2011-2019: Dustin Pedroia Era

Not much to quibble with. I'd move some dates around a bit and I would say Lynn, not Fisk, best exemplified the late 70s era of promises unfulfilled.

phil todt?

1922-1930 The "One More Loss To The White Sox in 1924 And It's Nine Straight Years In Last Place" Era.

And God, how the trivia lover in me wishes that they'd lost that one last game, just so they could say that they'd accomplished something unique.

and ... um ... how could he leave out Yaz?

1967-1971: Reggie Smith Era

As phredbird rightly asks ... WTF?

1993-1997: Roger Clemens Era

Clemens had such an Aura in Boston that his Era carried over even when he was pitching in Toronto.

EDIT: OK, coke to Neyer on this one....

The Yankee List:

1903-1905: Jack Chesbro Era
1906-1914: Hal Chase Era
1915-1919: Home Run Baker Era
1920-1935: Babe Ruth Era
1936-1942: Joe DiMaggio Era
1943-1945: Snuffy Stirnweiss Era
1946-1951: Joe DiMaggio Era (II)
1952-1964: Mickey Mantle Era
1965-1969: Horace Clark Era
1970-1976: Thurman Munson Era
1977-1981: Reggie Jackson Era
1982-1992: Dave Collins Era
1993-2010: Derek Jeter Era

The Yankee List:

.....
1977-1981: Reggie Jackson Era
1982-1992: Dave Collins and a cast of thousands Era
1993-2010: Derek Jeter Era


fixed

1982-1992: Dave Collins Era

Not Mattingly? Or do we not want to name the worst (or one of the worst) era in Yankee history after such a beloved Yankee?

Edit: With Mattingly you could extend it to 95 and let the Jeter Era start in 96 when he came up.

Not Mattingly? Or do we not want to name the worst (or one of the worst) era in Yankee history after such a beloved Yankee?

That was exactly Neyer's logic. Personally, I always think of this as the Stump Merill Era but I guess Rob wanted players, not managers.

And Ruth's era carried over when he was whiffing in Boston...

Dave Collins era? Jeez man.

Steve Kemp is always the guy I think of for that era for the Yankees.

The Guapo Eras

1972-1983: Young and stupid
1984-1990: Pubescent and really stupid
1991-2007: Drunk
2007-2010: Fatherhood, stupid due to sleep deprivation

1967-1971: Reggie Smith Era

As phredbird rightly asks ... WTF?

Affirmative action.

maybe we should think instead about Reggie Smith, Boston's rookie center fielder, who Howard Bryant has described as "the first exceptional black player in Boston, the first to actually attract attention for his playing ability."

George 'Boomer' Scott says 'hello', Howard.

st. louis cardinal eras:

1900-03 Patsy Donovan era
1904-05 Kid Nichols era
1906-08 Jake Beckley era
1909 Roger Bresnahan era
1910-1915 Miller Huggins era (made all his mistakes in st. louis)
1916-26 Rogers Hornsby era
1927-31 Frankie Frisch era
1932-37 Dizzy Dean era
1938-41 Johnny Mize era
1942-44 Stan Musial era I
1945 Whitey Kurowski era
1946-59 Stan Musial era II
1960-63 Ken Boyer era
1964-70 Bob Gibson era
1971-73 Joe Torre era
1974-80 Ted Simmons era
1981-82 Keith Hernandez era
1983-92 Ozzie era
1993-97 Ray Lankford era (um, yeah ...)
1998-2000 Mark McGwire era
2001-present Albert Pujols era

OK, I'll do Detroit:

1901-02 The Kids (Gleason and Elberfield) era
1903-06 Sam Crawford era
1907-25 Ty Cobb era
1926-41 Charlie Gehringer era
1942-50 Hal Newhouser era
1951-53 Joe Ginsberg era
1954-74 Al Kaline era
1975-77 Tom Veryzer era
1978-96 Trammell and Whitaker era
1997-2005 Bobby Higginson era
2006-present Magglio Ordonez era

EDIT: How many clubs have had four different eras of 16 years or more?

Does Neyer ever give a definition of what makes it someone's era? A lot of it seems to be that Player X was the "face of the franchise" or typified the team in some way. With that being the case, it's sort of tough to see how Boggs and Williams would get that tag while still in the minors, toiling in obscurity. Clemens, on the other hand was known to Sox fans since the day he was drafted. As a young fan who didn't follow the minors at all, I had heard all about Clemens by the time he made his debut.

It really baffles the mind how Clemens could include pnly his worst period with the team and then a season in Toronto. Plus, by 92, Boggs was not really the story in Boston at all.

I'd break it up like this:

Yaz 67-74 (great, underrated player, beloved by the fans at a key to their success)
Lynn 75
Rice 76-82 (teh fear!)
Boggs 83-86.5
Clemens 86.5-96
Nomar 97-00
Pedro 01-03
Ortiz 04-07
Pedroia (or Youk I guess) 08-???

Smith was a very good player and I'm sure everything Neyer says about him is true. But it seems impossible to me to look at this era as Smith's era. He was one interesting story, but he was not THE story. Boston continued, after Smith, to have a poor reputation among black players, something that seemed to change around the time of Dan Duquette, IIRC.

I split the Clemens-Boggs era around 86 because, though Boggs was great, Clemens was the greatest pitcher in history about to embark on one of his peaks. He was the highest paid pitcher after 87 IIRC. It was Clemens' team and all of its successes and failures were on his shoulders. (I could not give 97 to Clemens, because besides fanboys like me, everyone else was far more interested in this great young SS who had joined the team.)

I also split the baby on Nomar/Pedro because Nomar was one of the biggest sports stars in Boston history. He was absolutely amazing and, though probably not as great as Pedro, was at least as beloved (am I biased on this?).

It absolutely has to shift to Papi (or Manny possibly) in 04. Pedro was no longer the team's best pitcher and seemed fairly clearly to be on his way out after the season. It was Papi's team and it stayed that way through 07. By 08, Papi was already breaking down and the Pedroia had become the face of the team.

An argument could be made that the Yaz era was 61-83. I can't speak to the 60s, but he was definitely the face of the team in the early 80s, long after he declined from great to merely passable.

Minnesota Twins eras:
1961-72: Harmon Killebrew era
1973-78: Rod Carew era
1979-81: Roy Smalley era
1982-85: Kent Hrbek era
1984-95: Kirby Puckett era
1996-97: Chuck Knoblauch era
1998-2003: Brad Radke era
2004-present: Chairman Mauer era

The Oakland A's eras:
1968-1971 Sal Bando era
1972-1975 Reggie Jackson era
1976-1976 Don Baylor era
1977-1978 Rob Picciolo era
1979-1984 Rickey Henderson era
1985-1992 Jose Canseco era
1993-1996 Mike Bordick era
1997-1998 Matt Stairs era
1999-2010 Eric Chavez era

Wilson had been a fine pitcher, but Reggie Smith was a supreme talent, with phenomenal physical tools and (nearly) the performance to match. In 1965 and '66 the Red Sox had lost 190 games. But as one Red Sox fan told me, "Everything changed in 1967." The Red Sox wouldn't really build on their '67 pennant. But 1967 is when the fans came back, and the franchise wouldn't finish with another losing record until 1983.

It changed mostly because of a historically great year--the last triple crown in the AL--by Yaz. The more I read this, the more I scratch my head.

maybe we should think instead about Reggie Smith, Boston's rookie center fielder, who Howard Bryant has described as "the first exceptional black player in Boston, the first to actually attract attention for his playing ability."

George 'Boomer' Scott says 'hello', Howard.

And Sam "The Jet" Jethroe says, move the hell over, Boomer.

1993-1999: Dante Bichette era
2000-2006: Todd Helton era
2007-present: Troy Tulowitzki era

Was Scott considered exceptional? His track record looks a bit up and down.

Padres:

69-73: Nate Colbert Era
74-76: Randy Jones Era
77-81: Dave Winfield Era
82-85: Dick Williams Era
86-95: Tony Gwynn Era
96-98: Ken Caminiti and Steve Finley PED Era
99-08: Trevor Hoffman Era
09-10: Adrian Gonzalez Era

Was Scott considered exceptional? His track record looks a bit up and down.

In 1966-67 Scott was considered a budding superstar, far overshadowing Smith.

Reds since 1939:

1939-46: Bill McKechnie Era
46-51: Ewell Blackwell Era
52-57: Big Klu Era
58-65: Frank Robinson Era
66-69: Pete Rose Era
70-79: Big Red Machine Era
80-83: Paul Householder and Eddie Milner Era
84-89: Marge and Pete Show Era
90-99: Barry Larkin Era
00-08: Ken Griffey Jr. Era
09-10: Dusty Baker Era

Thanks Steve--I didn't realize that. What is your take on the Smith/Yaz thing? I suspect someone with your knowledge of baseball history would have a very informed take.

I have much less knowledge than Steve or any number of Sox fans here, but I think Scott and Smith are the wrong choices. To me, it's:

1961-1965 Pinky Higgins/Frank Malzone Era
1966-1974 Yaz Era
1975-1980 Fred Lynn Era
1981-1982 Jim Rice Era

Then comes Boggs

What is your take on the Smith/Yaz thing?

Without having RTFA, that Rob is trying to make some point other than who was actually the most prominent/symbolic player for the Red Sox in that period. Because Yaz was a freaking god in Boston; even when the fans booed him (which wasn't all that infrequently), he was the focus of everyone's attention. Smith was a very highly-regarded player, but also seen as somewhat falling short of his potential, and rather a malcontent (and how much of that has to do with the racist filter of the Boston media is a fair question), but at no point did Smith in Boston ever begin to approach Yaz's stature.

EDIT: How many clubs have had four different eras of 16 years or more?

Like Bill James once said: the Tigers have always kept their stars--until Curtis Granderson, I suppose. Not that he is Al Kaline of course, but he was a skilled and well-liked player in DET.

I have much less knowledge than Steve or any number of Sox fans here, but I think Scott and Smith are the wrong choices. To me, it's:

1961-1965 Pinky Higgins/Frank Malzone Era
1966-1974 Yaz Era
1975-1980 Fred Lynn Era
1981-1982 Jim Rice Era

Then comes Boggs

1901-1919 The Nuf Sed Era
1920-1944 The Curse of the Bambino
1945-1966 The Curse of Tom Yawkey
1967-2003 The Cockk Teasing Years
2004-2007 The Era of Multiple Orgasms
2008-???? The Era of Backbiting and Confusion

I love Pedro (obviously), but I think The Pedro Era ended in Boston on October 16, 2003.

Angels:

61-63: Albie Pearson
64-71: Jim Fregosi
72-77: Nolan Ryan
78-81: Bobby Grich
82-86: Brian Downing
87-91: Wally Joyner
92-92: Jim Abbott
93-00: Tim Salmon
01-03: Garret Anderson
04-08: Vladimir Guerrero
09-XX: Kendry Morales

Lists like these are inevitably personal. When Rob thinks of the 1967-71 Red Sox, he thinks of Reggie Smith. I think that's just trying too hard to be clever, but its his article. Reggie Smith was underappreciated and a fine player, but it was Yaz that symbolized 1967 (still the most beloved season in team history) and the years following.

Perhaps I lived it too closely, but I agree on Fisk. It was Fisk in 1972 that called out Yaz and Reggie during the summer and became the leader of the team even as a rookie. He remained the leader his entire time with the team, and to me symbolizes the 1970s Red Sox. Lynn and Rice had great moments and years, but if I have to pick one guy its either Pudge or Tiant.

I agree with his notion that it should not just be finding the best player.

[18]
Boggs 83-86.5
Clemens 86.5-96

I'd break this down further:

Boggs 83-86.5

Clemens I 86.5-86.95

Bob Stanley 86.95-86.98
Bill Buckner 86.98-86.99
Clemens II 87-96

The Mets are perfect for this, the beginnings and ends of the eras are extremely obvious, and the names very nearly as much so...

1962-1967: Marv Throneberry Era
1968-1977: Tom Seaver Era
1978-1983: Craig Swan Era
1984-1990: Darryl Strawberry Era
1991-1996: Bobby Bonilla Era
1997-2003: Mike Piazza Era
2004-present: David Wright Era

Perhaps I lived it too closely, but I agree on Fisk. It was Fisk in 1972 that called out Yaz and Reggie during the summer and became the leader of the team even as a rookie. He remained the leader his entire time with the team, and to me symbolizes the 1970s Red Sox. Lynn and Rice had great moments and years, but if I have to pick one guy its either Pudge or Tiant.

I didn't follow it until the mid- to late-70s, but by then Rice and Lynn (possibly Yaz) seemed to me to be the Red Sox. Of course, a kid's POV was probably quite different from an adult's. I think I might have been a little scared of Fisk.

Good job phredbird, but I might make these changes (recognizing that I'm probably bending whatever rules there are:

1964-70 Bob Gibson era

I think I'd go with Gibson-Brock era.

1971-73 Joe Torre era
1974-80 Ted Simmons era

Simmons was too good to have this awful era named after him. I might go with the Hector Cruz era.

1981-82 Keith Hernandez era
1983-92 Ozzie era

Think I'd just call this whole time the Herzog era.

perry, good points, and actually you read my mind on each. i went with gibson because he really was the team leader in that time frame. brock got a lot of ink, but hoot was the man.

simba and torre symbolized the cards in the 70s to me, a team that always had some lumber but never the pitching after losing carlton.

herzog was the manager. neyer was using players. the managers in my list were all playing managers. huggins put himself in games even in his last year on the team.

The Guapo Eras

1972-1983: Young and stupid
1984-1990: Pubescent and really stupid
1991-2007: Drunk
2007-2010: Fatherhood, stupid due to sleep deprivation

"When I met you, you were young, dumb, and full of ###.
"Now you're just dumb."

Astros

1962-1964: Bob Aspromonte/Al Spangler
1965-1971: Jimmy Wynn/Joe Morgan
1972-1975: Cesar Cedeno/Bob Watson
1976-1979: Jose Cruz/J.R. Richard
1980-1984: Jose Cruz/Nolan Ryan
1985-1990: Mike Scott/Glenn Davis
1991-2000: Jeff Bagwell/Craig Biggio
2001-2009: Lance Berkman/Roy Oswalt
2010-????: In his house at Texas and Crawford, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming...

Roughly

79 - 85 steib
86 barfield
87 bell
88 - 90 mcgriff-henke
91 - 94 alomar-olerud-carter
95 green
96-03 delgado
02-09 halladay

I bet you could probably do a good anti-list. Such as:

Canseco, Clemens, Hillenbrand, etc.

aw, an astros list without the staub era?

Chicago Cubs:
1871-Jimmy Wood Era
1872-1873: Fire Era
1874-1875: Paul Hines Era
1876-1897: Cap Anson Era
1898-1899: Bill Lange Era
1900-1912: Frank Chance Era
1913-1919: Hippo Vaughn Era
1920-1925: Pete Alexander Era
1926-1940: Gabby Hartnett Era
1941-1946: Stan Hack Era
1947-1948: Bill Nicholson Era
1949-1954: Hank Sauer Era
1955-1969: Ernie Banks Era
1970-1974: Billy Williams Era
1975-1976: Rick Monday Era
1977-1980: Bruce Sutter Era
1981-1982: Leon Durham Era
1983-1994: Ryne Sandberg Era
1995-1997: Mark Grace Era
1998-2004: Sammy Sosa Era
2005-2010: Carlos Zambrano Era

I guess for the last one you could put down Aramis Ramirez but the team really does seem centered around Zambrano.

1997-1998 Matt Stairs era
1999-2010 Eric Chavez era

Despite my fondness for Matt Stairs, I would be ok calling 1997-2001 the Jason Giambi era.

It's short for an era, but the 02-03 teams really belonged to Miggy. 2004-2010 is more or less the Chavez era, but almost by default (who else, Ellis?).

"Despite my fondness for Matt Stairs, I would be ok calling 1997-2001 the Jason Giambi era."

Right or wrong, here was my thinking: There was a stink period from 1993-96, which followed the end of the Bash Brothers years. The player who was on those 93-96 teams who exemplified for me the stink was Bordick.

But then, with Billy Beane running the show, a new player came along who did not stink, but was brought up from the dregs when no one else wanted him. Stairs was that player on those 97-98 teams. You don't win a title because you can cough up a Matt Stairs. But if you can find those players who are worth more than most GMs thought they were worth back then you climb out of the stink and rise to mediocrity. (Yeah, they still sucked in 1997, but my hopes started to be raised by then.)

So why Chavez? Well, Eric was sort of the hope of the A's when he came up. He was their highest rated prospect. I remember when he was around 20, people said he was the best 20-year-old in the world. And as the A's got good again in the Beane system, they got good just as Chavy got good. Even though Giambi and Miggy were better players, and even though it was their Big 3 pitchers who were the key to their success as a club when they were winning 100 games per year, those years coincided again with Chavez's best years. And the good times ended just as they let Miggy go, signed Chavez to a huge extension, and by way of injuries he declined. The Chavez era thus rises, peaks and falls along with his rise, peak and fall. It's probably over, now. I think they are in a transition. If they get really good in say 2 years, then it will either be the Barton era or the Pennington era, and that has started.

P.S. Another way to look at each A's era would be to define it by the A's ownership. I would divide the Charlie Finley era in two parts, with the schism being the end of the reserve clause. Otherwise, each ownership group has pretty much overlapped with a distinct period.

For the helluva it, the Marlins:

1993-95: the Jeff Conine Era
Although Sheffield had better numbers, the Marlins in their first few years were defined by Jeff Conine (in fact, Conine received MVP votes and AS selections in 1994 and 1995, while Sheffield received neither).

1996-97: the Kevin Brown Era
With a few major free agent signings in the 1995-96 off-season (Brown, White, Leiter) and 1996-97 off-season (Alou, Bonilla, Fernandez) plus some emerging young talent (Johnson, Castillo, Renteria), the Marlins claimed a World Championship in 1997 after winning the Wild Card. Then Fernandez got hurt and the rest of the ten was traded away in a firesale.

1998: the Mike Piazza Era
Although he played only 5 games and recorded only 19 plate appearances, Piazza perfectly captures the "WTF" feeling on the Marlins as they wound up trading Piazza to a division rival for far less than they gave up (I would argue that Charles Johnson, included in the trade for Piazza from the Dodgers, was a more valuable player than Preston Wilson, the only interesting piece received from the Mets for Piazza).

1999-2002: the Kevin Millar Era
Millar had been a replacement player in 1995, so he wasn't appreciated. He was essentially a super-sub on the corners despite being consistently good (basically the second-generation of Jeff Conine, albeit with more defensive flexibility). The Marlins were going to sell him to a Japanese team until the Red Sox claimed him in an unprecedented move to block a sale of a player by another MLB team to Japan. As a team, the Marlins were generally solid, but unspectacular--just like Millar

2003-06: the Miguel Cabrera Era
Cabrera had a mediocre start to his professional career after being signed as an amateur free agent before exploding onto the scene in 2003, just like the Marlins who also won the World Series after securing the Wild Card for the second time in seven years.

2007-10: the Hanley Ramirez Era
Although Cabrera wouldn't be traded until after the 2007 season, Ramirez quickly established himself as the new face of the franchise in 2007 after a solid 2006. Ramirez was acquire for two pretty popular veterans from the 2003 World Championship (Beckett and Lowell), so his immediate success was probably key to the front office rebuilding credibility with the fans (particularly since there were/are lingering misgivings by the fans of the firesale that followed the 1997 World Championship).

Too many eras. Three years is not an era.

Minnesota Twins eras:
1961-72: Harmon Killebrew era
1973-78: Rod Carew era
1979-81: Roy Smalley era
1982-85: Kent Hrbek era
1984-95: Kirby Puckett era
1996-97: Chuck Knoblauch era
1998-2003: Brad Radke era
2004-present: Chairman Mauer era

1961-63; Harmon Killebrew Era I
1964-65: Tony Oliva Era
1966-67: Killebrew-Oliva Era I
1968: Cesar Tovar Era
1969-71: Killebrew-Oliva Era II
1972-78: Rod Carew Era
1979-1981.5--Roy Smalley Era
1981.5-1985--Kent Hrbek Era
1986-1995--Kirby Puckett Era
1996-2001--Tom Kelly Era
2002-2005--Torii Hunter Era
2006--Justin Morneau Era
2007-ff--Joe Mauer Era

1962-1967: Marv Throneberry Era
1968-1977: Tom Seaver Era

is incorrect as Marv did not play for the Mets in 1964-1967. Perhaps this works.
1962-1963 : Frank Thomas Era
1964-1966 : Ron Hunt Era
1967-1977 : Tom Seaver Era
1978-1981 : Lee Mazilli Era
1982 : Jesse Orosco ? ick...

This deserves a bookmark.

Yaz 67-74 (great, underrated player,

OK, Neyer left him off of one list, but seriously, there is no way in God's green earth that Yaz is underrated.

People talk about stat geeks and all the newfangled stats and stuff. But to me, in the 30 years that I've been reading Bill James and hanging around BTF, etc. etc., what best captures the wisdom of sabermetrics is whoever first had the intelligence to point out that Reggie Jackson has a higher road BA than Yaz. The heart of it all is not new stats, it's the willingness to see beyond the cliches. I'm not saying "the great underrated Yaz" is a cliche, mind you. I'm just not saying it's not.

2002-2005--Torii Hunter Era

I was trying to limit eras (although the Tom Kelly era is not a bad idea, although he shouldn't get lumped with the garbage he was forced to manage), but even contemporaneous, I never once bought into the Torii Hunter PR campaign. Those teams naturally followed the silent, stoic leaders like BRadke and Chariman Mauer while the in your face obnoxiousness of Hunter rubbed everyone (except the media who were happy to get a soundbite) the wrong way.

1996-2001 should be the Ron Coomer era.

Too many eras. Three years is not an era.

Exactly. By definition, an era is an extended period of time. Neyer may have developed a list of best players or "face of the franchise" players, but that doesn't make an era. Mike Ryba & Snuffy Stirnweiss didn't have eras - not even close. To the extent fans think in terms of eras, I believe it would be in terms much closer to the conventional definition than Neyer's thinly sliced view of history. For example, the Yankees would be:

1903-1919: Pre-Ruthian Era
1920-1935: Babe Ruth Era
1936-1951: Joe DiMaggio Era
1952-1968: Mickey Mantle Era
1969-1973: The CBS Years, a/k/a the Horace Clark Era or The Troubles.
1970-1983: Munson/Jackson/Winfield Era
1984-1995: Don Mattingly Era
1996-2010: The Golden Age of Derek Jeter

Eras can overlap and there can be transition periods between eras, so there is room to quibble, but I wouldn't start with Neyer's methodology.

Chicago Cubs: I guess for the last one you could put down Aramis Ramirez but the team really does seem centered around Zambrano.
2009 is clearly the Milton Bradley era. BTW Seattle has put Milton on the "restricted list." I don't know exactly what that is but I'm sure it is racist.

Marv did not play for the Mets in 1964-1967.

I don't think that's very important.

[suggests five "eras" in a 20-year period]

That was exactly what I was trying to avoid :-P

Too many eras. Three years is not an era.

Well, I don't think anybody believes these are chapter titles for the team history. Maybe era is the wrong word, but whatever the right word is, this is more fun that the more limiting "eras" by your definition.

I didn't give a definition. I just said that three years doesn't meet any reasonable definition of the term. I have nothing against fun, but it just seems to me that most teams aren't in the midst of an "era" most of the time, and I happen to think that it's generally better to say what you mean.

I'll handle the Marlins, thank you very much.

Also, some of you guys are confusing this exercise with "best dude on the team." It's a moving average for who is viewed as the face of the franchise.

1993-1997: Mr. Marlin (Jeff Conine) Era
1998: Fire Sale Year! (honestly think you have to punt this one)
1999-2005: Mike Lowell Era
2006-2010: Hanley Ramirez Era

Orioles:
1954-1959: Post-Browns era
1960-1967: Brooks Robinson era
1968-1982: Earl Weaver era
1983-2001: Cal Ripken era
2001-2003: Jay Gibbons era
2004-2007: Miguel Tejada era
2007-2010: Nick Markakis era

The easiest one ever, Tampa Bay:

1998-2001: Fred McGriff Era
2002-2010: Carl Crawford Era

2004-2007 IS THE SCHILLING ERA!!!

Washington Nationals 2005-2009 Jason Bergmann Era

It's looking like this year will start the Zimmerman Era, but if Strasburg avoids banana peels...

2002-2010: Carl Crawford Era

I'd say the Evan Longoria era started last year at the very latest.

Bump.