Charlie Grimm had three different stints as manager of the Cubs and was the last manager to lead the Cubs to the World Series. To the chagrin of Cubs fans everywhere, that was in 1945. Grimm actually led the Cubs to four World Series without winning any of them. Grimm also spent five years with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves, finishing in second place in three of those seasons. In the end, Grimm won 1287 games at a .547 clip.

The only stinker on this team, Gedman is the best of a very mediocre bunch at catcher. A two-time all-star, Gedman was a promising young catcher for the Red Sox before holding out in 1987. He resigned with Red Sox after May 1, but his career floundered from there. He ended up as a backup catcher for the Cardinals and was out of baseball at the age of 32. He ended up with 88 home runs, 382 RBI, a .399 slugging percentage and a 703 OPS.

Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, aka The Iron Horse and, less formally, Biscuit Pants, was one of the top five players to ever play the game. Perhaps best known for his 2130 consecutive games played streak, Gehrig specialized in getting runners home. His 1995 RBI are fourth all-time and keep in mind that he got his second-to-last RBI at the age of 35. Gehrig holds top-ten all-time rankings in several categories including Slugging Percentage (3), OPS (3), On-Base Percentage (5), Extra Base Hits (6) and Runs (10). He was MVP in 1927 and 1936 and won the Triple Crown in 1934. Gehrig’s tragic life was depicted in The Pride of the Yankees, a movie starring Gary Cooper. On July 4, 1939, the Yankees paid tribute to their fallen hero with Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium. In a moving speech, Gehrig declared that “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.” Gehrig died two years later, but not before he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

Doc Cramer nicknamed him “The Mechanical Man” because “all you do is wind him up on opening day and he runs on and on all season.” Gehringer was an undemonstrative, taciturn player who lived with his mother and attended mass with her every morning. His best two seasons were 1936 and 1937. In 1936 he batted .354 with an amazing 60 doubles and 116 RBI. In 1937, Gehringer earned the MVP for hitting .371 with 40 doubles and 96 RBI. Overall, Gehringer ended up with a career batting average of .320 and an OPS of 884. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1949.

Don’t you think a modern player with the name of Heinie Groh would have changed his name years before he started his big-league career? Groh was a very talented fielder and still holds many fielding records including highest fielding percentage by a third baseman (.983 in 1924) and fewest errors (7 in 1924). Groh was also a very good leadoff hitter, using his short stature (he was 5-8) to draw many walks. Groh used what was referred to as a “bottle bat.” It had a thin handle, but a non-tapered barrel--I’ve never seen anything like what was described on the website I got this info.

Known as “Glass” in high school because of his slender physique and brittle appearance, the 1997 Rookie of the Year our starting shortstop even though he has played only eight seasons. Garciaparra beat out Dick Groat and Jack Glasscock (another name-change worthy player) with his 925 career OPS, which is 35% better than the league average. Garciaparra has hit 173 home runs for his career with 272 doubles and 669 RBI. Garciaparra has had some injury troubles lately, but there is no doubt that he is one of the premier players in the game today.

The G-Outfield is loaded. Besides the three who made the team, there’s Kirk Gibson, Brian Giles, Juan Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, George Gore, Ken Griffey, Sr., Mike Griffin, Pedro Guerrero and Vladimir Guerrero. It’s likely that Vlad and perhaps Giles will force their way into this outfield in the future.

Like everyone else, I’m sure, I thought Leon Goslin’s nickname of “Goose” was just a form of his last name. In fact, the nickname was given to him because he had a long unusually shaped nose. Goslin often joked about it. In 1924, he said, “I’ve been hitting .344 as a one-eyed hitter, you know. If I could see around my nose, I’d hit .600.” A left fielder for the Senators, Browns and Tigers, Goslin was known for his batting stroke and powerful outfield arm. In 18 seasons, Goslin had a career batting average of .316 and a career OPS of 887. He hit 500 doubles, 173 triples and 248 home runs to go with 1609 RBI. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1968.

The transformation that Ken Griffey, Jr. has made in his career is astounding. He came up as a fresh-faced 19-year old center fielder who wore his cap backwards, made exciting, home-run-stealing catches and looked like he loved playing the game. He was the face of Major League Baseball for years and helped save the Seattle Mariners, a dismal franchise before his arrival. Then, after the 1999 season, Griffey demanded to be traded east, citing a need to be closer to his family. The fans turned on Griffey during this process and subsequent injuries derailed his career. He is now probably more hated than loved by baseball fans. Nevertheless, Junior has hit 500 home runs in his career and driven in 1438. He has a .938 OPS and is, in my opinion, already a lock for the Hall of Fame when he retires.

One of the few players of the modern era who played his entire career with the same team, Tony Gwynn was a hitting machine. His eight batting titles are equaled only by the great Honus Wagner. Gwynn compiled a .338 lifetime batting average and 3141 hits. Gwynn’s secret was the use of videotape to study his swing and the swings of other left-handed hitters. He started with a $500 VCR in 1983; in 1993, he had a $100,000 state-of-the-art videotaping system installed in the Padre’s clubhouse. An interesting note about Gwynn is that he was a very successful college basketball player as well. In fact, the day he was drafted by the Padres, he was also drafted by the San Diego Clippers in the NBA. Gwynn is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame in 2006 when he becomes eligible.

With apologies to Pud Galvin, Clark Griffith and Burleigh Grimes, there were very few more intimidating, more dominant than Bob Gibson in his prime. His 1968 season is one of the top-five best single seasons in the history of baseball. That year, he won 22 and lost 9 while leading the majors with an amazing 1.12 ERA! Gibson struck out 238 while walking only 62 and threw 13 shutouts. At one point during the season, he gave only two runs over 92 innings. It didn’t stop there, though, as the Cardinals reached the World Series and Gibson went 2-1 with an ERA of 1.67 while striking out 35 and walking only 4. In fact, for his career, Gibson went 7-2 with an ERA of 1.89 in World Series games. Gibson ended his career with 251 wins and an ERA of 2.91. On top of all of this, Gibson won nine Gold Gloves and was adept at bat for a pitcher--His 18 career sacrifice flies lead all pitchers in this category. Gibson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1981.

With a blazing fastball and a temper to match, Lefty Grove was one of the best pitchers in the history of the game. Connie Mack bought Grove for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1925 for $100,600, topping the record set by Babe Ruth, who had been sold to the Yankees for $100,000. Grove’s best season came in 1931 when he went 31-4 with a 2.06 ERA. Mack loved Grove as a player, but the tantrum-throwing, teammate-menacing personality was just too much. With the A’s struggling for attendance and profit in 1934, Grove was sold to the Red Sox where he finished his career. In the end, Grove earned 300 victories to go with his 3.06 ERA. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1947.

I was never really a huge fan of Goose’s, mostly because I was a big Sparky Lyle fan and Gossage was the one who took away his closer job with the Yankees (the year after Lyle won the Cy Young, no less). Looking back on his career, though, what’s not to like? Goose was a dominant closer in an era in which closers were expected to pitch two, sometimes three innings. A nine-time All-Star, Gossage ended his career with 310 saves and an ERA of 3.01. He also struck out 1502 batters in 1809 innings pitched. Gossage’s best season came in the strike-shortened 1981 season, in which he saved 20 games and had a remarkable 0.77 ERA, 365% better than the league average. Gossage is already eligible for the Hall of Fame and should get in eventually.