North and South Dakota entered the union on the same day 120 years ago this month. They’ll be together again in this project, because on their own they wouldn’t have enough players.
I mentioned in the Alabama post that my dad watched Satchel Paige pitch in Bismarck. Both of my parents were born in North Dakota and many relatives remain there. My grandfather, my dad’s dad, was born in South Dakota and was on the front lines in World War I when the shooting stopped. My parents both served in WWII and this seems like a good week to honor the service of Americans past and present.
Not surprisingly, there aren’t a lot of players from the Dakotas. Just barely over the 50 mark. And unfortunately, Roger Maris isn’t one of them.
Maris is big in North Dakota. There’s a Roger Maris Museum in Fargo, which I have visited. He went to high school in Fargo and he’s buried there. But he was born in Hibbing, Minn. So that makes him a member of the Minnesota Muskies for our purposes. Sorry.
The top players will be DH Travis Hafner – who will be forced to wear a glove in this DH-less project – and outfielder-first baseman-punter Darin Erstad. Author/catcher Chris Coste will play a lot as will Carroll Hardy, an NFL player for a while and the only man to pinch hit for Ted Williams. And Ken Hunt, who had a big year in 1961 with the expansion Angels and who was also the stepfather of Butch Patrick, a/k/a Eddie Munster.
The pitching will keep things respectable. The bullpen of Keith Foulke, Terry Forster and Kerry Ligtenberg should hold leads if they get them. The rotation is headed by Floyd Bannister, Jim “Death Valley Days” Scott and Rick Helling.
Two managers, both born in South Dakota, are the candidates. They’ve combined for five World Series wins. For now, Sparky Anderson has a 3-2 edge on Terry Francona. “Tito” still has time though, but he’ll be needed as a player for this team as an outfielder-first baseman. So Sparky will get the call. This won’t be anything like his days with the Reds or the Tigers, of course, but the pitching will keep them from being at the bottom.
DAKOTA ROUGHRIDERS
RH Raleigh Aitchison
LH Floyd Bannister
LH Brandon Claussen
OF Dave Collins
CA Chris Coste
RH Justin Duchscherer
2B Mark Ellis
OF Darin Erstad
LH Terry Forster
RH Keith Foulke
UT Terry Francona
1B Travis Hafner
CA Truck Hannah
OF Carroll Hardy
RH Tom Hausman
RH Rick Helling
OF Ken Hunt
UT Tim Johnson
OF Jason Kubel
RH Kerry Ligtenberg
RH Lynn Nelson
2B Marv Olson
UT Tim Olson
3B Del Paddock
CA Len Rice
RH Jim Scott
RH John Strohmayer
3B Kermit Wahl
Next: The other three-headed monster.
Base instincts 