December 19, 2008
Baseball: All-Time State Teams
Following up on yesterday's wildly successful all-time state teams for basketball, let's turn our attention to baseball - a sport where Hoosiers fare considerably worse.
According to the invaluable baseball-reference.com, 348 Major League players were born in Indiana. About seven of them were any good.
So, here's my all-time team of players from Indiana, by batting order and position:
1. Kenny Lofton, OF, East Chicago, 1991-2007: .299/.372/.423, 130 HR, 781 RBI, 622 SB, 1,528 R, 2,428 H, six-time All-Star.
2. Max Carey, OF, Terre Haute, 1910-29: .285/.361/.386, 70 HR, 800 RBI, 1,545 R, 2,665 H, 738 SB.
3. Don Mattingly, 1B, Evansville, 1982-95: .307/.358/.471, 222 HR, 1,099 RBI, 1,007 R, 2,153 H, six-time All-Star, 1985 AL MVP.
4. Gil Hodges, DH*, Princeton, 1943-63: .273/.359/.487, 370 HR, 1,274 RBI, 1,921 H, eight-time All-Star.
5. Scott Rolen, 3B, Evansville, 1996-2008: .282/.370/.501, 272 HR, 1062 RBI, 1,012 R, 1,665 H, five-time Alll-Star, 1997 NL ROY.
6. Chuck Klein, OF, Indianapolis, 1928-44: .320/.379/.543, 300 HR, 1,201 RBI, 1,168 R, 2,076 H, two-time All-Star, 1932 NL MVP (runner-up in '31 and '33).
7. Billy Herman, 2B, New Albany, 1931-47: .304/.367/.407, 47 HR, 839 RBI, 1,163 R, 2,345 H, 10-time All-Star.
8. Dickie Thon, SS, South Bend, 1979-93: .264/.317/.374, 71 HR, 435 RBI, 496 R, 1,176 H, 167 SB, one-time All-Star.
9. Ron Kittle, C, Gary, 1982-91: .239/.306/.473, 176 HR, 460 RBI, 356 R, 648 H, 1983 AL ROY.
Pitching
SP: Mordecai Brown, Nyesville, 1903-16: 239-130, 2.06 ERA, 332 CG, 1,375 K, Hall of Famer.
SP: Tommy John, Terre Haute, 1963-89: 288-231, 3.34 ERA, 162 CG, 2,245 K, four-time All-Star.
SP: Andy Benes, Evansville, 1989-2002: 155-139, 3.97 ERA, 2,000 K, one-time All-Star, 1989 NL ROY.
SP: Freddie Fitzsimmons, Mishawaka, 1925-43: 217-146, 3.51 ERA, 186 CG, 870 K.
SP: Dizzy Trout, Sandcut, 1939-57: 170-161, 3.23 ERA, 158 CG, 1,256 K, two-time All-Star.
RP: Jeff Smardzija, Merrillville, (incomplete - and because we aren't putting LaTroy Hawkins on the team).
RP: Dan Plesac, Gary, 1986-2003: 65-71, 3.64 ERA, 158 SV, 1,041 K, three-time All-Star.
C: Doug Jones, Lebanon, 1982-2000: 69-79, 3.30 ERA, 303 SV, 909 K, five-time All-Star.
Don Larsen of Michigan City is the most notable name left off of the team. Other than this, he didn't do much in his career (comparatively).
All in all, this is a really bad baseball team for more than 100 years of Hoosiers reproducing and creating potential Major League baseball players.
* Hodges has to DH, as we need him and Mattingly in the lineup.
(You can check your own state here.)
Labels: All-Time State Teams, Indiana
Discussion
6 Comments on "Baseball: All-Time State Teams"
#1
Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, December 19, 2008 9:22 AM
Plesac was from Gary? That just doesn't seem right.
#2
Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, December 19, 2008 9:23 AM
And I'm not even gonna attmept Wisocnsin baseball. You'd see a bunch of Eric Hinske's on the squad.
#3
Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, December 19, 2008 10:24 AM
what about grudz, gantner, pafko, randa, al simmons, and the immortal kid nichols?the pitching really sucks, though.
#4
Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, December 19, 2008 11:41 AM
Fred Merkle was born in Watertown, WI
#6
Posted by <img src="http://www.blogge, December 20, 2008 12:59 AM
So I live in Iowa and I decided to come up with Iowa's All-Time State Team, not very pretty either... you thought Wisconsin and Indiana were bad, only thing we're good at is Wrestling. Here it is1. SS-Dave Bancroft 1915-30 Sioux City .279/.355/.358, 2004 H, 1048 R, 32 HR, 145 SB, 591 RBI, HoF2. RF-Bing Miller 1921-1936 Vinton .311/.359/.461, 1934 H, 946 R, 116 HR, 127 SB, 992 RBI, 54 HBP3. 1B-Cap Anson 1894-1915 Marshalltown .333/.393/.445, 3418 H, 1996 R, 97 HR, 276 SB, 2076 RBI, 581 2B, HoF4 DH-Hal Trosky 1933-1946 Norway .302/.371/.522, 1561 H, 835 R, 228 HR, 1012 RBI5. LF-Fred Clarke 1894-1915 Winterset .312/.386/.429, 2672 H, 1619 R, 67 HR, 506 SB, 1015 RBI, 153 HBP, HoF6. 3B-Lee Handley 1935-1947 Clarion .259/.323/.345, 902 H, 418 R, 15 HR, 68 SB, 297 RBI7. 2B-Johnny Rawlings 1919-1928 Ackley .250/.303/.309, 928 H, 409 R, 14 HR, 92 SB, 303 RBI8. C-Hank Severeid 1911-1926 Story City .289/.342/.367, 1245 H, 408R, 17 HR, 355 SB, 539 RBI9. CF-Ken Henderson 1965-1980 Carroll .257/.343/.396, 1168 H, 595 R, 122 HR, 86 SB, 576 RBISP-Bob Feller 1936-1956 Van Meter 266-162, 3.25 ERA, 2581 K, 279 CG, 44 SHO, 8 time All-Star, 1940 Triple Crown, '40 MVP runner up, HoFSP-Red Faber 1914-1933 Cascade 254-213, 3.15 ERA, 1471 K, 273 CG, 29 SHO, HoFSP-Dazzy Vance 1915-1935 Orient 197-140, 3.24 ERA, 2045 K, 216 CG, 29 SHO, 1924 MVP, '24 Triple Crown, HoFSP-Earl Whitehill 1923-1939 Cedar Rapids 218-185 4.36 ERA 1350 K, 226 CGSP-Jack Coombs 1906-1920 LeGrand 158-110, 2.78 ERA 1052 K, 187 CG, 25 SHORP-Eddie Watt 1966-1975 Lamoni 38-36, 2.91 ERA 462K, 80 SVRP-Bob Locker 1965-1975 Charles City 57-39, 2.75 ERA, 577 K, 95 SVCloser-Joe Hoerner 1963-1977 Dubuque 39-34, 2.99 ERA, 412 K, 493 G, 99 SV, 1 time All-StarWell that the All-Time Iowa Team, in case anyone cares, which they probably don't, but its kind of cool to see who's the "greatest" of your state, obviously Cap Anson, Dazzy Vance, Fred Clarke, Red Faber and Bob Feller are the noticable names, but I had to look hard for the rest. Hope you enjoy
Recent Posts
WV23 Chat
cubs Community
- The Kerry Wood Hometown Discount Myth
- Cubs Are Committed To Theriot? Really??
- Forgetting So Taguchi
- With Harden, Important Rotation Spot Filled
-
Community home
Community home
-
Publish a post
Publish a post
-
Recommended
Recommended
-
Audio
Audio
-
Video
Video
Division Rivals
Regional Teams
Leave a comment