West Virginia may be a relatively small state, but our baseball history is deep, so let’s try and put together an MLB All-Star team made up of in-state natives.
Let’s start behind the plate, with Huntington native Steve Yeager. Better known for his defensive ability, he was the Co-MVP of the 1981 World Series for the Dodgers. Yeager hit two home runs against the Yankees, including the game-winner in Game Five, after hitting only three total homers during the regular season.
I’m putting Charleston’s John Kruk at first base. Kruk’s family moved to New Jersey when he was one year old, but came back a decade later and settled in the Eastern Panhandle. Kruk played ten years in the majors with four different teams, was a three time All-Star known primarily for his bat, but was a fine fielder, too. Kruk only committed 42 total errors in his career and his .994 fielding percentage at first base still ranks amongst the top 40 players all-time at that position.
Second Base is easy, it’s Wheeling’s Bill Mazeroski. We lost Max, the Hall of Famer and eight-time Gold Glover last month. The second baseman with one of the smallest gloves had arguably the biggest hit ever, his World Series Game 7 walk-off home run for the Pirates against the Yankees in 1960.
We will play George Brett at third. Brett was born in Glen Dale and despite moving to California at an early age, we can still claim him in this exercise. Another Hall of Famer, Brett is the only player to win batting titles in three different decades.
Let’s put Sissonville’s Toby Harrah at shortstop. One of nine children, Harrah was a four-time All-Star with more than 2,000 hits in 17 big league seasons. Harrah is part of a major league record that will almost certainly never be broken. Playing for the Rangers in 1977 against the Yankees, Harrah and Bump Wills hit back-to-back, inside-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches.
Let’s go back to the Deadball Era for two of our outfielders and their personalities couldn’t be more different.
We will put Wheeling’s Jesse Burkett in leftfield. Another Hall of Famer, Burkett hit over .400 three times in the 1890’s and had a career .338 batting average. His nickname was “the Crab” and for good reason. Burkett has a short fuse with teammates, opponents, fans and especially umpires. His use of expletives was legendary for his time, he was nearly impossible to quote in the sports pages because of it.
Meanwhile, Charlie “Piano Legs Hickman was nearly the opposite personality wise. We have him in right field on this West Virginia all-native team. Everybody loved “Cheerful Charlie” and why not? In 1902 for Cleveland, he led the American League in hits and total bases and was second in the league in homers and RBI’s the next year. Hickman was actually born in Taylortown, PA, but we will make an exception in this case, because ole’ Piano Legs lived the majority of his life in Morgantown, played baseball at WVU, coached the team in 1913, served three terms as Morgantown’s Mayor and in 1932, was elected sheriff of Monongalia County.
We will put Parkersburg’s Nick Swisher in center field and be happy to go to war with a pitching staff featuring Nitro’s Lew Burdette, the 1957 World Series MVP for Milwaukee and lefty Wilbur Cooper from Bearsville, the Pirates’ all-time leader with 202 victories, including four seasons of 20-plus wins.
I’ll take Morgantown’s Jedd Gyorko as our utility man and Kenova’s Don Robinson out of the bullpen. Robinson was also a threat with the bat. In the era in which pitchers actually hit, Robinson won three Silver Slugger Awards.
If you have any problems with any of the player selections for this team, that’s fine. I’m always up for a good baseball debate. And often times you’ll find one on MetroNews Hotline.