So, far we’ve grabbed seven players from each of the prior two eras in our MLB GOAT debate, and that means we will put out an era-best lineup for the Jackie Robinson Era today, which is basically the 1940s and the 1950s inclusive. Integration across the nation was somewhat led by professional baseball, as MLB brought players of color back into the fold seven years before the U.S. as a whole did the same (sort of).

If you need to review our Dead Ball and Babe Ruth era analyses, feel free to do so. We’re off on today’s journey, however, right away … below. Enjoy!

Catcher: There are only two catchers worth discussing here, really, and both are pretty famous. New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra (6th in history at the position with 59.5 WAR) and Brooklyn Dodgers star Roy Campanella (21st, 41.0) lead the way, of course. Campy would have had higher marks if he hadn’t been kept out of the majors until he was 26 years old. They both won 3 MVP awards, although we took away all six of those awards in our own analysis—no offense to either player. We have to elevate Berra due to the longer career here, although we realize why that is the case. Not much to be done about it now, sadly. Yet, Berra—despite 18 All-Star selections and 10 World Series rings—is not going to be advanced for the GOAT.

First Base: There is only one player to consider here, and that’s Johnny Mize (11th, 70.6). He lost three seasons in his latter prime due to World War II service; otherwise, he might have been higher on the positional charts. Still, he was a pretty dominant hitter prior to his war duty. He was a 10-time All Star and a 5-time World Series champ, all with the Yankees after the war. He won’t get advanced, either, but mostly because this is a stacked position in the era before him—and after it, too. Not his fault at all.

Second Base: Two players at this position stood out in the era, including its namesake. Jackie Robinson (16th, 63.8) and Bobby Doerr (23rd, 51.4) are it. We actually had Robinson winning four NL MVPs in a row (1949-1952), and like Campanella, he couldn’t join the majors until late (age-28 season). What a career he would have had if not for systematic racism. He wins this era and get advanced, of course. Game changer.

Third Base: Longtime Milwaukee Braves star Eddie Mathews (2nd, 96.0) is the only choice here, due to positional dearth in this era. But he’s going to get advanced, due to his high stature in the historical record of sabermetric statistics. Mathews was a 12-time All-Star pick and a 2-time World Series champion, not to mention his positive career dWAR rating. He may not be flashy enough for some, but 512 career HRs say yes.

Shortstop: Only two guys get consideration here, and one of them straddled two eras. That would be Luke Appling (6th, 77.5), who played from 1930-1950. The other one is Pee Wee Reese (14th, 68.4). Both were excellent with the glove, and both lost playing time to WWII service (Reese 3 seasons, Appling 1). In the end, we’re going with Appling, who was a better hitter and never played on truly great teams like Reese did. He also will get advanced to the final GOAT discussion.

Left Field: This positional discussion begins and ends with Ted Williams (2nd, 121.8). No, his defense was never great, and that will hurt him in the final GOAT discussion, but he was arguably the best hitter of all time. His .482 OBP is still the all-time record, despite all the cheaters to follow. To cap it off, Williams also missed almost 5 full seasons due to military service in both World War II and Korea. Do the math and think.

Centerfield: Two Yankees fill this spot, admirably. You may have heard of them—Mickey Mantle (4th, 110.2) and Joe DiMaggio (7th, 79.1). Mantle’s career is split down the middle in terms of this era and the next, but this was the era where he truly shone. As for DiMaggio, most of his career fell into this era. On paper, Mantle looks superior, even though Joltin’ Joe missing three seasons in his middle prime lost to war service. DiMaggio was the better defender, and both ended up with .977 OPS marks. However, Mantle’s OPS+ mark was a lot higher (177 to 155). We will slide Mantle to the UTL spot below, since he did have to play other positions at various points in his career. In the meantime, we will advance DiMaggio, too, of course.

Right Field: This position is all about the Man himself: Stan Musial (3rd, 128.6). He was negative with the glove over the course of his career, but he won seven batting titles despite losing one season to World War II. But from 1943-1958, he was the best pure hitter in the National League. It’s hard to not advance the Man into our final discussion later this summer.

Pitchers: With all these good hitters, how did the pitchers survive this era? Warren Spahn (11th, 100.0) and Robin Roberts (19th, 86.2) were the best of them, though. They won a combined 7 of our NL Cy Young analyses (Roberts 4, Spahn 3). We’re only going to advance Spahn, though, for his superior WAR, ERA, and win total. He was also lucky enough to win one World Series, while Roberts was not, sadly.

Utility Player(s): Mantle was truly a team player who fielded all three OF positions and all four IF positions. He played third base in 1952; he played first base in 1967-1968. Mantle was all over the place and deserves advancement.

To recap, then, our Jackie Robinson GOAT lineup is as follows: C Berra, 1B Mize, 2B Robinson, SS Appling, 3B Mathews, LF Williams, CF DiMaggio, RF Musial, SP Spahn, SP Roberts, and UTL Mantle. Advancing to the finals discussion later are the 8 players noted above, bringing our current finalist count to 22 players so far. That already seems like a big group, but we will tackle that beast when we have to … in August.