Natural state home to all-time greats in baseball

Today's topic is a continuation from two weeks ago when I presented a lineup of former Razorbacks currently in the major leagues.

Putting together an all-time lineup is a much more difficult challenge because playing careers extend many decades and includes men who were either born in Arkansas or grew up here. Most of the players in this lineup did not go to college. A train ticket and some spending money was all the incentive many needed to escape the drudgery of working the fields in Arkansas during the summer.

I am not a baseball historian, consumed with statistics. But I tried anyway.

LOU BROCK, LEFT FIELD

El Dorado

The St. Louis Cardinals were the beneficiaries of one of the most lopsided trades in the history of major league baseball when they acquired Brock from the Chicago Cubs in 1964. Even the Cardinals couldn't have predicted Brock would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame following a 19-year career during which he batted .293, had 3,023 hits, and stole 938 bases.

Oh, and for you little league dads trying to mold kids into pros, Brock didn't play organized baseball until he was in the 11th grade.

TORII HUNTER, CENTER FIELD

Pine Bluff

Athletic and gregarious, Hunter was popular among his teammates and coaches during his 18-year career in the major leagues. Hunter won nine consecutive Gold Glove awards and played in the annual all-star game six times.

WILLIE DAVIS, RIGHT FIELD

Mineral Springs

Rick Monday (Batesville) deserves to be on this All-Arkansas team for no other reason than he swiped an American flag from hippies who were trying to burn it in center field at Dodger Stadium. But our third outfield spot goes to Willie Davis, a speedster who played most of his 18-year career with the Dodgers. Davis had a career .279 batting average and stole 20 or more bases in 13 seasons. In 1970, he batted .305, led the National League with 16 triples and drove in 93 runs.

WALLY MOON, FIRST BASE

Bay

I grew up hearing my uncles Benny Wayne and Jerry Overman tell stories about Moon, who played for 12 years in the major leagues before joining John Brown University as an educator and athletic administrator.

In the spring of 1954, Moon supposedly was told to report to the Cardinals minor-league camp but showed up with the parent club instead. He made the team and was named National League Rookie of the Year after he hit .304 with 12 home runs and 76 RBIs.

Moon played five years for the Cardinals before being traded to the Dodgers, where he helped the team win World Series championships in 1959, 1963 and 1965.

BROOKS ROBINSON, THIRD BASE

Little Rock

Brooks became a popular boys' name in Arkansas among dads who grew up in the 1960s and '70s watching Robinson, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983. Arguably the best to ever play third base, Robinson was an all-star 18 times and a Golden Glove winner 16 times with the Baltimore Orioles. He was also a capable batter who hit .318 with 28 home runs and led the American League with 118 RBIs in 1964.

He gets an added bonus from me for playing his entire 23-year career in the majors with one team.

FLOYD "ARKY" VAUGHAN, SHORTSTOP

Clifty

Hard to leave a guy named "Arky" off our All-Arkansas team, although his family moved from Madison County to California before his first birthday.

Vaughan played for 14 years and batted .318 in the major leagues during the 1930s and '40s. He was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the veterans' committee in 1985.

GEORGE KELL, SECOND BASE

Swifton

George Kell at second base? What am I supposed to do, move Brooks Robinson off third base?

No, thank you.

Besides, Kell played one game at second base in 1956 for the Orioles after playing most of his career at third base for the Detroit Tigers. Kell was a career .300-plus hitter who never forgot where he came from, even when he became a longtime broadcaster for the Tigers. He is buried in Swifton, the small town in northeast Arkansas he called home for most of his life.

BILL DICKEY, CATCHER

Searcy

Another all-time great, Dickey played 19 years for the New York Yankees and later managed the team, when he tutored Yogi Berra.

Described as fiery competitor, Dickey batted .313 for his career and helped the Yankees win eight championships. His No. 8 uniform was retired by the Yankees in 1972.

Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock, in part, bears his name.

JAY HANNA "DIZZY" DEAN, PITCHER

Lucas

Donald Trump has nothing on "Dizzy" Dean as far as being brash and boastful.

"Anybody who's ever had the privilege of seeing me play, knows that I am the greatest pitcher in the world," Dean was quoted as saying.

He may have been, if not for a broken toe that prompted Dean to change his delivery and led to arm and shoulder injuries.

The leader of the famed Gashouse Gang for the Cardinals in 1934, Dean won between 20 and 30 games each season from 1933-1936.

CLIFF LEE, PITCHER

Benton

Lee won the Cy Young award with Cleveland in 2008 when he went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA. He pitched for 13 years in the majors, mostly with the Indians and Philadelphia Phillies.

LON WARNEKE, PITCHER

Mount Ida

Nicknamed the "Arkansas Hummingbird," Warneke played for 15 years in the major league and won 20 or more games four times after he returned from military service in the 1940s. He is the only man in major league history to have played and later umpired in an All-Star game and World Series.

Sports on 08/07/2016

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