The Baseball Managers' Cash-On-The-Line, Clutch-Player All-Star Poll

Each Year, a Number of baseball all-star teams are selected and announced with considerable fanfare. First, there are the teams that play in the major leagues' own midseason All-Star game, teams on which the starters are selected by the fans--the popular favorites. At season's end, the Associated Press and United Press International poll baseball writers and broadcasters for votes on the best all-round players, while the Rawlings sporting-goods company sponsors the Gold Glove defensive all-star teams.

These selections, distinctive though they may be within their given criteria, overlook one important standard of individual athletic achievement: the ability to excel in the ultimate clutch situation, when all the cash is on the line. Who, in other words, are the money players--the men who have an instinct for pay dirt, who are able to consistently come up with the big play or the big hit when it counts the most?

That's the question that Playboy wanted answered. And to get the answers, we went straight to the people whose business it is to know such things: the 26 major-league managers. The managers are on the field 162 games a year and, in addition to knowing their own players better than anyone, a large part of their job is to analyze the opposition and devise strategy based upon opposing players' strengths and weaknesses. The managers know which players can deliver and which cannot when all the cash is on the line.

So we got in touch with the 26 major-league managers, as their number stood between the 1977 and the 1978 baseball seasons: Tom Lasorda, Los Angeles Dodgers; Sparky Anderson, Cincinnati Reds; Bill Virdon, Houston Astros; Alvin Dark, San Diego Padres; Joseph Altobelli, San Francisco Giants; Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves; Danny Ozark, Philadelphia Phillies; Chuck Tanner, Pittsburgh Pirates; Vernon Rapp, St. Louis Cardinals; Herman Franks, Chicago Cubs; Dick Williams, Montreal Expos; Joe Torre, New York Mets; Billy Martin, New York Yankees; Don Zimmer. Boston Red Sox; Earl Weaver, Baltimore Orioles; Roy Hartsfield, Toronto Blue Jays; Ralph Houk, Detroit Tigers; Jeff Torborg, Cleveland Indians; George Bamberger, Milwaukee Brewers; Whitey Herzog, Kansas City Royals; Gene Mauch, Minnesota Twins; Billy Hunter, Texas Rangers; Bob Lemon, Chicago White Sox: Dave Garcia, California Angels; Bobby Winkles, Oakland A's; Darrell Johnson, Seattle Mariners.

We asked the managers which players they would pick to play on a nine-man team in the most crucial money game of the season. Forget the bench. Forget the designated hitter. Forget the bull pen. Who are the nine best players in all the major leagues--among at least 650 active players--when it comes to the ultimate clutch situation?

The response was immediate, enthusiastic and considered. We received replies from 24 of the 26 managers, with two declining to participate for personal reasons (because we guaranteed the managers anonymity as to individual ballots, we do not feel it would be fair to participating managers to name those who did not).

The results of the balloting are dramatic. Many of today's highest-paid alleged superstars received no votes at all, including New York Yankee pitchers Catfish Hunter and Don Gullet, Boston pitcher Mike Torrez, Milwaukee outfielder Larry Hisle, Atlanta outfielder Gary Matthews and Texas shortstop Bert Campaneris; meanwhile, such other members of the "millionaires' club" as Bobby Grich and Bill Campbell received only one vote apiece and Reggie Jackson received but four. The National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers placed no one on the team and the world-champion Yankees had only one representative; the leading team winner, with five representatives, was the Cincinnati Reds, distant runner-up to the Dodgers in the N.L. Western Division last year.

Of the ten players on our final team (there were co-winners at one position), one was not even selected to play in last summer's All-Star game, while two others were not among the starters selected in the fans' balloting. Only three of our money players showed up on the 1977 Rawlings Gold Glove teams, selected on the basis of defensive play, while there were five among the all-stars picked by sportswriters for United Press International and six on the Associated Press team.

All of this means nothing more than that the managers, in selecting their money-player candidates, used a different and more rigorous set of standards than did those voting for players on the other all-star teams. The money players may not be the fans' favorites, or get on well with sportswriters, or have the best season-long defensive stats--they simply do the best job in those key situations when doing well means the most. And while they might not be earning as big a pay check as some other big names in baseball, perhaps, on the basis of this showing in the esteem of baseball managers, the money-player superstars will finally have a hands-down bargaining tool with which to demand cash commensurate with their ability to deliver it.

The winners of Playboy's first annual Cash-on-the-Line, Clutch-Player All-Star Poll are as follows:

First Base:Rod Carew, Minnesota Twins (11 votes). The veteran Carew finally received the attention he deserves as baseball's best hitter last season--attention that included a Time cover story--largely because he was at or near the mystical .400 batting mark for most of the year. He ended the season hitting .388, a mark 50 percentage points higher than anyone else in the major leagues; this was Carew's sixth league batting title, and only four players have won more in all of baseball history. He also led the majors in hits (239) and runs (128), led his league in triples (16), batted in 100 runs, hit 14 home runs and stole 23 bases. In the field, Carew played his first full season at first base (his former home was at second) and managed to chalk up a .994 fielding average, with but ten errors--figures that placed him among league leaders at his new position. After such a season, there was little surprise when the sportswriters voted Carew the American League's Most Valuable Player for 1977. (Other first-base votes: Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers, 7; Keith Hernandez, St. Louis Cardinals, 2; Chris Chambliss, New York Yankees, 1; Tony Perez, Montreal Expos, 1; George Scott, Boston Red Sox, 1; Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox, 1.)

Second Base:Joe Morgan, Cincinnati Reds (20 votes). Morgan was the highest vote getter in our poll, with only four votes going to rival second basemen, a feat that is all the more remarkable given that 1977 was his weakest season in six years in such key statistical areas as batting average (.288), hits (150) and stolen bases (49). Nevertheless, a subpar Morgan season would be a career highlight for an average player, and the 34-year-old two-time National League Most Valuable Player (1975 and 1976) continued his superb defensive play with a .993 fielding average that was tops among major-league second basemen and won him a spot on the 1977 Rawlings Gold Glove team. (Other second-base votes: Bobby Grich, California Angels, 1; Jorge Orta, Chicago White Sox, 1; Willie Randolph, New York Yankees, 1; Rennie Stennett, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1.)

Third Base:George Brett, Kansas City Royals (6 votes): Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds (6 votes). The only co-winners in our poll, Rose and Brett also had virtually identical 1977 seasons in over-all statistics: Rose had a .311 batting average and a .958 fielding average; while for Brett, these figures were .312 and .957, respectively. Otherwise, balloting at this position represented a dead heat between youth and experience, with the 36-year-old Rose continuing to excel in a career that has included three batting titles (1968, 1969, 1973), nine 200-hit seasons and awards for Rookie of the Year (1963) and Most Valuable Player (1973); while the 25-year-old Brett, now in his fifth major-league season, is just beginning a promising career that already includes one batting title and a 200-hit season (both 1976). (Other third-base votes: Mike Schmidt, Philadelphia Phillies, 4; Ron Cey, Los Angeles Dodgers, 3; Graig Nettles, New York Yankees, 3; Enos Cabell, Houston Astros, 1; Butch Hobson, Boston Red Sox, 1.)

Shortstop:Dave Concepcion, Cincinnati Reds (10 votes). Compared with fellow Cincinnati poll winners Morgan, Rose, Foster and Seaver, shortstop Concepcion is a virtual unknown, never having won a batting title, home-run title or M.V.P. award. Instead, all Gold Glover Concepcion has done is to anchor a defense that in 1977 was best in the majors and provide his share of the clutch hits, bunts and sacrifices that helped the Reds win the world series in 1975 and 1976. (Other shortstop votes: Rick Burleson, Boston Red Sox, 7; Garry Templeton, St. Louis Cardinals, 4; Mark Belanger, Baltimore Orioles, 1; Bill Russell, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1; Robin Yount, Milwaukee Brewers, 1.)

Left Field:George Foster, Cincinnati Reds (15 votes). Foster in 1977 had the sort of season that dreams are made of: His 52 home runs, 149 runs batted in and 388 total bases led the majors, while his 124 runs scored led the National League and his .320 average was third best in the league. These statistics, plus his excellent .992 fielding average, were sufficient justification for Foster's being voted the league's Most Valuable Player for 1977--the third consecutive year in which a Cincinnati player had won the honor.

Center Field:Cesar Cedeno, Houston Astros (11 votes). If there could be said to be a sleeper on Playboy's money-player team, Cedeno would be it. He had a subpar year in 1977--hitting only .279, or 13 points under his seven-year career average--and was not even a member of the National League team in the All-Star game last July. The usual line on Cedeno is that he is a player who has yet to live up to his enormous potential, that his sterling 1973 statistics (.320 average, 25 home runs) should be the rule, not--as so far--the exception; judging by the votes of the major-league managers, however, the slick-fielding Cedeno has delivered on sufficient potential to make him far and away the best money center fielder in baseball (closest rival Mickey Rivers was nine votes back, while National League Golden Glover Cesar Geronimo got nary a vote). Nor does the Astros' management appear to have any complaints: Last February, it rewarded Cedeno with a reported ten-year, $3,500,000 contract; if so, the longest and richest contract ever granted to a major-league player.

Right Field:Dave Parker, Pittsburgh Pirates (7 votes). What National League hitting honors George Foster didn't win last season, Parker did, including the batting crown (.338), most hits (215) and most doubles (44); to these totals, Parker added 21 home runs, 88 runs batted in and 107 runs scored. The 27-year-old Parker, now in only his fifth full major-league season, is also a standout defensive player who was chosen to be on the 1977 Rawlings Gold Glove team: in fact, Parker might have the best throwing arm of any outfielder in baseball, as indicated by the fact that last year he participated in nine double plays--five more than any other outfielder.

(Other outfield votes: Joe Rudi, California Angels, 5; Carl Yastrzemski, Boston Red Sox, 5; Reggie Jackson, New York Yankees, 4; Jim Rice, Boston Red Sox, 4; Al Cowens, Kansas City Royals, 3; Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia Phillies, 3; Reggie Smith, Los Angeles Dodgers, 3; Mickey Rivers, New York Yankees, 2; Bobby Bonds, Chicago White Sox, 1; Lyman Bostock, California Angels, 1; Lou Brock, St. Louis Cardinals, 1; Jose Cruz, Houston Astros, 1; Andre Dawson, Montreal Expos, 1; Ruppert Jones, Seattle Mariners, 1; Fred Lynn, Boston Red Sox, 1; Garry Maddox, Philadelphia Phillies, 1; Al Oliver, Texas Rangers, 1; Bill Robinson, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1.)

Catcher:Thurman Munson, New York Yankees (12 votes). This vote is testimony to the fact that Munson has finally outpaced his nemesis Johnny Bench in their Olympian mano-à-mano to determine baseball's best catcher. It has not been an easy battle for Munson. In the 1976 world series, for example, his outstanding .529 batting average was barely, but decisively, topped by Bench's .533; even in last year's series, when Munson had the catching accolades all to himself, his batting heroics were overshadowed by the hitting of teammate Reggie Jackson. Nonetheless, the 31-year-old Munson-- who in 1977 hit .308, with 18 home runs, and in 1976 was the American League's Most Valuable Player--is now most definitely number one in the eyes of baseball managers. (Other catcher votes: Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, 5; Ted Simmons, St. Louis Cardinals, 3; Joe Ferguson, Houston Astros, 1; Carlton Fisk, Boston Red Sox, 1; Darrell Porter, Kansas City Royals, 1; Jim Sundberg, Texas Rangers, 1.)

Pitcher:Tom Seaver, Cincinnati Reds (9 votes). At this point in his still-blossoming career, about the only new plateau 33-year-old George Thomas Seaver has to look forward to is the formality of a Hall of Fame election. Last season, having been traded from the New York Mets to the Reds, Seaver compiled a 21--6 won-lost record, a 2.59 earned-run average (third best in the majors) and a league-leading total of seven shutouts; about the only disappointment was his failure to strike out 200 or more batters for the tenth consecutive season (he had only 196), thus stopping at nine a string of 200-strikeout seasons that is also unprecedented in the annals of major-league baseball. This year, all Seaver has to look forward to is a full season pitching in front of one of the most lethal line-ups in baseball. Pity. (Other pitcher votes: Jim Palmer, Baltimore Orioles, 4 1/2; Frank Tanana, California Angels, 3; Tommy John, Los Angeles Dodgers, 2; Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies, 1 1/2; Bill Campbell, Boston Red Sox, 1; Sparky Lyle, New York Yankees, 1; Don Sutton, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1; Jerry Koosman, New York Mets, 1/2; Bruce Sutter, Chicago Cubs, 1/2.)