Best Wisconsin Born Baseball Players.
C - Bob Uecker, Milwaukee. 1962-67. Had to do it. You don't want to know the numbers.
1B - Fred Merkle, Watertown. 1907-26. Infamously known for "Merkle's Boner." No, not a porn flick but a base running gaffe which helped the Cubs win the 1908 WS. He was the Bill Buckner of his day, times 10. A good player, though. Twice finished top 20 in MVP voting.
2B - Mark Grudzielanek, Milwaukee. , 1995-Current. What? No Jim Ganter?? Love Gumby, but Grudzy was better. Better numbers, won a Gold Glove, and played in an All Star game. .290/.332/.395.
SS - Tony Kubek, Milwaukee. 1957-65. More known for announcing the "Game of the Week" back in the day. Played in 6 World Series and 3 All Star games.
3B - Lave Cross, Milwaukee. 1887-1907. Never heard of him. Had four 90+ RBI seasons back when scoring runs was tougher than a two dollar steak (adjusted for inflation). Career .292 hitter with 1327 RBI
OF - Al Simmons, Milwaukee. 1924-44. Best ever from Wiscy. Top 10 in MVP voting 6 times, with two other 11th place finishes. A whopping 11 straight 100+ RBI seasons and a crazy .334/.380/.535 line and two batting titles. Hall of Famer.
OF - Andy Pafko, Boyceville. 1943-59. Five time all star with 213 HRs, 976 RBI, and .285/.350/.449
OF - Chet Laabs, Milwaukee. 1937-1947. One of the best St. Louis Browns ever, for whatever that's worth. One time all star. .262/.346/.452
SP. Burleigh Grimes, Emerald. 1916-1934. 270-212, 3.53 ERA. I'll let this post elaborate.
SP. Addie Joss, Juneau. 1902-1910. Unknown to me until attending a wedding at the Juneau Community Center a few months ago. Oh, it was a hoot. I was pretty drunk but remember a little shrine to Joss. I guess he was a stud until dying of pneumonia at the age of 30. All-time career leader in WHIP (.9678) and 2nd in ERA (1.89). How'd you like those numbers on your fantasy squad? 169-97 record, is in the Hall of Fame.
SP. Kid Nichols, Madison. 1890-1906. 361-208, 2.95 ERA. 7th on the all-time wins list. Hall of Famer.
SP. Brad Radke, Eau Claire. 1995-2006. Solid pitcher, that's about it.
SP. Couldn't make that tough decision between Jarred Washburn (LaCrosse) and Zane Smith (Madison).
CL. Bob Wickman, Green Bay. 1992-Current. Two all-star games, top 10 in saves 4 times.
Hmmm...that was a lot of research with not very great results. Especially post-WWII.
7 comments:
How about Jerry Augustine from Kewaunee
This got me to thinking. 100 years from now in heaven, Indiana is going to kick the living shit out of Wisconsin in baseball.
What about Ginger Beaumont for an outfielder. Was second in the national league in homers in 1903 with 7. Also has a batting title.
I like Lave Cross as a utiltiy player. Played every position but pitcher and was in the top ten for oldest players in the league for six straight years and has 2600 hits.
Ryne Duren of Cazenovia has to be in the mix as reliever with for all star games. Was a scary hitter to face because he threw close to 100mph had extremely thick glasses and really didn't know where the ball was going to go.
The skipper would obviously be Pants Rowland of Plattville. Has the most wins and best winning percentage of any Wisconsin born manager.
tim - and basketball.
wisconsin should be set at football, though.
so far, we have bob griese at QB (backed up by jeff george, rick mirer and rex grossman), anthony thompson and anthony johnson at RB, mark clayton and a bunch of nothing at WR, ken dilger at TE, and rod woodson playing defense by himeself.
the full story will come soon. bet you can't wait.
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 is
1. SS-Dave Bancroft 1915-30 Sioux City .279/.355/.358, 2004 H, 1048 R, 32 HR, 145 SB, 591 RBI, HoF
2. RF-Bing Miller 1921-1936 Vinton .311/.359/.461, 1934 H, 946 R, 116 HR, 127 SB, 992 RBI, 54 HBP
3. 1B-Cap Anson 1894-1915 Marshalltown .333/.393/.445, 3418 H, 1996 R, 97 HR, 276 SB, 2076 RBI, 581 2B, HoF
4 DH-Hal Trosky 1933-1946 Norway .302/.371/.522, 1561 H, 835 R, 228 HR, 1012 RBI
5. LF-Fred Clarke 1894-1915 Winterset .312/.386/.429, 2672 H, 1619 R, 67 HR, 506 SB, 1015 RBI, 153 HBP, HoF
6. 3B-Lee Handley 1935-1947 Clarion .259/.323/.345, 902 H, 418 R, 15 HR, 68 SB, 297 RBI
7. 2B-Johnny Rawlings 1919-1928 Ackley .250/.303/.309, 928 H, 409 R, 14 HR, 92 SB, 303 RBI
8. C-Hank Severeid 1911-1926 Story City .289/.342/.367, 1245 H, 408R, 17 HR, 355 SB, 539 RBI
9. CF-Ken Henderson 1965-1980 Carroll .257/.343/.396, 1168 H, 595 R, 122 HR, 86 SB, 576 RBI
SP-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, HoF
SP-Red Faber 1914-1933 Cascade 254-213, 3.15 ERA, 1471 K, 273 CG, 29 SHO, HoF
SP-Dazzy Vance 1915-1935 Orient 197-140, 3.24 ERA, 2045 K, 216 CG, 29 SHO, 1924 MVP, '24 Triple Crown, HoF
SP-Earl Whitehill 1923-1939 Cedar Rapids 218-185 4.36 ERA 1350 K, 226 CG
SP-Jack Coombs 1906-1920 LeGrand 158-110, 2.78 ERA 1052 K, 187 CG, 25 SHO
RP-Eddie Watt 1966-1975 Lamoni 38-36, 2.91 ERA 462K, 80 SV
RP-Bob Locker 1965-1975 Charles City 57-39, 2.75 ERA, 577 K, 95 SV
Closer-Joe Hoerner 1963-1977 Dubuque 39-34, 2.99 ERA, 412 K, 493 G, 99 SV, 1 time All-Star
Well 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
Good stuff, David. I've heard Feller is an old, bitter, red ass?
WV - Oh, you know a Football squad is coming out soon...
We'll in football we got Dallas Clark, I think Bob Sanders is a Native Iowan and Kurt Warner (Can't stand him) Along with Robert Gallery, Tim Dwight, and Senaca Wallace plus we got Mitch King and Matt Kraul coming out this year, who were both badass, If Iowa could stop recruiting idiots who get in trouble constantly, what is it like 50+ arrest since 06, and now we got a basketball player in trouble with drinking, heard he was passed out behind a bar lol.
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