After years of preparation for the big stage, leaders emerge from the pipeline during a franchise’s lean times: some by example and others by vocalizing their intentions on teams like the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Third Coming:

You could savor more than just championship days if you could knowingly enjoy their early months at the top competitive level.

In 1965, baseball instituted the MLB Draft because the New York Yankees had first pick of the best players by paying top dollar. Unfortunately, the other 15 organizations were at a disadvantage regarding the talent pool. In other words, the draft’s design was the selection of future stars by inverse order of finish, so the Yankees grew old and dropped in the standings.

With the new flow of prospects, other clubs now had a realistic path to the World Series for five campaigns or more. And these squads had four cornerstones on the team before their competitive seasons. They experienced growing pains together and came up from the farm system at nearly the same time. Occasionally, however, one player joined the organization via a trade or other transaction before the winning began.

For foundation pieces, some exceptions have occurred: all hitters or mostly pitchers. Locally, shortstops were in both championship cores; in fact, many drafted regulars originally were shortstops. So, why is that position a big source of major league talent, and who usually mans that spot? The best player.