Rhode Island's Baseball All-Time Dream Team
What would a dream team roster look like for major league players born in Rhode Island?
Issue #90
This is the fifth article in a new series I’ve started where I’m creating all-time dream teams for players born in each of the fifty US states. I’ll be publishing each write-up on the anniversary date that the particular state joined the union. So far I’ve done Maryland, Louisiana, Minnesota, and South Carolina. Next up are two in one day, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. I am publishing this Rhode Island article first, since they were one of the original 13 colonies—though the last to join the union, which occurred on May 29, 1790 (according to Wikipedia.)
[Note: 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 Rhode Island:
Like the other US State dream teams I’ve created so far, this one has a few Hall of Famers and other stars, but also some positions that are relatively lacking. The headliner is clearly Nap Lajoie, one baseball’s all-time greatest players. The two other Hall-of-Famers are old-timer Hugh Duffy and catcher Gabby Hartnett.
The left-side of the infield is particularly weak. Two old-timers in Joe Mulvey (85 OPS+ from 1883-1895) and Fred Corey (93 OPS+ from 1878-1885) were the best I could find at the hot corner. And I included four guys who played SS, including the versatile Bill Almon and Charley Bassett, but also Jimmy Cooney (1890-92) and his son Jimmy Cooney (1917-1928). The elder Cooney’s other son, Johnny Cooney, also makes this dream team roster as an extra CF after playing parts of 20 seasons from 1921-30 and 1935-44 (and as you can see, the pitching is pretty thin, so Johnny Cooney and Fred Corey are listed there as well since they both pitched a bit early in their careers.)
Starting lineups for this all-time dream team could look like this:
Against RHP:
Davey Lopes DH (R)
Hugh Duffy RF (R)
Nap Lajoie 2B (R)
Paul Konerko 1B (R)
Gabby Hartnett C (R)
Joe Connolly LF (L)
Rocco Baldelli CF (R)
Joe Mulvey 3B (R)
Jimmy Cooney Jr. SS (R) / Jimmy Cooney Sr. SS (S)
Against LHP:
Davey Lopes DH (R)
Hugh Duffy RF (R)
Nap Lajoie 2B (R)
Paul Konerko 1B (R)
Gabby Hartnett C (R)
Rocco Baldelli CF (R)
Joe Connolly LF (L)
Joe Mulvey 3B (R)
Bill Almon SS (R) - hit LHP better
I’ve listed Davey Lopes as the DH though you could of course play him at 2B and have Lajoie as the DH. Only a .263 hitter, Lopes had a .349 OBP but most importantly provides a lot of speed at the top of these lineups. He led the NL with 77 SB in 1975 and 63 in 1976, swiping a total of 557 bases over his career (and he was efficient too, with an 83% success rate.)
You could swap the order of Duffy and Lajoie in the 2-3 spots if you like, as they were both early RBI guys. Duffy hit .326 with a 123 OPS+ and eight seasons with 100+ RBI. Lajoie is arguably one of the top 25 players of all-time, with a .338 average and 150 OPS+. He led his league in batting average five times, doubles five times, hits four times, RBI three times, and WAR six times. In 1901, his first year after leaving the NL for the new AL, he paced the junior circuit in just about everything, including 145 runs, 232 hits, 48 doubles, 14 HR, 125 RBI, .426 BA, .463 OBP, and .643 SLG, all while striking out only 9 times in 582 PA.
While these lineups have some talent to be sure, the only real HR threat comes from six-time All-Star Paul Konerko, who slugged 30+ homers seven times, with highs of 41 in 2004 and 40 in 2005. He mostly played 1B, but also was a DH in over 300 games in his career—so since Lajoie also played some 1B, that would be another way to get Lopes onto the field at 2B.
These lineups are noticeably lopsided, with LF Joe Connolly being the only pure left-handed hitter. While he posted a 137 OPS+ for his career, he played only four seasons, all for the Boston Braves from 1913-16. Because of this lack of lefties I didn’t see many platoon options, though utility man Bill Almon hit lefties better than righties, so he could play SS vs. LHP while the father-and-son Cooney tandem could split time at SS against RHP.
As for the pitchers, there simply were not many good candidates. Andy Coakley (1902-11) is the nominal ace of the staff, as he posted a 2.35 ERA and 112 ERA+, but with only three seasons of 10+ wins. Old-timer Tom Lovett pitched a little in 1885, then had his only three full seasons from 1889-1891. Over six seasons his career record was a respectable 88-59 (.599), but his 3.94 ERA translated to a below league average 93 ERA+. Frank Corridon pitched from 1904-1910, and similarly had a 94 ERA+ (though with a much lower raw 2.80 ERA). And Max Surkont's 61-76 record, 4.38 ERA, and 89 ERA+ over nine seasons from 1949-57 is even less impressive.
So you can see why I listed Cooney (Johnny, not Jimmy or Jimmy) and Corey as extra pitchers here. Actually you could make a case that Cooney should be higher on the list, as he had a 3.73 ERA and 106 ERA+ over 159 games (75 starts.)
Leading the bullpen on this dream team is Clem Labine, a key member of the 1950s Dodgers. He pitched 100+ IP from 1953-58, and was an All-Star in both 1956 and 1957. More recent relievers of note are Dan Wheeler, who had a 13-year career from 1999-2012, pitching for five teams and posting a 110 ERA+; and Ken Ryan who split his time between the Red Sox and Phillies, posting a 118 ERA+ with his best year coming in 1994 when he collected 13 saves with a 2.44 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.
