A list of the greatest baseball players by state

edoug

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
6,007
I think these are debatable. To say the least.
MS-Ellis Burks over Dave Parker
OH-Roger Clemens over Cy Young, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose
PA-Christy Mathewson over Stan Musial, Ken Griffey Jr.
OK-Mickey Mantle over Johnny Bench
NH-Chris Carpenter over Mike Flanagan
There are some people who might argue Joe D over The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived. Maybe even a couple of SOSH members.
 

Kliq

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SoSH Member
Mar 31, 2013
22,669
I know he played a million years ago and wasn't a good person, but Cap Anson should probably at least by a honorable mention for Iowa.

Honus Wagner is the best baseball player to ever come out of the state of Pennsylvania, and yet is not even an honorable mention. That's easily the most notable error imo in what is a pretty thoughtful list.

Arky Vaughan might be the most underrated great player in MLB history. He was a far superior hitter to Brooks Robinson (career OPS+ 136 for Vaughan, 104 for Robinson) and was a very good defensive shortstop. He retired young, but gathered nearly the same amount of career WAR (73) as Robinson (78) in 1,000 less games.
 

Brianish

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SoSH Member
Dec 11, 2008
5,556
Josh Gibson not making honorable mention for Georgia is pretty striking. I get that they restricted themselves to MLB, but still, come on.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,432
Whatever a&&hole had Cobb over Jackie in Georgia clearly didn't take intangibles into play.
 

charlieoscar

Member
Sep 28, 2014
1,339
Well, if one looks at NH (and overlooks the pitcher, Doc Tonkin--1908, and catcher, Matt Tupman--2007, who both had 2.000 OPS), how about Red Rolfe with the highest OPS (.773) and second-highest number of home runs (69, behind Phil Plantier's 91).

bb-ref has a list by state of players at https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/ .
 

Spacemans Bong

chapeau rose
SoSH Member
Using place of birth as a criteria over where a player actually grew up is really stupid.

Derek Jeter is from Michigan, not New Jersey. A-Rod grew up in Miami, not New York. Bob Stanley left Maine when he was 2. According to Peter Gammons, Carlton Fisk used to correct reporters who called him a Vermonter. Jeff Bagwell moved to Connecticut at the age of 1. Curt Schilling was an Army brat and considers Pittsburgh to be his hometown. Literally none of the Alaskan players are actually Alaskans by upbringing (Chad Brentz is the best Alaskan player I could find). George Brett is from Southern California, not West Virginia.

That kind of mistake is all over the list and it's inexcusable because all that info is on BB-Ref, Wikipedia or SABR.
 
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keninten

New Member
Nov 24, 2005
588
Tennessee
Using place of birth as a criteria over where a player actually grew up is really stupid.

Derek Jeter is from Michigan, not New Jersey. A-Rod grew up in Miami, not New York. Bob Stanley left Maine when he was 2. According to Peter Gammons, Carlton Fisk used to correct reporters who called him a Vermonter. Jeff Bagwell moved to Connecticut at the age of 1. Curt Schilling was an Army brat and considers Pittsburgh to be his hometown. Literally none of the Alaskan players are actually Alaskans by upbringing (Chad Brentz is the best Alaskan player I could find). George Brett is from Southern California, not West Virginia.

That kind of mistake is all over the list and it's inexcusable because all that info is on BB-Ref, Wikipedia or SABR.
Fisk lived and grew up in Charlestown NH but his parents drove across the river into Bellows Falls VT to give birth. Less than a twenty minute drive.
 

GrandSlamPozo

New Member
May 16, 2017
105
Whatever a&&hole had Cobb over Jackie in Georgia clearly didn't take intangibles into play.
Ty Cobb wasn't actually the racist cartoon villain he's often made out to be, many of the negative stories about him were fabricated by his biographer, noted con man Al Stump, in order to sell more copies of his book. Cobb actually donated his wealth to a number of philanthropic causes such as providing the needy with access to healthcare and education.
 
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E5 Yaz

Transcends message boarding
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Apr 25, 2002
90,017
Oregon
Fisk lived and grew up in Charlestown NH but his parents drove across the river into Bellows Falls VT to give birth. Less than a twenty minute drive.
You missed Bonger's point completely. That he was born in VT only means that's where he was brought into the world. It isn't where he was raised and isn't what he considers himself to be. Making the list using this type of technicality is silly.

Rod Carew was born on a train trip ... should they determine at exactly which spot along the way he was born so that it can be determined where he's from?
 

SumnerH

Malt Liquor Picker
Dope
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
31,889
Alexandria, VA
Ty Cobb wasn't actually the racist cartoon villain he's often made out to be, many of the negative stories about him were fabricated by his biographer, noted con man Al Stump, in order to sell more copies of his book. Cobb actually donated his wealth to a number of philanthropic causes such as providing the needy with access to healthcare and education.
We had a whole thread on this a while back. It's over here if anyone's interested in the gory details.

Actually, we had two.