Baseball - All-Star Lineup of Players Whose LAst Names Begin with N

In the algebra of Major League Baseball, the letter n would not be at all congruent with its alphabetic predecessor. Whereas m might stand for power (Mantle, Maris, Mcguire, Mays, Musial), the letter n would be likely to represent speed.

Here is a very solid roster of the best players whose last names start with N. The only difficult about managing this squad would be deciding who to bat lead off, since nearly half of them certainly qualify for that honor.

First Base - Phil Nevin: The seven year Padre had underrated power, crushing 41 home runs for San Diego in 2001. He went on to amass over 200 blasts with the Tigers and Rangers as well.

Second Base - Dave Nelson: This was a guy to put at the top of the lineup. He had great speed, stealing over 200 bases in his career, including 51 in 1972.

Shortstop - Billy Nash: Another speedster in this lineup, Nash swiped almost 250 bags in his career with the Braves and Phillies during the last fifteen years of the 19^th century.

Third Base - Graig Nettles: The Yankees legend manned the hot corner better than anyone not named Brooks, and he ended up just shy of clubbing 400 career home runs.

Catcher - Matt Nokes: This backstop was one of the prolific lefty power hitters at his position during the 80s.

Outfield 1 - Bill North: This Oakland star could fly, and his speed helped sustain the A's dynasty into the mid 70s.

Outfield 2 - Otis Nixon: One of the fastest to ever play the game, Nixon intimidated every opponent when he reached base. His speed lasted well into his 30s and through many uniform changes.

Outfield 3 - Bill Nicholson: The Cub All-Star led the league in both homers and RBI in 1934 and 1935, finishing his career with nearly 250 dingers.

Designated Hitter - Jim Northrup: He was one of the few players to ever hit two grand slams in the same game. More important, his double-figure power and nearly triple figure RBI helped the Tigers into annual contenders, culminating in the 1968 World Series Championship.

Pitcher 1 - Don Newcombe: He was a great pitcher even before and after his World Series perfect game, the only one ever thrown in post-season play.

Pitcher 2 - Phil Niekro: This durable knuckleballer won over three hundred games and amassed more than enough strikeouts in the 60s, 70s and 80s to earn his Hall of Fame induction.