[EMSoccerCoach]

ALL-DECADE TEAM

There are four players who have amassed a VORP of at least 500 through 10 seasons (and nobody else has topped 400). Two of them reside at first base, including the best hitter in PBL history. Between them, they own 18 All-Star appearances, 5 Outstanding Hitter awards and a pair of Gold Gloves. There is no debate here...just excellence.

Starting First Baseman

Dan Brouthers (Louisville Racers, 2009-2014; Los Angeles Idols, 2015-2018)

Start with the fact that he's the Pastime Baseball League's alltime leader in home runs (330) and RBI (1137), hits (1904), total bases (3304) and slugging percentage (.541). He has won four Outstanding Hitter awards, twice in each league. He's won two championships, hitting .333 in the postseason, topped 20 homers each season, 100 RBI seven times (and driven in 98, 97 and 86 the other three seasons) and never been on the disabled list. He's a 9-time All-Star. Lots of guys have had a few really good seasons in the PBL. Few have had legitimate star staying power. At 32, Brouthers is a free agent after the upcoming 2019 season and shows no sign of slowing down, having earned back-to-back Southern League Most Valuable Player awards. Age might factor in, but he could become the second $10 million a year player...and with a much better return on investment than the first, Mickey Harris.

Career Batting Stats

Year/Team/League	Age	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	HP	SF	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	VORP
2009 Louisville - PBL	23	162	628	211	47	2	51	145	125	91	5	7	118	3	1	.336	.420	.661	1.081	100.9
2010 Louisville - PBL	24	158	668	199	25	4	35	130	91	23	5	7	105	0	0	.298	.323	.504	.827	33.5
2011 Louisville - PBL	25	149	610	174	33	3	30	98	88	52	4	4	78	0	0	.285	.343	.497	.840	40.4
2012 Louisville - PBL	26	149	585	192	38	1	21	86	92	84	8	8	59	0	0	.328	.415	.504	.919	61.1
2013 Louisville - PBL	27	144	555	155	36	6	30	109	85	82	5	7	48	0	0	.279	.373	.528	.901	47.0
2014 Louisville - PBL	28	162	655	203	32	2	34	124	109	80	3	8	45	0	0	.310	.383	.521	.904	63.2
2015 Los Angeles - PBL	29	157	579	170	36	3	25	97	108	91	6	5	26	0	1	.294	.392	.496	.888	40.7
2016 Los Angeles - PBL	30	158	614	189	42	5	26	105	97	67	5	6	37	1	0	.308	.377	.520	.897	45.9
2017 Los Angeles - PBL	31	160	624	205	38	2	34	118	114	76	13	7	40	0	2	.329	.408	.559	.968	69.1
2018 Los Angeles - PBL	32	160	628	206	39	5	44	125	125	83	6	4	40	1	2	.328	.409	.616	1.025	80.7
Total PBL		1559	6146	1904	366	33	330	1137	1034	729	60	63	596	5	6	.310	.385	.541	.926	582.4

Backup First Baseman

Roger Connor (New York Heroes, 2009-2014; Chicago Hitmen, 2015-2018)

He was part of the team that couldn't win it...the New York Heroes won division titles in the first six years of the PBL. Roger Connor manned first base each of those seasons. He currently stands fifth in hits (1,713), fifth in homers (257), third in RBI (984), fourth in runs (932) and first in doubles (412). He's second alltime in postseason home runs (9), was named Northern League Outstanding Hitter in 2011, is a 9-time All-Star and has a Gold Glove to boot. He's finally hit the DL the past two seasons after never doing so in his first 8. But he still topped 140 games each season. Interestingly, he's set to reach free agency again the same time as Brouthers, after this coming season.

Career Batting Stats

Year/Team/League	Age	G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	R	BB	HP	SF	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	VORP
2009 New York - PBL	22	162	641	216	45	7	37	104	127	77	4	6	73	0	2	.337	.408	.602	1.010	85.2
2010 New York - PBL	23	149	589	188	39	4	26	82	101	79	10	5	55	0	0	.319	.406	.531	.937	65.1
2011 New York - PBL	24	162	617	207	47	4	25	117	111	110	6	2	61	1	0	.335	.439	.546	.986	88.1
2012 New York - PBL	25	161	605	167	42	3	26	124	94	94	10	5	66	1	0	.276	.380	.484	.864	46.1
2013 New York - PBL	26	158	605	160	43	2	22	92	82	94	3	2	62	0	2	.264	.365	.451	.816	32.5
2014 New York - PBL	27	155	564	155	38	6	31	104	78	86	6	7	55	0	1	.275	.373	.528	.901	52.8
2015 Chicago - PBL	28	155	580	155	35	3	19	94	86	86	7	9	61	0	0	.267	.364	.436	.800	25.5
2016 Chicago - PBL	29	160	604	165	47	1	23	100	90	79	5	3	82	1	1	.273	.360	.469	.829	33.1
2017 Chicago - PBL	30	146	559	156	41	1	14	77	71	69	4	5	75	1	0	.279	.359	.431	.791	29.7
2018 Chicago - PBL	31	143	539	144	35	4	34	90	92	73	4	5	79	1	0	.267	.356	.536	.892	44.0
Total PBL		1551	5903	1713	412	35	257	984	932	847	59	49	669	5	6	.290	.382	.502	.884	502.1