Well, there are certainly enough of us. Anderson is the 15th most popular name in the US, accounting for not quite 1 million people.
Same thing with MLB alumni. Would you believe almost 23,000 have played in the bigs over the years?
Put the two together, and you’re sure to put together a pretty decent ball team. Right? Right?
NOTE: The main criterion here is WAR. I have, though, given some attention to other stats. Saves, for example, works pretty well for relievers.
Catcher – Ferrell (-0.1)
Unfortunately, we’re going to have start things off with a guy with a negative WAR. Guess us Andersons just don’t take to the tools of ignorance.
Ferrell, known as “Andy,” was up for only 2 years. Interestingly, there were 7 years between those 2 appearances.
The first was in 1946, for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He got not quite 200 ABs (199, to be exact), hit 256, but only managed 2 HRs & 14 RBIs. He was a league leader though – in passed balls, unfortunately. On the real plus side, he did catch a no-hitter.
His 2nd stint in the bigs was in 1953, with the Cards. He did hit 286, but with only 2 runs produced (1 RBI & 1 run).
Before MLB, Ferrell was an all-conference tackle with the Univ. of Kansas.
1st Baseman – John (28.3)
This guy’s got the 2nd best WAR here. If you’ve never heard of him, it’s probably because he played way back around the turn of the 20th Century (1894-1908, to be precise).
Over those 14 years, he played with 6 teams, batting 290, with 1843 hits, 871 runs, 978 RBIs & 338 steals. He was a league leader no less than 3 times – in triples, steals & slugging percentage. He’s got 1 comparable player, Jimmy Collins, who’s actually in the Hall of Fame.
Interestingly, John’s our only foreign-born player, coming from Norway. After hanging up his spikes, he managed in the minors & was a policeman.
2nd Baseman – Marlon (7.2)
Marlon’s our first recent player, retiring in 2009. In fact, I think he might have been on 1 of my fantasy teams.
Over 12 years, he too played for 6 teams. Overall, he finished at 265, with 63 HRs, 371 RBIS, 392 runs & 71 steals. He was in 2 postseasons, making it to the World Series with the Cards. Looks like we’ve got another league leader here – in errors, unfortunately. Hmm, am I detecting a theme here?
Outside of the bigs, Marlon was an All American & conference player of the year at the Univ. of South Alabama. Post-retirement, he’s been a minor-league hitting coach & Phillies announcer.
Shortstop – Tim (15.4)
Another contemporary player, Tim retired only last year. His 10-year career started in 2016, taking him to the White Sox, Marlins & Angels (poor guy). He was a 2-time All Star with Chicago. He also led the AL in runs in the strike-shortened 2020 season, and in average in the full season before that.
Career-wise, Tim finished with 98 homers, 350 RBIs, 552 runs, 122 steals & a 270 average. Surprisingly, he got into 2 postseasons, both with the White Sox. Though he batted 485 over those 2 stints, the Pale Hose could not advance in either.
3rd Baseman – Brian (9.9)
Another recent player, Brian retired after the 2024 season. Overall, he was up for 8 years and played for 3 teams (though 6 of those years were with Miami). He finished with 66 HRs, 273 RBIs & 287 runs, with a 251 average. He was a league leader twice – once in assists, and once in errors (again!).
Brian played college ball at the Univ. of Arkansas. The Razorbacks got to the College World Series in 2012 while he was there.
He’s another “Andy.” Hard to believe, but there are actually 3 Brian Andersons out there (see below for another), as well one Bryan Anderson.
I think this is the right guy
Outfielder 1 – Brady (35)
I guess Brady’s our big star. He’s got the best WAR overall, plus 3 All Star appearances to boot.
Oddly, though he does have 4 league leader totals, they’re in the rather obscure categories of HBP (3 times) and plate appearances (once). He was also pretty good in the field, leading the league in fielding percentage 3 times.
Over his 15-year-career (14 of those years with Baltimore), he totalled a very respectable 210 HRs, 761 RBIs, 1062 runs & 100 steals. Comparable players include the likes of Lloyd Moseby, Rick Monday & Jason Heyward.
Now, about that one year... In 1996, Brady hit 50 homers and knocked in 110 runs. That’s, respectively, twice his 2nd best total and 30 more than he had ever plated before. Was he juicing? Hard to say.
Before MLB, he was a UC-Irvine Anteater. Currently, he’s the batting coach for the Angels. Brady’s also dabbled in acting, with appearances in the TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch and the movie The Absent.
Juice? Could be.
Outfielder 2 – Garret (25.7)
Another 3-time All Star, Garret played for 17 years, all but 2 of those with the Angels. He was also a 2-time Silver Slugger Award winner, finishing his career with a very nice 293 average. He also tallied 287 homers, 1365 RBIs & 1084 runs.
Garret led the AL twice in doubles. A decent fielder, he led the league in assists, putout & double plays, all once. His comparable players include 1 Hall of Famer, Dave Parker.
Sadly, Garrett passed away just this year, at the too-young age of 50.
Outfielder 3 – Mike (4.4)
Who? Yeah, we’re dragging the bottom of the barrel for this one (sorry, Mike). You’d think there’d be a 3rd outfielder with a little better numbers.
Mike was up for 9 years, with 3 different teams. His totals are pretty meh – 246 average, 28 homers, 134 RBIs & 159 runs. Sounds like he wasn’t too bad in the field, leading the league once in range factor.
He was actually drafted #6 and made the Phils at age 20. Unfortunately, things never really panned out for him
Mike’s the brother of Kent Anderson, who played 2 years with the Angels.
Starting Pitcher 1 – Tyler (16.5)
Another recent player, Tyler hung up his spikes just last year. In his 10-year career, he played with 6 different teams.
Overall, he went 62-72, with a 4.30 ERA & a 1.296 WHIP. He also notched 1045 K’s in 1259 innings. Finally, he was a 2-time All Star, both as an Angel.
Tyler was a 1-time league leader. Too bad it was in HRs allowed (sigh).
He managed to get into 3 postseasons, posting a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings. Unfortunately, he seems to have been the victim of poor run support, going 0-3 overall.
Tyler had a pretty good college career, for the Oregon Ducks. He was All Conference, a 2nd team All American, and set a Duck record for K’s.
Starting Pitcher 2 – Brett (10.9)
Brett’s career is not too different from Tyler’s. Brett was up for 13 years, playing for 6 teams, and retiring in 2021. Like Tyler, he finished under 500 (67-74), had an ERA over 4.00 (4.07, to be exact), and was in 0-3 in 3 postseasons.
His WHIP was a little higher (1.334), his strikeouts less (772), and his postseason ERA much, much higher (6.75). He led his league only in a few fielding categories – assists, double plays & errors (again!).
Though his father was the head coach at Oklahoma State (and he signed a letter of intent there), he signed with the D-Backs in the 2nd round, skipping college entirely.
Starting Pitcher 3 – Brian (10)
Our other Brian … This one, though, was known, not as “Andy,” but by the much more interesting nickname of “Antic.”
Like our other starters, this one finished under 500 (just barely, though, at 82-83) & with an ERA over 4.00 (4.74). He also had a fairly comparable WHIP of 1.345, as well as a total of 723 strikeouts.
Brian was up for 13 years, starting in 1993, & played for 4 teams. He was a 1-time league leader, in BB per 9 inning (1.00, on the dot).
Like a couple of our other starters, Brian was in the postseason for 3 years, He did pretty well though, going 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA & 0.978 WHIP. His teams did good too, with him getting in 2 World Series.
Brian played college ball at Wright State. Currenty, he’s a TV analyst for the Rays. He’s also been a coach for them, as well as working in the front office.
He was on air for Cleveland as well
Starting Pitcher 4 – Chase (7.2)
Wow, our first starter with a winning record! Barely. Chase finished 1 game over 500, going 59-58.
He was up for 11 years, but with an amazing 9 teams. Overall, he sported a 4.41 ERA but also a decent 1.299 WHIP. Chase notched 923 K’s in 1107 innings. He switched to relief in his final years, getting 4 saves.
And, yes, he was a league leader. Unfortunately, it was in home runs allowed. Again!
Chase played college ball at North Central Texas & Oklahoma. He was a reliever for the latter, striking out 60 batters in 51 innings.
You’ve got to check out his Wikipedia entry. It’s an incredible 16 pages long & includes 86 footnotes. It includes gems such as:
“His parents, Michelle and Robert Anderson, divorced when their son was 12 years old. Anderson went to live with his father, helping with the family lawn care and firewood businesses. In their free time, Anderson and his father would play catch in their backyard, which sparked Anderson's love for baseball. Anderson also wanted to play gridiron football, but his mother was afraid that he would suffer an injury that would hinder his baseball career.”
And
“Anderson is a Baptist. He became a Christian through the influence of his grandmother, Annette Anderson, with whom he attended both Baptist and United Methodist churches. He attends The Village Church in Dallas.”
I’m thinking it might have been written by Michelle.
Relief Pitcher 1 – Matt (-0.6)
Our only other player with a negative WAR. He did, though, post 26 career saves, first among this group. Matt had a good record (15-7), but his ERA (5.19) and WHIP (1.582) are probably what account for that woeful WAR.
He was up for 7 years, all but 1 with the Tigers. He was their closer for 1 year, in 2001, where he got 22 of his 26 saves.
Matt was actually the #1 pick in the 1997 draft, out of Rice, where he was a 1st team All American. He also started his professional career with a bang, notching a 0.66 ERA & 0.927 WHIP in 2 minor league stops before being called up to the bigs. In Detroit, he posted a 3.27 ERA & astruck out 44 in 44 innings.
He then hurt his arm – ostensibly in a bullpen session, but possibly in an octopus-throwing contest with the Detroit Red Wings (I don’t know – it’s some hockey thing apparently). His fastball went from over 100 to under 90, and he was never the same again.
Relief Pitcher 2 – Bob (3.8)
Bob’s the reliever that leads in WAR. He also notched a decent 13 saves. Bob played from 1957 to 1963, with all but the last year with the Cubs. He led the league twice, once in double plays & once in errors (again!).
Bob was also a spot starter, as well as starting regularly for the Cubs for 2 years. Overall, he finished his career with a 36-46 record, with a 4.26 ERA, 1.400 WHIP & 502 K’s.
Bob was a big boy, at 6’4” and 210 lbs. He played 1 year of college ball at Michigan before going pro. Post baseball, he tried his hand at golf, sales, youth coaching & owning a health food store.
Relief Pitcher 3 – Nick (3.4)
Nick’s our only current player, playing with AAA Las Vegas, where he’s sporting a handsome 2.16 ERA & 0.840 WHIP.
Over 6 major league seasons, he’s got a decent 14-7 record, 3.43 ERA & 1.110 WHIP. He’s also got 10 saves and an impressive 212 K’s in 173 innings. He’s played for 5 different teams in those 6 years.
He played college ball at St Cloud State (MN) & Mayville State (ND). His nickname is “Ando.”
Relief Pitcher 4 – Bud (2.1)
Bud was up for only 2 years, 1982 & 1983, both with Cleveland. In those 2 years, he posted a pretty average 3.68 ERA & 1.409 WHIP, combined with a pretty terrible 4-10 record.
Bud was a 3rd rounder, out of Rutgers, where he also played football. His real name is Karl. Just not a whole lotta information on Bud, I’m afraid.
Manager – Sparky Anderson
Our one and only Hall of Famer. And he certainly didn’t earn that in the field. Sparky was actually the starting 2nd baseman for the 1959 Phillies. Unfortunately, though he led the league in games played, he also hit 213 with no homers. And that was his only year in the bigs.
It’s managing that got him to Cooperstown. He won over 2,000 games (2194, to be exact), as well as 5 pennants & 3 World Series. Those last 3 were with Cincinnati & Detroit, making him 1 of only 3 managers to have won World Series in both leagues.
Sparky was Manager of the Year twice. Though he was manager for Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine, those Manager of the Year honors came with the Tigers. He is, in fact, the all-time wins leader with Detroit.
After retiring from managing, Sparky was a broadcaster for CBS & the Angels. By the way, his real name was George.
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