All-State Teams: New England

A few months ago, I started putting together all-time teams for each of the fifty states, but scrapped the project before getting it off the ground. Last week, I decided to start working on a revival. Instead of trying to piece together lineups from relatively small states, however, I'll pool some of the talent to create more impressive teams.

Up first: New England (sans Massachusetts - the commonwealth has more than enough resources to field a full squad).

Most of the players below were chosen according to merit. The only one I can think of that truly doesn't belong is Walter Woods, the relief pitcher from New Hampshire. Woods' presence on the team is easily explained by the fact that he is the only player in major league history from the town of Rye, where I spent the first 23 years of my life and much of my family still resides. How could I pass him over given those circumstances?

C: Carlton Fisk (1969-93) – 2499 G, 2356 H, 376 HR, 1330 RBI – Bellow Falls, VT
1B: Roger Connor (1880-97) – 1997 G, 2467 H, 1620 R, 138 HR, 233 3B, .317 BA - Waterbury, CT
2B: Napoleon Lajoie (1896-1916) – 2480 G, 3242 H, 1504 R, 1599 RBI, .338 BA – Woonsocket, RI
SS: Tommy Corcoran (1890-1907) – 2252 H, 387 SB – New Haven, CT
3B: Arlie Latham (1880-1909) – 1627 G, 1833 H, 1478 R, 739 SB – West Lebanon, NH
OF: Jim O’Rourke (1872-1893) – 2643 H, .311 BA, 1729 R – Bridgeport, CT
OF: Hugh Duffy (1888-1906) – 2282 H, 1552 R, .324 BA – Cranston, RI
OF: Jim Piersall (1950-67) – 1604 H, 104 HR – Waterbury, CT

SP: Mike Flanagan (1975-92) – 167-143 W-L, 3.90 ERA – Manchester, NH
SP: Steve Blass (1964-74) – 103-76 W-L, 3.63 ERA – Canaan, CT
SP: Bill Hutchison (1884-97) – 183-163 W-L, 3.59 ERA – New Haven, CT
SP: Ray Fisher (1910-20) – 100-94 W-L, 2.82 ERA – Middlebury, VT
SP: Bob Tewksbury (1986-1998) – 110-102 W-L, 3.92 ERA – Concord, NH

RP: Bob Stanley (1977-89) – 115-97 W-L, 132 SV – Portland, ME
RP: Clem Labine (1950-62) – 77-56 W-L, 96 SV – Lincoln, RI
RP: Walt Woods (1898-1900) – 18-26 W-L, 3.34 ERA – Rye, NH
RP: Ricky Bottalico (1994-2005) – 33-42 W-L, 116 SV – New Britain, CT
RP: Rob Dibble (1988-95) – 27-25 W-L, 89 SV – Bridgeport, CT
RP: Bill Swift (1985-98) – 94-78 W-L, 3.95 ERA, 27 SV – Portland, ME

Manager: Frank Selee (1890-1905) – 1284-862, 5 pennants – Amherst, NH