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Darn, I wanted this... Lets see what you guys got

Good Luck EFB, I wanted to throwdown with a seasoned veteran, to see how well I am doing so far. I'm going for my first win over a 100+ winner!

Thank you and good luck to you as well. Good picks.

Some of my picks might seem weird but like you pointed out the franchise player is not always (and I have found to rarely be) the best player.

Tampa= Carl Crawford hands down
BSox= Big Papi
Deffinatly Helton for the Rocks.

W-O-W

I seriously cant believe I overlooked Crawford. I dont know how I forgot him.

Im goin to bed. I hate to leave up just a list but i have good arguments for putting them all there. The face of the franchise IMO is defined as who the majority of sports fans know best on the team. Remember, that includes avid fans such as us, I'll watch a game if its on fans, and I sorta know some people fans. Basically, the majority of sports fans is retarded. The minority is us the avid fans but the all star votes show year in and out we are a slim minority. The majority of fans dont know who Justin Duch is but id say nearly all of them know Chavez. Same can be said with many of the picks. Ken Griffey is there from playing more than a half a year with the team and being one of the greatest and most well known hitters of all time.

An example of an average fan, my best friend is a red sox fan and his entire family lives in Boston. He constantly tries to tell me Pedroia is the best 2nd baseman in the league. He also thinks Beckett is one of the greatest pitchers ever. He watches baseball, just doesnt follow it. He has no idea who most good players are.

I might say Smoltz for Atlanta even though he's injured. I like right's list better based on the criteria.

For me the Face of the Franchise is the person that comes to your mind first when you think of a team. More often than not I don't think it is going to be a pitcher because when it's a starter you are only going to see them every fifth day. If it is a reliever you may see them almost everyday but for no longer than an inning or two which means if your not watching the whole game your probably not going to see them. There are exceptions like the Blue Jays where they just don't have a superstar in the lineup so your first thought is Roy Halliday. This again is just my opinion.

Smoltz would be a good call for Atlanta. I think Chipper though is a better fit though cause barring injury he is someoe that is going to be seen everyday. Where as with Smoltz every fifth day if he is the starter or only one inning at a time if he is the closer.

Then for me personally I also think there are teams with no faces. Like the Royals, Giants and Dodgers.

I think K-Rod is the face of the Angels

Carlos Quentin the face of the franchise? Uh, no. But it's not Thome, either.

Try...Mark Buehrle.

Quentin is the pleasant surprise and Thome is the 3-year hired gun who will be gone after this year. Buehrle is the 30th round draft choice, home grown, fun loving, tarp diving guy who took a HUGE hometown contact to re-up long term last year. After MB...Dye, Crede, Konerko, and even Pierzynski would all rank higher than either of the guys you two chose.

that's huge hometown DISCOUNT contract. His numbers were very similar to fellow lefty Barry Zito yet he signed for little more than half Zito's deal in both years and dollars. MB is a HERO in ChiSoxville.

"More often than not I don't think it is going to be a pitcher because when it's a starter you are only going to see them every fifth day."

Doesn't matter. The "face of the franchise" is whoever the fans most identify with that team. Nolan Ryan was the "face of the franchise" most everywhere he pitched. Ditto Roger Clemens (with the Red Sox, Astros, and Blue Jays for sure.) and Greg Maddux (with the Cubs and Braves)

I'm surprised nobody said David Wright or Jose Reyes for the Mets.

Baltimores face is Adam Jones

I think the O's currently is Roberts, but the future face is definately Jones