Last summer when I was at the Hall of Fame, I met a ton of amazing people. Interns and fans alike, I met folks from California, New York, Florida, even Australia - fans of all different teams, leagues and just the game alike. One of the more intangible things I learned from last summer was how proud I was to say I was from Michigan. One of guys in my department was from Maryland and did an Maryland All-State team, and I did the same from Michigan. I went through the archives and through Baseball Reference to field the best roster of Michiganders.
Michigan has had a good number of players reach the Major Leagues. Nowhere near as many as California (wonder why), but 424 Mittens have played professional baseball (according to BBR). The Midwest states churn out a surprising number of players; New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois have all produced more than 1,000 Major Leaguers, which I found to be surprising, they were all more than Florida or Texas. Crazy right? Anyway, let's get to seeing the All-Time Michigan Starting 9.
Catcher: 2004 Jason Varitek (Captain, World Series winner, .296/.390/.482, 18 home runs, 73 RBI)
Varitek, a Rochester native, was never an offensive force to be reckoned with, but was a defensive machine and a leader. One of only three players in the last twenty years or so to be named officially "captain," Varitek played his entire career with Boston, winning 2 titles in 2004 and 2007. He was a career .256 hitter, respectable for catching, was selected to 3 All-Star teams, and won a Golden Glove in 2005. He also holds the record for most no-hitters caught, showing how well he can handle a pitching staff - which is pretty great as you'll see soon.
First Base: 1969 Jim Northrup (.295/.358/.506, 25 home runs, 66 RBI, 31 doubles)
Northrup was a hometown boy nearly his whole career. Born in Breckenridge and an Alma Scot, he played for the Tigers from 1964 to 1974 and then went on to play for Montreal and Baltimore. Northrup, a member of the 1968 Tigers title team, was a career .267 hitter but always was a good batter (note the difference between hitting and batting), with a .333 career OBP. He kept his strikeouts low and walked frequently, making him a good middle of the lineup hitter.
Second Base: 1937 Charlie Gehringer (Hall of Fame, MVP, .371/.458/.520, 40 doubles, 209 hits, 90 walks, 133 runs)
Really no arguing with this one. Gehringer was born in Fowlerville and attended U of M and played for the Tigers his whole career, from 1924 to 1942, winning a World Series in 1935. Gehringer was a career .320 hitter with an MVP award and 6 All-Star selections (would likely have had more if the All-Star Game had began earlier than 1920). Gehringer only struck out 372 times in his whole career, and compared to 1,186 walks (career OBP of .404), this makes him a perfect 2-hitter.
Shortstop: 1992 Mike Bordick (.300/.358/.371, .987 fielding %)
Bordick was born in the snow all the way up in Marquette in the UP. He played for a number of teams in his career, beginning the A's and bouncing around to Baltimore, New York Mets, and Toronto. What made him famous was that he was the man who took Cal Ripken, Jr.'s place after the Ironman ended his consecutive games streak. What made him even more impressive is that Bordick set the record for shortstop fielding percentage in a single season in 2002 with a .998%. With one All-Star selection, Bordick will supply excellent defense up the middle.
Third Base: 1991 Chris Sabo (.301/.354/.505, 26 home runs, 88 RBI, 175 hits, All-Star)
Sabo, like Gehringer, is a University of Michigan product and continued to play in the Majors for 9 years for the Reds, Orioles, White Sox, and Cardinals. Sabo won the Rookie of the Year in 1988 and had high expectations on his shoulders for the rest of his career. He couldn't quite deliver on those promises past 3 All-Star selections, but for our purpose, Chris Sabo in his hey-day will be an excellent slugging third basemen and three-hitter.
Left field: 1988 Kirk Gibson (MVP, World Series, .290/.377/.483, 25 home runs, 150 games)
Detroit fans love Kirk Gibson. Born in Pontiac and graduate of Michigan State, Gibson also played for his hometown and won the 1984 World Series with the Tigers. (everyone knows the heroic home run with him running the bases pumping his fists). Gibson won the MVP for the Dodgers in 1988, hitting .290 with 25 home runs. He was never selected to an All-Star team, but will play left field for the Michigan team.
Centerfield: 1978 Ron LeFlore (126 runs, 68 steals, .297/.361/.405, 198 hits)
What's a team without speed? LeFlore, a Detroit native, played 6 years with the Tigers, 2 with the White Sox, and another with the Expos, and stole 455 bases in 9 years in the bigs. He was selected to one All-Star team, was a career .288 hitter, and managed to steal 97 bases in one year. Impressive. With a career OBP of .342, he'll be an excellent leadoff hitter and speed threat.
Right field: 1925 Kiki Cuyler (World Series, MVP runner up, 144 runs, 220 hits, 26 triples, .357/.423/.598, 102 RBI, 42 steals)
Hall of Famer Cuyler was born up north in the little coastal town of Harrisville, just off of Lake Huron. He was a career .321 hitter while playing for the Pirates, Cubs, Reds, and one year with the Dodgers. He also has some decent speed, stealing 328 bases over his career . His high RBIs and large number of sac hits will make him a great 5 hitter.
Starting Rotation: 1945 Hal Newhouser, 1966 Jim Kaat, 1976 Frank Tanana, 1919 Eddie Cicotte (minus the Black Sox scandal)
Newhouser is a Hall of Famer with 207 wins, back to back MVPs, and a World Series. Kaat has 283 wins, making him the all-time winningest Michigan pitcher - and he went to Hope for a year! Tanana is a strikeout machine with 2,773 all time and 240 wins. Eddie Cicotte, borderline Hall of Famer, has 209 wins and a lifetime ERA of 2.38. Not a bad rotation.
Bullpen: 2007 JJ Putz, 1982 Dave Rozema, 1955 Billy Pierce
Closer: 2003 John Smoltz - one of very few to win 150 games as a starter and collect 150 saves. One Cy Young award, 3,000 strikeouts, career 3.33 ERA (2.65 as a closer).
Manager: Clint Hurdle
So here's the order that I would pick:
1 - LeFlore, 8
2 - Gehringer, 4
3 - Sabo, 5
4 - Cuyler, 9
5 - Gibson, 7
6 - Northrup, 3
7 - Varitek, 2
8 - Bordick, 6
9 - Newhouser, 1
There you have it. For sake of Michigan culture, we'll be called the Michigan Sleeping Bears, after the Sleeping Bear Dunes in northwest Michigan - beautiful area.
Thanks for reading - this one was fun to do.
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