Maryland's Baseball All-Time Dream Team
What would a dream team roster look like for major league players born in Maryland?
Issue #82
This is the first in a new series I’m starting up that will create all-time dream teams for players born in each of the fifty US states. I’ll be publishing each article on the anniversary date that each state joined the union. For Maryland, that was April 28th, in 1788. Maryland was of course one of the original thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution. According to Wikipedia, Maryland also became the seventh state admitted to the Union after ratifying the new federal Constitution in 1788.
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 I’m giving that caveat to this 50-article project at the outset.
Here is the all-time dream team I came up with for players born in Maryland… and it sure is loaded with star names!
The headliners here are the elite Hall of Famers like Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Cal Ripken, Al Kaline, and Lefty Grove. There is a lot of depth in RF, so I listed Ruth as the starting LF instead—while also including him fifth in the pitching rotation. That allows Al Kaline a starting spot, as he is clearly a stronger candidate here than Charlie Keller, who becomes the backup LF.
Middle infield was pretty light after Ripken, though Cupid Childs was a star from the 19th century, scoring 100+ runs seven times, hitting .306 with a .415 OBP and 120 OPS+. His full name was Clarence Lemuel Childs, with the nickname Cupid apparently arising from his somewhat pudgy, cherub-like appearance. (And Lemuel? That is a new one for me.)
The weakest spot on this roster has to be catcher, where we have a second “Babe” as the leading candidate. Ernest Gordon “Babe” Phelps played from 1931-1942, mostly for Brooklyn. He only played 100+ games in a season three times, but was an All-Star each year from 1938-1940, and retired with a .310/.362/.472 slash line and 125 OPS+. He only caught 593 games in his career, as he was also used as a pinch-hitter 193 times. Bill Schroeder was a catcher for the Brewers and Angels in the 1980s, and while he twice managed HR in a season, he was a .240 hitter and never played more than 75 games a year. I also listed at catcher the great Jimmie Foxx, who caught in 109 games in his career, and not only when he was young as he donned the tools of ignorance 42 times in 1940, his age-32 season.
Some fans might not be familiar with the name Judy Johnson, a Hall of Famer from the Negro Leagues (1923-1936). He played mostly 3B, led his league in hits twice, and based on the statistics we have available had a career slashline of .304/.350/.419 in 2,884 known plate appearances.
Starting lineups for this all-time dream team could look like this:
Against RHP:
Brady Anderson CF (L)
Al Kaline RF (R)
Babe Ruth LF (L)
Jimmie Foxx 1B (R)
Home Run Baker 3B (L)
Harold Baines / Bill Nicholson / Charlie Keller DH (L)
Cal Ripken SS (R)
Babe Phelps C (L)
Cupid Childs 2B (L)
Against LHP:
Judy Johnson / Billy Werber 3B (R)
Al Kaline RF (R)
Babe Ruth LF (L)
Jimmie Foxx 1B (R)
Mark Teixeira DH (S)
Cal Ripken SS (R)
Bryan Reynolds CF (S)
Bill Schroeder C (R)
Buck Herzog 2B (R) / Ray Morgan 2B (R)
There were a few platoon options for these lineups. In CF Brady Anderson was most often a leadoff hitting when he played, so I used him in that role here, with Bryan Reynolds playing against LHP since Anderson didn’t hit them well at all.
There are some powerful hitters who come next in Al Kaline, Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Cal Ripken, and a guy whose nickname was literally “Home Run.” You could play Baker against RHP and LHP, but I needed a sensible leadoff solution against LHP (unlike Anderson, Reynolds almost never bats first), and either 3B Judy Johnson or Billy Werber would make sense. As noted, Johnson batted over .300 in his career in the Negro Leagues, and Werber often led off, led the AL in steals three times, and scored 100+ runs three times.
In addition to the middle-of-the-order sluggers I mentioned, there is also the DH spot to fill. Mark Teixeira was a switch hitter, but hit a little better against lefties, so I slotted him there. Against RHP you can take your pick between three lefty batters in Baines, Keller, and Nicholson.
The two catchers, Phelps and Schroeder, form a natural L/R platoon. And at 2B, Cupid Childs hit left-handed, so if we assume (since we don’t have the data) that he didn’t hit LHP as well as RHP, then you can get either Herzog or Morgan into some games against southpaws.
As for pitchers, the great Lefty Grove is clearly the ace of the staff. Vic Willis is also a Hall of Famer so is a solid second here. He played from 1898-1910, accumulating a 249-205 career record with 20+ wins in eight seasons, and a 2.63 ERA and 117 ERA+.
Bobby Mathews was an old-timer who played from 1871-1887, back when the game was very different, e.g., he frequently pitched 400+ IP in a season, including a high of 625.2 in 1875. Eddie Rommel was a mixed starter/reliever for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1920-1932, but he did enough early in his career, including leading the AL in wins twice, to earn the fourth spot here.
As I noted above, I included Babe Ruth as the fifth starting pitcher given his excellent numbers on the mound early in his career. But he wasn’t the only two-way player to make this roster, as you might have noticed that old-timer Dave Foutz is listed at RF, 1B, and as a starting pitcher. Foutz played from 1884-1896, had 100+ runs twice and 100+ RBI twice, and also stole 35+ bases five times. He started his career primarily as a pitcher, but even then was a two-way player who would play in the field some as well. He went 33-14 in 1885 for the St. Louis Browns, but then did even better the following year leading the American Association in ERA with a 2.11 mark and wins with a 41-16 record. Unfortunately in 1887 he broke his thumb on his pitching hand, making him far less effective as a pitcher. He was acquired by Brooklyn after the season ended, and played for them for the rest of his career, occasionally pitching, but mostly playing 1B.
The other three starters I included each have a highlight worth mentioning:
Denny Neagle was a two-time All-Star, including in 1997 when he led the NL in wins with a 20-5 record.
Steve Barber was similarly a two-time All-Star, including one 20-win season in 1963 for the Orioles.
Tommy Thomas pitched from 1926-1937 and had a few good seasons for the White Sox early in his career. And no his parents didn’t name him that—Tommy was his just a nickname, as his first name was actually Alphonse.
A few other starting pitchers perhaps deserve honorable mention, including Geoff Zahn, Moose Haas, Gavin Floyd, Dave Boswell, and Mike Bielecki. And the young ace of the Tampa Bay Rays, Shane McClanahan, was born in Maryland too (though he went to high school in Florida.)
The bullpen for this dream team is headlined by current Padres closer Josh Hader. Steve Farr pitched in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and had 20+ saves four times for the Royals and Yankees. And then Jeff Nelson was never a closer but pitched in 798 games from 1992-2006, mostly for the Mariners and Yankees. A sidearm specialist with a good slider, he was tough against right-handed batters in particular, holding them to a .203 average over his career. Pitching in a high-offense era, his 3.41 career ERA translated into a solid 133 ERA+.
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.
