All all-star team for the ages.

• Author: Barrett, Wayne M.

When I Was A Kid, my dad loved to compile baseball All-Star teams. He'd scratch them out on the backs of envelopes, then we'd talk for hours about the merits of his selections: All-Righty team, All-Lefty team, All-Black team, All-White team, All-Hispanic team, All-Turn-of-the-Century team, etc. Space prohibits compiling multiple All-Star units here. However, there is enough room to put forth a personal All-Time All-Star squad. The wonderful part of this exercise is that if 10 rabid and knowledgeable fans each did the same, the respective lineups would all be different and all would be just as good as the next:

Ty Cobb, right field. The Georgia Peach was the greatest baseball player who ever lived. He set the standard for every offensive category imaginable, except home runs. He also was the National Pastime's most reviled character, in many instances, even by his own teammates. The legend of his sitting on the top step of the dugout to sharpen his spikes in front of nervous opponents is no myth. He did that and a lot more. His lone shortcoming and bitterest disappointment was that he never won a World Series.

Tris Speaker, center field. The Gray Eagle played center field as no one before or since (except for maybe Willie Mays). Standing so shallow that he was within quick running distance of second base, Speaker often pulled off unassisted double plays. Balls hit over his head? Forget it. He backtracked so fast that he had time to count to three as he waited for even the longest drives to descend. No wonder he retired with the records for putouts, assists, and chances accepted by an outfielder, all the while batting .345 lifetime. A two-time World Series winner with the Boston Red Sox, he also was player-manager of the 1920 world champion Cleveland Indians.

Lou Gehrig, first base. The Iron Horse finally got his due in the 1990s when Cal Ripkin broke his consecutive games played record (and only the fatal disease that carries Gehrig's name was able to stop his 14-year streak in 1939). It was he and Babe Ruth who were the foundation of the first Yankee dynasty in the 1920s. And after Ruth moved on, it was Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio spearheading a second Yankee run of supremacy. A feared slugger (his 184 RBIs remains an American League single-season record and he's the major league leader in grand slams), Gehrig also was an adept base-stealer, swiping 102, including home 15 times.

Babe Ruth, left-handed pitcher. The Bambino. The Sultan of Swat...