Icons ...

So, I've been thinking about doing this book about Stan Musial. It wouldn't exactly be a book about Musial ... it would be more about icons. I think if you were visited by your cousin from Trinidad or Brazil or Singapore -- well, name any non-baseball playing country where your cousin lives -- and they asked you to explain the meaning of a baseball icon (definition: "An important and enduring symbol"), you might just tell them the story of Musial. Maybe there are enough cousins out there to buy the book.

In any case, as I thought about Musial, I tried to come up with the icon for each team in the big leagues. I decided this time not to use any formulas or statistical comparisons ... I just chose a single icon, and I chose from the gut. Because of that, I don't feel at all good about some of the choices. I tried to put myself in Baltimore, for instance, and choose between Cal Ripken and Brooks Robinson. For me, Brooks was a much bigger icon. But I suspect for most Baltimore fans, Ripken would be the guy (and it wouldn't be all that close). Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's neither one. Maybe the right answer is John Shelby.

Point is: I'd be interested to hear from individual fans on this. And I promise to update wherever appropriate.

I also reserve the right to push The Soul of Baseball once since this is nominally a promotional blog. You know, Father’s Day is just around the corner.

(A few people have emailed me that they’re not too crazy about the name “The Soul of Baseball.” I should tell you up front that I didn’t like it much either. I wanted to call the book “Baseball and Jazz,” because Buck always said that the two best things in the world are “Baseball and Jazz.” That title drew a mixed response from the publishing house – some absolutely despised it while other more level-headed people felt much more negatively about it. We ran through a whole bunch of titles after that, and none of them worked, and they liked “Soul,” and after a while you stop fighting. I’ve grown used to the title by now. And, I still haven’t come up with anything better, although for the paperback version coming out next year I do like “Dave Barry on Baseball” along with “Seabiscuit II” and “As Good as that James Patterson Book! Really!”).

Arizona Diamondbacks
My icon: Nobody.

They haven't been around long enough to have an icon. I would say that Randy Johnson is probably the closest thing. Luis Gonzalez for a while seemed like a strong icon candidate -- he was prominent in the community, he played more than 1,000 games with Arizona, he had the 57 homer year. But I don't think it ever really happened. I’m told my old buddy Thom Brennaman is reaching icon status in Phoenix. I knew him when.

I also knew Hannah Storm when. Here’s a story: She was a weekend sports person in Charlotte when I was a young reporter at the newspaper. I was covering the clay court tennis tournament there (I think it was called the U.S. Clay Court Championships, but I could be wrong), and she called me up. She said, “Hi Joe, it’s Hannah, hey, I’m planning to talk about the tournament on the newscast this evening and I was wondering if you could help me fill in a few gaps.”

I said: “Sure Hannah. What do you need?”

And she said: “OK, first of all, who was playing?”

Atlanta Braves
My icon: Dale Murphy.

Chipper Jones is closing in on icon-status in Atlanta. And of course, you have the great pitchers of the 1990s, especially John Smoltz, who has been with the Braves for 20 years. But to me Smoltz has played so many different roles, he's had the injuries, he was not quite as good as Maddux and he’s very close to Glavine. I don’t think he stands out quite enough.

I think Hank Aaron has certainly built up icon status in Atlanta, and deservedly so, but he played most of his career in Milwaukee.

So I'll go with Dale Murphy. I lived in the semi-South (Charlotte) during the early 1980s, and I just remember what a seminal figure Murphy was then. He played center field, he could run, he hit with power, he was a great guy. That was when the SuperStation and the movie “Just One of the Guys” dominated cable. It was in those days when Atlanta was desperately buying up all the tickets in the "We're a major city too sweepstakes." Murphy was the symbol -- funny that a Mormon from Utah was a symbol of the New South. But I would say Dale Murphy was pretty much everybody's favorite player from Jacksonville to Raleigh.

Baltimore Orioles
My icon: Cal Ripken Jr.

Cal barely edges Brooks Robinson, and I mean just barely. I always sensed that being a hero was hard work for Ripken. With Brooks, it came out more naturally, or at least it appeared that way.

OK, here’s a question: Who was better?

Ripken was clearly a better hitter. His on-base percentage is 18 points higher, he slugged 46 points higher, he hit 100+ more doubles, 150+ more homers, and had an OPS+ of 112 to Robinson's 104. Ripken won two MVPs, Robinson won one. Robinson made 15 All-Star Games, Ripken played in 19.

Robinson did play in a significantly tougher hitting environment, but that doesn't make up the difference (as the OPS+ indicates). The truth is that Robinson was only a good hitter for eight or nine of his 23 seasons. He was only a great hitter from about 1964-68. Ripken was a pretty great hitter from 1982-1991, with occasional bursts after that.

Of course, Brooks Robinson was the greatest defensive third baseman ever. Ripken was no slouch defensively, especially his younger days at shortstop, but Robinson was an artist. I don't think that quite makes up the difference, though -- Ripken was the better overall player, I think. Bill James credits Ripken with 427 Win Shares and Brooks Robinson with 356, and I think that's about right.

Boston Red Sox
My icon: Ted Williams

Big Papi is working his way into full icon status, but it would be tough for anybody on the Red Sox to ever surpass the Splendid Splinter. The real question is: How would you rank the all-time Boston icons? I'll take a shot:

1. Larry Bird
2. John Kennedy
3. Bobby Orr
4. Ted Williams
5. Paul Revere
6. Bill Russell
7. Tom Brady
8. Henry David Throreau
9. Bob Cousy
10. Conan O’Brien or Tom Scholz

Not icons
1. Ben Affleck

Chicago Cubs
My icon: Ernie Banks

One of my all-time favorite teams is the 1966 Chicago Cubs. That team had four Hall of Famers on it (Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ferguson Jenkins and Robin Roberts) one near Hall of Famer (Ron Santo), a former batting champ (Harvey Kuenn), a Gold Glove catcher (Randy Hundley), a future six-time All-Star shortstop (Don Kessinger), a future four-time All-Star second baseman (Glenn Beckert), a future 20-game winner (Ken Holtzman), FIVE past 20-game winners not even including Roberts (Ernie Broglio, Dick Ellsworth, Bill Hands, Billy Hoeft and Larry Jackson), a pitcher who won 18 games as a rookie (Chuck Estrada), a batter who once hit .330 with 24 homers in only 294 at-bats (Wes Covington) and three OTHER run of the mill former All-Stars (George Altman, Lee Thomas and Frank Thomas).

Oh yeah, that team was also managed by a Hall of Famer (Leo Durocher).

That Cubs team lost 103 games. One ... hundred ... and ... three ... games. Seriously, could any team better represent the Chicago Cubs? I hope last year on their 40th anniversary they were honored at Wrigley Field.

For a team with a storied history, the Cubs are somewhat low on icons. Many would consider Ryne Sandberg as a potential team icon – I wonder if he would beat Banks in a poll. Sammy Sosa, of course, had his chance. Nobody in Chicago really wants Cap Anson as the team's icon, though he's probably the greatest player in team history.

Chicago White Sox
My icon: Hawk Harrelson(?)

Yikes. He's the first name that came to mind when I thought about the White Sox. That's a terrible choice. HeGone. I suppose there's Luke Appling or Nellie Fox or Luis Aparicio, though I don't see any of them quite filling the role. You could go with Shoeless Joe Jackson, I suppose, but he played about as long in Cleveland as he did in Chicago. How about an all-time Chicago icon list?

1. Al Capone
2. Michael Jordan
3. Dick Butkus
4. Mike Ditka
5. Walter Payton
6. Ernie Banks
7. Mike Royko
8. Harry Caray
9. Gale Sayers
10. John Belushi or Barack Obama

Cincinnati Reds
My icon: Pete Rose

You know who was a huge icon in town when I was writing columns in Cincinnati? Chris Sabo. People just loved Sabo, and the big reason they gave is that Sabo drove a Ford Escort. New York and Los Angeles have always loved bigger-than-life figures – Magic Johnson, Joe Namath, Joe DiMaggio, Crazy Legs Hirsch. Cincinnati, probably more than any city I've ever been in, just wants its superstars to be regular guys.

The 1976 Reds really were amazing. That team only scored 857 runs -- which doesn't sound like much; it would be fewer than last year's Philadelphia Phillies, and exactly the American League average in that wild 2000 season. But in context, it was about a third more runs than the average National League team scored in 1976. Only the 1931 New York Yankees was better.

Here's what I love most about that '76 Reds team -- every regular single player (we're talking 10-deep here) was an above average hitter that season. Every one. They also were one of the best fielding teams in baseball history.

How good was that team? Pete Rose had one of his best seasons in 1976 -- he hit .323, had 215 hits (including 42 doubles), scored 130 runs. In another season, that wins the MVP award. On this team, it barely stands out.

-- Joe Morgan (37 win shares): Had one of the all-time great seasons. He hit .320, walked 114 times, banged 27 homers, scored 113 runs, droves in 111 runs, stole 60 bases and won the Gold Glove.
-- George Foster (25 win shares): Hit .306 with 29 homers and league leading 121 RBIs. He actually finished second in the MVP voting to Morgan (ahead of Rose).
-- Ken Griffey Sr. (25 win shares): Remarkable season; hit .336 (.401 OBP), scored 111 runs, stole 34 bases.
-- Dave Concepcion (23 win shares): Won the Gold Glove, hit .281, scored 74 runs, drove in 69 runs, stole 21 bases.
-- Johnny Bench (19 win shares): Down year for Bench, but still won the Gold Glove, hit 19 homers, and for some reason stole a career high 13 bases.
-- Cesar Geronimo (19 win shares): Hit .300 for the only time in his career, stole a career high 22 bases, finished second in the league with 11 triples, and won a Gold Glove in center field. In case you are counting that means the Reds won Gold Gloves at catcher, shortstop, second base and center field. That's fairly strong defense up the middle.
-- Tony Perez (16 win shares): Down year for Doggie -- the Reds thought he was slowing down and traded him shortly after the season. Still he drove in 91 runs and, also, stole a career high 10 bases. That was one running team. Every single player in the lineup, with the exception of Rose, stole 10 or more bases. And Rose stole 9.
-- Dan Driessen (7 win shares): Sub only hit .247 in 219 at-bats, but he walked a bunch (his OBP was .362), he hit seven homers, he stole 14 bases, he drove in 44 runs, and everyone in Cincinnati believed he would be a future star.

Cleveland Indians
My icon: Bob Feller

I think he's the right choice -- he's the best player in Cleveland Indians history and he has spent his life in Cleveland -- but I never really got the impression that Bob is uniquely beloved in Cleveland. This might be because he's been pretty cantankerous the last few decades ... although we Clevelanders don't really have a big problem with cantankerousness (Cantankour? Cantakerousnessness? Grumpiness?).

I can't really explain it, but I will say that growing up I heard much more about Rocky Colavito (and Lou Boudreau for that matter). And Rocky was in the title of Terry Pluto's terrific book about the Indians. So Rocky Colavito might be the real icon -- but it would be disrespectful to not give Feller his due.

Unless you want to consider Duane Kuiper.

One interesting thing about great Indians teams of the 1990s -- from 1994-1999 the Indians had a .595 winning percentage -- is that no real icon emerged. Carlos Baerga looked to be the most promising choice (he played with energy, hit rockets) but he faded fast. Jim Thome had icon status almost secured and he left. Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton and Albert Belle really had no interest in being icons. I suppose the closest thing was Omar Vizquel, but it’s tough to be an icon when you’re the fifth-best guy on a team.

Colorado Rockies
My icon: Nobody.

They haven't been around long enough. Todd Helton I suppose is the closest thing. Or Larry Walker. Anyway, with John Elway around there's no room for any more icons in Denver.

Detroit Tigers
My icon: Al Kaline

I'd be curious to hear from Detroit fans about Ty Cobb and his legacy in the Motor city. Cobb is obviously one of the more iconic figures in baseball history -- it seems wrong to not have him as Detroit's choice. But I get every impression that the right answer is Kaline, because he was a gentleman, because he excelled every year, because he was such a steady force in good years and bad ... I think Detroit fans would choose Kaline as the city icon, probably for all sports. But I could be misreading it.

Florida Marlins
My icon: Wayne Huizenga

No icon here. Luis Castillo has played the most games in Marlins history, by the way, and Dontrelle Willis has won the most games. Dontrelle has a chance, actually.

Houston Astros
My icon: Craig Biggio

I've always thought Jimmy Wynn was an iconic figure, in large part because of that "Toy Cannon" nickname, and also because he was really, really good. In 1968 and 1969 -- right in the heart of the Gibson era -- the TC had a .406 on-base percentage, a .490 slugging percentage, he mashed 59 homers despite playing in the worst-hitters park in the game. He walked 148 times in 1969 -- that team record would last 30 years. For his efforts in those two remarkable years, he was not even chosen to the All-Star Game, probably because his batting average was .269.

In any case, I think Biggio beats out Jeff Bagwell for icon, simply because he's done it a bit longer. I always think of both of them together -- Biggio and Bagwell -- and maybe they're co-icons. Nolan Ryan also qualifies here, but did you know he never won more than 16 games in any season he played with the Astros? I didn't.

Kansas City Royals
My icon: Emil Brown

He has led the team in RBIs each of the last two seasons and ... OK, yeah, it's George Brett. Of course. I've always felt a little bit for Frank White, who was a terrific player and grew up in Kansas City and is beloved, but not quite as much as George. George was a better player than Frank, of course, but it goes beyond that. George represented something to people in Kansas City -- he represented the big time. He always hit in the big moments. He cranked two of the most famous home runs in recent baseball history, both off of Goose Gossage. He played with abandon. And damn, he wanted to beat those Yankees.

OK, a list of all-time Kansas City icons.

1. George Brett
2. Harry Truman
3. Tom Watson
4. Len Dawson
5. Charlie Parker
6. Frank White
7. Tom Pendergast
8. Hallmark
9. Buck O'Neil
10. Arthur Bryant or Rush Limbaugh or Jesse James.

Los Angeles Angels at Anaheim
My icon: Gene Autry

I think that Vlad Guerrero, if he stays with the Angels for a few more years, has a chance to be the guy. But right now, only the old Cowboy stands out. Garret Anderson has played more games than any other Angels' player, and Chuck Finley has the most victories. Again, Nolan Ryan is a possibility.

Los Angeles Dodgers
My icon: Sandy Koufax

In 1963, Sandy Koufax went 25-5 with a 1.88 ERA. He struck out 306 batters. The league hit .189 against him. He won pitching's Triple Crown for the only time in his career.

Let's give you a few amazing feats from that season:

-- Twice that season, Koufax threw more than 160 pitches in a game (he pitched 12 innings against Philadelphia in May and threw 12 more against St. Louis in August).

-- On May 24 against San Francisco and Juan Marichal, he got lit up for five runs in 1/3 of an inning. He gave up singles to Jose Pagan and Willie McCovey to lead off the game, walked Willie Mays, gave up a three-run double to Orlando Cepeda, followed by a home run to Felipe Alou. After a strikeout, he gave up a single to Ed Bailey, threw a wild pitch, and he got yanked.

On August 15 against Milwaukee, it happened again. This time he gave up four runs in 1/3 of an inning. After getting Lee Maye to fly out, he gave up a single to Frank Bolling, another to Hank Aaron, another to Eddie Matthews (damn there were good hitters back then) and a home run to Gene Oliver. He got yanked.

Take away those two outings, and Koufax's ERA drops to 1.62. And the league batting average drops to .182.

-- Koufax started the season 6-1 with a 1.06 ERA with three shutouts.
-- Koufax ended the season 6-0 with a 1.49 ERA with one shutout.

-- One more: Koufax struck out 10 or more 11 times. This decade, the Kansas City Royals have had THREE pitchers strike out 10 or more in a game. Today's AFLAC Trivia question: Can you name those three pitchers. I'm saying you can't unless you cheat like I did.

I'm separating Los Angeles Dodgers icons from Brooklyn, by the way. I would say Jackie Robinson would be the Brooklyn icon, though you could certainly argue for Gil Hodges. Steve Garvey should have been a contender here, but he isn't. Vin Scully is, however.

Milwaukee Brewers
My icon: Hank Aaron.

I know he only played with the Brewers for a couple of years, but I've got to think those Milwaukee Braves years count.

I would be curious to know whether Milwaukee Brewers fans would choose Robin Yount or Paul Molitor as their icon. They were both considered pretty great guys (I don't think any player in sports history has ever rebuilt an image better than Molitor after his drug issues). Yount played his whole career in Milwaukee while Molitor had a couple of his best years in Toronto. So that's advantage Yount.

Molitor was a better hitter than Yount (higher average, OBP, SLG, more doubles, about 150 more runs scored), but Yount has his advantages too (more triples, homers, RBIs). Molitor played more games at DH than any other position. Yount meanwhile won a Gold Glove at short and was a pretty good center fielder.

Bill James calculates that Yount had 423 career win shares and Molitor had 414.

I'd say too close to call, but it's a blog and that's wimpy. I'd take Yount.

Minnesota Twins
My icon: Kirby Puckett

Things took a nasty and then tragic turn after he retired, but I don't know that any player in baseball history was more beloved in his hometown than Kirby Puckett circa 1995. The Twins have certainly had other iconic figures -- Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Kent Hrbek, Joe Mauer now -- but I think Puckett wins this going away.

New York Mets
My icon: Tom Seaver

I've had the good fortune (or whatever you want to call it) to have two close friends who were/are enormous New York Mets fans. Both of them idolized Tom Seaver. And both of them had bad experiences when they first met Tom Seaver. I can't recall the specific details, but I definitely remember the general point: Seaver was a jerk to them.

The interesting thing to me is that neither one of my friends allowed that bad experience to color their view of Seaver -- they still loved the guy. In a weird way, I thought, it kind of made them love him MORE, his jerkiness made him somehow into a larger figure. This has to be a New York thing. I cannot imagine how I would react had any of my childhood/college heroes (Duane Kuiper, Buddy Bell, Brian Sipe, Austin Carr, Bernie Kosar. Joe Charboneau, Ozzie Newsome, Mark Price) been jerks to me. I do know that Jack Brohamer once played catch with me in a parking lot, and I have loved the guy ever since.

AFLAC Trivia answer: The question was: Can you name the three Royals pitchers this decade to strike out 10 batters in a game? The correct answer is: “No, I can’t.” But the pitchers are: Blake Stein, Luke Hudson and Odalis Perez.

New York Yankees
My icon: Babe Ruth.

Let's go ahead and try to rank the Top 10 New York Yankees icons in order. It's almost impossible:

1. Babe Ruth
2. Mickey Mantle
3. Joe DiMaggio
4. Lou Gehrig
5. Derek Jeter
6. Reggie Jackson
7. Yogi Berra
8. George Steinbrenner
9. Don Mattingly
10. Whitey Ford

That's probably way off - I should ask Alex Belth to put a list together. In any case, it's an honest effort -- and how about having Lou Gehrig FOURTH? Say what you will about the Yankees (please do), but you could make a reasonable argument that the Top 4 icons in baseball history were all Yankees.

Here, as an added bonus, are the 10 best Frank Sinatra songs.
1. The Way You Look Tonight
2. Summer Wind
3. One For My Baby
4. The Coffee Song (as recorded on “Ring-a-Ding Ding”
5. I Get a Kick Out of You
6. Fly Me to the Moon
7. I Wish I were in Love Again
8. Moonlight in Vermont
9. Luck Be A Lady
10. Theme from New York, New York or My Way or one of those.

Oakland Athletics
My icon: Rickey Henderson

My first thought was Reggie Jackson, but he only played eight seasons in Oakland. I thought about Catfish Hunter then. And for some reason Joe Rudi popped into my head after that. Mark McGwire. Bert Campinaris. Point is, I thought about quite a few different players before I thought about Rickey Henderson. I guess that's because he has played for nine different teams, and he should be in the Hall of Fame by now but he won't stop playing, and he had FOUR different careers with Oakland.

1979-1984: Base stealer extraordinaire. Rickey had a .400 on-base percentage and stole 493 bases. He hit 10 home runs in a season once.

1989-1993: All-around superstar. Henderson's 1990 season is a marvel -- .325 batting average, 28 homers, 65 steals, .439 OBP. He hit with more power, got on base more and stole fewer bases. He was awfully good -- I'd take this Rickey Henderson.

1994-1995: Came back to the team after a brief and troubling few games in Toronto. You could see him slowing down, though he still managed a .409 on-base percentage.

1998: The old man comes home. He coudn't hit much, but he could still get on base (.376 OBP despite only a .236 average) and he stole an astonishing 66 bases at age 39 -- that's the most for any player older than 35.

Stolen bases for players older than 35
1. Rickey Henderson, 1998, age 39: 66 steals
2. Otis Nixon, 1997, age 38: 59 steals
3. Lou Brock, 1976, age 37: 56 steals
4. Lou Brock, 1975, age 36: 56 steals
5. Otis Nixon, 1996, age 37: 54 steals

I'd say he deserves to be the Oakland icon.

Philadelphia Phillies
My icon: Mike Schmidt

I'd like to put Robin Roberts in here because he has been a greatly underappreciated pitcher, and because he once called me out of the blue. I came home and there was a message on the machine, and it said something like: "Hi this is Robin Roberts, I used to pitch in the Major Leagues ..."

I thought: This has to be a prank. But I couldn't see the real prank value of anyone pretending to be Robin Roberts. I looked up his stats and could not believe how good he was in the early 1950s -- he won 20-plus games six straight years. Since the deadball era, only Lefty Grove (seven straight), Warren Spahn, Ferguson Jenkins and Roberts have pulled off that feat. But what blows you away about Roberts is that the guy threw 160 complete games from 1950-55.

To give you an idea how ridiculous that is, last year in the MAJOR LEAGUES there were 155 complete games.

Anyway, he was calling so we could meet at the Negro Leagues Museum and talk baseball. We did, and it remains one of the thrills of my professional life. He's a wonderful guy and a class act and an all-time great Phillies player.

The correct answer is still Mike Schmidt, of course.

Pittsburgh Pirates
My icon: Roberto Clemente

I think for a player to be an icon, you need to have a singular image in your mind. You have to think of Mays going back on Vic Wertz's fly ball, or Mike Schmidt's yanking a home run to left with that compact swing, or George Brett tomahawking that high fastball over the right-field wall or Pete Rose diving head first or Babe Ruth trotting around the bases.

With Clemente, there are so many images. But I think the most powerful is him chasing a ball down the right field line, whirling and whipping a throw across the diamond and nabbing a runner at third base. It's weird to say, but to me if Clemente had been exactly the same player and person he was -- .317 lifetime hitter, exactly 3,000 hits, four batting championships, terrific defender, heroic and traffic death -- but not had that amazing arm, I don't think he would be Pittsburgh's icon.

All time Pittsburgh icons:
1. Roberto Clemente
2. Terry Bradshaw
3. Mario Lemieux
4. Bill Cowher
5. Arnold Palmer
6. Willie Stargell
7. Andrew Carnegie
8. Mean Joe Greene
9. Johnny Lujack
10. Michael Keaton or Mr. Rogers

San Diego Padres
My icon: Tony Gwynn

You think this will ever happen again? A guy goes to play baseball and basketball at San Diego State. He is drafted on the SAME DAY by both the San Diego baseball team and the San Diego basketball team. He chooses baseball, and reaches the big leagues in almost exactly a year. He wins a batting title for the Padres in his first full season. He plays 20 seasons, all of them in San Diego. He wins eight batting titles and hits .394 one season when the players decide to go on strike. He also wins five Gold Gloves. He also is an entirely classy guy. When he retires, he becomes the baseball coach at San Diego State.

I wonder who the San Diego icon is.

San Francisco Giants
My icon: Willie Mays

Stretch McCovey is a good option too. And then there's Barry Bonds.

What was Willie Mays' best season? Using runs created, it was 1954, when he hit .345 with 41 homers, 110 RBIs and 119 runs scored.

Using OPS+ it was 1965 when he hit .317 with 52 homers, 112 RBIs, 118 runs scored and a .645 slugging percentage.

Using power/speed numbers it was 1956, when he hit 36 homers and stole 40 bases.

Using Win Shares it was 1965, but 1962 came really close, that year he hit .304 with 49 homers, 141 RBIs and 130 runs scored.

Any my personal favorite year is 1955, when he hit .319 with 51 homers, 127 RBIs, 13 triples, 24 stolen bases and 34 more total bases than anybody else.

He was pretty good.

Seattle Mariners
My icon: Ken Griffey Jr.

For a team that has only been around since 1977, they have several icon possibilities: The young Randy Johnson; the young A-Rod; professional hitter Edgar Martinez; the irrepressible Jay Buhner. But Junior's the guy. It really is stunning to compare Seattle Griffey vs. Cincinnati Griffey:

Seattle Griffey:
Hit .299 with 398 homers and 1152 RBIs. Slugged .569. ... Ten-time All-Star. ... Played 150+ games six times. ... His comps included Frank Robinson, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle. ... Lovable. Everyone called him the Kid. ... Won 10 Gold Gloves ... Led the league in homers four times ... Won an MVP award.

Cincinnati Griffey:
Has hit .273 with 176 homers. Slugged .531 ... Two-time All-Star ... Played 150+ games zero times ... His best comp would probably be Dave Justice ... Not so lovable. ... Won zero Gold Gloves. ... Led the league in homers zero times.

If Seattle fans don't want Griffey as their icon, then broadcaster Dave Niehaus isn't a bad substitute.

St. Louis Cardinals
My icon: Stan Musial

Well, he was the whole point of this exercise. I have a lot to say about Musial but I'll save that and for now just give you one of Bill James’ absolute favorite baseball facts. You probably already know that both Griffey and Musial were born in Donora, Pa.

So Ken Griffey Jr. is the second-best, left-hand hitting, left-hand throwing outfielder ever born in Donora, Pa.

On November 21st.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays
My icon: Nobody

Way too soon. Carl Crawford has a chance, but I suspect he won't be with the Devil Rays forever. I'll predict without hesitation that the team icon won't be Elijah Dukes.

Texas Rangers
My icon: Nolan Ryan

He’s not a great choice, but nobody really comes to mind. I guess you could put Rafael Palmeiro here, but I don't think anybody wants that. Pudge? I think he's more of a Detroit Tiger now. David Clyde? Oddibe McDowell? A-Rod in his money-chasing phase? I'll go with Ryan even though he only played five seasons in Texas, and all those as an old man. I think he represented something larger to Rangers fans. Of course, so did Chan Ho Park.

Toronto Blue Jays
My icon: Dave Stieb(?)

I don't feel good about it, but he's the guy who comes to mind. Joe Carter? Tony Fernandez? Vernon Wells? George Bell? While Seattle is loaded down with icon possibilities and has had few baseball successes, Toronto has the two World Series titles and few icon possibilities. Maybe there's someone obvious I'm forgetting.

Washington Nationals
My icon: Jesus Colome

Hey, he leads the team with four wins.