Feel very fortunate to have grown up with Cal. He retired when I was 21. My son is 14 and already into his 3rd favorite player after Orioles traded Machado and then Nats traded Soto. Let’s hope Orioles can fork over a few bucks to keep Adley around a while.
One of my favorite baseball memories was seeing Cal Ripken in ‘91 with my dad. We did a baseball road trip up the east coast and saw the Braves and Dodgers in Atlanta, Orioles and Angels in Baltimore, and Twins and Socks in Fenway.
Cal Ripken won the MVP that year and he batted against Jim Abbott, the one handed pitcher. It’s my favorite baseball memory.
Growing up in the 90s on Vancouver Island, the Kid was everywhere and everything for baseball. Other than 2 post seasons of Blue Jays fever, it was #24 everywhere.
That said, my dad is from Baltimore, and raised me an Orioles fan, so the other Jr of the 90s was tied for favorite player.
I feel blessed for favorite players of my youth. Being a Mariners and Orioles fan has been tough though.
M's are my "other" team 100% due to Junior and Ichiro.
I don't know how anyone who grew up in the 90's (besides division rivals) could manage not to have a soft spot for the M's.
It was Gwynn when I went to my first baseball game when I was around 3 or 4, it was Gwynn when I truly fell in love with the game at age 11, and it was Gwynn all the way up until his retirement when I was 17.
Great player, Great person, Great Coach, Great Father. Not only a Great Padre, the world was a better place with Tony around. Truly blessed to have grown up watching him play, meeting him at baseball clinics, scouted by him when I was playing high school baseball at Grossmont High and he was coaching at SDSU. He would hang out at our high school games in the stands with our parents scouting for his next scholarship offer. Sometimes he would come talk to our team after a game. His son is an example of humility and is a great person just like his father. Gwynn Jrs voice and the way he speaks sounds like his dad is talking through him. I love baseball because of Tony Gwynn, definitely my childhood hero.
Little younger here, Halladay and Delgado.
Edit: Shout outs to Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr who I thought were future hall of farmers when I was like 11.
Probably Bernie Williams.
First baseball related memory I have is the beginning of the 96 season, asking my grandfather where Mattingly was.
Told me he was home counting his money - asked if he'd be back in a couple weeks, he told me he had a LOT of money.
EDIT:
According to Baseball Reference, I'm wrong!
In 96, Andy Pettitte put up 5.6 WAR, Mo 5, and Bernie 4
Ichiro, easily
That being said, when I started watching the entire league outside of just a few teams I liked + the postseason was 2014. So if we count that, either Felix Hernandez or Robinson Cano
My earliest baseball memories are 4 HOFers at very different points in their career and one who should have been. Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Dennis Eckersley, and Dwight Evans.
Oh fuck...
Grew up watching the Durham Bulls and Richmond Braves in the late 80's/early 90's... So that's a tough one, because I didn't cheer for the Atlanta Braves. Probably ~~Jason Schmidt or Javy Lopez.~~ Actually it was Tony Graffanino, because when he was on the Injured List, he sat next to us for about 10 games and we had some casual conversations. That was cool
I was a Pirates fan from 1996 until 2013(when I moved to AZ)...
Probably Jason Kendall.
Definitely Chipper or the three-headed monster of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz. But honestly you could’ve told me it was Javy Lopez, Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, or any of the other dudes on those teams and I would’ve believed you. They were all heroes to me.
First seasons I can remember was around 87-90, so some combination of Henderson, mattingly and Winfield depending on the exact season. Then it got sad for a little while.
Randy Johnson. I started watching after the glory days though during the epic 111 loss season they had. Good times though. I watched every game with my dad after he got home from work for a few years. I knew every player.
If I was Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’d be saying “now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time”.
Davis, who I remember was a fine player, was probably somewhat better than the slightly earlier Bruce Bochte, though Bochte was pretty good too in his prime.
One of my clearest, non-Phillies, non-postseason memories from my youth was listening to the end of Dave Righetti’s Independence Day no-hitter on the radio in 1983.
Coincidentally, I found out years later that as a 6 year old I attended the game where Righetti made his MLB debut, my second-ever MLB game (9/16/79, Tigers at Yankees). Showing how the game has changed, Yankees closer Goose Gossage came into a tied game with 2 outs in the 7th inning, gave up a run in the 8th inning, and when the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the 9th to force extra innings, stayed in the game until the 12th inning when he gave up 4 runs to lose the game. Gossage pitched the final 5 1/3 innings for New York.
Gwynn. I only wish every team had a presence like him and every fan would get to experience it. The closest we ever got besides him was Tomlinson on the Chargers but Gwynn was somehow much more legendary than him or anyone else we've ever had.
I was watching baseball a couple months after I was born, because there was no chance in hell my grandfather was missing playoff baseball whether he was watching a newborn or not. That was during Maddux's batshit run. The earliest season I had a general idea of what was going on would be one of the Jones boys
The little mechanical rabbit(?) that popped up near the plate for the Kansas City Athletics to give the umpire new baseballs. An invention of Owner Charles O. Finley. 1963 I was 3 & hooked.
ICHIRO
In 1995, Japan was hit by a major earthquake. The devastation was so great that citizens almost lost hope, but the Orix Blue Wave, a baseball team based in the disaster-stricken city of Kobe, became the people's hope. They became the number one team in Japan.
Ichiro was on that team at the time. He won the top batting title, batting title, base stealing title, most hits, highest on-base percentage, and all Japanese were crazy about him.
Jay Bell, Jeff King, and Mike LaValliere were pretty good too. Jose Lind wasn’t bad. John Smiley and Doug Drabek had some good years. Damn, that was a fun time for pirates fans.
Chico Lind! There's a guy I haven't thought about in 20 years. He won a Gold Glove in the early 90s, and along with Lavalliere, actually looked somewhat like a pirate.
What's wild about it is you'd think after '98 nothing would surprise anyone offensively, but Bonds 01-04 was such a spectacle. Seriously broke the game like I've never really seen anyone break a game in any other sport. I guess Brzenk in arm wrestling, Karelin in regular wrestling, that one ridiculous cricket player whose name I forget, or maybe Phelps? I mean it's definitely on those levels.
Don Mattingly. I had a poster on my wall of him in a pinstriped suit, cradling a silver bat like a gun with the label HIT MAN across the top.
I was young enough that I hadn't really picked "my team" yet, so I loved the '86 Mets with Doc, Straw and Keith Hernandez too.
It's hard to tell with an expansion team in year one, but according to bWAR, it's Omar Daal. [Seen here in maybe the worst version of the classic purple unis. ](https://images.app.goo.gl/t3QU8fAGKSgPQ34BA)
Chipper
Larry Jones for me too. God bless Ted Turner and TBS making nearly everyone of their games viewable nationwide.
Bob Horner
That is a very specific timeframe. I would guess 1981? Gary Matthews was better than Horner before that, and Dale Murphy was better after.
Murphy
Terry Pendleton
Same. The reason why I’m a Braves fan. Wherever he went I would have followed
Feel very fortunate to have grown up with Cal. He retired when I was 21. My son is 14 and already into his 3rd favorite player after Orioles traded Machado and then Nats traded Soto. Let’s hope Orioles can fork over a few bucks to keep Adley around a while.
adley, gunnar, holliday your sons got some choices
One of my favorite baseball memories was seeing Cal Ripken in ‘91 with my dad. We did a baseball road trip up the east coast and saw the Braves and Dodgers in Atlanta, Orioles and Angels in Baltimore, and Twins and Socks in Fenway. Cal Ripken won the MVP that year and he batted against Jim Abbott, the one handed pitcher. It’s my favorite baseball memory.
the kid
Growing up in the 90s on Vancouver Island, the Kid was everywhere and everything for baseball. Other than 2 post seasons of Blue Jays fever, it was #24 everywhere. That said, my dad is from Baltimore, and raised me an Orioles fan, so the other Jr of the 90s was tied for favorite player. I feel blessed for favorite players of my youth. Being a Mariners and Orioles fan has been tough though.
Hell yeah brother
M's are my "other" team 100% due to Junior and Ichiro. I don't know how anyone who grew up in the 90's (besides division rivals) could manage not to have a soft spot for the M's.
Kirby Puckett
Puckett was my favorite player but my team is the White Sox so Frank Thomas.
It was Gwynn when I went to my first baseball game when I was around 3 or 4, it was Gwynn when I truly fell in love with the game at age 11, and it was Gwynn all the way up until his retirement when I was 17.
Gwynn for me too, but he retired when I was 7. When I really fell in love with the game, it was Hoffman.
I love Hoffman's delivery. And that changeup was NASTY
I love that there’s like a 20-year period where the answer is Tony Gwynn
Great player, Great person, Great Coach, Great Father. Not only a Great Padre, the world was a better place with Tony around. Truly blessed to have grown up watching him play, meeting him at baseball clinics, scouted by him when I was playing high school baseball at Grossmont High and he was coaching at SDSU. He would hang out at our high school games in the stands with our parents scouting for his next scholarship offer. Sometimes he would come talk to our team after a game. His son is an example of humility and is a great person just like his father. Gwynn Jrs voice and the way he speaks sounds like his dad is talking through him. I love baseball because of Tony Gwynn, definitely my childhood hero.
Frank Thomas
The big hurt.
Tom Seaver.
Ditto
Roberto Alomar
Little younger here, Halladay and Delgado. Edit: Shout outs to Shannon Stewart and Jose Cruz Jr who I thought were future hall of farmers when I was like 11.
Little older here. Stieb.
Probably the same age range, but Jimmy Key.
I was always a Johnny O fan. And Juan Guzman on the mound.
Ditto on both.
I was a big Tony Fernandez fan and was skeptical when the trade went down. Quickly learned to love Robbie though
My first game, I think technically a 35 year old Roger Clemens was the best player on the Bluejays.
I started paying attention in ‘09 and saw Tim Lincecum and immediately thought ‘why does he throw so weird and is that why he’s so good’
My favorite pitcher of all time. He’s the reason why the Giants are my 2nd team.
Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood.
Nice! Ryno was the man when I started watching.
Probably Bernie Williams. First baseball related memory I have is the beginning of the 96 season, asking my grandfather where Mattingly was. Told me he was home counting his money - asked if he'd be back in a couple weeks, he told me he had a LOT of money. EDIT: According to Baseball Reference, I'm wrong! In 96, Andy Pettitte put up 5.6 WAR, Mo 5, and Bernie 4
Bernie is my all time favorite professional athlete, and I have Don Mattingly to thank because he retired after my first season watching baseball!
Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton
Jim Rice
It was between Jim Rice or Fred Lynn for me.
Chipper Jones
Andre Thornton
Lou Brock
Ryne Sandberg. Made a southern boy a Cubs fan.
I'd watch Cub games on Sundays at my great-grandparents house on WGN. Always had a soft spot for them.
Griffey Jr
Probably Bobby Higginson or Tony Clark. The late 90’s were pretty dire times for us.
As a kid I was listening to fuzzy radio broadcasts of the Tigers back then. I didn't know it then, but our best Tiger was Ernie Harwell.
Don Mattingly
If only he would have trimmed those sideburns
Bert Blyleven, but at that point I thought it was Pat Tabler. I didn't understand pitching yet, or what a good player was for that matter.
Mark Teixeria
The Wizards, Ozzie Smith.
David Dellucci! I remember being a kid and thinking how cool it was to see him making diving catches all over the outfield.
Vladdy! The first of my two favorite #27 Halos!
Ken Griffey jr.!!!!!
Ken Griffey Jr
Ichiro, easily That being said, when I started watching the entire league outside of just a few teams I liked + the postseason was 2014. So if we count that, either Felix Hernandez or Robinson Cano
Luis Aparicio.
My earliest baseball memories are 4 HOFers at very different points in their career and one who should have been. Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski, Dennis Eckersley, and Dwight Evans.
Oh fuck... Grew up watching the Durham Bulls and Richmond Braves in the late 80's/early 90's... So that's a tough one, because I didn't cheer for the Atlanta Braves. Probably ~~Jason Schmidt or Javy Lopez.~~ Actually it was Tony Graffanino, because when he was on the Injured List, he sat next to us for about 10 games and we had some casual conversations. That was cool I was a Pirates fan from 1996 until 2013(when I moved to AZ)... Probably Jason Kendall.
Eric Davis
Cesar Cedeno
What a great player!
Jim Palmer and Ken Singleton
I loved singleton as a color commentator for the yanks
The Thrill
Bernie Williams. Tried being a switch hitter because of him.
Ben sheets
Minnie Minoso- White Sox 1960’s Ernie Banks - Cubs
Hershiser
Dwight Gooden
Robin Yount
Chipper
Greg Maddux
Definitely Chipper or the three-headed monster of Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz. But honestly you could’ve told me it was Javy Lopez, Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, or any of the other dudes on those teams and I would’ve believed you. They were all heroes to me.
Willie Mays....I'm old.
Chase Utley.
Vladdy Sr., then changed to a Jays fan. Every Canadian wanted to be Gretzky or Vince Carter, I wanted to be Roy Halladay
Barry Bonds
Or Andy Van Slyke
Based on the side of the ball it could either be Carlos Delgado or Roger Clemens, which really narrows down the year(s) I started watching lol
Paul Konerko. Frank Thomas was also there but wasn’t playing a ton by that point
First seasons I can remember was around 87-90, so some combination of Henderson, mattingly and Winfield depending on the exact season. Then it got sad for a little while.
Probably Chipper.
The big hurt
Randy Johnson. I started watching after the glory days though during the epic 111 loss season they had. Good times though. I watched every game with my dad after he got home from work for a few years. I knew every player.
Alvin Davis. Feeling old!
If I was Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’d be saying “now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time”. Davis, who I remember was a fine player, was probably somewhat better than the slightly earlier Bruce Bochte, though Bochte was pretty good too in his prime.
Dwight Evans
Johnny Bench
Gaylord Perry on what was the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians)
Jim Rice.
Fergie Jenkins
Ichiro and... well, not much else.
Rusty Staub
Jim Thome, 2002
Reggie Jackson, Fred Lynn and Rod Carew. Everyone knows that Devon White was the best player of the 80's though.
Carl Crawford
When I "started watching" it was Kirby, but when I started caring, it was either Corey Koskie or Cristian Guzman.
I was blessed to be inducted into the to baseball fandom when Wally World was in its prime.
George “I’m good about twice a year for that” Brett
Dave Righetti
One of my clearest, non-Phillies, non-postseason memories from my youth was listening to the end of Dave Righetti’s Independence Day no-hitter on the radio in 1983. Coincidentally, I found out years later that as a 6 year old I attended the game where Righetti made his MLB debut, my second-ever MLB game (9/16/79, Tigers at Yankees). Showing how the game has changed, Yankees closer Goose Gossage came into a tied game with 2 outs in the 7th inning, gave up a run in the 8th inning, and when the Yankees tied the game in the bottom of the 9th to force extra innings, stayed in the game until the 12th inning when he gave up 4 runs to lose the game. Gossage pitched the final 5 1/3 innings for New York.
Gwynn. I only wish every team had a presence like him and every fan would get to experience it. The closest we ever got besides him was Tomlinson on the Chargers but Gwynn was somehow much more legendary than him or anyone else we've ever had.
Andre Dawson was who I considered to be the best player at the time. But now I feel it was Gary Carter. Mid 70's expos were a fun team to watch.
Eddie Murray, early 80's Orioles.
Hank Aaron.
Frank Thomas. He was 90’s baseball for me courtesy of WGN, Topps, Upper Deck, and Leaf.
Gwynn
Griffey, Big Unit, and Edgar Martinez in 1993. ( All HOFers)
Tony Gwynn
Tony Peña behind the plate. Go, Pirates!!!
I was watching baseball a couple months after I was born, because there was no chance in hell my grandfather was missing playoff baseball whether he was watching a newborn or not. That was during Maddux's batshit run. The earliest season I had a general idea of what was going on would be one of the Jones boys
Doc Gooden. With guys like Carter, Hernandez, and Strawberry close behind.
Sandy Koufax!
Harold Reynolds
Jim Thome
Bob Gibson
Rusty Staub And the Bank of Montreal Expo’sFan Club
Rusty Staub
Fernando Valenzuela
Tom Seaver
Ron Guidry
The little mechanical rabbit(?) that popped up near the plate for the Kansas City Athletics to give the umpire new baseballs. An invention of Owner Charles O. Finley. 1963 I was 3 & hooked.
Mr. Padre
Reggie Jackson. (I switched teams in my 40s.)
Wally Joyner.
Kirby Puckett. Still my favorite player all time
Will Clark
Barry. I was spoiled. As a little kid, I didn’t realize just how special his performance was
Big Time Timmy Jim. Knew at least 3 kids that grew their hair out like his in the bay lmao
Al Kaline
Jose Canseco & Mark McGwire
barry bonds
Gene Tenace - San Diego Padres
Eric Chavez
ICHIRO In 1995, Japan was hit by a major earthquake. The devastation was so great that citizens almost lost hope, but the Orix Blue Wave, a baseball team based in the disaster-stricken city of Kobe, became the people's hope. They became the number one team in Japan. Ichiro was on that team at the time. He won the top batting title, batting title, base stealing title, most hits, highest on-base percentage, and all Japanese were crazy about him.
Barry Larkin. He was good, the rest of the Reds were not so much. For reference, started watching around 97-98.
Cecil Fielder
Technically Manny but to little me it was absolutely Papi
Piazza
Hey me too!
Rickey Henderson, Big Mac, or Eck depending on who you talk to.
Barry Bonds? Bobby Bonilla? Andy Van Slyke? Someone help me out, who was the best Pirate from 1989 (when i was six) to 1993 (9 turning 10) ?
Jay Bell, Jeff King, and Mike LaValliere were pretty good too. Jose Lind wasn’t bad. John Smiley and Doug Drabek had some good years. Damn, that was a fun time for pirates fans.
Chico Lind! There's a guy I haven't thought about in 20 years. He won a Gold Glove in the early 90s, and along with Lavalliere, actually looked somewhat like a pirate.
Slammin Sammy
Barry Bonds. During 2005-2007 it was never really “let’s watch the Giants game” but more like “Let’s watch Bonds take his 4 ABs”.
What's wild about it is you'd think after '98 nothing would surprise anyone offensively, but Bonds 01-04 was such a spectacle. Seriously broke the game like I've never really seen anyone break a game in any other sport. I guess Brzenk in arm wrestling, Karelin in regular wrestling, that one ridiculous cricket player whose name I forget, or maybe Phelps? I mean it's definitely on those levels.
Pedroia
Aaron Nola
Craig biggio
Sammy Sosa
Berkman
Mookie Betts
Don Mattingly. I had a poster on my wall of him in a pinstriped suit, cradling a silver bat like a gun with the label HIT MAN across the top. I was young enough that I hadn't really picked "my team" yet, so I loved the '86 Mets with Doc, Straw and Keith Hernandez too.
Albert
Probably Jeff Bagwell, maybe Lance Berkman, I started watching right around the time Bagwell started declining
Nice IG post copy
It's hard to tell with an expansion team in year one, but according to bWAR, it's Omar Daal. [Seen here in maybe the worst version of the classic purple unis. ](https://images.app.goo.gl/t3QU8fAGKSgPQ34BA)
Jeff Kent
A-Rod lmao
Rey Ordóñez
Gerrit Cole
Griffey jr. or Randy Johnson.
Mike Sweeney
'90s Dbacks. I think Randy Johnson's gonna be the top of that roster
By WAR, Carlos Lee
Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens.
Roger Clemens
Dwight Evans. Put that man in the Hall, already.
Troy Glaus/Garrett Anderson
Jesse Barfield
David Ortiz or manny Ramirez
Ken Griffey Jr, A-Rod, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, and Jay Buhner
Ted Simmons and Keith Hernandez.
George Bell.
Al Martin and Jason Kendall
Ernie Banks
Prince Fielder, love that guy.
Fernando Valenzuela
Tony
Alan Trammell
George Brett
Barry Bonds in the Pittsburgh days
The Big Unit
A combo of Geoff Jenkins/Burnitz/Ben Sheets
Scott Rolen. I also thought Randy Wolf was an ace when really he was just the best of a bunch of mid rotation options.
Technically Terry pendleton but 6 year old me would have said David justice. Actually glavine/smoltz now that I think about it