Baseball Reflections

Best Baseball Players From Rhode Island

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Rhode Island (RI) is one of the if not the smallest states in the US. So I was interested to find out how many MLB players were actually from RI; the answer is 117 (39 pitchers and 78 position players). The average years played in the big leagues is 5 years. The pitcher with the longest career was Johnny Cooney who played from 1921 – 1944 (20 years). The position player with the longest career was Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie who played from 1896 – 1916 (21 years) with Gabby Hartnett a close second playing from 1922-1941 (20 years).

Needless to say, the odds of playing in the big leagues if you are born in RI are slim. Rhode Island sports betting is one of only 21 other states who have legalized sports betting.

That being said, there are three (3) Hall of Famers who were born in RI. Nap Lajoie who played for 21 years from 1896 to 1916. He played in 2,480 games, had 10,468 plate appearances, scored 1,504 Runs, 3,243 Hits, 657 Doubles, 163 Triples, 1,599 RBIs and 380 SB while keeping a .338 Ave and a WAR of 106.93. Gabby Hartnett played for 20 years from 1922 to 1941, played in 6 All Star games and had 236 HRs with 1,179 RBIs a .297 Ave and a WAR of 56.88. Hugh Duffy played 17 years from 1888 to 1906. He scored 1,554 Runs, 2,293 Hits, 119 Triples, 106 HRs, 1,302 RBIs, 574 SBs while hitting .326 and a WAR of 43.07.

Other notable players from RI are Paul Konerko who played in 18 years from 1997 to 2014. He played in 6 All Star games, 2,349 Games, 1,162 Runs scored, 2,340 Hits, 439 HRs, 1,412 RBIs. Davey Lopes, the long time Dodger played 16 years from 1972 to 1987 and played in 4 All Star games and had 557 SBs. Catcher Chris Iannetta played 14 years from 2006 to 2019.

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