California's Baseball All-Time Dream Team
What would a dream team roster look like for major league players born in California?
Issue #120
This is the 19th article in a series where I am creating all-time dream teams for players born in each of the fifty US states. I’m publishing each write-up on the anniversary date that the particular state joined the union. So far I’ve covered Maryland, Louisiana, Minnesota, South Carolina, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Virginia, Idaho, Wyoming, New York, Colorado, Missouri, and Hawaii.
Next up is California, which is a big one! California became the 31st state admitted to the union on September 9th, 1850 (according to Wikipedia.) Many state dream teams have solid overall rosters and some just have a few Hall of Famers or star players—but California is loaded. And that is not a surprise, since it is the most populous US State, and one with good weather for most of the year, so kids growing up there can play more baseball.
Important caveat to what follows: I’m creating these all-time dream teams based on the birthplace data available at baseball-reference.com. I realize this might mean some players will appear for a state’s all-time dream that seems odd, e.g., a player who was born in one state but lived there only briefly, while then spending most of his youth, or especially critical years playing baseball in high school in another state. So that is an important caveat to the below dream team roster—and I’ll discuss the players that I know went to high school in a state other than California towards the end of this article (and vice-versa, those born elsewhere but who went to high school in California.)
Here is the all-time dream team I came up with for players born in California:
There are Hall-of-Famers everywhere here—almost literally. The one exception is 3B, though Graig Nettles certainly has his HOF proponents, and Nolan Arenado is well on his way given his even stronger combination of power and defense.
The rest of the infield has HOF’ers in Alan Trammell and Joe Cronin at SS, Bobby Doerr at 2B, and Eddie Murray at 1B. Many advocate for Jeff Kent and Keith Hernandez, and of course all 16 of the infielders shown above were star players during their careers.
Behind the plate there are two legit Hall-of-Famers in Gary Carter and Ernie Lombardi, along with 8-year all-star Del Crandall and 3-year all-star Jason Kendall. I also included three that I’m calling “utility” guys in Darrell Evans, Gil McDougald, and Michael Young.
But it is in the OF where this roster’s hitters really step forward. There are Hall-of-Famers in LF with Barry Bonds and Ted Williams, CF with Joe DiMaggio and Duke Snider, and RF with high-average hitters Harry Heilmann and Tony Gwynn. Then the other six are stars too, including current Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.
And even with a roster that is four-deep at each position, there were many others born in California that I considered and deserve at least honorable mention, including: C Bob Boone, 1B/DH Jason Giambi, 1B/C Frank Chance, 1B Adrián González, 1B Dolph Camilli, 1B Derek Lee, 1B/LF Bob Watson, 1B Cecil Fielder, 1B Prince Fielder, 1B Bill Buckner, 1B Eric Karros, 2B Tony Lazzeri, 2B Joe Gordon, 2B Bret Boone, 2B Steve Sax, 3B Stan Hack, 3B Matt Williams, 3B/RF Bob Elliott, 3B Doug DeCinces, 3B Carney Lansford, 3B Tim Wallach, 3B Eric Chávez, 3B Troy Glaus, 3B Justin Turner, 3B Ken Caminiti, SS/2B Marcus Semien, SS Jim Fregosi, SS Troy Tulowitzki, SS Brandon Crawford, SS Larry Bowa, SS Eddie Joost, RF Bobby Bonds, RF Giancarlo Stanton, RF Tim Salmon, RF Harry Hooper, RF Darryl Strawberry, RF Gavvy Cravath, RF Jackie Jensen, RF/CF George Hendrick, RF Jermaine Dye, RF/LF Jeff Burroughs, CF Brett Butler, CF Lenny Dykstra, CF Ray Lankford, CF Willie McGee, CF Dom DiMaggio, CF Adam Jones, LF Roy White, LF/CF Augie Galan, LF Christian Yelich, LF Chick Hafey, LF/RF Bob Meusel, LF Lefty O’Doul, LF/1B Ryan Klesko, LF/3B Kevin Mitchell, LF Garret Anderson, LF Greg Vaughn, OF Dusty Baker, 1B/2B/3B/LF Gregg Jefferies, 2B/3B/OF Bip Roberts, DH/LF/C Brian Downing, 3B/1B Todd Zeile.
Starting lineups for this all-time dream team could look like this:
Against RHP:
Tony Gwynn RF (L)
Joe DiMaggio CF (R)
Ted Williams DH (L)
Barry Bonds LF (L)
Eddie Murray 1B (S) / Mark McGwire 1B (R)
Jeff Kent 2B (R)
Graig Nettles 3B (L)
Gary Carter / Ernie Lombardi C (R)
Alan Trammell SS (R)
Against LHP:
Harry Heilmann RF (R)
Joe DiMaggio CF (R)
Ted Williams DH (L)
Barry Bonds LF (L)
Eddie Murray 1B (S) / Mark McGwire 1B (R)
Jeff Kent 2B (R)
Nolan Arenado 3B (R)
Gary Carter / Ernie Lombardi C (R)
Alan Trammell SS (R)
The only clear platoons are the two high average RF guys who can serve as leadoff hitters in these lineups, and the two great defensive power hitters at 3B. You could platoon DiMaggio and Snider as CF, but I just couldn't see benching DiMaggio very often.
In my view there is not a tremendous difference between the four guys at SS and the four guys at 2B, so I just listed Trammell at SS and Kent at 2B even though you could make a case for any of the eight guys as deserving some playing time.
There are lots of great hitters on this roster, but Williams needs to be the everyday DH really, with the better fielding Bonds playing LF.
The pitching staff is just as loaded as the position players on this roster. I think Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver are the clear top two starters, though you could argue forever on whether they should be 1-2 or 2-1. You could also debate the next three to round out a starting five, but I went with Drysdale, Sabathia, and Lemon.
Some really great pitching careers here, and I added current ace Gerrit Cole as a ninth selection based on his peak performances so far. Many others who were born in California were also considered, and again deserve honorable mention including: Kevin Appier, David Wells, Mark Langston, Larry French, Tom Candiotti, Thornton Lee, Jered Weaver, Larry Dierker, Jim Maloney, Dan Haren, Stephen Strasburg, Mike García, James Shields, Jack McDowell, Ewell Blackwell, Ray Kremer, Dave Stewart, Gary Nolan, Bob Forsch, Ken Forsch, Orval Overall.
The bullpen also doesn’t disappoint, and includes some of the very best relievers to ever play the game. I went with Dennis Eckersley with the top spot, based on his peak performance and interesting overall career which included many years early on as a starter. You could argue for Trevor Hoffman as the best of the great candidates here, so I listed him second, followed by my own childhood favorite, Dan Quisenberry.
Overall I included 11 great relievers on this roster, but there were many more that I considered and that deserve at least honorable mention including: Rick Aguilera, Dave Smith, Doug Jones, Brad Lidge, Brian Fuentes, Eddie Guardado, Mitch Williams, Bobby Jenks, Sergio Romo, Steve Reed, Al Hrabosky, Heath Bell.
What about players who went to High School in California?
As noted at the outset of this article, and as I’ve done for my other US State dream team write-ups, what if you change the criteria from players who were born in the state of California to players who grew up—which we’ll define as going to high school—in the state of California? Afterall, some people were born in the state but then moved early in life and are more associated by fans as being from another state. And vice-versa, many great players were born in Illinois, Arkansas, or elsewhere, but went to high school in California, so folks from the Golden State understandably consider them their own.
Interestingly, all of the great players on the above roster went to high school in California. There were a few of the honorable mentions who went to high school in other states, such as the following:
3B Matt Williams – Nevada
RF Tim Salmon – Arizona
CF Brett Butler – Illinois
2B Joe Gordon – Oregon
1B Prince Fielder – Florida
RP Doug Jones – Indiana
RP Brad Lidge – Colorado
RP Mitch Williams – Oregon
RP Bobby Jenks – Washington
But since I didn’t include any of them on the dream team roster, we aren’t losing anyone if the criteria is shifted in this way. However, there are plenty of good and great players who were born in other states or countries, but went to high school in California—enough to make another pretty solid all-time dream team in their own right in fact! Check out this list:
C Lance Parrish - Pennsylvania
1B Mark Grace - North Carolina
2B Joe Morgan - Texas
2B Jackie Robinson - Georgia
2B Bobby Grich - Michigan
3B George Brett - West Virginia
3B Eddie Mathews - Texas
SS Ozzie Smith - Alabama
SS/CF Robin Yount - Illinois
SS Arky Vaughan - Arkansas
SS Vern Stephens - New Mexico
RF Johnny Callison - Oklahoma
RF/CF Reggie Smith - Louisiana
RF Shawn Green - Illinois
RF/1B Jack Clark - Pennsylvania
RF Babe Herman - New York
CF Fred Lynn - Illinois
CF Paul Blair - Oklahoma
CF Wally Berger - Illinois
CF/LF Brady Anderson - Maryland
CF Chet Lemon - Mississippi
CF Lloyd Moseby - Arkansas
CF Garry Maddox - Ohio
CF Rick Monday - Arkansas
CF Willie Davis - Arkansas
LF Rickey Henderson - Illinois
LF/1B Willie Stargell - Oklahoma
LF Ralph Kiner - New Mexico
LF George Foster - Alabama
LF Pat Burrell - Arkansas
OF/DH Chili Davis - Jamaica
SP Walter Johnson - Kansas
SP Bert Blyleven - Netherlands
SP Barry Zito - Nevada
SP Dutch Leonard - Ohio
SP Bret Saberhagen - Illinois
SP Andy Messersmith - New Jersey
RP Rollie Fingers - Ohio
RP Terry Forster - South Dakota
What the heck? With other states at this point I have just indicated where I might make some swaps to the dream team roster, but in this case there are so many changes I’d make, I figured I should provide a completely updated depth chart:
What was already a star-studded state dream team is now even stronger. I didn’t make any changes at three positions: C, 1B, and RF. At 2B the selections were dramatically changed with Joe Morgan, Jackie Robinson, and Bobby Grich getting the top three spots, and only Jeff Kent remaining from before. At SS I like the defense of Ozzie Smith and the all-around play of Arky Vaughan at the top, with Trammell and Cronin still on the roster. Robin Yount also needed to be included, but rather than take a spot at SS or CF, I listed him as an extra utility guy on this roster.
3B was already strong but was upgraded further with elite Hall of Famers George Brett and Eddie Mathews now at the top, and Nettles and Arenado sliding down the list. As I noted RF didn’t change, though some might advocate for Reggie Smith over Dwight Evans or Aaron Judge’s short career so far. In CF I still like DiMaggio and Snider as the top two of course, and even Jim Edmonds next, but now I prefer Fred Lynn over Eric Davis for the fourth spot.
LF is just insanely good, with not only Barry Bonds and Ted Williams but now Rickey Henderson too? They are perhaps the top three all-around left fielders of all time! And then Willie Stargell split his time pretty evenly between LF and 1B, but I included him here as I didn’t want to drop any of the 1B already included. This leaves off the powerful Ralph Kiner and all of his NL homerun titles—but his career was just too short to make it on to such a powerful dream team as this one.
On the pitching side, as great as Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver were, any debate about who the ace should evaporates now since Walter Johnson clearly deserves the nod when the criteria shifts to players who went to high school in California. I also needed to included Netherlands-native Bert Blyleven here, so I slotted him in the fourth spot, which means Don Drysdale rounds out the starting five. I didn’t want to drop Stieb, Hamels, or Cole, so the SP list simply grew by two.
The bullpen also expanded, this time to a tidy dozen, as clearly Rollie Fingers needs to be included. You could argue whether he should be in slot 1, 2, or 3 along with Eckersley and Hoffman, but I listed him at the top.
All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites. The state map, flag, flower, and bird images are from Wikipedia.
Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.
