Parlor exercise: For each of the 50 U.S. states (plus DC, though I got nothing), name the best player you can think of (active or historic, but MLB either way) to come from that state. No consultion of reference materials either (at least not for the first couple days this post is up).
(U.S. territories and Canadian provinces added Sunday, May 21.)
I use the "come from" weasel words so that birthplace, high school, or college can count, though I'll restrict us to just one state per player. UPDATE: There are at least two players on my list, because of whom this distinction is obviously appropriate. In each case I went with their real home state rather than their technical birthplace. One of them I didn't even realize was born across the river from the state he calls home.
My partial off-the-cuff answers are after the fold. I hope I haven't associated anyone incorrectly with a state, or worse yet forgotten some player who's both tremendously good and associated with a particular state.
NOTE: Lots of good suggestions, none of which I've actually fact-checked, but it's all coming along nicely.
Anyone in green I cheated and looked up (from the Baseball Reference list of players by birth state).
AL: Henry Aaron
AK: Curt Schilling
AZ: Barry Bonds
AR: Torii Hunter Dizzy Dean (Brian R.)
CA: Ted Williams (and a million others of course)
CO: Goose Gossage
CT: Bobby Valentine
DE: Delino Deshields (but give Kevin Mench some time)
FL: Alex Rodriguez Gary Sheffield (after looking up A-Rod's birthplace)
GA: Jason Varitek Ty Cobb (Brian R.)
HI: Sid Fernandez
ID Harmon Kilibrew (Brian W.)
IL: Kirby Puckett (for a long time I couldn't improve on Joe Girardi)
IN: Three Finger Brown (Joshua)
IA: Cap Anson (Joshua) (slight edge over Bob Feller despite my dislike for him)
KS: Walter Johnson (Joshua)
KY: Jim Bunning (Brian R.) (slight edge over Pee Wee Reese in my opinion)
LA: Lee Smith Albert Belle (or Rusty Staub or Will Clark)
ME: Bob Stanley
MD: Cal Ripken Babe Ruth (Brian R.)
MA: Carlos Pena Gaby Hartnett (Allyson) (or Tom Glavine? -MB)
MI: Derek Jeter
MN: Dave Winfield (Greg)
MS: Rafael Palmeiro (Ellis Burks has a stronger claim to the state, though not quite as good a career?)
MO: Albert Pujols
MT: Dave McNally (Joshua)
NE: Darin Erstad GC Alexander (Kubi)
NV: Greg Maddux
NH: Carlton Fisk
NJ: Joe Medwick (Joshua)
NM: Ralph Kiner (Joshua)
NY: Shawon Dunston (see MA comment) Alex Rodriguez
NC: Catfish Hunter (TYG)
ND: Roger Maris
OH: Cy Young (Brian R.)
OK: Mickey Mantle (and Bench of course)
OR: Dave Kingman
PA: Stan Musial (and Griffey of course)
RI: Rocco BaldelliNap Lajoie (Allyson)
SC: Joe Jackson (Brian R.)
SD: Mark Ellis
TN: Todd Helton (duh!) (trumps Tim McCarver, Vada Pinson, et al)
TX: Roger Clemens
UT: Bruce Hurst (but give Chris Shelton a few seasons)
VT: Birdie Tebbetts
VA: Willie Horton (or Eppa Rixey or Todd Hundley)
WA: Ryne Sandberg (over surprisingly many Cub-related rivals)
WV: Nick Swisher
WI: Bob Uecker (Greg)
WY: Tom Browning (I should have at least come up with Mike Lansing w/o cheating though)
American Samoa
District of Columbia: Maury Wills (Brick)
Federated States of Micronesia
Guam
Mariana Islands
Midway
Panama Canal Zone: Rod Carew (Joshua)
Puerto Rico: Roberto Clemente (Joshua)
Virgin Islands
Wake Island
Alberta
BC: Larry Walker
Manitoba: Corey Koskie
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
NW Territories
Nova Scotia
Nunavut
Ontario: Ferguson Jenkins
PEI
Quebec: Eric Gagne
Saskatchewan
Yukon
Was Cy Young from Ohio? And where do you consider Ruth to be from? Wasn't he born in Maryland?
And man, it's obvious that California dominates over other states. Williams, DiMaggio, Bonds, and Seaver are the most obvious. The city of Oakland could outrank most states what with Frank Robinson, who I think went to McClymonds, Joe Morgan, who I think went to Castlemont, and Rickey Henderson, perhaps Skyline. Throw in Willie Stargell from Alameda and now Dontrelle Willis plus Billy Martin from Berkeley, and you have a pretty good fair lineup from Alameda County.
Posted by: Brian Rostron at May 20, 2006 03:39 PMI like to think of Julia as Encinal High School's fourth most famous almnus (behind Stargell, Willis, and Jimmy Rollins).
Posted by: me at May 20, 2006 03:44 PMEh, most famous alumna, but fourth alum.
Posted by: me at May 20, 2006 03:45 PMOh, and Ty Cobb from Georgia.
Posted by: Brian Rostron at May 20, 2006 04:02 PMOK, here's some help with Rhode Island and Massachusetts for you.
For Rhode Island, how about Nap Lajoie? Beats the heck out of Baldelli as a choice. http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/hofers_and_honorees/hofer_bios/Lajoie_Nap.htm
For Massachusetts, how about Gabby Hartnett? Even though his Hall of Fame bio says he was born in Woonsocket, R.I., like Lajoie, he was probably just born there because that's where the hospital was; he actually was raised in tiny Millville, Mass., from the time he was about a week old (see http://www.woonsocketcall.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=6395436&BRD=1712&PAG=461&dept_id=24361&rfi=8).
Posted by: Allyson at May 20, 2006 05:09 PMCatfish Hunter's probably the NC choice. Currently (I think he's still playing) we can claim BJ Surhoff due to his going to Chapel Hill.
Posted by: Tom Galloway at May 20, 2006 08:14 PMFor Indiana, there's no obvious choice but I would probably go with Three Finger Brown.
Iowa should be Cap Anson.
Kansas should definitely be Walter Johnson.
Kentucky's best choice seems to be Pee Wee Reese.
Montana, probably Dave McNally.
New Jersey: either Goose Goslin or Joe Medwick.
New Mexico should be Ralph Kiner.
NE: Grover Cleveland Alexander
My original thought was "Wahoo" Sam Crawford
Posted by: Kubi at May 20, 2006 08:20 PMMN: historic -- Dave Winfield or Paul Molitor. Kent Hrbek is of course a sentimental fave.
Active: Joe Mauer.
Posted by: Greg at May 20, 2006 08:32 PMSC - Joe Jackson
Iowa also has Bob Feller.
Speaking of people with interesting views, Kentucky also has Senator Jim Bunning
I can't think of many baseball greats from Virginia, but someone named Ezra Ripley (sp?) showed up on lists of famous Virginians that we were taught in elementary school. He's no Arthur Ashe, Lawrence Taylor, Moses Malone, or Sam Snead, but he may have to do.
Wasn't Dizzy Dean from Arkansas? Man, baseball is kind of a rural game. Although Yogi Berra was from the Hill in St. Louis, along with his friend Joe Garagiola.
Posted by: Brian Rostron at May 20, 2006 08:53 PMLike Norwegian playwrights and Finnish composers, there is only one Idahoan baseball player: Harmon Killebrew.
I think you should add Canadian provinces and foreign countries to the list.
Posted by: Brian Weikle at May 21, 2006 07:12 AMIf you start looking for choices for U.S. territories, then Roberto Clemente is the choice for Puerto Rico, and Rod Carew for the Panama Canal Zone.
Posted by: Joshua at May 21, 2006 10:10 AMFor Maine you're most likely stuck with Mike Bordick. He was either born there and grew up elsewhere or vice versa.
I think Glavine might be the Massachusetts pick, as if nothing else it removes the geographical question that Allyson noted. I'll have to consider this some more.
I look forward to seeing who is named the best player from Nunavut.
Posted by: Mark at May 22, 2006 06:57 AMDC-Maury Wills
Posted by: Brick at May 22, 2006 09:04 AMGood call on Maury Wills, Brick. He was a fine baseball player and shtupping Doris Day doesn't lower my estimation of him either.
Posted by: Brian Rostron at May 22, 2006 02:01 PMThere must be a Wisconsinite better than Radke or Uecker, the two names I'm coming up with...
Posted by: Greg at May 22, 2006 02:09 PMOK, as a Michigander, what about the Mechanical Man, Charlie Gehringer?
* MVP (1937)
* 6-time All-Star (1933-38)
* 8-time Top 10 MVP (1928, 1932-38)
* Led league in batting average (1937)
* 4-time led league in games played (1929-30, 1933-34)
* Twice led league in runs (1929, 1934)
* Twice led league in hits (1929, 1934)
* Led league in doubles (1929)
* Led league in triples (1929)
* Led league in stolen bases (1929)
* 13 times hit over .300
Besides, if you look at Baseball Reference, you see that Jeter's most similar player is Alan Trammell, and we know Tram's not getting into the Hall...bastards.
Posted by: Craig D. Barker at May 22, 2006 04:12 PMBrian-Maury Wills shares my birthday and he was the worst manager in major league history.
Craig-Once Jeter gets in, you start the "If Jeter is in, why isn't Trammell in" argument. The championships are answered with,"It wasn't Trammell's fault that his owner couldn't spend $200 million on payroll."
Posted by: Brick at May 23, 2006 07:04 AMThere's something to be said for the Arizona rep being a guy whose affiliation with the Grand Canyon State is his collegiate experience, when he is *nowhere near* the best college player in the history of Arizona's three, count 'em, three major universities.
Posted by: ZD at May 23, 2006 10:48 PM