All Time "Ethnic" Baseball Teams

@joefromchicago,

Is Dave Dravecky a pole?

@Rockhead,

Dravecky? Could be.

The all-Pole team is heavy on first basemen, outfielders, and pitchers. So I had to leave out a number of qualified players (e.g. Richie Zisk, Moose Skowron, Joe and Phil Niekro, Doug Mientkiewicz) while scrambling to find anyone with a Polish-sounding name who played catcher or third base.

And Alan Trammell is Polish. Who knew?

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@joefromchicago,

the Niekro's are an interesting bunch.

my cousin Vinny from Chicago is Polish.

(he played hockey though, eh)

on a side note, fb.

I think A Gonzo is going to be a big star soon...

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@Mastro,

Mastro wrote:

German-American (seems a little silly now- but a lot of these guys grew up in immigrant households)

Early professional baseball was dominated by Irish and German players, so it shouldn't be difficult to come up with an all-time German-American team.

Mastro wrote:

1B Lou Gehrig
3B Mike Schmidt
SS Honus Wagner
Can't think of a second basemen- but even if mediocre this could be the best infield all time.

Frankie Frisch.

Mastro wrote:

Outfield
Babe Ruth LF (played right- but this team is loaded with RF)
Mel Ott (CF- see above)
Chuck Klein RF
Al Kaline(?)- sounds German
Burt Shotten- defensive replacement outfielder

I'm not sure if Ruth was German-American. Just to be safe, I'd replace him with Harry Heilmann or maybe Heinie Manush.

Mastro wrote:

Messersmith- Pitcher
Jayson Schmidt-Pitcher
need a couple more-

Hoyt Wilhelm. Warren Spahn. Orel Hershiser.

Mastro wrote:

Ed Ott - Catcher

Ray Schalk or Joe Mauer would be better choices.

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All-Canadian team, I guess you'd start with Jason Bay, eh?

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@jespah,

I think it would be a mostly active players team + Ferguson Jenkins as RP.

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Let's see, a Dominican team, it would also be relatively "young".

SP Juan Marichal (leaving Pedro Martínez and Joaquín Andújar as numbers 2 and 3 in the rotation)
RP José Mesa

1b Albert Pujols
2b Alfonso Soriano
3b Alex Rodríguez
ss Miguel Tejada

OF Sammy Sosa
OF Manny Ramírez
OF Felipe Alou

C Tony Peña

DH David "Papi" Ortiz

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I was trying to make the Italian-American team, with Joe DiMaggio in the OF, Phil Rizzuto at SS and Dave Righetti as RP.
But what wondered me was the amount of catchers and managers (or catcher/managers)... Yogi Berra, Joe Garagliola, Tom LaSorda, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Leo Mazzone, Billy Martin, Mike Piazza, Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi, Terry Francona...

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@fbaezer,

fbaezer wrote:

But what wondered me was the amount of catchers and managers (or catcher/managers)... Yogi Berra, Joe Garagliola, Tom LaSorda, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Leo Mazzone, Billy Martin, Mike Piazza, Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi, Terry Francona...

I never noticed that before. You even missed a few catchers -- Ernie Lombardi, Roy Campanella (Italian father) -- and managers -- Lee Elia, Joey Amalfitano, Joe Altobelli. Not sure why that is. Catchers are reputedly the smartest players on the team -- maybe Italians are just smarter than everybody else.

1 Reply

@joefromchicago,

Or maybe they all got ... connections.

Okay, my Canadian team, thank you, Wikipedia -- I had to really reach back to find a shortstop:

Pitchers Ferguson Jenkins (thanks, Pancho), Jeff Francis
RP hate to say it, Eric Gagne
Catcher Russell Martin; Backup George Kotteras
1B Justin Morneau
2B Pete Orr (utility infielder)
3B Corey Koskie
SS Milt Whitehead
RF Ryan Radmanovich
CF Tip O'Neill, no, not the late Speaker o' the House
LF Jason Bay
DH Kevin Nicholson

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@jespah,

good list, but i'd put larry walker in right...

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@fbaezer,

fbaezer wrote:

I was trying to make the Italian-American team, with Joe DiMaggio in the OF, Phil Rizzuto at SS and Dave Righetti as RP.
But what wondered me was the amount of catchers and managers (or catcher/managers)... Yogi Berra, Joe Garagliola, Tom LaSorda, Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, Leo Mazzone, Billy Martin, Mike Piazza, Mike Scioscia, Joe Girardi, Terry Francona...

Well catchers are supposed to have a unbiased understanding on how their pitcher is performing during a game. Whether the late inning bad pitches are due to a tiring arm or just a wild pitch fluke.

Defensively, their involved in every pitch, alongside with the pitcher, whereas the other fielders well they have to wait and see where the ball is hit. I guess its the accumulative knowledge of making the codecision of what pitch to throw to the batter. The catcher is the general on the battlefield.

And that the catcher has the accumulative advantage over the pitcher of batting more often so that department's experience is built upon as well.

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This is the "Nah, they don't sound at all like Mexican" Mexican-American team:

1b. Adam La Roche (García - father changed surname)
2b. Jerry Hairston Jr. (Arellano)
3b. Andy La Roche (García)
SS. Michael Young (Padilla)

OF. Ted Williams (Orozco)
OF. Andrè Ethier (Martínez)
OF. Scott Hairston (Arellano)

C. Gerald Laird (don't know his mother's maiden name)

SP. Dan Haren (Manzanilla)

"If I had had my mother's name, there is no doubt I would have run into problems in those days, considering the prejudices people had in Southern California": Ted Williams

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@PDiddie,

rod carew yes rod is jewish

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@fbaezer,

Charles Gehringer for the Detroit Tigers (1920's) I'm sure could be considered one of the best German American secondbasemen

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@jespah,

All-German team would blitzkrieg anybody....Ruth, Gehrig, Ott, Feller, Schmidt, Wagner, the Waner brothers, Frankie Fritsch...Stengel as manager. Mantle and Rose were also of German heritage, although nobody wants to admit it....

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Great thread, Fbaezer, i'm surprised i missed this until now.

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@PDiddie,

Catcher: Hands down the best was Harry Danning. More recently Brad Ausmus, Mike Lieberthal
2B- Ian Kinsler
OF- Braun, Scheinblum, Goody Rosen
reserves: Youkilis, Mike Epstein,
Pitchers: Erskine Mayer, Saul Rogovin, Steve Stone, Barney Pelty

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@jespah,

Mastro: Was Babe Ruth German?? Jaysus, you have to be kidding with that question, man. Of course he was! Feller, Spahn, Ott, Gehrig, Frisch, Wagner, Schmidt, Heilmann, Snider, Waner....the list goes on and on, mein Freund...

1 Reply

@Wunderkind,

Thanks for reviving the thread, a great one, and I'd completely missed it all this time.

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All Time "Ethnic" Baseball Teams

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