My favorite players, from A-Z

As you probably know by now, there's a bat-around challenge going on, asking us bloggers to pick our favorite ballplayers from letters A-Z.

The topic was originally thrown out over at "The Diamond King," and it's a fun topic that sent me scurrying to my binders and scanner to partake in. Still, there's a part of me that's wary of making lists like these for two reasons: a) I'm paranoid about forgetting someone obvious, and b) some of the guys I had to choose between for certain letters seemed unfair and made me downright anxious. But anxiety be darned, because after quite a bit of trepidation, the list has finally been finalized.

In the spirit of this blog, I'm trying to show some of my favorite A-Z dudes in their more unfamiliar uniforms (where applicable) - so ready or not, here we go.

A: Jim Abbott

Aaaaaaand of course the very first letter of the alphabet produced one of those aforementioned battles that gave me heartburn - I kinda assumed Hank Aaron would be my "A" guy without much of a fight...until I remembered Jim Abbott. 

Hank has gotten the nod on almost every one of these lists I've read, and rightly so, but I have to go with Abbott here because he's one of just a handful of ballplayers I consider a bona-fide hero.

B: Ernie Banks

With apologies to Johnny Bench, I can't vote down Mr. Cub.

C: Roberto Clemente

My all-time favorite ballplayer, and lightyears ahead of any other "C" despite the presence of stalwarts like Rod Carew and Ty Cobb.

D: Dizzy Dean

One of our cats is named "Dizzy Dean," which should help explain why Diz made my list without much of a fight.

E: Johnny Evers

One of the weaker letters in the baseball alphabet, so I'm taking a ride in the wayback machine and going with Johnny Evers here.

Evers was famously nicknamed "The Crab" for his less-than-jovial personality, and his cards seem to bear that out - this is one of only a couple I own that show him cracking a smile.

F: Mark Fidrych

I could've easily posted one of my Red Sox minor league cards of The Bird, but as far as I know I've never showed this SI cover card on the blog before, which seems obscene.

G: Vladimir Guerrero

The most painful letter of the alphabet for this baseball fan.

Vlad gets the nod - he's long been my favorite player of my baseball lifetime - but it's agonizing to leave off other biggies like Tony Gwynn and Mark Grace.

H: Rickey Henderson

Rickey is the dream for unfamiliar uniform collectors like myself - it almost seems like he wore a jersey for every letter of the alphabet.

I: Monte Irvin

A mediocre cast of "I" players is saved by Monte Irvin, who by all accounts would've been one of MLB's greats had integration come along a few years before it did.

J: Reggie Jackson

As if I needed an excuse to show another Orioles Reggie card.

K: Sandy Koufax

An easy pick, even though I feel bad having to leave Paul Konerko and Clayton Kershaw off the list.

L: Kenny Lofton

One of the rare instances where a hometown uniform is classified in my mind as "wrong" - I remember Lofton's brief stint with the Cubs in 2003, but I have no recollection of his stay with the White Sox the year prior.

M: Willie Mays

Basically a "1a" and "1b" heat between Willie Mays and Stan Musial - I give the ever-so-slight nod to Mays right now, but if I did this list tomorrow it might well be Musial.

N: Hideo Nomo

As I went over my choices one final time, I realized how legend-leaning this list turned out to be, which I suppose makes sense because it takes a while for players to lapse into the annals of the baseball fan's mind as a "past great."

Hideo Nomo's heyday doesn't really seem that long ago to me - I have vague memories of watching him as a young fanatic - but that didn't stop him from cracking this list with relative ease.

O: John Olerud

"O" turned out to be a surprisingly difficult letter - despite strong pushes from Al Oliver and Shohei Ohtani, John Olerud takes the crown.

P: Satchel Paige

If a genie granted me a wish to go back in time and watch one, single baseball player, there's a good chance I'd use that wish to see Satchel Paige pitch.

Q: Dan Quisenberry

Any ballplayer-turned-poet is cool in my book.

R: Jackie Robinson

How could it not be?

S: Ichiro Suzuki

I was tempted to slip Ichiro into the "I" slot, but baseball players aren't like Sting or Cher - they have last names, and I like to use them.

T: Luis Tiant

"T" is a battle between two quirky favorites of mine, with Luis Tiant getting the slight nod over Kent Tekulve.

U: Bob Uecker

See also: "Harry Doyle."

V: Fernando Valenzuela

Of all the Short Term Stops in the world, Fernando Valenzuela on the Cardinals is one I've never quite been able to process.

W: Hoyt Wilhelm

Of course it's Hoyt!

X: N/A

The '90s and aughts produced an inordinate amount of baseball cards shaped like X's, probably to make up for the fact that no big-leaguer has ever had an "X" last name (yet).

Y: Carl Yastrzemski

One of my proudest victories as a baseball fan was the day I learned how to spell Carl Yastrzemski's last name by heart.

Z: Carlos Zambrano

I was a bit lukewarm on Big Z during his playing days, but I've come to appreciate him way more in the years since - I specifically miss watching him hit, which isn't something I can say about most pitchers.

So there's my romp through the baseball alphabet - and I'm fully prepared for that moment I know is gonna come about a week from now when the lightbulb goes off and I say OH CRUD, I FORGOT [insert incredibly obvious name here]!