Illinois' Baseball All-Time Dream Team

What would a dream team roster look like for major league players born in Illinois?

Issue #140

This is the 26th 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, Hawaii, California, Nevada, North and South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oklahoma, and North Carolina.

Next up is Illinois, which became the 21st state to join the union on December 3, 1818 (according to Wikipedia.)

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 Illinois towards the end of this article (and vice-versa, those born elsewhere but who went to high school in Illinois.)

Here is the all-time dream team I came up with for players born in Illinois:

Illinois is not a state with near year-round warmth—allowing for baseball for longer periods of time—like Florida, Texas, California, and others. But it is the sixth most populous state, so you’d expect the all-time dream team of players born there to be pretty solid. For the most part, the above roster is just that, with no less than 13 Hall of Famers and many other stars littered around the roster.

The positions with the most depth are 1B, SS, and CF. At 1B we have two Hall of Famers named Jim, in Thome and Bottomley. There is also four-time All-Star and 1954 NL HR champion Ted Kluszewski, plus four-time All-Star and 1945 NL batting champion Phil Cavarretta. The latter saw action for 22 years in the majors, all in Chicago: 20 years with the Cubs, the last two with the White Sox. I also included Wally Pipp, who twice led the AL in HR during the dead ball era, had eight seasons with 10+ triples, and was the Yankees 1B just prior to Lou Gehrig taking over the spot.

I included five at SS as well, starting with two Hall of Famers in two-time MVP Robin Yount (who split his career between SS and CF) and eight-time All-Star and 1948 AL MVP Lou Boudreau. Art Fletcher was a deadball era star for the New York Giants and led the NL in HBP five times. Herman Long was a 19th-century star, mostly for the National League’s Boston franchise, and scored 100+ runs seven times while stealing 537 bases. And Dick Bartell played for five different teams over 18 major league seasons, scoring 100+ runs three times and getting down-ballot MVP consideration in six seasons.

Two truly outstanding CF were born in Illinois: Hall of Famer and ten-time All- Star Kirby Puckett, and nine-time All-Star and 1975 AL ROY and MVP Fred Lynn. Curtis Granderson played mostly in CF during his career, but less strong candidates in RF led me to list him there instead, along with Shawn Green and Jesse Barfield (how you rank those three could certainly be debated). The best player on this entire roster in my view is all-time stolen base king Rickey Henderson, so he is of course the starter in LF, with CF/LF Wally Berger another quality hitter in this roster’s OF mix.

There were also Hall of Famers at 2B, 3B, and C, though you could argue whether they should be listed as the starter in each case. Red Schoendienst was a ten-time All-Star over a 19-year career. He led the NL with 26 SB in his 1945 rookie season, but then never stole more than 12 in a year again. He led the NL in doubles once and hits once, but retired with a 94 OPS+. Larry Doyle played mostly for the Giants during the deadball era, and led the NL in hits twice, doubles once, and triples with 25 in 1911, one of seven seasons in which he hit 10+ triples. He had 298 career SB and a 125 OPS+, so its a close call as to who should be listed as the top 2B on this roster.

Similarly at 3B, Freddie Lindstrom played from 1924-1936, mostly again for the New York Giants. He had a few good seasons, such as 1930 when he hit .379, and in 1928 when he hit .358 and led the NL with 231 hits. But he is widely considered one of the weakest Hall of Fame members, e.g., he only played 105+ games seven times, had a 110 OPS+, and had 99 CS vs. only 84 SB. The other candidate at 3B is Gary Gaetti, who was a key member of the Twins in the 1980s, winning four Gold Glove Awards, hitting 360 career HR, and winning ALCS MVP honors in 1987 before helping Minnesota win the World Series.

Behind the plate there are two defensive-first catchers in Hall of Famer Ray Schalk (1912-29, almost all with the Chicago White Sox) and three-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove Award winner Jim Sundberg (1974-89). This lineup doesn’t really need more offense, but I included a third catcher in three-time All-Star Tom Haller, as he had 10+ HR seven times (including a high of 27 in 1966) and had a 114 OPS+ over his career.

Starting lineups for this all-time dream team could look like this:

Against RHP:

1. Rickey Henderson (R) LF

2. Robin Yount (R) SS

3. Kirby Puckett (R) / Fred Lynn (L) CF

4. Jim Thome (L) DH

5. Ted Kluszewski / Jim Bottomley (L) 1B

6. Curtis Granderson / Shawn Green (L) RF

7. Gary Gaetti / Freddie Lindstrom (R) 3B

8. Larry Doyle (L) 2B

9. Jim Sundberg (R) / Ray Schalk (R) / Tom Haller (L) C

Against LHP:

1. Rickey Henderson (R) LF

2. Robin Yount (R) SS

3. Kirby Puckett (R) CF

4. Wally Berger (R) DH

5. Jesse Barfield (R) RF

6. Jim Thome / Ted Kluszewski / Jim Bottomley (L) 1B

7. Gary Gaetti / Freddie Lindstrom (R) 3B

8. Red Schoendienst (S) 2B

9. Jim Sundberg (R) / Ray Schalk (R)

Henderson is arguably the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time, and Robin Yount is an outstanding two-hole hitter for these lineups (though Lou Boudreau would deserve some games at SS at times too.) I’d bat Kirby Puckett third and play him most of the time as the CF, with left-handed hitting Fred Lynn facing some RHP.

I’d use a mix of Thome, Bottomley, Kluszewski, and Berger as the 1B and DH spots, especially as Thome had extreme splits with only a .238/.340/.427 slash line against lefties. In RF we have Granderson and Green splitting time against RHP and Barfield playing against LHP. Doyle and Schoendienst could platoon at 2B, Gaetti and Lindstrom would share 3B duties, and Sundberg, Schalk, and Haller would do the same behind the plate.

As for the pitching staff, Hall of Famer Robin Roberts is a solid ace. He was a workhorse early in his career when he was selected as an All-Star seven times, led the NL in wins four times, IP five times, complete games five times, and games started six times.

After Roberts we have two more Hall of Famers, both of whom had some of their best seasons for teams in New York City. Joe McGinnity led his league in wins five times, including three times for the Giants with records of 31-20 in 1903, 35-8 in 1904, and 27-12 in 1906. Charles “Red” Ruffing struggled early in his career with the Red Sox but then became an All-Star with the Yankees in the 1930s and into the early 1940s. From 1935-39 he posted a 98-44 (.690) record, with a 3.26 ERA and 136 ERA+.

After those three you could argue how to rank the other starting pitchers I included on this dream team roster:

• Bret Saberhagen (1984-2001) was a three-time All-Star and won the AL Cy Young Award in both 1985 and 1989.

• Rick Reuschel (1972-1991) was a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove Award winner.

• Denny McLain (1963-1972) was a three-time All-Star and won back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards in the pitching dominant 1968/1969 seasons. He is the last pitcher to win 30 or more games with his 31-6 record in 1968, but a combination of issues with gambling, suspensions, and arm trouble led him to not pitch in the majors past the age of 28.

• Al Spaulding (1871-78) was a Hall of Famer as an early pioneer of the game, having led his league in wins six times during a time when the best pitchers would hurl 400-600+ IP per season. His short career ended with a 251-65 (.794) mark and 2.13 ERA, which amounts to a 132 ERA+.

• Jack Powell (1897-1912) pitched for four different major league teams, winning 20+ games four times.

• Dutch Leonard (1933-1953) also pitched for four teams, and was an All-Star five times.

The bullpen is led by Jason Isringhausen (1995-2012) who retired with exactly 300 major league saves, including leading the NL with 47 in 2004 and posting 30+ saves in seven seasons overall. I included eight others to fill out this dream team’s bullpen, but how you rank them could be debated.

What about players who went to High School in Illinois?

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 Illinois to players who grew up—which we’ll define as going to high school—in the state of Illinois?

First off, some of the players on the roster above were born in Illinois but went to high school elsewhere, including:

• LF/CF Rickey Henderson – California

• SS/CF Robin Yount – California

• CF Fred Lynn – California

• CF/LF Wally Berger – California

• SS Dick Bartell – California

• LF Lonnie Smith – California

• RF Shawn Green – California

• SP Bret Saberhagen – California

• RP John Wyatt – New York

That is a lot of Illinois natives who moved to California! If we eliminate those players from the above roster, we definitely lose some key hitters. The OF in particular is impacted with the only LF remaining being slugger Greg Luzinski.

However, there are also some interesting players who were born elsewhere, but went to high school in the state of Illinois and would deserve consideration for such a dream team:

• 3B Bill Madlock – Tennessee

• CF Brett Butler – California

• 1B/LF/DH Dave Kingman – Oregon

• C Todd Hundley – Virginia

Brett Butler’s speed and Dave Kingman’s power obviously don’t make up for the OF losses of Henderson, Yount, Lynn, Berger, Smith, and Green. But three-time All-Star Bill Madlock and his four batting titles would enter the mix with Gaetti and Lindstrom at 3B, and Todd Hundley provides some power at catcher having hit 20+ HR four times, including 41 in 1996.

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.

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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.