Top 10 Athletes From Minnesota

May 11, 1858: Minnesota gains admission to the Union as the 32nd State.

Top 10 Athletes from Minnesota

Minnesota's home teams, particularly the University of Minnesota, are very well represented here.

Honorable Mention to Chris Weinke of St. Paul. In 2000, the Florida State quarterback became the 2nd man from Minnesota to be awarded the Heisman Trophy. His pro career was a bust, though. That's not quite the case for the other Heisman winner from the State, who had the best possible excuse for not becoming a pro star: His country -- indeed, the world -- called him.

Honorable Mention to Burdette Haldorson of Austin. A star forward at the University of Colorado, he helped the U.S. basketball team win Olympic Gold Medals in 1956 in Melbourne and 1960 in Rome. He never played in the NBA, but was one of the stars of the semi-pro Phillips 66ers, who worked for the energy company and played on their basketball team. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame along with all of the 1960 U.S. Olympians.

Honorable Mention to Coco Miller of Rochester and

Honorable Mention to Kelly Miller of Rochester. The twins played basketball together at the University of Georgia, and shared the 1999 Sullivan Award as the best amateur athlete in America, the 1st siblings, let alone twins, to receive it. Coco (real name Colleen) played in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics, while Kelly won the league title with the 2007 Phoenix Mercury.

Honorable Mention to Joel Otto of Elk River. The center won the Stanley Cup with the 1989 Calgary Flames, and also reached the Finals with the 1986 Flames and the 1997 Philadelphia Flyers. He was a member of the only U.S. team (so far) to win the World Cup of Hockey (formerly the Canada Cup), in 1996.

Honorable Mention to Briana Scurry of Anoka, the goalkeeper on the U.S. team that won the 1999 Women's World Cup. With her teammates, Sports Illustrated named her one of their Sportspeople of the Year.

UPDATE: Three months after I posted this, she was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

10. Bruce Smith of Faribault. No, not Bruce Bernard Smith, the legendary Buffalo Bills defensive end. He will show up when I do this for his home State, which is Virginia. This is Bruce Phillip Smith, a 2-way halfback who starred at the University of Minnesota, leading the Golden Gophers to back-to-back National Championships in 1940 and 1941. In the latter year, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy, the only Golden Gopher so honored.

World War II delayed his entry into the professional game, and he served as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy. He played for the Green Bay Packers and the Los Angeles Rams, but he was away from the game for too long: He was already 25 when he played his 1st pro down, and 28 when he played his last. He might have been one of the top NFL players of the 1940s, and possibly one of the best defensive backs ever, but we'll never know.

He died of cancer in 1967, only 47 years old. UM made his Number 54 the 1st they ever retired, in any sport. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

9. Neal Broten of Roseau. He was 1 of 3 brothers to make the NHL, and all 3 ended up playing for the New Jersey Devils. Neal was a member of the U.S. team that won the 1980 Winter Olympics, shocking the Soviet Union and then beating Finland for the Gold Medal.

He, Mike Ramsey of Minneapolis, Rob McClanahan and Steve Janaszak of St. Paul, Bill Baker and Buzz Schneider of Grand Rapids (Minnesota, not Michigan), Steve Christoff of Richfield, Eric Strobel of Rochester and Phil Verchota of Duluth had all played at the University of Minnesota under Herb Brooks, who also coached the national team. Mark Pavelich of Eveleth and John Harrington of Virginia, Minnesota went to the University of Minnesota at Duluth. Dave Christian of Warroad went to the University of North Dakota.

In 1980, Sports Illustrated honored them, and their teammates from other States, as the 1st entire team to be named the magazine's Sportsmen of the Year. So Honorable Mention to all of them.

In 1981, Broten won the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's answer to the Heisman Trophy. He scored the goals that clinched the 1979 National Championship for the Golden Gophers and the 1995 Stanley Cup for the Devils. He also helped the Minnesota North Stars reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981 and 1991.

The Stars, now in Dallas, retired his Number 7. In 2009, Minnesota Wild fans voted him the greatest player ever to come from Minnesota, "The State of Hockey." He was a 2-time All-Star, and has twice won the Lester Patrick Trophy for lifetime contributions to hockey in America, both as a member of USA 1980 and in his own right. (He and Herb Brooks, who coached him in college and on the U.S. team, are the only 2-time winners.) He is a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, but the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto has yet to honor him.

In addition to Neal Broten, Mike Peluso of Pengilly, Tom Chorske of Minneapolis and Chris McAlpine of Roseville helped the Devils win the 1995 Stanley Cup; and Jamie Langenbrunner of Cloquet helped them win the 2003 Stanley Cup.

8. Jack Morris of St. Paul. He is one of the few players to have won the World Series with 3 different teams. His no-hitter early in the 1984 season was the high point of a 35-5 season-opening run that led the Detroit Tigers to a World Championship.

In 1991, he did something that will probably never be seen again: He pitched a 10-inning shutout in a World Series game, and in a Game 7, no less, beating the Atlanta Braves and winning the Series for his hometown Minnesota Twins. He was named the Series' MVP. In both 1984 and 1991, he won the separate Babe Ruth Award for baseball's postseason MVP. The next year, he went to the Toronto Blue Jays, and won the Series with fellow St. Paul native Dave Winfield.

A 5-time All-Star, he won 254 games, including 163 in the 1980s, leading all pitchers. He has been denied election to the Baseball Hall of Fame thus far. Later this year, he will, for the 1st time, be eligible for election by the Committee on Veterans.

7. Arild Verner Agerskov "Vern" Mikkelsen of Askov. The NBA's 1st great power forward, he appeared in 6 of the 1st 7 All-Star Games (1951-53 and 1955-57), and won 4 Championships with his home-State Minneapolis Lakers: 1950, 1952, 1953 and 1954.

He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Although his 19 would now be considered an unusual number for a basketball player, it has not been retired by the Lakers, who moved to Los Angeles in 1960. But he and the other Minneapolis players in the Hall -- George Mikan, Slater Martin, Jim Pollard, Clyde Lovellette and coach John Kundla -- were honored at halftime of a game between the Lakers and the new Twin Cities team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a banner that hangs in the Staples Center. The Lakers also gave them championship rings, which they didn't get when they won their titles.

All but Pollard lived to attend the ceremony. Incredibly, the only one still alive is the coach, Kundla, now 100 years old.

UPDATE: John Kundla died on July 23, 2017, a few days after his 101st birthday.

6. Phil Housley of St. Paul. Until surpassed by Mike Modano, he was the NHL's leading point-scorer among American-born players, despite being a defenseman. He was also the leader in games played by an American, until surpassed by Chris Chelios.

He was a 7-time All-Star, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He helped the U.S. win the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and the Silver Medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Unfortunately, he never won a Stanley Cup, reaching the Finals only once, with the 1998 Washington Capitals. But there's hope: He is now an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators, who have reached this season'se Western Conference Finals.

5. Charles Albert "Chief" Bender of Brainerd. A member of the Chippewa nation, fans would yell "Indian war whoops" at him from the stands, at a time when a larger portion of Americans than ever before was foreign-born. He would turn and yell, "You lousy foreigners! Why don't you go back where you came from?"

He preceded Jim Thorpe, who will come up when I do this for Oklahoma, as a graduate of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. He had a pitch he called a "nickel curve," and some cite this to credit him with the invention of the slider. Despite Native Americans, like many other minorities, being treated by white people as stupid, Ty Cobb called him "the most intelligent pitcher I ever faced."

There was no All-Star Game in Bender's day, but he surely would have made it several times. He won 212 games, and won 5 Pennants with the Philadelphia Athletics, in 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, winning the World Series in 1910, 1911 and 1913.

He is in the Baseball Hall of Fame, and was named to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. In 1981, baseball historians Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

4. Paul Molitor of St. Paul. Because he played most of his career in the small market of Milwaukee, and in the shadow of their biggest star, Robin Yount, he was one of the most underappreciated great players ever, despite having one of the best nicknames ever, "The Ignitor."

A 7-time All-Star, he got the Milwaukee Brewers to their 1st 2 postseason appearances, the 1981 American League Division Series and the 1982 World Series. He finally won a World Series with the 1993 Toronto Blue Jays, and was its MVP. He closed his career with the Twins, and is now their manager.

The Brewers retired his Number 4, and named him to their All-Time Team. The Sporting News named him to their 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the 3,000 Hit Club. Indeed, until he was surpassed by Derek Jeter, he had more career hits than anyone born after 1941.

3. Kevin McHale of Hibbing. Hibbing was also the hometown of Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan, but, while he wrote songs about baseball pitcher Catfish Hunter and boxer-turned-prisoner-turned-cause-celebre Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, he was not an athlete himself. Hibbing was also the birthplace of Roger Maris, but the family moved to North Dakota when he was 8, and he thus qualifies for that State, when I do this list for them.

Another University of Minnesota star, he was a 7-time NBA All-Star, winning the 1981, 1984 and 1986 NBA Championships with the Boston Celtics. UM retired his Number 44, the Celtics retired his Number 32, and he was named to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the NBA's 50th Anniversary 50 Greatest Players.

2. Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski of International Falls. At 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, he wouldn't be considered all that big today. But in the 1930s, he was considered huge, and was the prototype for the big bruising fullback, the progenitor of Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Larry Csonka, John Riggins, Jerome Bettis, etc.

The University of Minnesota didn't win anything while he was there, but, in the same backfield as Red Grange, he helped the Chicago Bears win the NFL Championship in 1932 and 1933. He played in the NFL from 1930 to 1937, and was a professional wrestler in the off-season, because, at the time, it made him more money.

He was the Heavyweight Champion of the World. And while pro wrestling was always a bit theatrical, it was not like today's WWE. He would have made mincemeat out of Hulk Hogan in the 1980s, Stone Cold Steve Austin in the 1990s, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (also a college football star) in the 2000s and John Cena today. And he would never have done Vince McMahon's bidding. In 1943, due to the wartime manpower shortage, the Bears asked him to return, and he did, and helped them win another title.

"Who would you pick to win a football game?" asked the great sportswriter Grantland Rice. "11 Jim Thorpes? 11 Glenn Davises? 11 Red Granges? Or 11 Bronko Nagurskis? The 11 Nagurskis would be a mop-up. It would be something close to murder and massacre. For the Bronk could star at any position on the field, with 216 pounds of authority to back him up."

Try 230, Mr. Rice. Otherwise, you're right. One year, Nagurski hurt his back, and, instead of sitting out and healing, accepted a switch to offensive tackle, and was great at it. He played defensive tackle. Oh yeah, he could also pass, pretty well by the standards of the time. Imagine Bettis throwing an option pass, and having it result in a touchdown: Nagurski did it. In an interview late in life, he said he'd probably be a linebacker, admitting he wouldn't be carrying the ball 30 times a game. I have no doubt that, with his speed, he would have excelled.

The University of Minnesota retired its Number 72 for him, and named its football facility the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. The Chicago Bears retired Number 3 for him. He was a charter inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

He was named to the NFL's 50th Anniversary Team in 1969, and its 75th Anniversary Team in 1994.
The Sporting News ranked him 35th on their 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999. and the NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players in 2010, 73 years after he was a regular player, actually boosted him to 19th. In 2008, ESPN named ranked him 17th on their list of the Top 25 College Football Players of All Time.

Presuming that the NFL names a 100th Anniversary Team in 2019 or 2020, I have no doubt that, despite it having been 76 years since he last so much as played a down, he will be named to it.

But as great as Nagurski was, Number 1 is no doubt, and I was lucky enough to have him on my home team.

1. Dave Winfield of St. Paul. He may have been the greatest athlete to have played baseball in the last 50 years. He was born on October 3, 1951, the same day that Bobby Thomson hit the most famous home run of all time, so perhaps he was born to make baseball history himself.

Or maybe not in baseball: He also played basketball at the University of Minnesota, helping them win the Big Ten title in 1972. He didn't play football there, but he played it in high school. In 1973, he was named Most Valuable Player of the College World Series, as both an outfielder and a pitcher, although Minnesota lost in the Semifinal on a tremendous comeback by USC. He was elected to the College Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was then drafted by 4 teams in 4 leagues in 3 sports: The San Diego Padres in MLB, the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL, the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA and the Utah Stars in the ABA. He could have been a teammate of Alan Page and the rest of the Purple People Eaters, and could have made the difference in Super Bowls VIII, IX and XI. Or he could have been a teammate of Pistol Pete Maravich in Atlanta, or of Moses Malone in Utah.

Instead, he became a teammate of Ozzie Smith, Randy Jones, Rollie Fingers and Gaylord Perry, leaving the Padres before Tony Gwynn arrived. He signed what was then the richest contract in baseball history, and became a Yankee teammate of Reggie Jackson, Goose Gossage, Don Mattingly and Rickey Henderson.

A 12-time All-Star, a 7-time Gold Glove, he is a member of the 3,000 Hit Club. He won a Pennant with the Yankees in 1981 and the World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, earning him the Babe Ruth Award as postseason MVP. Like Morris and Molitor, won a World Series withe the Jays late in his career, and also returned to his hometown Twins to polish off his Hall of Fame credentials.

The Padres retired his Number 31, and elected him to their team Hall of Fame. The Yankees have not retired his number or given him a Plaque in Monument Park, despite his less accomplished teammate Mattingly having been so honored. He did, at least get a Dave Winfield Day from the Yankees, following his induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001. The Sporting News named him to their 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999.

By a weird coincidence, there were also English soccer players named Dave Winfield (a centreback, best known for his time at Hampshire club Aldershot Town, now with Kent club Ebbsfleet United) and Kevin McHale (a midfielder for Yorkshire club Huddersfield Town in the 1960s).

Minnesota's All-Time Baseball Team

One of the reasons the Milwaukee Braves did so well in terms of attendance from their 1953 arrival until 1960 was that they had a huge, untapped area from which to take fans: An area that had done well with minor league baseball, but was starving for the major leagues.

But in 1961, the "old" Washington Senators moved to the not-quite-aptly-named "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and St. Paul -- specifically, to Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington, roughly equidistant from the downtowns of both cities but definitely on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River -- and took the vast majority of the area, and a majority of the population, away from the Braves' fan base. After 5 years, the Braves headed south for Atlanta.

The Twins' "market" includes the entire States of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. I thought of including the westernmost sliver of Wisconsin and the northern tier of Iowa, but decided to leave those to the Brewers and the two Chicago teams, respectively.

This will complete the first half of the updating of my All-Time Regional Teams Project.

16. Minnesota's All-Time Baseball Team
Each of this players is from Minnesota, unless otherwise stated. It's good at the corners, but, except for catcher, not so good up the middle. The pitching should keep them in most games, though.

1B Kent Hrbek of Bloomington. A local boy made good, he lived within walking distance of the Met. He just barely made it to the team before they moved into the Metrodome. (The Mall of America stands on the Met's site now.) He had a career OPS+ of 128, 293 home runs, and starred on the Twins' only 2 World Series winners, 1987 and 1991. Number 14 retired by the Twins.

Honorable Mention to Darin Erstad of Jamestown, North Dakota, easily the best of the 15 players born in that State. (Roger Maris grew up in it, but wasn't born there). He was a 2-time All-Star, a 3-time Gold Glove, and in 2000, he batted .355, led the American League in hits with 240, and had career highs of 25 homers and 100 RBIs. He helped the Angels (having played for them under 3 different names) win the 2002 World Series, and win the AL Western Division in 2004 and '05.

Oddly enough, the 2nd-best North Dakotan-born ballplayer is also a 1st baseman, Travis Hafner of Sykeston. He's been hired as a college coach, so it looks like his awful .202 season (though with 12 homers and 37 RBIs in what amounted to half a season, at age 36) might be his farewell to the majors. But his career OPS+ is 134, he hit 213 homers, and he had a pair of 100-RBI seasons. He led the AL in slugging in 2006, and the next year he helped the Cleveland Indians get to within 1 win of a Pennant.

2B Mark Ellis of Rapid City, South Dakota. Now with the St. Louis Cardinals, his 105 home runs makes him 2nd to Jason Kubel among the 37 MLB players born in South Dakota. (Kubel, though born in Belle Fourche, grew up in California.) He helped the Oakland Athetics reach the postseason in 2002, '03 and '06, and the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.

SS Dave Bancroft of Sioux City, Iowa. I almost had to cheat here, as Sioux City is 272 miles from Minneapolis, but 277 miles from Kansas City. But shortstops were slim pickings in the North Plains.

Even so, if the Hall of Fame ever had to drop 10 members, "Beauty" Bancroft might be one of them. But he was the best shortstop in the NL in the late 1910s and the 1920s, playing for the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants and Boston Braves. He appeared in the World Series with the '15 Phils and the '21, '22 and '23 Giants.

3B Paul Molitor of St. Paul. He had one of the best nicknames ever, "the Ignitor." Despite having all kinds of injuries that kept him from a full season in 7 different years, he got 3,319 hits -- that's 9th all-time. Among players who debuted in the Lively Ball Era (1920 to the present), he's 5th behind Pete Rose, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Carl Yastrzemski. Among players who debuted after 1963, he's 1st -- although Derek Jeter enters the 2014 season only 3 behind him. (Put it this way: Fellow St. Paulite Dave Winfield has 3,110 hits, and he's over 200 behind Molitor.)

His lifetime batting average is .306; OPS+, 122. He hit only 234 home runs, but 605 doubles and 114 triples, and Milwaukee County Stadium, where he played most of his home games, was not a great hitters' park, no matter how many homers Aaron and Eddie Mathews hit there. He helped the Brewers win their only Pennant in 1982. He hit .353 in 1987 (and still finished .010 behind Wade Boggs for the batting title), and had the longest AL hitting streak since Joe DiMaggio's 1941 record of 56: 39.

He moved to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, and helped them win the World Series, getting him his only ring. He closed his career with his hometown Twins, batting .341 at age 39, .305 at 40 and .281 at 41 in 1998. Along with Frank Robinson, this Hall-of-Famer is one of the most underappreciated great players ever. Number 4 retired by the Brewers. When The Sporting News announced its 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999, he came in at Number 99.

LF Dave Winfield of St. Paul. It could have been easy to predict he'd become a Hall-of-Famer, as he was born on a great day in baseball history: October 3, 1951, the day Bobby Thomson hit the You Know What. (Then again, Willie Mays Aikens was born the day Willie Mays made The Catch, and he underachieved.)

Big Dave is a member of the 3,000 Hit Club, and those 3,110 hits include 465 homers and 540 doubles. In 8 seasons, he had 100 or more RBIs, and just missed 2 others. He had a career OPS+ of 130. Think about that: He was, roughly, 30 percent better than the average player in his league for twenty-two freaking years).

He won 7 Gold Gloves, was renowned for having one of the best arms of his era (albeit mainly from right field, but played plenty of left), and in the 1981 AL Championship Series, he reached 2 rows deep into the left-field stands at the old Yankee Stadium to rob Wayne Gross of a home run.

The 1st great player for the San Diego Padres, he should have been the next great player for the New York Yankees, but after an awful 1981 World Series, it seemed as though neither George Steinbrenner (who called him "Mr. May") nor the Yankee Fans (who preferred the Pennantless Don Mattingly) ever gave him a fair shake.

Even today, long after his election to Cooperstown, his Number 31 has not been retired by the Yankees, having been given to great players like Tim Raines and Ichiro Suzuki, but also to lesser lights like Dan Naulty and Javier Vazquez. (The Padres have retired 31 for him.) No Monument Park Plaque for him, either. Hank and Hal, if your father wasn't willing to honor him this way, what are you waiting for?

Dave finally won a World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992, hitting the 10th-inning double that won the clinching Game 6, before going home to the Twins. When The Sporting News announced its 100 Greatest Baseball Players in 1999, he came in at Number 94.

Honorable Mention to Walt "Moose" Moryn, also of St. Paul. He briefly played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (including 1955, but not enough to be included on the World Series roster) before becoming a good hitter and a one-time All-Star with the Chicago Cubs.

CF Rip Repulski of Sauk Rapids. His real name was Eldon John Repulski. As far as I know, he did not play the piano. He did, however, play all 3 outfield positions, but since I've got Big Dave in left and Mr. 61 in '61 in right, I'm putting Rip in center. He hit pretty well for the 1950s St. Louis Cardinals, before an injury made him turn out to be just a candle in the wind.

Honorable Mention to Dave Collins, a speedster who also played all 3 outfield positions, and might have been the best player ever from South Dakota -- Rapid City. And yet another outfielder ripped by Yankee Fans during his stay in The Bronx, which was briefer than that of Winfield and Maris.

RF Roger Maris of Fargo, North Dakota. Lived the 1st 7 years of his life in Hibbing, Minnesota, also the hometown of Basketball Hall-of-Famer Kevin McHale and (as long as we're talking about musical legends) Robert Allen Zimmerman, who became Bob Dylan.

He's yet another right fielder for the Yankees who was not fully appreciated, and indeed ridiculed, in his time. Roger won the AL's Most Valuable Player award in 1960, hitting 39 home runs. He somehow managed, through all the nonsense hurled at him, to hit 61 in '61, which teammate Mickey Mantle -- himself having hit 54 that season -- called "the greatest feat I ever saw." It broke the record of 60 by Babe Ruth, and it still stands today. Shut up, Mark, Sammy and Barry: You had your chance to do it the right way, and you chose not to.

He was also a great glove man (although they only awarded him 1 Gold Glove) and a tough baserunner. Injuries limited him to 275 home runs and 4 All-Star Games, and he retired at age 34, but played on 7 Pennant winners, 5 in New York and 2 in St. Louis with the Cardinals, winning World Series in 1961, '62 and '67.

The Yankees retired his Number 9 and gave him a Monument Park Plaque in 1984, and it's good that they did, because he died a little more than a year later. There is a Roger Maris Museum in Fargo, at the West Acres Shopping Center. When told of the plans for it, he said, "Put it where people will see it, and where they won’t have to pay for it." His wishes have been respected, far more than they were in 1961.

C Joe Mauer of St. Paul. I don't know what it is about St. Paul that produces great players, for the Twins and otherwise, but the "little brother" of the "Twin Cities" keeps cranking them out. Mauer has done some cranking of his own, having won 3 AL batting titles already (he hit .365 with a 170 OPS+ in 2009 -- as a catcher!).

He currently has 1,414 hits, a career OPS+ of 136, 3 Gold Gloves, 6 All-Star berths, and the 2009 AL MVP award, and he's only turning 31 shortly after Opening Day. At this rate, barring a medical or ethical calamity, he will have his Number 7 mounted at Target Field and his plaque mounted at Cooperstown by the year 2026 or so.

Honorable Mention to Wes Westrum of Clearbrook, the catcher of the New York Giants' 1951 NL Champions and 1954 World Champions, and who also briefly managed the Mets. Also to Terry Steinbach of New Ulm, who backstopped the Oakland Athletics postseason teams of 1988-92, before closing his career with, you guessed it, the Twins. Jason Varitek was born in Rochester, Minnesota, but grew up (for want of a better choice of words) in Altamonte Springs, Florida. And I wouldn't give him an Honorable Mention anyway. He is not honorable, unlike Mauer, Westrum and Steinbach.

SP Charles Albert "Chief" Bender of Crow Wing County. A Hall-of-Famer from the Ojibwa tribe, and like Jim Thorpe a graduate of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, he would hear fans yell "Indian war whoops" at him, and yell back, "You lousy bunch of foreigners! Why don't you go back where you came from?"

He had a fantastic career won-lost record of 212-127, and an ERA of 2.46, good even for the Dead Ball Era. He helped Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics win 5 Pennants and 3 World Series from 1903 to 1914, and is credited with words that are still true, a century after his prime: "A pitcher who hasn't control hasn't anything."

SP Bullet Joe Bush of Brainerd. Briefly a teammate of Bender's, he helped the A's win the World Series in 1913 and the Boston Red Sox in '18, before being one of several players Sox owner Harry Frazee sold to the Yankees, where he won the Series in 1923. He also won Pennants with the A's in '14 and the Yanks in '22, going 26-7 as an easy choice for the Cy Young Award -- if there had been one at the time. He played for some bad teams, too, but still won 196 games.

SP Jerry Koosman of Morris. Although overshadowed on the Mets by Tom Seaver, he won Games 2 and 5 (the clincher) of the 1969 World Series, and helped them win the 1973 NL Pennant as well. In 1976, he became the first Met lefty to win 20 games in a season. But in just 2 seasons, went from 21-10 to 8-20 to 3-15. It was painful to watch.

Then the Mets got rid of him, and for his home-State Twins he went 20-13 and 16-13 for a not-very-good team. The trade wasn't a total disaster for the Mets, though: They got Jesse Orosco. How's that for an amazing turn of events: The Mets have won 2 World Series, and they traded the man who got the final out in the 1st for the man who got the final out in the 2nd. Koos won 222 games, 140 of them for the Mets. He's in the Mets' team Hall of Fame, but not the one in Cooperstown.

SP Jack Morris of St. Paul. He won 254 games, including 161 in the 1980s, the most in the decade. He helped not 1, not 2, but 3 teams win World Series. He started the 1984 season by pitching a no-hitter on April 7 (tying him with Ken Forsch of the 1979 Houston Astros for earliest in the calendar year), and ended it with the Detroit Tigers as World Champions.

The Tigers let him go after 1990, and he went to his hometown Twins, and pitched and won Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Going 10 innings. At age 36. Pitching a shutout. At the damn Metrodome. Against a good Atlanta Braves team. The Twins let him go anyway, despite 18 wins -- 22 if you count the postseason -- and he went 21-6 for the Blue Jays as they won the 1992 World Series. I don't care if his career ERA is 3.90: He pitched most of his home games at Tiger Stadium. Like Bullet Joe and Koos, there are lesser pitchers in the Hall of Fame.

SP Rick Helling of Fargo, North Dakota. The best pitcher born in North Dakota, he graduated, as did Maris, from Bishop Shanley High School. He went 20-7 for the Texas Rangers in 1998, and won 93 before injuries ended his career. He won a World Series ring with the 2003 Florida Marlins.

RP Tom Burgmeier of St. Cloud. He was one of several relievers tried by the Red Sox before they settled on Bob Stanley. Maybe they should have settled on Burgmeier, a tough lefty who saved 24 games with a 2.00 ERA for the Sox in 1980.

The relief ace the Sox finally needed, Keith Foulke, was born at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, in the Twins' region, but grew up in Texas.

Honorable Mention to Glen Perkins of Stillwater. Another home-Stater playing for the Twins, he made his first All-Star Game last year, saving 36 games.

MGR Tom Kelly of Graceville. He actually moved to New Jersey when young, graduating from St. Mary's High School (now Cardinal McCarrick) of South Amboy, but went back to Minnesota and managed the Twins to their World Series wins. Terry Francona was born in South Dakota, but he grew up in Pennsylvania, so he doesn't make this team as either a player or a manager.

An All-American Team

1B Lou Gehrig. The best player born in the greatest city in America, or in the world, New York City. Honorable Mention to Hank Greenberg, not that far behind Gehrig as a great New Yorker, and who missed 4 prime seasons to the U.S. Army in World War II.

2B Jackie Robinson. Born Jack Roosevelt Robinson on January 31, 1919, named for former President Theodore Roosevelt, who had died 25 days earlier. An Army Lieutenant in World War II, Robinson's style of play meant that he changed how the game was played, not just by whom. One of the truly great Americans, from any walk of life.

Honorable Mention to Jose Oquendo. Born on July 4, 1963, in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, so, in effect, he is both an American and an immigrant.

SS Maury Wills. Probably the best player born in Washington, D.C., the Nation's Capital. Along with Robinson and Luis Aparicio, restored the stolen base as a serious weapon in baseball.

3B Sparky Adams. Born Earl John Adams, he's the best player with "John Adams" in his name. In 1931, he led the National League in doubles and helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series. (Nobody noticed his achievement, because, in the American League that season, Earl Webb of the Boston Red Sox hit 67 doubles, a single-season record that still stands.)

LF George Case. A native of Trenton and graduate of the posh Peddie School in nearby Hightstown, George Washington Case was a 3-time All-Star for the Washington Senators, led the American League in stolen bases 6 times between 1939 and 1946, and was the best player born with the name "George Washington (something)." Unfortunately, an injury ended his career at age 31.

Honorable Mention to Andrew Jackson Leonard. A member of the first professional baseball team, the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings, and along with some of his Cincinnati teammates, helped form professional baseball's first dynasty, the Boston franchise of the National Association, winners of 4 straight Pennants, 1872-75, and from whom today's Atlanta Braves are descended (as a continuously-operating business, anyway), he was the greatest player with "Andrew Jackson" in his name.

CF Tris Speaker. There's only been one MLB player with the name "Eagle," and he was up for a cup of coffee in 1898. But Speaker was known as "the Gray Eagle," and had a .345 lifetime batting average, collected over 3,500 hits, is the all-time leader in doubles with 793, and was regarded as the best defensive outfielder of all time before Joe DiMaggio.

RF Paul O'Neill. There's never been an MLB player with the name "Christopher Columbus (anything)," but Paulie Pinstripes, who won 1 World Series with his home-State Cincinnati Reds and 4 with the Yankees, and is a sure bet for Monument Park if not for the Hall of Fame, is the best player born in a city or town named for the supposed "discoverer of America."

Frank Howard is another candidate for that title, and was a coach for the Yankees for a few years and briefly managed the Mets. Current Yankee Nick Swisher was also born in Columbus.

C Roy Campanella. The best player born in Philadelphia, the nation's birthplace. Grew up in a neighborhood called Nicetown. It's not a very nice neighborhood, hasn't been for a long time, but Campy was one of the nicest people in baseball, as well as a great catcher and one of the best power hitters of his time, a Hall-of-Famer with 3 Most Valuable Player awards.

The debate over who was the better catcher, Campy of the Brooklyn Dodgers or Yogi Berra of the Yankees, was a big part of the fun of being a baseball fan in the Tri-State Area from 1949 (both men's first full season as a catcher) until 1957 (when the Dodgers left and Campy had his crash).

Come to think of it, as the only man to both fight on D-Day and play Major League Baseball, Yogi should be a candidate for this team, too. And so should Hank Gowdy, the catcher for the 1914 World Champion Boston Braves, who was the only major leaguer to serve in World War I and World War II.

SP Albert "Chief" Bender. There has to be a mention of the original inhabitants of this land, known at various times as the Indians, the Native Americans, Aboriginal Americans, or, as Canada calls them, "the First Nations." Bender, a member of the Chippewa tribe in his native Minnesota, is in the Hall of Fame, and used to silence war-whooping hecklers with shouts of, "You lousy foreigners, go back where you came from!" At a time, around 100 years ago, when the immigrant experience was still very fresh, this had a particular sting: He was a lot more "American" than many of them were.

SP Allie Reynolds. Not quite at Hall of Fame levels, and "only" 1/4 Creek (from Oklahoma), he was good enough to help the Yankees reach 6 World Series in 7 seasons, 1947 to 1953, and win them all. His Plaque at Yankee Stadium's Monument Park was dedicated in 1989, and I was there. He died in 1994, age 77. He was a graduate of Oklahoma State University (then Oklahoma A&M), one of the great college baseball programs, and its baseball stadium is now named for him.

SP Eddie Plank. Hall-of-Famer, winner of over 300 games, and teammate of Bender on Connie Mack's 1910s Philadelphia Athletics, he's the best player born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the Union was saved.

SP Tommy Bridges. Born Thomas Jefferson Davis Bridges, the All-Star pitcher for the 1930s and '40s Detroit Tigers was, by a long shot, the best player with "Thomas Jefferson" in his name, although he could also be disqualified for having "Jefferson Davis" in his name.

SP Jim Beattie. Born on July 4, 1954 in Hampton, Virginia, near the nation's largest naval base at Norfolk, but grew up in Portland, Maine. He is now best known as an executive with the Montreal Expos and Baltimore Orioles, and is now a scout with the Toronto Blue Jays. But in 1978, he battled a rookie's wildness to become part of the Yankees' starting rotation, and threw his first career complete game in Game 5 of the World Series, a 12-2 Yankee win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. A year later, he gave up Carl Yastrzemski's 3,000th career hit, was traded to the Seattle Mariners, pitched for them until 1986 and faded, but for a few weeks in the summer and fall of '78, he was exactly what the Yankees needed.

RP Mike Lincoln. A reliever for the Cincinnati Reds, he's the only active player with "Lincoln" in his name. There have been 3 MLB players with the name "Abraham Lincoln (something)," but all were brief, and the last left the majors in 1921 -- four score and nine years ago.

Honorable Mention to the best player named after the Rough Rider, who, unfortunately, was a bum with the Yankees before becoming a better pitcher elsewhere, Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Lilly; and to the only player with "Franklin Delano Roosevelt," or even "Franklin Roosevelt" in his name, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Wieand, who came up for cups of coffee with the Cincinnati Reds in 1958 and 1960. Strangely, he was known as Ted Wieand. Maybe somebody forgot which President Roosevelt he was named for.

Very Honorable Mention to Lou Brissie, who nearly lost his leg in World War II, came back after multiple surgeries, wore a metal brace over his leg to protect it from line drives -- came in handy when Ted Williams hit one off it, but he remained in the game -- and pitched a few good years for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians. And to Bert Shepard, who did lose his leg in World War II, but came back to pitch one game for the Washington Senators in 1945.

MGR Chuck Tanner. Born on July 4, 1929 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1955 he made his major league debut as a left fielder for the Milwaukee Braves, and hit a home run on the 1st pitch he ever saw. He only hit 20 more, and in 1957, to add insult to injury, the Braves traded him before he could play for them in the World Series. But he nearly managed the Chicago White Sox to the American League West title in 1972, nearly did the same for the Oakland Athletics in 1976, and took his home team -- New Castle is 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh -- to the 1979 World Championship, the last time the Pirates have appeared in the World Series.

Owner. George Steinbrenner. For better or for worse, he is a real live nephew of his Uncle Sam, and, unlike George Michael Cohan, the great entertainer and huge baseball fan who wrote those words, and was actually born on July 3, 1878, George Michael Steinbrenner III really was born on the 4th of July, in 1930. The Boss is now 80 years old, and due to a series of strokes, it's debatable how aware he is of what's happening with the game today. But, at times, he has represented the best and the worst of the American character. Today is a day to think of the best, and he has done more good than his critics would care to admit.

Most Honorable Mention to those MLB players killed in service in our nation's wars. There are 8, 5 from World War I, 2 from World War II, 1 from the Korean War:

* Eddie Grant, born May 21, 1883 in Franklin, Massachusetts, third base, played for the Cleveland Naps (named for slugger-manager Nap Lajoie, later the Indians) in 1905, the Philadelphia Phillies 1907-10, the Cincinniat Reds 1911-13, and the New York Giants 1913-15; graduate of Harvard Law School, practiced law after leaving the game, Army, Argonne Forest, France, October 5, 1918.

* Ralph Sharman, born April 11, 1895 in Cleveland Ohio, played just 13 games as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1917; drowned in the Alabama River while on a training maneuver, Camp Sheridan, Alabama, May 24, 1918. Although it was not in combat, it counts.

* Bun Troy, born August 27, 1888 in Bad Wurzach, Germany, emigrated to the U.S., pitched 1 game for the Detroit Tigers in 1912; joined U.S. Army to fight the country from which he hailed, killed at Petit Majouym, France, October 7, 1918.

* Alex Burr, born November 1, 1893 in Chicago, Illinois, a real-life “Moonlight Graham” who played in 1 game and didn't come to bat, in center field for the Yankees on April 21, 1914; one of the first American pilots to be killed in war, crashing in Cazeaux, France, October 12, 1918. Despite being the only Yankee ever killed in a war fought by his country, no mention of him has ever been shown in the concourses, the Monument Park, or any other part of either the old or the new Yankee Stadium. He has been totally forgotten by the team.

* Larry Chappell, born February 19, 1890 in McClusky, Illinois, played five season in the outfield, 1913 to 1917, for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves; died at an Army barracks in San Francisco, California of the Spanish Flu epidemic that ended up killing twice as many people –- military and civilian alike –- as the war, just 3 days before the Armistice, on November 8, 1918.

* Elmer Gedeon, born April 15, 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio, star at the University of Michigan, but just 5 games as an outfielder for the 1939 Washington Senators, Army Air Force, Saint-Pol, France, April 20, 1944.

* Harry O'Neill, born May 8, 1917 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1 game as a catcher for the 1939 Philadelphia Athletics, Marine Corps, Iwo Jima, March 6, 1945.

* Bob Neighbors, born November 9, 1917 in Talahina, Oklahoma, 7 games as a shortstop for the 1939 St. Louis Browns -- not sure why the 2 we lost in WWII and the 1 we lost in Korea all played only in that one month, September 1939, and all for teams that no longer exist in their present form -- Air Force, Korea, reported missing on August 8, 1952, never found and presumed dead.

Minnesota's All-Time Baseball Team

The Yankees begin a 3-game Interleague series in Los Angeles tonight, and I do want to do the all-time team from the Dodgers' region -- most, but not all, of Southern California -- but the fact that nearly 2,000 players from the State of California have reached the major leagues makes that a long task, and I might post it tomorrow.

The Mets begin a 3-game Interleague series with the Minnesota Twins tonight. Yes, I'm doing it for all 30 teams' "markets." For the Twins, this will include the entire States of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. I thought of including the westernmost sliver of Wisconsin and the northern tier of Iowa, but decided to leave those to the Brewers and the two Chicago teams, respectively.

Minnesota's All-Time Baseball Team

1B Kent Hrbek of Bloomington. A local boy made good, having lived within walking distance of the Twins' former home, Metropolitan Stadium. Just barely made it to the team before they moved into the Metrodome. (The Mall of America stands on the Met's site now.) Career OPS+ of 128, 293 home runs, and starred on the Twins' only 2 World Series winners, 1987 and 1991. Number 14 retired by the Twins.

Honorable Mention to Darin Erstad, easily the best of the 15 players born in North Dakota (Jamestown; remember that Roger Maris wasn't born there), also in the Twins' "market." Oddly enough, the 2nd-best North Dakotan-born ballplayer is also a 1st baseman, Travis Hafner.

2B Mark Ellis of Rapid City. A solid performer for the Oakland Athletics since 2002. He and Jason Kubel already have more home runs than any player born in South Dakota, Ellis leading 82-80. (Kubel, though, grew up in California.)

SS Gene DeMontreville of St. Paul. Played more 2B, and went to high school in Washington, D.C., and played over 100 years ago, but pickings for Minnesota-born shortstops were very slim. Best season was 1897, when he batted .341, hit 27 doubles (but only 3 homers -- it was the 19th Century) and had 93 RBIs for the National League edition of the Washington Senators, a team that was contracted out of existence 2 years later. Played on a Pennant-winner with the 1900 Brooklyn Superbas (forerunners of the Dodgers).

3B Paul Molitor of St. Paul. Had one of the best nicknames ever, "the Ignitor." Despite having all kinds of injuries that kept him from a full season in 7 different years, he got 3,319 hits -- that's 9th all-time. Among players who debuted in the Lively Ball Era (1920 to the present), he's 5th behind Pete Rose, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Carl Yastrzemski. Among players who debuted after 1963, he's 1st. (Put it this way: Fellow St. Paulite Dave Winfield has 3,110 hits, and he's over 200 behind Molitor.)

Lifetime batting average, .306; OPS+, 122. Only 234 home runs, but 605 doubles and 114 triples, and Milwaukee County Stadium, where he played most of his home games, was not a great hitters' park, no matter how many homers Aaron and Eddie Mathews hit there. Helped the Brewers win their only Pennant in 1982. Hit .353 in 1987 (and still finished .010 behind Wade Boggs for the batting title). Moved to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 and helped them with the World Series. Closed his career with his hometown Twins, batting .341 at age 39, .305 at 40 and .281 at 41 in 1998.

Along with Frank Robinson, this Hall-of-Famer is one of the most underappreciated great players ever. Number 4 retired by the Brewers.

LF Dave Winfield of St. Paul. Could have been easy to predict he'd become a Hall-of-Famer, as he was born on a great day in baseball history: October 3, 1951, the day Bobby Thomson hit the You Know What. (Then again, Willie Mays Aikens was born the day Willie Mays made The Catch, and he underachieved.) A member of the 3,000 Hit Club, 465 homers, 540 doubles, 8 times had 100 or more RBIs (and just missed 2 others), a career OPS+ of 130 (meaning he was, roughly, 30 percent better than the average player in his league for twenty-two freaking years), 7 Gold Gloves.

The 1st great player for the San Diego Padres, he should have been the next great player for the New York Yankees, but after an awful 1981 World Series, it seemed as though neither George Steinbrenner (who called him "Mr. May") nor the Yankee Fans (who preferred the Pennantless Don Mattingly) gave him a fair shake.

Even today, 9 years after his election to Cooperstown, his Number 31 has not been retired by the Yankees, having been given to a great player like Tim Raines, but also to lesser lights like Dan Naulty -- and now, to Javier Vazquez. (The Padres have retired 31 for him.) No Monument Park Plaque for him, either. Hank and Hal, if your father wasn't willing to honor him this way, what are you waiting for? Finally won a World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992, hitting the 10th-inning double that won the clinching Game 6, before going home to the Twins.

Honorable Mention to Walt "Moose" Moryn, also of St. Paul. He briefly played for the Brooklyn Dodgers (including 1955, but not enough to be included on the World Series roster) before becoming a good hitter and a one-time All-Star with the Chicago Cubs.

CF Eldon John "Rip" Repulski of Sauk Rapids. With a name like "Repulski," it's better to be nicknamed "Rip" than "Repulsive." With a name like "Eldon John," maybe his nickname should have been "Captain Fantastic."

Played all 3 outfield positions, but since I've got Big Dave in left and Mr. 61 in '61 in right, I'm putting him in center. Had the nearly-musical real name of Eldon John Repulski, and hit pretty well for the 1950s St. Louis Cardinals before an injury made him turn out to be just a candle in the wind.

Honorable Mention to Dave Collins, a speedster who also played all 3 outfield positions, and might have been the best player ever from South Dakota -- Rapid City. And yet another outfielder ripped by Yankee Fans during his stay in The Bronx, which was briefer than that of Winfield and Maris.

RF Roger Maris of Hibbing. Lived only the 1st 7 years of his life in Minnesota, but grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, which is also (since 1961, anyway) in the Twins' sphere of influence. Yet another right fielder (along with Winfield, who played all 3 outfield positions in Pinstripes) for the Yankees who was not fully appreciated, and indeed ridiculed, in his time.

Roger won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1960, hitting 39 home runs. He somehow managed, through all the nonsense hurled at him, to hit 61 in '61, which teammate Mickey Mantle -- himself having hit 54 that season -- called "the greatest feat I ever saw." It broke the record of 60 by Babe Ruth, and it still stands today. Shut up, Mark, Sammy and Barry: You had your chance to do it the right way, and you chose not to. It got him another MVP award.

He was also a great glove man and a tough baserunner. Injuries limited him to 275 home runs, and he retired at age 34, but played on 7 Pennant winners, 5 in New York and 2 in St. Louis with the Cardinals, winning World Series in 1961, '62 and '67.

The Yankees retired his Number 9 and gave him a Monument Park Plaque in 1984, and it's good that they did, because he died a little more than a year later. There is a Roger Maris Museum in Fargo, at the West Acres Shopping Center. When told of the plans for it, he said, "Put it where people will see it, and where they won’t have to pay for it." His wishes have been respected, far more than they were in 1961.

C Joe Mauer of St. Paul. I don't know what it is about St. Paul that produces great players, for the Twins and otherwise, but the "little brother" of the "Twin Cities" keeps cranking them out. Mauer has done some cranking of his own, having won 3 AL batting titles already (he hit .365 with a 170 OPS+ last season -- as a catcher!). He currently has a career OPS+ of 135, 2 Gold Gloves, the 2009 AL MVP award, and he's only 27. At this rate, barring a medical or ethical calamity, he will have his Number 7 mounted at Target Field and his plaque mounted at Cooperstown by the year 2026 or so.

Honorable Mention to Wes Westrum of Clearbrook, the catcher of the New York Giants' 1951 NL Champions and 1954 World Champions, and who also briefly managed the Mets. Also to Terry Steinbach of New Ulm, who backstopped the Oakland Athletics postseason teams of 1988-92, before closing his career with, you guessed it, the Twins. Jason Varitek was born in Rochester, Minnesota, but grew up (for want of a better choice of words) in Altamonte Springs, Florida. And I wouldn't give him an Honorable Mention anyway. He is not honorable, unlike Mauer, Westrum and Steinbach.

SP Albert "Chief" Bender of Crow Wing County. A Hall-of-Famer from the Chippewa tribe, and like Jim Thorpe a graduate of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, he would hear fans yell "Indian war whoops" at him, and yell back, "You lousy bunch of foreigners! Why don't you go back where you came from?"

He had a fantastic career won-lost record of 212-127, and an ERA of 2.46, good even for the Dead Ball Era. He helped Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics win 5 Pennants and 3 World Series from 1903 to 1914, and is credited with words that are still true, a century after his prime: "A pitcher who hasn't control hasn't anything."

SP Bullet Joe Bush of Brainerd. Briefly a teammate of Bender's, helped the A's win the World Series in 1913 and and the Boston Red Sox in '18, before being one of several players Sox owner Harry Frazee sold to the Yankees, where he won the Series in 1923. Also won Pennants with the A's in '14 and the Yanks in '22, going 26-7 as an easy choice for the Cy Young Award -- if there had been one at the time. Played for some bad teams, too, but still won 196 games.

SP Jerry Koosman of Morris. Won Games 2 and 5 (the clincher) of the 1969 World Series for the Mets, and helped them win the 1973 National League Pennant as well. In 1976, became the first Met lefty to win 20. But in just 2 seasons, went from 21-10 to 8-20 to 3-15. It was painful to watch.

Then the Mets got rid of him, and, for his home-State Twins, he went 20-13 and 16-13 for a not-very-good team. The trade wasn't a total disaster for the Mets, though: They got Jesse Orosco. How's that for an amazing occurrence: The Mets have won 2 World Series, and they traded the man who got the final out in the 1st for the man who got the final out in the 2nd. Won 222 games, 140 of them for the Mets.

SP Jack Morris of St. Paul. He won 254 games, including 161 in the 1980s, the most in the decade. Helped not 1, not 2, but 3 teams win World Series. Started the 1984 season by pitching a no-hitter on April 7 (tied with Ken Forsch for earliest in the calendar year), and ended it with the Detroit Tigers as World Champions.

The Tigers let him go after 1990, and he went to his hometown Twins, and pitched and won Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. Going 10 innings. At age 36. Pitching a shutout. At the damn Metrodome. Against a good Atlanta Braves team. The Twins let him go anyway, despite 18 wins -- 22 if you count the postseason -- and he went 21-6 for the Blue Jays as they won the World Series. I don't care if his career ERA is 3.90: He pitched most of his home games at Tiger Stadium. Put him in the Hall of Fame!

SP Rick Helling of Fargo. The best pitcher born in North Dakota, he graduated, as did Maris, from Shanley High School. He went 20-7 for the Texas Rangers in 1998, and won 93 before injuries ended his career. Won a World Series ring with the 2003 Florida Marlins.

RP Tom Burgmeier of St. Cloud. One of several relievers tried by the Red Sox before they settled on Bob Stanley. Maybe they should have settled on Burgmeier, a tough lefty who saved 24 games with a 2.00 ERA for the Sox in 1980. The relief ace the Sox finally needed, Keith Foulke, was born at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, in the Twins' region, but grew up in Texas.

MGR Tom Kelly of Graceville. Actually moved to New Jersey when young, graduating from St. Mary's High School (now Cardinal McCarrick) of South Amboy, but went back to Minnesota and managed the Twins to their World Series wins. Terry Francona was born in South Dakota, but grew up in Pennsylvania, so he doesn't make this team as either a player or a manager.