Who is Delaware's all-time best baseball player? VOTE now
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Delaware and baseball have long and proud historic connections, with First State players making an impact on major league teams since the late 19th century.
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That continues today, with several players from Delaware dotting big-league rosters while others strive to join them. Maybe the best of them could someday join the two players from Delaware enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
With the United States nearing its 250th anniversary of gaining independence, USA TODAY Sports will celebrate the 250 greatest American sports figures of all time.
At the root of that are the high school athletes who became familiar names in their schools, communities and the state of Delaware while making headlines with their athletic exploits. The USA TODAY Network hopes to first spotlight those individuals.
Here in Delaware, we’re compiling lists of the best players in several sports. We recently published a collection of top Delaware football, field hockey and boys and girls basketball players.
Now it’s the spring season’s turn and we’ll start with baseball, a sport in which Delaware players have frequently excelled at its highest levels.
These are our choices for Delaware’s 10 best baseball standouts, listed alphabetically:
Bill Bruton
The Wilmington native had a 12-year big-league career, often batting leadoff and patrolling center field with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves (1953-60) and Detroit Tigers (1961-64). Bruton batted .273 for his career, led the National League in stolen bases his first three seasons, was the NL leader in runs and triples in 1960 and batted .412 in the 1958 World Series against the Yankees.
Delino DeShields
DeShields made headlines as a Nanticoke Little Leaguer before being first-team All-State in football, basketball and baseball at Seaford High and accepting a basketball scholarship to Villanova. But he was the 12th overall pick of the 1987 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos, signed and reached the big leagues in 1990, getting four hits in his first game. The second baseman played 13 seasons with the Expos, Dodgers, Cardinals, Orioles and Cubs, led the NL with 14 triples in 1997 and batted .268 and stole 463 career bases in his career.
Dallas Green
The 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher went 6-0 with a 0.88 ERA for the University of Delaware baseball team in 1955 to earn a tryout with Phillies, who signed the Conrad High grad. He’d whiffed 95 in 51 innings. Green went 20-22 with a 4.26 ERA in eight big-league seasons, the first five and last with the Phillies, before later managing the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980.
Judy Johnson
The 1975 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee came out of Wilmington and Howard High and starred in the Negro Leagues before the integration of Major League Baseball. A third baseman and shortstop, Johnson batted .304 from 1923-36 playing mainly with championship Hilldale Club – in Darby, outside Philadelphia -- and Pittsburgh Crawfords teams.
Dave May
The outfielder out of William Penn High had a 12-year big-league career in which he batted .251 and was a 1973 American League All-Star with the Milwaukee Brewers. May’s 295 total bases tied for the NL lead that year and he batted .303. May appeared in 1,252 games with Baltimore, where he played in the 1969 World Series, Milwaukee, Atlanta, Texas and Pittsburgh.
Derrick May
May was a football/basketball/baseball star at Newark High who accepted a football scholarship to Virginia Tech. But when the Cubs made him the ninth pick in the first round of the 1986 draft, May would follow his dad Dave into pro baseball. The outfielder batted .271 and hit 52 home runs over 10 seasons with the Cubs, Brewers, Astros, Phillies, Expos and Orioles.
Kevin Mench
The St. Mark’s High grad is the University of Delaware’s all-time leader in batting average (.409) and home runs (71), including his NCAA-high 33 in 1998. Mench then batted .268 with 89 homers in eight MLB seasons, the first 4½ with the Texas Rangers. He hit 26 homers for the Rangers in 2004 and 25 the next year. Mench was the first right-handed batter to ever homer in seven consecutive games.
Chris Short
The Lewes High graduate was a 20-game winner for the Phillies in 1966, the best of his 15 big-league seasons, 14 spent with Philadelphia. Short was a two-time National League All-Star and also won 18 games in 1965 and 19 in 1968. He finished with a 135-132 record and 3.43 ERA in 501 career games.
Ed Stone
Stone was born in Black Cat near where the Route 13 and 40 split is now located and attended Howard High. He played 12 seasons in the Negro National League for six different teams, mostly the Newark Eagles in New Jersey. A third baseman and outfielder, Stone had a career batting average of .313 and was an all-star in 1935, 1939 and 1940.
Vic Willis
Willis was a Newark resident who played one baseball season at the University of Delaware before beginning a pro career that landed him in the Hall of Fame. He pitched for Boston, Pittsburgh and St. Louis in the National League from 1898-1910, winning a World Series with the Pirates in 1909. He won 249 games, logged a 2.63 ERA and led the NL in various seasons in ERA, strikeouts, shutouts, starts and complete games.
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Who is Delaware's all-time best high school baseball player?Contact Kevin Tresolini at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Who is Delaware's all-time best baseball player? VOTE now