Call to the Pen’s All Yuletide Team

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

In the spirit of the season, we have for you the All Yuletide team. This was inspired by Dan’s post on the release of the Baseball Reference page for Rudolph. Enjoy!

C – Steve Christmas
Christmas lasted more than a day as a major leaguer, but not much longer. He played on a total of 24 games and accumulated 263 plate appearances.
1B – J.T. Snow
Snow played in 16 seasons, most of those years were as a member of the San Francisco Giants. He might be more famous as the player that snagged little Darren Baker out of the clutches of a potential home plate collision during the 2002 World Series.
2B – Cupid Childs
Childs 13-year career ended in 1901, but he sure had a nice run at the end of the 19th century. Most of his years were spent playing for the Cleveland Spiders of the National League. He owns a lifetime OBP of .416.
SS – Ed Holly
Holly’s career spans 10 years, but he played most of his career in the minors. During the four seasons as a big leaguer, Holly played for two seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals and two others for the Pittsburgh Rebels of Federal League.
3B – Pie Traynor
Traynor played all of his 17 years for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He is 8th on the Pirates all-time list for career batting average (.320), 7th for games played (1,941), 6th for runs scored (1,183) and 4th for hits (2,416). He was inducted into the Baseball Hal of Fame in 1948.
OF – Matt Holliday
Holliday is a six-time All-Star (3 for the Colorado Rockies and three for the St. Louis Cardinals) and four-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
OF – Rob Deer
Mention Deer and two things are mentioned: home runs (230 for his career) and strikeouts (career SO% of 31.2%).
OF – Angel Pagan
This…

C – Sled Allen
Nicknamed Sled, Fletcher Manson Allen played in only 14 games as a member of the St. Louis Browns.
INF – Dasher Troy
Troy played for four teams in a career spanning five seasons.
3B – David Freese
Freese’s claim to fame is his heroics during the 2011 World Series when he was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. Now, he’ll be manning third base for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
OF – Ham Hyatt
During Hyatt’s seven seasons, he played five of those for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

P – Clay Carroll
Carroll was twice an All-Star and a member of the Cincinnati Reds from 1970-1975.
P – Goose Gossage
Another Hall of Famer makes our team, and with a nickname of Goose, it’s an easy inclusion.
P – Al Clauss
In 1913, the only season Clauss pitched in the bigs, he was a giving soul, walking 12 in the 13.1 inning she pitched.
P – Dave Jolly
For five season, Jolly was a member of the Milwaukee Braves bullpen, appearing in a total of 159 games.
P – Frosty Thomas
He only pitched in two games for the Detroit Tigers back in 1905.
P – Jon Garland
Gotta have Garland for the tree, right?
P – George Winter
And in what season does Christmas happen for those in some parts of the world? Yes, winter.
P – Ray Starr
Starr played for six teams over his seven seasons in the NL.

Manager – Buddy Bell
Needs bells at Christmas, right?
Coach – Cookie Rojas
Everyone needs a Cookie, especially one for Christmas.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone from the Call to the Pen staff!