1. Nebraska’s Greatest
Contribution to the
Major Leagues
The History of Major League Baseball
Told from the Perspective the Best
Players Born in Nebraska

2. Joba Chamberlain

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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

6. Crawford and Cobb

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. Grover Cleveland Alexander
Born in Elba, Nebraska in 1887
Named for President Grover
Cleveland
Entered the Minor Leagues 1909

12. 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

13. 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

14. "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

15. Toured with Grover Cleveland
Alexander’s House of David

16. A Winning Team

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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)

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Everett Virgil “Pid” Purdy
Born 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.

24. 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

25. 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.

26. Johnny Hopp
Born 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. The 1968 Season
Year 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

31. 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

32. 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