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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The 60 Greatest Moments in MLB in the Last 60 Years
The Hockey News has a magazine out that discusses The 60 Greatest Moments in Hockey in the Last 60 Years.
I thought it would be interesting to find the MLB equivalent of their lists:
#1 for The Hockey News was Expansion. In the late 60s, the NHL expanded from 6 teams to 12. While the NHL had 6 teams, MLB had 20. They are both sitting at 30 today.
So, the MLB equivalent in this case is easy: expansion. I wouldn’t necessarily count it as the #1 moment in MLB history, but it is a great moment. Some think of expansion as dilution, but, as I have shown, that’s not true. Since 1969, the number of USA-born players in MLB has held steady. The extra players have all come foreign nations.
#2 was the lockout. The MLB equivalent is also easy, the 94 lockout and the subsequent cancellation of the World Series.
#3 was the arrival of Wayne Gretzky. Never has a player in a team sport accomplished so much, so quickly. Until Gretzky arrived, Gordie Howe was the greatest hockey player ever… Babe Ruth if you will. He won 6 MVPs in his career. Gretzky won his 6th MVP in his 6th year. He was 24. Not only that, but his team’s style of play ushered in a new hockey.
It’s hard to see what MLB can be his equivalent in the last 60 years. Barry Bonds could be the closest. If we go back far enough, Babe Ruth would be it.
#4 is the goalie mask. Hard as it is to believe, goalies did not always wear a mask, and it took a puck to the face of Jacques Plante for him to start the trend. I don’t think there’s any baseball equipment that has had that transformative effect. The glove simply went through the technological evolution. Maybe the thin-handled bat? Sticking with something tangible, I’ll nominate artificial turf. If you were a weak hitting SS with a good glove, you found a job in MLB. The John MacDonalds and Adam Everetts were all the rage in the 1970s.
#5 was the Wayne Gretzky trade to California, ushering in a whole set of teams in the Sun Belt during expansion and relocations. I’m thinking the moves of the Dodgers and Giants would be the MLB equivalent.
#6 was the acceptance of Europeans and Russians in the NHL. I think this is similar to the expansion moment, as one begat the other. So, the scouting of Latin and foreign-born ballplayers would probably be it.
#7 in the NHL was the salary cap. In MLB, that’d be free agency.
#8 was the awareness of European and Russian hockey. It was a completely different style of play, one which fans definitely appreciated, and the NHL adopted to some extent. Tough call on the MLB equivalent. I’m thinking maybe the bullpen management?
#9 was TV. Sounds good to me.
#10 was the Miracle on Ice. That team of teenagers not only beat the professional Russian players, but they served as the catalyst to US hockey. In MLB, I think maybe Jackie Robinson would be it. He had the transformation effect that we’re talking about here, with Blacks taking their rightful place.
Personally, Jackie would probably be #1.
I’ll be back tomorrow to go through #11 through 20 in the NHL, with the MLB equivalent.