We all know names like Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Hank Aaron, but what about the lesser stars of Major League Baseball. What about the players who contributed a lot to the game, but are now practically forgotten for doing so?
Well, NESN hasn’t forgotten those players.
Over the course of nine weeks, NESN is going to determine baseball’s all-time undervalued team, a team made up of nine players who are pretty darn good but never got the respect they should have. Cooperstown snubs and overlooked stars, this is your place.
From Jan. 7 to March 4, we will run a poll on NESN.com every Monday with four undervalued players at nine different positions: catcher, first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field, center field, right field and pitcher. Voting will run a week, and results will be finalized every Monday at 12 p.m. ET. The player that receives the most votes will be the most undervalued player at his position.
Our criteria for making the voting lists was simple. Players cannot be in the Hall of Fame, and they can’t have cracked the top five in MVP voting more than once. Beyond that, we looked for the players who combined the best performance with the biggest gap in perceived public appreciation of that performance.
So who do you think should make the team? Cast your vote in the coming weeks, and tell us in the comments section if you think we overlooked someone.
Catchers: Jan. 7
First Basemen: Jan. 14
Second Basemen: Jan. 21
Third Basemen: Jan. 28
Shortstops: Feb. 4
Left Fielders: Feb. 11
Center Fielders: Feb. 18
Right Fielders: Feb. 25
Pitchers: March 4
