Nebraska’s Greatest Contribution to the

Major LeaguesThe History of Major League Baseball

Told from the Perspective the Best Players Born in Nebraska

Joba Chamberlain

Sam Crawford

Star Athlete in high school, leading Wahoo to state football championships in 1896-1897

Joined a Traveling Baseball Team in Wahoo in 1898

He played for the Chatam Reds of the Canadian league in 1899.

Crawford Joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1899

In September 1899, he was sold to the Cincinnati Reds of

the National League.

In 1901 he hit 330 and led the league with 16 home runs

In 1902, he led the National League with 12 inside the park home runs, a record that has

never been broken.

He was sold to the Detroit Tigers in 1903-1917

In 1930, he led the league in triples

The Tigers went to the World Series in 1907 & 1909

He was one of the league’s most feared hitters from 1911-1915

`He had a career batting average of 309

97 Home Runs

309 Triples

51 Inside the park Homeruns

Crawford and Cobb

Later Years

Left the Majors after 1917

Became a player/ coach with the Los Angeles Angels of the

Pacific Coast League

Coached for USC

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957

Became reclusive in later life

Fred Beebe

Born in Lincoln, Nebrska December 31st, 1879

Graduated from Hyde Park, Illinois

Attended the University of Illinois

Entered the Major Leagues at 26

Led the League in Strikeouts with 171 in 1908 for the St. Louis Cardinals

Fred Beebe Career

1906 Chicago Cubs

1907-1907 St. Louis Cardinals

1910 Cincinnati Reds

1911 Philadelphia Phillies

1916 Cleveland Indians

Won 63 Games

Lost 83

Ted Easterly

Born in Lincoln in 1885

Played Professional Baseball from 1909-1915

Played for the Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Packers (Federal League)

Journeyman Catcher

Career Batting Average of 300

He played 2 seasons for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League

Played 3 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, Salt Lake City Bees and Sacramento Senators 1916-1918

Grover Cleveland Alexander

Born in Elba, Nebraska in 1887

Named for President Grover Cleveland

Entered the Minor Leagues 1909

Ol’ Pete

Nicknamed Ol’ Pete by his friends and the press.

Had to overcome multiple hurdles to achieve greatness

He was hit by a thrown ball, while base running

Missed the end of the 1909 season and all of 1910

Struggled with hearing loss

Alcoholism and

Epilepsy throughout his career

Major League Career

Signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1911

Sold to the Chicago Cubs in 1917

Drafted to serve in WWI in 1917

Came back with shell shock, which plagued him for the rest of his life

Played for the Cubs 1918-1926, Cardinals 1926-1929 the Phillies in 1930

Record 373-208 (3rd in baseball history

"Grover Cleveland Alexander wasn't drunk out there on the mound, the way people thought. He was an epileptic. Old Pete would fall down with a seizure between innings, then go back and pitch another shutout." -Ty Cobb

Toured with Grover Cleveland Alexander’s House of David

A Winning Team

Clarence Mitchell

Born on February 22, 1891 in Franklin, NE

Died on Nov. 6, 1963 in Grand Island NE

Detroit Tigers (1911)

Cincinnati Reds (1916–1917)

Brooklyn Robins (1918–1922)

Philadelphia Phillies (1923–1928)

St. Louis Cardinals (1928–1930)

New York Giants (1930–1932)

Career Record 125-139

One of the last spitball pitchers

Hit into a triple play in the 1920 World Series

Tom Seaton Born in Blair in 1887

Played for the Philadelphia Phillies 1912-1913

1913 Went 27-12

1913 Pitched 332 innings

1917 Played for the Chicago Cubs

Played several years with various teams in the Federal League

Was released from Major League Baseball during the time of the Blaxk Sox Scandal

Died in 1940 in El Paso Texas

Billy Southworth

Was born in Harvard, NE March 9, 1893

He is the first player on our list who had more success as a manager than as a player.

Cleveland Indians (1913, 1915)

Pittsburgh Pirates (1918-1920)

Boston Braves (1921-1923)

New York Giants (1924-1926)

St. Louis Cardinals (1926-1927, 1929)

As a Manger

St. Louis Cardinals (1929, 1940-1945)

Boston Braves (1946-1949, 1950-1951)

Billy Southworth

Led the National League in triples in 1919 with 14

Managed 4 National League pennants.1942, 1943, 1944, 1949

Managed 2 World Series titles 1942, 1944

Holds the record for the best three year record as a manager 1942-1944 106 wins, 105 wins, 105 wins

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008

Died in Columbus Ohio in 1969

Cliff Lee

Was born on August 4, 1896 in Lexington, Nebraska

He was in the Major Leagues from 1919-1926

Played for Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Cleveland

Played 521 games in his career

38 home runs 216 RBIs

Died in Denver, Colorado in 1980

Hollis John “Sloppy” Thurston

Born in Fremont, Nebraska in 1899 as Hollis John Thurston

His parents moved him to Tombstone, Arizona, where his father owned a restaurant named “Sloppy’s Place”

Pitched from 1923-1933 for the St. Louis Browns, Chicago, White Sox, Washington Senators and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Pitched an Immaculate inning in 1923 against the Philadelphia Phillies in extra innings

Everett Virgil “Pid” PurdyBorn in Beatrice, Nebraska in 1904

Played professional baseball from 1923-1938

Played in the Major Leagues from 1926

Played 181 games 293 Ave. 2 hrs. 59 rbis

Also played for the Green Bay Packers in 1926 as a Back wore No. 17

Spent most of his career in A baseball and in D Nebraska baseball.

He died in Beatrice in 1950.

Mel Harder

Born in 1909 in Beemer, Nebraska

Pitched for the Cleveland Indians from 1928-1947

Had a record of 223-188

He was a pitching coach from 1949-1969

Known as a developer of pitchers

Mel Harder

He was the only All-Star pitcher to pitch 10 innings without giving up an earned run.

Only man in major league history to have both 20-year playing and coaching careers

oe DiMaggio recalled that he had more difficulty batting against Harder than against just about any other pitcher. DiMaggio batted only 180

He threw the first pitch in Municipal Stadium and the last 1993.

Johnny HoppBorn in Hastings Nebraska in 1916

Picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937. Played his first game in 1939

Career batting average296 HRs 46 from 1939-1952

Played in 5 World Series competitions

Won 4 World Series rings.

Won 2 Series with the Cardinals and 2 with the Yankees.

Also played for the Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers

Sheldon Jones

Born in Tecumseh Nebraska in 1922

Pitched for the New York Giants 1946-1951

Boston Braves 1952

Chicago Cubs 1953

Career Record 54-57

Successful as a starter and a reliever from 1946-1950

His arm failed him and pitched unsuccessfully from 1951-1953

Ritchie Ashburn

Born in Tilden, Nebraska in 1927

Played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1948-1959

Played for the Cubs 1960-1961

Played for the New York Mets in 1962

Led the Philadelphia Phillies to their first National League pennant in 1950

Was the first All-Star from the New York Mets

Totals 308 batting average 2,574 hits

Bob Gibson

Born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1935

Suffered from rickets and other heath problems as a child.

Attended Omaha Tech and Creighton University

Played professionally with both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Harlem Globetrotters

Played for the Cardinals from 1959-1975

Won 2 Cy Young awards

Was named MVP in 1968

The 1968 SeasonYear of the Pitcher

1.12 ERA modern day record

Pitched 13 shutouts

From June 2 to July 30 he allowed only 2 earned runs in 93 innings 0.20 ERA

Pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings during this period

Struck out 17 batters in the first game of the World Series

Wade Boggs

Born in Omaha Nebraska and raised in Southern California

The best hitter to come out of Nebraska.

Started with the Boston Red Sox in 1982

Boston Red Sox (1982–1992)

New York Yankees (1993–1997)

Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998–1999)

From 1983-1989 hit below 349 only once 1984 325

Started at 3rd base in the All Star Game 12 consecutive years

Wade Boggs

Played in his first World Series in 1986, when the New York Mets beat the Boston Red Sox

Won his only World Series in 1996 with the New York Yankees

Won 2 Gold Gloves with the New York Yankees

He won 8 Sliver Slugger awards

He won 5 American League Batting Titles

328 BA 3,010 hits 118 Home Runs