Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, it was a blessing to be a fan of the Cincinnati Reds during the Big Red Machine era.
Although the Reds were and are my favorite team, being a fan of many players on other teams was very easy.
This four-part series is an attempt to share my favorite players from each team during the 1970s and 1980s with the readers this site.
It’s possible for players to be listed on more than one team and in some cases the position might be different than most expect. Dave Winfield comes to mind because early in his career with the San Diego Padres he played left field, but he became an all-star playing in right.
The final installment of the series lists players from the American League West Division:
California Angels
1B – Rod Carew (Disappointed he left Minnesota, but pleased he landed with the Angels)
2B – Sandy Alomar (Who knew he would be the father of a pair of big leaguers)
3B – Doug DeCinces
SS – Dave Chalk
LF – Don Baylor (His 1979 season was awesome)
CF – Gary Pettis
RF – Lyman Bostock (He was only there for a short time, but he made quite an impact on me)
C – Brian Downing
DH – Reggie Jackson (Reggie really may have been the straw that stirred the proverbial drink)
P – Nolan Ryan (Didn’t remember him with the New York Mets because I was too young, but he was amazing with the Angels)
MGR – John McNamara
Chicago White Sox
1B – Dick Allen (MVP season in 1972)
2B – Jorge Orta
3B – Bill Melton
SS – Bucky Dent
LF – Ralph Garr (Was a fan of this guy with Atlanta)
CF – Rudy Law
RF – Harold Baines (It was nice to see him get into the Hall of Fame)
C – Carlton Fisk (It seemed strange for him to be in a White Sox uniform)
DH – Oscar Gamble
P – Wilbur Wood (This guy always seemed to be on the mound)
MGR – Chuck Tanner
Kansas City Royals
1B – John Mayberry
2B – Frank White
3B – George Brett (As good as he was, I have this vision of him running after an unpire in Yankee Stadium)
SS – Freddie Patek
LF – Bo Jackson (I’m not sure there wasn’t anything this guy couldn’t do on a baseball or football field)
CF – Willie Wilson
RF – Al Cowens
C – Darrell Porter
DH – Hal McRae (Wished Cincinnati could have kept him, but he blossumed with the Royals)
P – Steve Busby (Two no-hitters made this guy special)
MGR – Whitey Herzog
Minnesota Twins
1B – Kent Hrbek
2B – Rod Carew (He was also so good for the Twins)
3B – Gary Gaetti
SS – Greg Gagne
LF – Dan Gladden
CF – Kirby Puckett (We’ll see you tomorrow night … what a moment)
RF – Tony Oliva (A great hitter for the Twins, but I only remember the end of his career)
C – Butch Wynegar
DH – Harmon Killebrew (It’s sad that I missed his prime years)
P – Frank Viola
MGR – Tom Kelly
Oakland A’s
1B – Mark McGwire (In retrospect, not sure if he would be on the list if we knew what we now know?)
2B – Dick Green
3B – Carney Lansford
SS – Bert Campaneris
LF – Rickey Henderson (He was so exciting to watch)
CF – Bill North
RF – Reggie Jackson
C – Terry Steinbach
DH – Dave Parker (Although I’m not an A’s fan, it was good to see him after following his time in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati)
P – Bob Welch (Read his book Five O’Clock Comes Early … a lot of things made sense to me after that)
MGR – Billy Martin
Seattle Mariners
1B – Alvin Davis
2B – Harold Reynolds
3B – Jim Presley
SS – Mario Mendoza (Career-high .245 batting average in 1980 with two of his four lifetime homers)
LF – Phil Bradley
CF – Ken Griffey Jr. (It didn’t take long to figure out how good this kid was)
RF – Leroy Stanton
C – Bill Plummer (Who is this guy you ask? He was the back up catcher for Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine)
DH – Richie Zisk
P – Mark Langston
MGR – Darrell Johnson
Texas Rangers
1B – Mike Hargrove (The Human Rain Delay)
2B – Bump Wills
3B – Buddy Bell (Like him with the Indians and he was the son of Reds player Gus Bell)
SS – Toby Harrah
LF – Al Oliver (One of my favorites and I followed him from Pittsburgh)
CF – Mickey Rivers
RF – Jeff Burroughs
C – Jim Sundberg
DH – Rusty Staub
P – Fergie Jenkins (My favorite player on the Chicago Cubs. His trade gave me a reason to like the Rangers)
MGR – Ted Williams (First season in Texas)