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I know it's football season, but all the trades and free agent moves lately in the Hot Stove League has me thinking about baseball... and how this time of year, players come and go so much more often than when I was a kid. It got me wondering, how does this generation of kids pick a favorite player, if the guy is going to be gone in two or three years?

I remember clearly who my first favorite player was: Jim Fregosi, SS, California (not Anaheim, or Los Angeles of Anaheim) Angels. For years he was the heart and soul of the team, and he played the game the way it was meant to be played. When the Angels traded him for some no-name pitcher from the Mets named Nolan Ryan, I was one mad kid. Later on, when I understood the game better, I realized Fregosi was on the downside of his career when the trade was made, and Ryan on the upside - but at the time? Grrrrrr. You have to remember, Ryan was one of a half dozen relievers on the Mets at the time - I mean, how dare they trade MY favorite player for a reliever - and a guy named Nolan, no less - what kind of a name is Nolan???

So, for you baseball fans out there... take a trip down memory lane. Who was your first favorite ballplayer - and did he retire as a member of your team, or did he get traded - or, shudder, did he leave through free agency?

mickey mantle.
i will never forget that home run race with roger maris when i was a kid in brooklyn...what a season that was.

As a Chicago guy it had to be either Luis Aparicio or Minnie Minoso...later on it also included "Yaz"..Carl Yastremski....

My favorite was Warren Spahn, arguably the greatest left hand pitcher of all time. Warren was a 14 time "all star" with a lifetime 3.09 ERA. He won 363 games, more than any other pitcher in the modern era although Greg Maddux has a chance to catch him. He compiled that record while taking time out for WW2 where he won a battlefield commission and participated in the "Battle of the Bulge". Some athletes are heroes.

Cheers,
Bob

Chet Lemon! Outfielder for the White Sox and then my Detroit Tigers when I was young, back in the 80's. Maybe the best birthday gift I ever got was from my brother, when he found a Chet Lemon rookie card for me. You can see his stats here: Chet Lemon Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com

Two notes: that baseball-reference.com is a great resource for settling bets and generally getting lost in the better days for baseball, and my preference for quick-running, fat-batted Tiger centerfielders continued with Curtis Granderson, whose recent trade to the Yankees has upset so many Tigers fans.

Dale Murphy. Living in Florida the Braves as a child were the closest MLB team we could atcually go to. He to me was a great player for the Braves and I liked him from the first game we went to.

And I'm not even a Braves fan.

Willie Mays.

Willie "Mayes" Hayes or just Willie Mayes....

Sorry, couldn't resist the 'Major League' referrence there.

Ted Williams. I saw him play many games when I spent the summers in the late 40s and early 50s in New York and Boston with relatives when I was a youngster. He was more than a great ballplayer to all of us kids. Who knows what additional records he might have set if he hadn't served for a total of six years as a combat pilot during WWII and Korea.

And on a lighter note Eddie, I liked "Wild Thing" in Major League.

LoL, nothing wrong with "Vedge-Head" for sure there Billy. I especially liked the part where he knocked the dummies head off in spring training in the movie.

HoJo howard johnson was my first fave player. the mets 3rd baseman and current hitting coach. yeah i know he played for the tigers, and cubs and rockies but he will always be a met to me. after him it was bobby bo. then no one for a while. now david wright is my boy.

i think i have a thing for 3rd baseman. hmmm.

I grew up in Minnesota through the early '60's, and listened to the Twins on the radio in the summer, as we has no TV in our lake cabin. So Harmon Killebrew was The Man for any youthful Twins fan back then.

J.D. Drew, back when he was a St. Louis Cardinal

Without a doubt, Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles. I was at his farewell game in Baltimore.

Eddie -- I don't know if there was a dummy inside, but Wild Thing responded to his catcher's order, "Hit the mascot." Then the catcher said to the next batter, "He's a bit wild. I wouldn't 'dig in' if I were you."