Some of baseball's franchises are just filled to the brim with legends, but which hitter and pitcher who played for the same team, but in different eras, would be a great at-bat to watch? Here are my top five same-team hitter/pitcher duels that would be awesome to see:
Number Five: Nap Lajoie vs. Bob Feller
Why? The face of the Indians franchise in the dawn of the American League against the face of the Indians franchise in the middle of the century. It's the marquee matchup for all Cleveland sports fans because they were both amazing at what they did and their numbers show that.
Who'd Win? Feller. Nap wouldn't be used to Feller's heat.
Number Four: Willie Mays vs. Christy Mathewson
Why? The crazy, do-it-all hitter going up against the calm, soft-spoken icon. This is probably the most interesting of the matchups, because of the conflicting personalities between the two and how both influenced the game so much.
Who'd Win? Mays. He could hit anything, probably even Mathewson's notorious screwball.
Number Three: Harmon Killebrew vs. Walter Johnson
Why? Power versus power. Pure brawn versus pure brawn. When I think of this matchup, I think of a battle of absolute strength.
Who'd Win? I'm going to give it to Johnson. He's just too dominant of a pitcher.
Number Two: Hank Aaron vs. Greg Maddux
Why? Both were the best players at their respective positions during their playing days and played for some star-studded teams. They're high on the ranking of the "Best Player of All Time" debate, so this at-bat would be a doozy.
Who'd Win? Hammerin' Hank. He faced a lot of Hall of Famers during his time and destroyed basically every one of them. I could see him doing somewhat the same thing to Maddux, despite his 350+ career wins.
Number One: Babe Ruth vs. Mariano Rivera
Why? Simple: best hitter in baseball history squaring off against the game's best reliever.
Who'd Win? Don't faint, but I'm going to say Rivera, because of the cutter. Ruth never saw a pitch like that back in his day and Mo is famous for throwing it. Three cutters and Ruth would be back to eating hot dogs in the dugout.
Honorable Mention: Cy Young vs. Manny Ramirez
Why? I think this one would be just kind of wacky.
Who'd Win? Who cares?
Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."
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