South Dakota and Wyoming

Dino and I were at the game last night. Grr. One exciting change at Fenway (maybe new only to me): for each player's at-bat there's now a unique tidbit about that player. "So-and-so had seven multi-hit games last months, tying him for twelfth all time for right-handed shortstops in the month of April." For Mark Ellis, we learned that he has more career home runs than any other player born in South Dakota...41! Second place was Dave Collins (also from Rapid City) with 32. Terry Francona (Aberdeen) was fourth, with 16. Other notable South Dakotans include Keith Foulke, Sparky Anderson, Justin Duchscherer, and Kerry Ligtenberg. (Also, two guys named Jug and Jiggs.)

Anyway, on learning about Mark Ellis's amazing South Dakotan slugging ability, I announced that Mike Lansing, my Second Favorite Red Sock Of All Time (second only to this guy of course), had the most home runs of all players born in Wyoming. We then argued over how many he actually had, and decided the one furthest from the correct answer had to sponsor his BR page. So, keep an eye on this (the sponsorship should be posted within 24 hours).

Regardless of the bet, it turned out my initial assertion was wrong. Only twelve players in MLB history were born in Wyoming. But Lansing, with 84 career HR, is actually second on the Wyoming career HR list. Mike Devereaux, from Casper, hit 104. However, Lansing is 1st in steals, runs, doubles, and walks.

Therefore, Mike Lansing is awesome.

The end.