All time MSU baseball team

[Todd4State]

It's time again to do one of these because there are some warranted updates! Using players from my lifetime only which amounts to Ron Polk I to today.

Dual position- Bobby Thigpen
Closer- Landon Sims
Set-up- Jonathan Holder
Relief Ace- Jacob Lindgren
Sidearm specialist- Jon Harden

Friday- Jeff Brantley
Saturday- Ethan Small
Sunday- Paul Maholm

Tuesday- Will Bednar
Wednesday- Eric DuBose

Catcher- Logan Tanner
Back-up Catcher- Ed Easley

1B- Will Clark
2B- Jeffrey Rea
3B- Pete Young
SS- Adam Frazier

RF- Hunter Renfroe
CF- Jake Mangum
LF- Rafael Palmeiro
DH- Brent Rooker

PH- Tanner Allen
PR- Dan Van Cleve
UTL- Thomas Berkery

HC- Chris Lemonis

Honorable mention- Jonathan Papelbon, Chris Stratton, Dakota Hudson, Bobby Reed, Justin Foscue, Adam Piatt, Buck Showalter, Jack Lazorko, Bruce Castoria, Nate Lowe, Jack Kruger, Kendall Graveman, Jordan Westburg, Craig Tatum, Jon Knott, Rob Hauswald, Jacob Robson, JT Ginn, Elijah MacNamee, and Hunter Stovall among many others.

[CadaverDawg]

Gotta get my childhood favorite, Travis Chapman on there somehow

[AlSwearengen]

Food for thought. Was TA better than Jake against top tier pitching?

[Homedawg]

Dubose is way ahead of Maholm. Not close dubose pitched in loaded bat era and was elite.

[Homedawg]

Tanner Allen squared up more balls this year per ab than any bulldog shirt of palmeiro, who was the greatest college hitter I will ever see. Hime hit for power , avg, and didn't strikeout. Unreal, meaning palmeiro

[OLJWales]

I was considering breaking them up in two groups; MSU Importance and MLB success.

[AlSwearengen]

These threads give me a headache. Like fitting 2 gallons of water into a 1 gallon jug.

[SaintDawg]

What about Richard Lee, Tracy Echols, Tommy Raffo & Barry Winford

[Todd4State]

Dubose is way ahead of Maholm. Not close dubose pitched in loaded bat era and was elite.

Consider that Maholm won as many games as DuBose in ten fewer starts and on worse teams and it's a push.

[Todd4State]

Food for thought. Was TA better than Jake against top tier pitching?

It seemed like TA came through more late in games. May be bias from things being so recent. Off the top of my head for TA though- series winning hit against USM in 2019, go ahead hit against Ole Miss this year, go ahead home run against Virginia in CWS. Jake was a better leadoff hitter though. TA had more power and was more versatile because he could play some infield positions. Both are great players. I think in the clutch I would want TA up at the plate though over Mangum. Unless it's Ole Miss. In that case it doesn't matter.

[R2Dawg]

Food for thought. Was TA better than Jake against top tier pitching?

I say yes. TA is the best at the plate. Jake was real good too, and he was a switch hitter but TA could square up on any pitch even in the dirt.

[Gutter Cobreh]

These threads give me a headache. Like fitting 2 gallons of water into a 1 gallon jug.

Agreed. Think it's time we simply admit that our program has a such a storied past that putting one team together is impossible!

[SilentSteel16]

You would be better with ALL DECADE TEAMS

[smootness]

I think Tanner Allen has to be the guy in RF over Renfroe. He was fantastic as a true freshman, was so consistently good for his entire career, saw Omaha 3 times, was SEC POY on the national title winning team, and came up huge again and again in big moments, including probably the biggest play in the history of the program with the bomb against Virginia.

He's the best player in program history.

[tcdog70]

What about Richard Lee, Tracy Echols, Tommy Raffo & Barry Winford

Mark Gillespie—Mike Kelly-Phil Still—Brantley Jones-Duck Profitt

[The Federalist Engineer]

Good Draft but-

(1) RHP - Jay Powell Belongs in the All Time pen
(2) RHP - Will Bednar won two games vs Madden and vs Rooker that nobody else had won before
(3) Didn't Clark and Raffy only make One trip to Omaha? Tanner made 3 and won one. Tanner over Renfroe. Raffy over Renfroe due to multiple years of contributions by Raffy.
(4) 2B - Brett Pirtle easy. BP was outstanding defensively and offensively, even with a dead bat
(5) BJ Wallace was a true Ace
(6) Bobby Reed was a NC Ace had MSU made Omaha, just bad luck

I'm glad you mentioned Hauswald but were is Jon Shave or Brad Hildreth?

[basedog]

Mark Gillespie—Mike Kelly-Phil Still—Brantley Jones-Duck Profitt

You got it, no way you can leave those off, I could name several others but no sense of this debate. We are a baseball school!

[Rex54]

It always goes back to "talent vs accomplishment" with these things

[The Federalist Engineer]

What about Richard Lee, Tracy Echols, Tommy Raffo & Barry Winford

Raffo was close to Triple Crown in 89.

Echols? He's likeable but the all time team needs All Americans, All SEC, POYs, and 1st Rounders

[Lord McBuckethead]

Look, I love these threads, but for me it is this 2021 entire starting lineup and pitching staff as 1st team. Then you can choose between all these guys for bench players.
We now have two types of ball players at State, all the #1s that have a ring and then everyone else.

Seriously. Love those guys, but in my mind they all fell short in their seasons and on this list.

[MoreCowbell]

Based on College play only?

Starters- Stratton, Small, Bednar, Brantley, Rath

Relief- Thigpen, Sims, Holder, Girodo, Papelbon, Lindgren


1. Frazier SS
2. Allen DH
3. Palmeiro LF
4. Rooker RF
5. Clarke 1B
6. Mangum CF
7. Young 3B
8. Foscue 2B
9. Easley C

Bench-
Renfroe OF
Pirtle IF
Westburg IF
Unser OF
Corley OF
Tanner C
Gridley IF

That is the 27 I would take to an all time team CWS

[MoreCowbell]

Food for thought. Was TA better than Jake against top tier pitching?

Tanner might be the best pure hitter of everyone to wear maroon and whit.

[OLJWales]

Look, I love these threads, but for me it is this 2021 entire starting lineup and pitching staff as 1st team. Then you can choose between all these guys for bench players.
We now have two types of ball players at State, all the #1s that have a ring and then everyone else.

Seriously. Love those guys, but in my mind they all fell short in their seasons and on this list.

Great post. I will always cherish the memories but the bottom line is the hardware arrived a few days ago after a half century of waiting. Nothing else sniffs that. Maybe there's a better way to say "falling short" about our previous players. We are indeed indebted to them.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Great post. I will always cherish the memories but the bottom line is the hardware arrived a few days ago after a half century of waiting. Nothing else sniffs that. Maybe there's a better way to say "falling short" about our previous players. We are indeed indebted to them.

Yeah, falling short isn't what I meant. They built the foundation and all should be cherished. But, the starting 9 and our pitching staff dominated this tourney, and will be forever my starting 9 all time team.

[OLJWales]

Yeah, falling short isn't what I meant. They built the foundation and all should be cherished. But, the starting 9 and our pitching staff dominated this tourney, and will be forever my starting 9 all time team.

Preach.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Preach.

Its why Dan Marino will never be #1 in any list other than #1 without a ring.

[OLJWales]

Its why Dan Marino will never be #1 in any list other than #1 without a ring.

Dude had the sweetest quick release with a ton of brain and confidence. The Charles Barkley of the NFL.

[99jc]

Based on College play only?

Starters- Stratton, Small, Bednar, Brantley, Rath

Relief- Thigpen, Sims, Holder, Girodo, Papelbon, Lindgren


1. Frazier SS
2. Allen DH
3. Palmeiro LF
4. Rooker RF
5. Clarke 1B
6. Mangum CF
7. Young 3B
8. Foscue 2B
9. Easley C

Bench-
Renfroe OF
Pirtle IF
Westburg IF
Unser OF
Corley OF
Tanner C
Gridley IF

That is the 27 I would take to an all time team CWS

Gene Morgan would be one of my starters

[Saltydog]

I would agree with this HD. Plus, Dubose just had way better stuff than Maholm.

[Drugs Delaney]

I always felt confident with RISP with Chapman, Freeman, or Ricky Joe, coming to the plate

[OLJWales]

Gene Morgan would be one of my starters

I was at the game where Gene threw 18 ground ball outs to beat east Carolina on our way to Omaha. He had the best sinker I ever saw. We were on our way to beating Roger Clemens before Morgan took the come backer off the knee cap. Pretty sure it wasn't the ankle or foot.

[99jc]

I was at the game where Gene threw 18 ground ball outs to beat east Carolina on our way to Omaha. He had the best sinker I ever saw. We were on our way to beating Roger Clemens before Morgan took the come backer off the knee cap. Pretty sure it wasn't the ankle or foot.

https://i1.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Morgan-down-at-Omaha.jpg?resize=771%2C568&ssl=1

[redstickdawg]

It was a broken big toe if my memory is correct. Had he not been hurt we would have been celebrating our 1st Title in '85.

[Todd4State]

I think Tanner Allen has to be the guy in RF over Renfroe. He was fantastic as a true freshman, was so consistently good for his entire career, saw Omaha 3 times, was SEC POY on the national title winning team, and came up huge again and again in big moments, including probably the biggest play in the history of the program with the bomb against Virginia.

He's the best player in program history.

Renfroe had more home runs in a dead ball era with a .345 BA including the one that sent us to the finals for the first time and was a better defender in RF. He also had the same slugging percentage as TA in a dead ball era. His numbers probably would have looked more like Rooker's if he had been in college a few years later. They also had a similar amount of stolen bases with Renfroe having 9 and TA having 11.


Good Draft but-

(1) RHP - Jay Powell Belongs in the All Time pen
(2) RHP - Will Bednar won two games vs Madden and vs Rooker that nobody else had won before
(3) Didn't Clark and Raffy only make One trip to Omaha? Tanner made 3 and won one. Tanner over Renfroe. Raffy over Renfroe due to multiple years of contributions by Raffy.
(4) 2B - Brett Pirtle easy. BP was outstanding defensively and offensively, even with a dead bat
(5) BJ Wallace was a true Ace
(6) Bobby Reed was a NC Ace had MSU made Omaha, just bad luck

I'm glad you mentioned Hauswald but were is Jon Shave or Brad Hildreth?

1. Agree but there are so many good ones. Hard to leave off any of the three I mentioned.
2. Bednar is on the team but I couldn't overlook Small and Maholm's ERA compared to Bednar.
3. Yes, Clark and Palmeiro made it once but they also have more statues than TA (as of now) and were critical in laying the foundation to us winning it all. Clark had 20+ home runs in two seasons and Palmeiro won a Triple Crown.
4. Rea had more hits and was more of a stolen base threat and helped us win the 2005 SEC Tournament Title and get to Omaha in 2007 during some of our worst years.
5. BJ was! But it's hard to pick between him and all of the other great aces when you look at the totality of his numbers compared to a Small or a Dubose or even a Maholm.
6. I agree. Also yeah I should have included Shave and Hildreth on the list.

[shoeless joe]

Good Draft but-

(1) RHP - Jay Powell Belongs in the All Time pen
(2) RHP - Will Bednar won two games vs Madden and vs Rooker that nobody else had won before
(3) Didn't Clark and Raffy only make One trip to Omaha? Tanner made 3 and won one. Tanner over Renfroe. Raffy over Renfroe due to multiple years of contributions by Raffy.
(4) 2B - Brett Pirtle easy. BP was outstanding defensively and offensively, even with a dead bat
(5) BJ Wallace was a true Ace
(6) Bobby Reed was a NC Ace had MSU made Omaha, just bad luck

I'm glad you mentioned Hauswald but were is Jon Shave or Brad Hildreth?

I was a big pirtle fan. Loved the way he played. But Jeffery rea gets the nod over him all day every day.

[shoeless joe]

As baseball fans we are always beholden to stats. Just the nature of the beast. But stats didn’t win this thing, triple crowns didn’t win it, 5 toolers didn’t win it, hits records didn’t win it, MLB careers didn’t win it. What did win it was timely clutch hitting and a never say die attitude. So all that said any “all time” that doesn’t have Tanner Allen in the starting line up can take that shit somewhere else!!

No offense to any of our former greats! They, each and every one, paved the way for what was accomplished last week.

[CadaverDawg]

As baseball fans we are always beholden to stats. Just the nature of the beast. But stats didn’t win this thing, triple crowns didn’t win it, 5 toolers didn’t win it, hits records didn’t win it, MLB careers didn’t win it. What did win it was timely clutch hitting and a never say die attitude. So all that said any “all time” that doesn’t have Tanner Allen in the starting line up can take that shit somewhere else!!

No offense to any of our former greats! They, each and every one, paved the way for what was accomplished last week.

Amen amen amen

[CadaverDawg]

As baseball fans we are always beholden to stats. Just the nature of the beast. But stats didn’t win this thing, triple crowns didn’t win it, 5 toolers didn’t win it, hits records didn’t win it, MLB careers didn’t win it. What did win it was timely clutch hitting and a never say die attitude. So all that said any “all time” that doesn’t have Tanner Allen in the starting line up can take that shit somewhere else!!

No offense to any of our former greats! They, each and every one, paved the way for what was accomplished last week.

Who's on your all dirt bag team? I'll submit the following....

Tanner Allen
Cody Brown
Jake Mangum

Who else y'all got?

[Catfish]

As baseball fans we are always beholden to stats. Just the nature of the beast. But stats didn’t win this thing, triple crowns didn’t win it, 5 toolers didn’t win it, hits records didn’t win it, MLB careers didn’t win it. What did win it was timely clutch hitting and a never say die attitude. So all that said any “all time” that doesn’t have Tanner Allen in the starting line up can take that shit somewhere else!!

No offense to any of our former greats! They, each and every one, paved the way for what was accomplished last week.

I think you're on to something. Maybe we just got through watching the All Time MSU baseball team, after all, they're the only team to win a National Championship.

[smootness]

Renfroe had more home runs in a dead ball era with a .345 BA including the one that sent us to the finals for the first time and was a better defender in RF. He also had the same slugging percentage as TA in a dead ball era. His numbers probably would have looked more like Rooker's if he had been in college a few years later. They also had a similar amount of stolen bases with Renfroe having 9 and TA having 11

But Tanner Allen being really good his entire career outweighs Renfroe's 1 phenomenal year. Add in the national title and all the big hits, and to me it's easily Allen. No knock on Renfroe, I consider Allen to now be the #1 player in school history when factoring it all in.

[BrunswickDawg]

I was at the game where Gene threw 18 ground ball outs to beat east Carolina on our way to Omaha. He had the best sinker I ever saw. We were on our way to beating Roger Clemens before Morgan took the come backer off the knee cap. Pretty sure it wasn't the ankle or foot.

That would have been an impressive feat, since Clemens was already with the Red Sox.