All-Stars

All Stars

Dedication

• This talk is dedicated to Grandpa Mike, who taught me to love the history of baseball

Sam Crawford 1899-1917

• Born in Wahoo, Nebraska in 1880

• Led Wahoo High School to 2 state football titles in 1896 and 1897

• Joined a traveling baseball team after high school

Reds Years• Played for the

Cincinnati Reds from 1899-1902

• In 1901 batted .330, home runs 16, triples 16 and runs batted in 104

Tigers 1903-1917

• 1903 Led the American League in triples in 1903

• Detroit won the American League 1907, 1908 & 1909

• Did not win a Series

Crawford & Cobb

Teammates and Rivals

• Fielding skills began to deteriorate after the 1911 season.

• Cobb said that Crawford didn’t hustle

• Crawford had hard feelings about Cobb, because Cobb’s career eclipsed his own.

• Was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame, thanks in part because of Crawford.

After the Majors

• Played for the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League

• Coached USC

• Baseball

• Died in 1968

George “Chief” Johnson 1886-1922

• Born in Winnebago, Nebraska

• Played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1913

• Joined the Kansas City Packers in 1914

• 40-43

Chief Johnson’s Early Career

• Started with Gus Green’s Nebraska Indian team

• 1909 played for Sioux City Packers and Lincoln Railsplitters in the Western League

Legal Issues

• Got passed the Winnebago Indian ban

• Fell into legal problems with the Cincinnati Reds for changing leagues from the Kansas City Packers

• Barnstormed baseball, sold snake oil

• Died after a conflict over craps or poker.

Tommy Atkins 1909-1910

• Born in Ponca, Nebraska 1887

• Played for the Philadelphia A’s 1909-1910

• 3-2 2.86 record

• Signature pitch Fingernail Fling

• Died in Cleveland Ohio

Grover Cleveland Alexander 1911-1930

• Born in Elba, Nebraska 1887

• Started Minor League baseball in 1907

• 1909 was hit by a thrown ball

Enters the Majors

• 1910 went 29-11 for the Syracuse Stars. Sold to the Philadelphia Phillies

• Won 28 games for Philadelphia in 31 starts

1912-1921

• Led the league in ERA 5 times,

• Led the league in wins 5 times

• Innings pitched 6 times

• Strike outs 6 times

• Complete games 5

World War I

• Sold to the Cubs in 1917

• 1918 Injured in France when a bomb exploded near him

• Developed epilepsy

St. Louis Cardinals

• Traded to the Cardinals in 1926 after the Cubs got tired of his drunkenness

• Won a World Series against the Yankees in 1927

Later Life

• Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1938

• Was the subject of the movie “The Winning Team”

• Tied for the most wins 373

Tom Seaton Born in Blair in 1887

Played for the Philadelphia Phillies 1912-1913

1913 Went 27-12

1913 Pitched 332 innings

1917 Played for the Chicago Cubs

Played several years with various teams in the Federal League

Was released from Major League Baseball during the time of the Blaxk Sox Scandal

Died in 1940 in El Paso Texas

Billy Southworth

Was born in Harvard, NE March 9, 1893

He is the first player on our list who had more success as a manager than as a player.

Cleveland Indians (1913, 1915)

Pittsburgh Pirates (1918-1920)

Boston Braves (1921-1923)

New York Giants (1924-1926)

St. Louis Cardinals (1926-1927, 1929)

As a Manger

St. Louis Cardinals (1929, 1940-1945)

Boston Braves (1946-1949, 1950-1951)

Billy Southworth

Led the National League in triples in 1919 with 14

Managed 4 National League pennants.1942, 1943, 1944, 1949

Managed 2 World Series titles 1942, 1944

Holds the record for the best three year record as a manager 1942-1944 106 wins, 105 wins, 105 wins

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008

Died in Columbus Ohio in 1969

Mel Harder

Born in 1909 in Beemer, Nebraska

Pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1928-1947

Had a record of 223-188

He was a pitching coach from 1949-1969

Known as a developer of pitchers

Mel Harder

He was the only All-Star pitcher to pitch 10 innings without giving up an earned run.

Only man in major league history to have both 20-year playing and coaching careers

oe DiMaggio recalled that he had more difficulty batting against Harder than against just about any other pitcher. DiMaggio batted only 180

He threw the first pitch in Municipal Stadium and the last 1993.

Bob Cerv 1951-1962

• Born in Weston, Nebraska

• Signed with the Yankees in 1950

• 1958 best season 305 Ave 38 hrs 104 RBIs

Interesting Facts

• 1958 beat out Ted Williams for the All-Stars

• Beat Frank Robinson in the All-Star Home Run Derby

• Roomed with Mantle and Maris 1961

Ritchie Ashburn

Born in Tilden, Nebraska in 1927

Played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1948-1959

Played for the Cubs 1960-1961

Played for the New York Mets in 1962

Led the Philadelphia Phillies to their first National League pennant in 1950

Was the first All-Star from the New York Mets

Totals 308 batting average 2,574 hits

Jackie Brandt 1956-1967

• Born in Omaha in 1934• Began his career in St.

Louis in 1956.• Played for New York/

San Frnancisco 1956-1959

• Most successful seasons with Baltimore Orioles

Bob Gibson

Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1935

Suffered from rickets and other heath problems as a child.

Attended Omaha Tech and Creighton University

Played professionally with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Harlem Globetrotters

Played for the Cardinals from 1959-1975

Won 2 Cy Young awards

Was named MVP in 1968

The 1968 SeasonYear of the Pitcher

1.12 ERA modern day record

Pitched 13 shutouts

From June 2 to July 30 he allowed only 2 earned runs in 93 innings 0.20 ERA

Pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings during this period

Struck out 17 batters in the first game of the World Series

Dwight Siebler 1963-1967

• Born in Columbus Nebraska

• Played his career with the Minnesota Twins

• 4-3 71 strikeouts

Rick Hansen 1958-1972

• Born in Oxford, NE 1938

• Played for Baltimore 1958-1962

• Considered one of the best shortstops in the 1960’s

• Suffered from chronic back problems

Stan Bahnsen 1966, 1968-1982

• Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1944

• Attended the University of Nebraska

• Appeared in four games with the New York Yankees in 1966

Bahnsen with the NY Yankees

• Came up fulltime with the Yankees in 1968.

• Was named rookie of the year in 1968

• Was part of a brawl with the Cleveland Indians Vada Pinson

Bahnsen with the White Sox

• Traded to the Chicago White Sox 1972

• Was used in a three starter rotation

• 1972-1974 started 118 games

Bahnsen 1975-1982

Wade Boggs 1982-1999

• Born in Nebraska 1958• Played in the longest

professional baseball game in 1981 33 innings 8 hours 25 minutes

• Boston Red Sox 1982-1992

• 12 All Star appearances 1985-1996

Yankee Years 1993-1997

• Won his only World Series with the Yankees in 1996

• Won 2 Gold Gloves as a

Tampa Bay 1998-1999

• Hit the first Tampa Bay home run.

• Hit his 3,000th hit a home run.

• Contraversy over his retired #12

Tim Burke 1985-1993

• Born in 1959 in Omaha

• Played for the Montreal Expos, NY Mets, NY Yankees

• Retired to be a father to his children

Gregg Olson 1988-2001

• Born in Scribner, Nebraska in 1966

• Pitched for Omaha Northeast

• They won four state titles

• Played college ball at Auburn

• 1989 first relief pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year

• 1990 All-Star 37 saves

• 7/13/1991 combined with 3 pitchers for a no-hitter against Oakland

1994-1997

1998-2001

Alex Gordon 2007-• Born in Lincoln in 1984

• Played his college baseball with the Nebraska Cornhuskers

• Average .268

• 977 hits

• 111 home runs

• 443 runs batted in

Joba Chamberlain 2007-

• Born in Lincoln, in 1985

• Attended the University of Nebraska led them to their first college world series

24-17 Record

3.80 ERA

479 Strikeouts

7 saves