All time great team of players-Career w/ one team?

Did Smoltz pitch for Detroit in the big leagues? I don't remember ... but I know he was with the St. Louis Cardinals for a couple months before he retired. If their entire career has to be with just one *organization*, it gets really tough ... you'd have to axe Bagwell, for instance.

All began post-1975:

C- Jorge Posada or Joe Mauer
1B- Jeff Bagwell or Don Mattingly
2B- Craig Biggio
3B- George Brett
SS- Cal Ripken Jr. or Barry Larkin
LF- Jim Rice
RF- Tony Gwynn
CF- Kirby Puckett
DH- Edgar Martinez

RP- Mariano Rivera
SP- Ron Guidry, Brad Radke

Smoltz was in AA for Detroit when they traded him -- he would have made the list, but he bounced around at the tail end of his career. Dave Stieb would have been another worthy choice, but he pitched in a handful of games for the White Sox at the end of his career.

You have to include Kirby Puckett and George Brett in the discussion

Post-FA era (1980-present)-- off the top o' me noggin - minimum 10 years (too many good players at 6, 7, 8 now)

1st Team
C - Jorge Posada
1b - Jeff Bagwell
2b - Craig Biggio
3b - Mike Schmidt
SS - Cal Ripken Jr.
OF - Jim Rice
OF - Kirby Puckett
OF - Tony Gwynn
SP - Dave Stieb
SP - Ron Guidry
Closer - Mariano Rivera

2nd Team
C - Jason Varitek
1b - Don Mattingly
2b - Lou Whitaker
3b - George Brett
SS - Derek Jeter
OF - Bernie Williams
OF - Robin Yount (better than other options)
OF -
SP - Teddy Higuera
SP -
Closer - Bob Stanley (the only other "closer" I can think of w/10 yrs on one club)

Honorable Mentions: Alan Trammell, Chipper Jones, Kent Hrbek, Edgar Martinez, Barry Larkin, Jimmy Rollins (he's at 10 yrs right?),

Did Tom Browning or Charles Nagy ever pitch for anyone other than Cincy and Cleveland respectively? I'm pretty sure they did, but I can't think of them.
Did Mike Scioscia play anywhere but with the Dodgers?

One other honorable mention: Michael Young

Now I'm reading some of the posts in this thread I had not before... I did not think of Radke. Stieb pitched for the ChiSox huh? Boy, I don't remember that... Well, that would move Higuera to my first team; I can't think of any others...

There are a lot of guys right now who might make this list, but it's too early, like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin Pedroia, Cole Hamels, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andus, Buster Posey, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain, Joey Votto...

But just look at guys like Pujols, Fielder, Buehrle, Dempster, Ichiro, Adrian Gonzalez, who all moved in the last year or so. You never know who will finish a career in one spot. I thought Frank Thomas would be a lifelong White Sox, and Pettitte with the Yanks, for example.

You can't include Cobb on Hackra's Old School team. either. He finished his career playing for Connie Mack in Philadelphia. Incidentally, on the same team were five other future Hall of Famers: Grove, Cochrane, Simmons, Foxx and an ageless Eddie Collins. I can't think of any other team that had six Hall of Famers at the same time.

You can't include Cobb on Hackra's Old School team. either. He finished his career playing for Connie Mack in Philadelphia. Incidentally, on the same team were five other future Hall of Famers: Grove, Cochrane, Simmons, Foxx and an ageless Eddie Collins. I can't think of any other team that had six Hall of Famers at the same time.

Seven. You forgot Mack himself.

There are a lot of guys right now who might make this list, but it's too early, like Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin Pedroia, Cole Hamels, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andus, Buster Posey, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez, Matt Cain, Joey Votto...

Interesting to speculate on who might go entire career with one team. Michael Young was mentioned. Be nice to see him retire a Ranger. But if he does not pick up his bat some next year cannot see the team continue sticking with him as an everyday player, especially with some young kids ready and worthy of playing time. I could see him going somewhere else if his playing time is reduced.

Also do not think you can give anyone serious consideration for a list like this until they have at least signed their first long term deal in their 30s. Kinsler fits that criteria, especially if he is willing to move to OF to make room for Profar at second. I am a big Elvis Andrus fan but I am betting when he is eligible he signs elsewhere. Two reasons: His agent is known for going for the most money. Rangers have a kid waiting to take his place which lowers pressure to hand out an insane contract. By calling him up Rangers started Profar's free agent clock ticking.

I just noticed this thread and, funny thing, I had already recently made up a team like this myself. I'm going to put my own team in before I read the rest of the thread, so that you can see what I came up with on my own. I used WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as a partial guide, and in my list below, along with WAR, I also noted the player's team and any MVP awards. And, while some may consider it cheating, I included a DH which let me work in some other greats.

Here's my 1st Team.
Postition-Player -WAR (Team) Awards
C - Bench - 72.3 (Reds) 2 MVP
1B - Gehrig - 108.5 (Yankees) 2 MVP
2B - Gehringer -76.6 (Tigers) 1 MVP
3B - Schmidt - 103 (Phillies) 3 MVP
SS - Ripken - 90.9 (Orioles) 2 MVP
LF - Musial - 123.4 (Cardinals) 3 MVP
CF - Mantle - 105.5 (Yankees) 3 MVP
RF - Mel Ott - 104.0 (Giants) 0 MVP
DH - Ted Williams - 119.8 (Red Sox) 2 MVP

Here's my 2nd Team
Postition-Player -WAR (Team) Awards
C - Berra - 56.1 (Yankees) 3 MVP
1B - Bagwell - 76.7 (Astros) 1 MVP
2B - Whitaker - 71.4 (Tigers) 0 MVP
3B - Brett - 84.0 (Royals) 1 MVP
SS - Yount - 72.4 (Brewers) 2 MVP
LF - Yastrzemski - 90.1 (Red Sox) 1 MVP
CF - Dimaggio - 75.1 (Yankees) 3 MVP
RF - Clemente - 89.8 (Pirates) 1 MVP
DH - Kaline - 87.4 (Tigers) 0 MVP

I also have pitchers. I'll include those next.