

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Diamondbacks - Johnson
M'waukee/Atlanta Braves - Warren Spahn
Cubs - Banks
Reds - Rose
Rockies - Dante Bichette
Marlins - Willis
Astros- Nolan Ryan
Dodgers-Kofax
Brewers - Yount
Mets- Tug McGraw
Phillies - Schmidt
Pirates - Willie Stargell
Cardinals- Stan the Man
Padres- Gwynn
Giants- Mays
Nationals/Expos-Rusty Staub

MLB again with the mixed messages -- the disgraced Rose listed, but no McGwire or Sosa.

Well they did nominate Bonds for whatever that is worth.

Considering the other nominees for the Cardinals and Cubs, McGwire and Sosa's omissions aren't all that egrigious. Sure a strong case could be made for them but the other nominees are pretty well-earned as well. I guess McGwire could be on the A's list. But how about no Rafael Palmiero for the Rangers? Sure he had ebtter stats with the Orioles but he is certainly a better career Ranger than Jim Sundberg or Rusty Greer.

Nominees for the Washington Nationals: Gary Carter (never played in Washington), Livan Hernandez (just got traded), Brian Schneider (I like the guy, but hero seems like a stretch), Rusty Staub (again never played in Washington), Jose Vidro (not a terribly good second baseman, a good hitter, but, again, hardly a hero).

I think most people in Washington were expecting to see names like Walter Johnson, Frank Howard, or Goose Goslin.

Well because the guys you named were Washington Senators and are now part of either the Minnesota Twins or Texas Rangers history. The current Washingto franchise has only been ther for 2 seasons so of course there are going to be more Expos then Nationals. Same franchise just a new city.

A couple of the Dodger nominees never played in Los Angeles. Lefty Grove never played in Oakland and Mel Ott never played in San Francisco.

[ August 09, 2006, 09:50 AM: Message edited by: George Twins fan ]

Well, I might feel better if they would have included Walter Johnson on the Twins list. If they aren't going to be "hometown" they might as well remove that from the title. Call it "Franchise Heroes." As it is now, I think it's stupid.

Shawn -- The Post picked up and ran with your concerns -- do players and records from the Expos count for the Nats? -- or from the two former Senators teams?

For the books, Nationals face history questions.

And they bring up one of my peeves -- which is everytime I see an Atlanta Braves home game on TV I see Warren Spahn's name on a banner. The guy never threw a pitch in Atlanta -- as far as I know may have never even set foot in the city. M'waukee all the way. I didn't realize until reading the article that they even hang the Milwaukee Braves' World Series banner down there.

[ August 31, 2006, 06:27 AM: Message edited by: DCBucky ]