The "D" Team All-Star MLB Roster

Mystery writer Sue Grafton, recognized for detective Kinsey Millhone in titles starting with A Is for Alibi, called her fourth book D Is for Deadbeat. Were Millhone investigating a story about major league baseball players.Grafton could have titled the book D Is for Defense. She would have plenty of fielding specialists to include in the book, such as Gary Disarcina, Bill Doran, Jim Davenport, Dan Driessen and others.

I have assembled a roster of players whose names start with D, only I have focused more on their batting accomplishments. I suppose I could call the list "D Is for Dingers" with apologies to Ms. Grafton.

First Base - Carlos Delgado: He is still active, but his impressive career stats clearly qualify him for inclusion. He hit for both power and average in a two decade career spent with Toronto, Florida, and the New York Mets.

Second Base - Bobby Doerr: The Red Sox legend was the league's dominant offensive middle infielder, whose numbers earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame.

Shortstop - Hugh Duffy: Duffy guided the Boston Braves during the last decade of the 19th century, putting up astounding numbers for a guy who stood 5'7" and weighed almost half of his lifetime batting average. He was primarily an outfielder, but he played enough shortstop to handle the job in my lineup.

Third Base - George Davis: The New York Giant hit near .300 for his career and was an RBI machine. He several times drove in over 100 runs and even led the league in RBIs in 1897.

Outfield 1 - Joe DiMaggio: The Hall of Famer needs no description. He was one of the greatest hitters of all time, and his consecutive game hitting streak of 56 is not likely to ever be broken.

Outfield 2 - Andre Dawson: The Expo and Cub was a tremendous athlete and physical specimen. He could steal bases, hit for power and throw out runners.

Outfield 3 - Larry Doby: As a Cleveland Indian he was the first African-American to play in the American league. The Hall of Famer hit for power and average.

Catcher - Darren Daulton: The tough Phillie backstop led his team to 1992 World Series with tremendous left-handed power and ability to hit in the clutch.

Designated Hitter - Chili Davis: The quiet hero of the Twins championship team in 87 amasses 350 homers for his career and consistently drove in nearly 100 a season.

Pitcher 1 - Dizzy Dean: The Hall of Fame hurler is a legend in baseball. He is as famous for his quotes as he was for his tremendous arm.

Pitcher 2 - Don Drysdale: The Dodger rightie led the league in strikeouts three times and averaged almost 200 Ks a season while winning over 200 games in his 14 years with the team.

Pitcher 3 - Larry Dierker: He was Houston's number one arm from the mid 60s to the mid 70s, averaging almost 15 wins a season for some pretty bad teams.

Relief pitcher - Moe Drabowsky: He was a closer in an era before the save became a significant stat. He finished 220 games for a dozen teams in his 17 years career.