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Best Iowa Born Players In The History of The MLB

Andre Queiros
Aug 23, 2022
10 min read

Iowa, the home of the Iowa Cubs, a Triple-A affiliate team of the Chicago Cubs, is also the home of many important players that played in the MLB.

 

Some are still among the ranks of the Major League, others have already retired. Nonetheless, the Hawkeye State has produced major talents that have not gone unnoticed.

 

Before we show a list of some of the best players from Iowa in the MLB, let’s look at some of the current Iowa stars that are active and playing in the 2022 season.

 

Active Iowa Players In The MLB

1. Derek Hill

 

Team: Detroit Tigers

Home Town: Des Moines

 

Derek Hill is a 26 years-old Centerfielder that currently plays and was drafted in the 1st round (23rd) of the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft by the Detroit Tigers from Elk Grove HS. 

 

Since joining the Detroit Tigers in the MLB, the right-handed hitter is batting a combined .240 with 4 Home Runs and 17 RBI in 223 Regular Season games.

 

This season Derek Hill is batting a combined .229 with 1 Home Run and 3 RBI. Currently, Derek Hill has been optioned to the Toledo Mud Hens, the Detroit Tigers Triple-A affiliate team, and is playing in the minors after struggling at the plate.

 

2. Mitch Keller

 

 

 

Team: Pittsburgh Pirates

Home Town: Cedar Rapids

 

Mitch Keller is a 26 years-old Pitcher that currently plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB.

 

He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2nd round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft from Xavier HS.

 

The right-handed pitcher has played in 58 games, and has an ERA of 5.49.

 

This season Keller has played in 19 games, allowing 101 Hits, and 50 runs, and has an ERA of 4.55. He currently holds a record of 3 wins and 7 losses.

 

3. Michael Wacha

 

Team: Boston Red Soxs

Home Town: Iowa City

 

Michael Wacha is a 31 years-old Pitcher that currently plays for the Boston Red Sox in the MLB.

 

He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st round ( 19th ) of the 2012 MLB June Amateur Draft from Texas A&M University.

 

He was born on July 1, 1991, in Iowa City, Iowa, and is a Right Handed Pitcher. Since joining the MLB, Wacha has played in 215 games, and has a career ERA of 4.05.

 

This season Wacha has played in 13 games, allowing 56 Hits and 23 runs, and has an ERA of 2.69. He currently holds a record of 6 wins and 1 loss.

 

The All-Time Best MLB Players From Iowa State

These are some other current MLB players from Iowa, but the state has offered a lot of legends to the MLB.

 

Now we will get to what you came here to see, the best MLB players ever from Iowa. Here are the top 10 MLB players of all-time from the Hawkeye state.

1. Bob Feller

 

When we talk about the best player in MLB from Iowa, we have to talk about the absolute best.

 

Bob Feller was born on November 3, 1918 in Van Meter, Iowa and passed away on December 15, 2010, aged 92.

 

Nicknamed Rapid Robert, the right handed pitcher made his debut in the MLB on July 19, 1936 aged only 17 years-old for the Cleveland Indians (currently the Cleveland Guardians) which ended up being Feller’s only team in his 18 years of career in the majors. 

 

Feller was mostly known for his amazing fastball. He played in 570 games in his career, and had a career ERA of 3.25 with 266 wins and 162 Losses.

 

Bob Feller pitched 3 no-hitters in his career, and was a 8x AL All-Star and won the World Series with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

 

Since 1962 Bob Feller is in the MLB Hall of Fame and his Uniform Number has been retired by the Cleveland Indians in 1957 in his honor.

 

Bob Feller was the first American professional athlete to enlist in the armed forces and often said that the most important thing that he ever did was enlist in the Navy.

 

 

 

2. Hank Severeid

 

Hank Severeid was born on June 1, 1981 in Story City, Iowa and died on December 17, 1968, aged 77.

 

Hank Severeid, catcher, made his debut on May 15, 1911 aged 19 years-old for the Cincinnati Reds. During his 15 years in the Majors, Hank played for 4 different teams. 

 

He played 11 years with the St. Louis Browns, 3 years with the Cincinnati Reds, 2 years with the Washington Senators and finally played 1 year for the New York Yankees in his last season.

 

Hank Severeid had a combined .289 batting average with 17 Home Runs, 1245 Hits and 539 RBI.

 

He was known as a tough catcher who hated the pitchout and preferred to throw out runners from behind the plate with a traditional throw.

 

His last career game was with the New York Yankees in the 1926 World Series where the Yankees ended up losing against the St. Louis Cardinals.

 

 

3. Cap Anson

 

Cap Anson was born on April 17, 1852 in Marshalltown, Iowa and died on April 14, 1922 aged 69. 

 

Anson was a First Baseman, Third Baseman and a Catcher, who made his debut on May 6, 1871 aged 19.

 

He played 27 seasons in the MLB, 22 of those were with the Chicago White Stockings, 4 with the Philadelphia Athletics and 1 with the Rockford Forest Citys.

 

During those seasons Anson combined a .334 batting average with 3435 hits, 1999 runs and 97 Home Runs. His 3,435 career hits rank seventh all-time in the MLB.

 

Anson’s racist refusal to play barnstorming games against teams with black players bolstered the growing segregation movement within baseball that led to a ban on players of color that wouldn’t be crossed until Jackie Robinson’s historic 1947 season.

 

Nonetheless, Cap Anson has been part of the MLB Hall of Fame since 1939.

 

 

4. Bobby Knoop

 

Bobby Knoop was born in October 18, 1938 in Sioux City, Iowa and he is currently 83 years-old.

 

Bobby was a Second Baseman who made his debut on April 13, 1964 aged 25. He played 9 seasons with the California Angels Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. 

 

The Baseman combined for a .236 batting average with 856 Hits, 56 Home Runs and 331 RBI. Bobby was an MLB AL All-Star in 1966. 

 

On September 5, 2013, the Angels inducted Bobby Knoop into the Angels Hall of Fame. 

 

After retiring Bobby coached for 21 seasons in the majors, for teams like the White Shox, Angels and the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

 

5. Dave Bancroft 

 

Dave Bancroft was born on April 20, 1891 in Sioux City, Iowa and died on October 9, 1972, aged 81 years old. 

 

Bancroft was a shortstop who made his debut on April 14, 1915 aged 23. Dave Bancroft was a quick-handed shortstop that combined for .279 batting average with 2,004 Hits, 32 Home Runs and 591 RBI.

 

His very good eye allowed Bancroft to draw 827 career walks against 487 strikeouts. Bancroft was the successor to Honus Wagner as the premier shortstop in the National League.

 

Dave’s nickname is “Beauty” for his habit of shouting “Beauty!” whenever he saw a good-looking pitch.

 

In his 16 seasons in the MLB, Bancroft won the World Series with the New York Giants in 1921 and 1922. In 1971 Bancroft was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

6. Fred Clarke

 

Fred Clarke was born on October 3, 1872 in Winterset, Iowa and died on August 14, 1960 aged 87.

 

Clarke was a Left Fielder that combined for a batting average of .312 with 2678 Hits, 67 HR and 1015 RBI.

 

Clarke developed a reputation as an excellent hitter, a fast and aggressive base runner, a daring defender and a fearless competitor. In 1897 he averaged a batting average of .390.

 

As a manager, Clarke won 1,602 games and led the Pittsburgh Pirates to 4 National Leagues pennants and a World Series crown in 1909. In 1945 he was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

7. Cal Mcvey

 

Cal Mcvey was born on August 30, 1849 in Montrose, Iowa and died on August 20, 1926 at the age of 76. 

 

Mcvey was a First Baseman, Catcher and Outfielder that combined for a batting average of .346 with 869 Hits, 11 HR and 449 RBI during his 9 seasons in MLB.

 

He was part of the Red Stocking team that won 82 games in a row over 2 seasons in MLB.

 

Then, he went on to play for the Chicago White Stocking alongside fellow Iowan native Cap Anson.

 

Mcvey was known as a powerful hitter who hit over .300 in 8 of his 9 seasons. He retired at 29 and moved on to work as a real estate agent and a farmer.

 

 

8. Dazzy Vance

 

Dazzy Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, Iowa and died on February 16, 1941 aged 69. 

 

Vance was a pitcher that ended with a career ERA of 3.24 and a record of 197 Wins and 140 losses over 16 seasons in MLB.

 

Vance won the National League with the Brooklyn Robins in 1924 and 10 years later went on to win the World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1934.

 

In 1955 he was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame as a Brooklyn Dodger.

 

 

9. Hal Trosky

 

Hal Trosky was born on November 11, 1912 in Norway, Iowa and died on June 18, 1979 aged 66.

 

Trosky was a first baseman that currently is the Hawkeye State born player with the most Home Runs. He spent much of his career in the shadows of some of the greatest power-hitting first basemans like Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig.

 

During his 11 seasons in the majors, he combined to a .302 batting average, 228 Home Runs, 1561 Hits and 1012 RBI.

 

10. Cal Eldred

 

Cal Eldred was born on November 24, 1967 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he is currently 54 years old.

 

Eldred was a pitcher drafted by the New York Mets in the 26th round of the 1986 MLB June Amateur Draft from Urbana Community HS.

 

His debut was on September 24, 1991 and he played his last game on October 1, 2005.

 

Cal ended with a 4,42 ERA and 86 Wins and 74 Losses over 14 seasons in the majors.

 

He won the AL Pitcher of the Month in September 1992 and June 1994 as a Milwaukee Brewer and in June 2000 as a Chicago White Sox player. Plus, he also won the Brewers Pitcher of the Year in 1993.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

These are some of the best MLB players born in Iowa, and there will be plenty more to come in the future.

 

There have been more than 220 Iowan players in the majors. Cap Anson and Cal Mcvey were the first players to get into the majors.

 

7 Iowan have earned their spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. They were the pitchers Red Faber, Bob Feller and Dazzy Vance and position players Cap Anson, Dave Bancroft and Fred Clarke. Also, executive J.L Wilkinson is also in the Hall of Fame.

 

 

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

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