HOF: the best actual season, at the actual position.
Bright Shiners: the second best season of a player, at the actual position. WAR/OPS+/ERA+ all useful for comparisons of nominees. No active or recently retired players: PED passes will form an alternate squad of second-best seasons.
I have tried to sort in rough bWAR order, but that only goes so far. For example, we might not choose to weigh Snuffy Stirnweiss' 1944, campaign - pre-integration and missing players due to the war, on the same footing as other candidates.
For nominees who seem clearly a notch below other nominees, I have added a strikethrough line, but not removed them. You can argue for someone to be unstruck or moved up onto the starter's list. I have left close calls alone.
HOF
SP: Pedro Martinez, 2000: 18-6 1.74 ERA 217 IP 248 K 32 BB 128 H .737 WHIP 291 ERA+
SP: Bob Gibson, 1968: 22-9 1.12 ERA 304.2 IP 268 K 62 BB 198 H .853 WHIP 258 ERA+
SP: Walter Johnson, 1913: 36-7, 1.14 era, 346 IP, 29 CG, 11 SHO, 243 K, 38 BB, .780 WHIP, 259 era+
SP: Randy Johnson, 2001: 21-6, 2.49 ERA, 372 Ks, 188 ERA+, 213 FIP, 1.009 WHIP, 13.4 K/9 .WAR of 10.1
SP:
SP:
RP: Lee Smith, 1983, 4.8
RP: Mariano Rivera, 1996, 5.0
RP: Bruce Sutter, 1977, 6.5
CL: Rich Gossage, 1975, 8.2
C: Mike Piazza, 1997, 8.7
1B: Lou Gehrig, 1927, 11.9
2B: Rogers Hornsby, 1924, 12.3
3B: Mike Schmidt 1974/Ron Santo 1967, 9.8
SS: Cal Ripken Jr. 1991/Honus Wagner 1908, 11.5
LF: Babe Ruth, 1921, 12.9
CF: Mickey Mantle 1957/Ty Cobb 1917, 11.3
RF: Babe Ruth, 1927, 12.6
OF: Hack Wilson, 1930: .356, .454, .723, 1.177. 56 HR, 191 RBI. 7.4 bWAR
DH: Edgar Martinez 1995/Frank Thomas 1991, 7.0
but we are still going with:
DH: David Ortiz, 2007 .332, .445, .621, 1.066. (341TB) 6.4 bWAR
Bright Shiners
SP: Wilbur Wood, 1972: 27-17, 2.51 ERA, 1.059 WHIP, 10.7 bWAR
SP: Curt Schilling, 2002: 23-7, 3.23 ERA, 316 K, 33 BB, 9.58 K/BB, 0.968 WHIP, 8.6 WAR
SP: Kevin Appier, 1992: 2.46 ERA, 164 ERA+, 2.98 FIP, 150 Ks, 8.0 bWAR
SP: Kevin Brown, 1996: 233 IP, 1.89 ERA, 215 ERA+, 2.88 FIP, 159Ks, 33B. 0.944 WHIP, 7.9 bWAR
SP: Louie Tiant, 1974: 33-13, 2.92 ERA, 133 ERA+ 1.166 WHIP, 7.7 bWAR.
SP: Vida Blue, 1976: 18-13 2.35 ERA, 166K, 63BB, 1.109 WHIP, 7.6 BBRef WAR (led the league with a 2.56 FIP)
SP: Tim Lincecum, 2009: 15-7, 2.48 ERA, 261K, 68BB, 1.047 WHIP, 7.4 BRef WAR (2d best season by WAR)
SP: Johan Santana, 2006: 19-6, 2.77 ERA, 245K, 47BB, .997 WHIP, 7.2 BRef WAR (2d best season by WAR)
SP: Brett Saberhagen, 1985: 20-6, ERA 2.87, K 158, BB 38, WHIP 1.015. 7.1 bWAR
SP: Ron Guidry, 1979: 18-8, 2.78 era, 201 k, 1.16 whip, 7.7 k/9, 6.5 bWAR
RP: Eric Gagne, 2002: 52 SV, 1.97 ERA, 180 FIP, 0.862 WHIP 2.9 WAR4th in Cy, 12th in MVP
RP: Dick "The Monster" Radatz, 1963: 162k to 51bb, only 9HRA 2.18 FIP, 11.02 K/9, 192 ERA+, (30+ inning scoreless streak)
RP: Keith Foulke, 2003: 3.5 bWAR, 43 saves (led league), 2.08 ERA, .888 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 215 ERA+, top 7 CYA
RP: Joe Nathan, 2006: 3.3 bWAR, 36 saves, 1.58 ERA, .790 WHIP, 12.5 K/9, 284 ERA+, top 5 CYA
RP: Papelbon, 2007: 3.1 bWAR, 37 saves, 1.85 ERA, .771 WHIP, 13.0 K/9, 257 ERA+
RP: Dan Quisenberry, 1985: 37 saves, 2.37 ERA, 4.2 WAR, only 55 Ks!
C: Bill Freehan, 1968: 145 OPS+, led league in HBP with 24. 25 HR, 84 RBI (good for the era, as noted by his MVP finish and OPS+, last year of high mound, "year of the pitcher") 2nd in MVP, Gold Glove.
C: Elston Howard, 1961: .348/.387/.549 with an OPS+ of 153.
C: Munson.
C: Jorge Posada, 2000: .287/.417/.527, 139 OPS+, 28 HR, 5.4 bWAR
1B: Olerud, 1998: .354/.447/.551/.998, 163 OPS+ stellar defense. 7.6 bWAR
1B: Giambi, 2000: .333/.476/.647/1.123 43 HR, 137 RBI, 7.8 bWAR
1B: Mark McGwire, 1996: .312/.467/.730 , 196 OPS+, 52 HR (in 130 games!), 6.4 WAR
1B: Mo Vaughn, 1998: 337/.402/.591, 153 OPS+ 40 hrs, 115 rbi, 5.6 WAR
2B: Dustin Pedroia, 1998: .326/.376/.493, 123 OPS+, 17 hr, 83 rbi, 7.0 WAR
2B: Bobby Grich, 1975: .260/.389/.399/.787,130 OPS+, 7.4 bWAR
2B: Bobby Grich, 1979: .294/.365/.537/.903, 30 HR, 101 RBI, All-Star, 8th in MVP
2B: Snuffy Stirnweiss, 1944, 8.7 bWAR.
3B: Dick Allen, 1966: .317/.396/.632, 1.027 OPS, 181 OPS+, 7.5 bWAR
3B: Eric Chavez, 2003: .282/.350/.514, 127 OPS+, 34 HR, 5.3 WAR (his 3rd best season by WAR!)
SS: Nomar, 1995: .357/.418/.603/1.022 27 HR 104 RBI, 7.5 WAR
OF: Roger Maris, 1960: 98 runs, 39 HRs, 112 RBIs (league leader), .283/.371/581, Gold Glove, MVP 7.5 bWAR (his highest by WAR)
OF: Fred Lynn, 1979: .331/.406/.566, .967 OPS, 162 OPS+, good CF defense, 7.4 bWAR, ROY+MVP
OF: César Cedeño, 1973, 7.4 bWAR
OF: Kenny Lofton, 1994: .349/.412/.536, 145 OPS+, 60 SB (83% success rate), 12 HR, 7.2 WAR
OF: Dave Parker, 1978: 102 runs, 30 HRs, 117 RBIs, .334/.394/.585, Gold Glove, MVP 7.0 WAR
OF: Albert Belle, 1995: 121 runs, 50 HR, 126 RB, .317/.401/.690, Douchenozzle Extraordinare, 7.0 bWAR
OF Jim Edmonds, 2000: .295/.411/.583, 147 OPS+, 42 HR, 6.2 WAR
OF: Dale Murphy, 1982: 113 runs, 36 HRs, 109 RBIs (league leader), .281/.378/.507, Gold Glove, MVP 6.1 bWar (4th best season)
OF: Juan Gonzalez, 1996: 89 runs, 47 HRs, 144 RBIs, .314/.368/.643, MVP 3.8 bWAR (5th best season)
DH: Travis "Pronk" Hafner, 2005: .305/.408/.595/1.003 168 OPS+ 5.4 WAR (5th MVP voting)
The Alternate Squad we strongly hinted not to dwell on:
Shithead: Barry Bonds, 2002: 11.7 of HgH.
Gamethrower: Shoeless Joe Jackson, 1911: 9.2 of paid-off dollars and cents.