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kepdawg
05-20-2005, 12:02 PM
Baseball's best native Texans

08:53 AM CDT on Friday, May 20, 2005

By BEN SHPIGEL / The Dallas Morning News

From Beaumont to Buda, from San Antonio to Seguin, they rank as the greatest native Texans in pro baseball. As the Astros and Rangers renew their Silver Boot series this weekend, staff writer Ben Shpigel looks at the best.

Arizona Diamondbacks
P Greg Swindell (Fort Worth): The UT grad's best of four seasons with Arizona came in 1999, when he went 4-0 and posted a 2.51 ERA in 63 relief appearances.

Atlanta Braves
SP Greg Maddux (San Angelo): With four Cy Young Awards and ERA titles, it's easy to forget how well Maddux fields his position. He won 14 Gold Gloves.

Baltimore Orioles
OF Frank Robinson (Beaumont): In 1966, his first season in Baltimore, he won the Triple Crown with a .316 average, 122 RBIs and 49 HRs, took the AL MVP award and then was the World Series MVP.

Boston Red Sox
SP Tex Hughson (Buda): Led AL in wins (22) and complete games (22) in 1942 and holds the record among native Texans in win-loss percentage (.640).

Chicago Cubs
SS Ernie Banks (Dallas): He hit more HRs between 1955 and 1960 (248) than any other player. He's an 11-time All-Star, a two-time MVP and one of the nicest guys to play the game.

Chicago White Sox
OF Bibb Falk (Austin): Batted .314 in 12-year career but is better known for coaching UT to 20 league titles and two national titles, and he's the Falk in Disch-Falk Field.

Cincinnati Reds
2B Joe Morgan (Bonham): The best 2B of his generation, Morgan was the NL MVP in 1975 and 1976, averaging 22 HRs and 103 RBIs for the "Big Red Machine."

Cleveland Indians
OF Tris Speaker (Hubbard): Holds all-time marks in doubles (792) and outfield assists (449) to stake his claim as the most complete player of his time (1907-28).

Colorado Rockies
SP Jason Jennings (Dallas): Mesquite Poteet grad proved it's possible to pitch at Coors Field, going 16-8 with a respectable 4.52 ERA to win the 2002 NL Rookie of the Year award.

Detroit Tigers
1B Norm Cash (Justiceburg): Corked bats helped him win 1961 batting title, but Cash still bopped 377 homers and knocked in 1,103 runs.

Florida Marlins
SP Josh Beckett (Spring): Followed up so-so regular season by pitching a five-hit shutout in Game 6 to clinch the '03 World Series and was named Series MVP (1.10 ERA, 19 K's).

Houston Astros
OF Lance Berkman (Waco): Starred in high school (New Braunfels Canyon) and college (Rice) in Texas. He's the franchise leader in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

Kansas City Royals
SS Freddie Patek (Seguin): Three-time All-Star turned his diminutive stature — 5-5, 150 pounds — into a speedy advantage, leading the AL in triples in '71 and stolen bases in '77.

Los Angeles Angels
OF Don Baylor (Austin): Posted career-best marks in homers, RBIs, hits, runs and doubles in AL MVP season of 1979.

Los Angeles Dodgers
SP Burt Hooton (Greenville): Rode his knee-buckling knuckle curve to 112 of his 151 wins with the Dodgers. Was 4-1 in the 1981 playoffs, beating the Yanks in Game 6 to clinch the World Series.

Milwaukee Brewers
1B Cecil Cooper (Brenham): One of the more underrated hitters of the '70s and '80s, he batted above .300 in first seven seasons but could never get the AL batting title.

Minnesota Twins
2B Chuck Knoblauch (Houston): An adept opposite-field hitter and base stealer, Knoblauch was selected AL Rookie of the Year in 1991, when the Twins won the World Series.

New York Mets
C Jerry Grote (San Antonio): Two-time All-Star was a tremendous defensive catcher who handled the Miracle Mets' staff in that magical 1969 season.

New York Yankees
SS Randy Velarde (Midland): Batted .261 in 10 seasons in The Bronx and preceded Derek Jeter as the Bombers' starting shortstop.

Oakland Athletics
SP Storm Davis (Dallas): Revived career in Oakland, going 36-15 in three seasons, including 19-7 for the 1989 world champions.

Philadelphia Phillies
3B Pinky Whitney (San Antonio): One of four Phillies in 1929 to have 200 hits, setting a National League record. He drove in 100 runs in four of his first five seasons.

Pittsburgh Pirates
SP Doug Drabek (Victoria): 1990 NL Cy Young Award winner won 92 games in six seasons and led Pirates to three consecutive division titles in early 1990s.

San Diego Padres
SS Garry Templeton (Lockney): Though he never quite duplicated his success in St. Louis, Templeton compiled 1,135 hits during nine-plus seasons in San Diego.

San Francisco Giants
RP Greg Minton (Lubbock): "Moon Man" finished sixth in Cy Young Award voting in 1982, when he went 10-4 with 30 saves. His 150 saves rank first among Texas natives.

Seattle Mariners
OF Ruppert Jones (Dallas): The first player selected in the 1976 expansion draft, Jones made the Mariners look good, hitting 24 homers and knocking in 76 runs in 1977.

St. Louis Cardinals
2B Rogers Hornsby (Winters): Cared for his eyes by refraining from reading or watching movies. The result is a .359 lifetime average, second only to Ty Cobb's .367.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays
OF Carl Crawford (Houston): Franchise leader in triples and stolen bases has evolved into one of baseball's most exciting young players.

Texas Rangers
SP Nolan Ryan (Refugio): The all-time strikeout leader pitched four no-hitters with the Angels but went into the Hall of Fame as a Ranger. That's good enough for us.

Toronto Blue Jays
1B Willie Upshaw (Blanco): Tough choosing between Upshaw and Houston native Kelly Gruber, but Upshaw was better defensively and had more RBIs, runs and hits.

Washington Nationals
3B Shane Andrews (Dallas): Hit a career-high 25 HRs for the Montreal Expos in 1998 before back problems – and high strikeout totals – ended his career four years later.

NEGRO LEAGUERS

SP Bill Foster (Calvert): Won both ends of a pennant-clinching doubleheader for Chicago in 1926.

SP Rube Foster (Calvert): Won 44 consecutive games for Cuban Giants in 1902.

SP Hilton Smith (Giddings): Went 93-11 from 1939 to 1942 for KC Monarchs.

SS Willie Wells (Austin): Set single-season HR record (27) in 88 games for St. Louis in 1926.

SP Joe Williams (Seguin): While pitching for Homestead Grays in 1930, at age 44, struck out 27 in 1-0, 12-inning win.

To qualify, the player must have played for a franchise in its current location (except the first-year Washington Nationals – we cut them a break). That's why Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews (Texarkana) and Ross Youngs (Shiner) didn't crack the list.

Mathews played most of his career with the Milwaukee Braves and only one season in Atlanta. Youngs surely would have replaced Greg Minton had he played with the San Francisco, not New York, Giants.

One more thing: Wondering why we left off Roger Clemens ? Simple. He was born in Dayton, Ohio. His family moved to Houston in 1977.

onfirebball05mustang
05-20-2005, 12:09 PM
NIIICE I'm proud to be a Texan and boy howdy to I love my Texan players! :D Clemens got here as fast as he could-gotta love that!

VWG
05-20-2005, 05:29 PM
Nolan Ryan from Refugio????

j_dog
05-20-2005, 06:34 PM
Originally posted by VWG
Nolan Ryan from Refugio????
Kep, he got you there! Nolan Ryan is from Alvin. :) I first heard on him when Jasper's Phil Hennigan beat him 1-0 back in 1963 in a playoff game. Ryan was throwing flames back then and never stopped. That was the only time Hennigan topped Ryan though. Phil went on to pitch 5 years in relief for the Cleveland Indians. Most everyone knows what Nolan Ryan did.

If we were to add a second tier of Texans in MLB Jasper's Max Alvis would have to be on that list. He played some 12 or so years for the Cleveland Indians. He has been recognized as being perhaps the best third baseman the Indians ever had. He probably would have received more national attention if he had not had the bad timing to play third at the same time Brooks Robinson was collecting all his Golden Glove awards.

Another side note, Max's grandson was Jasper's lead pitcher on this year's District champion team and he has one more year of eligibilty. At bat he has that famous Alvis swing.

robbo93
05-20-2005, 06:38 PM
Nolan Ryan was born in Refugio

j_dog
05-20-2005, 06:40 PM
Originally posted by robbo93
Nolan Ryan was born in Refugio
Very interesting. I guess that is what they mean by "native", not where they played their high school ball. Good point.