Oklahoma Baseball: Top 10 Sooners to Make Their Mark in the Big Leagues

We’ve reached the midway point of the 2016 Major League Baseball season and are just days away from this year’s Midsummer Classic, otherwise know as the All-Star Game. Since the first MLB All-Star Game in 1933, nine different University of Oklahoma baseball players have appeared in 11 All-Star Games.

All of which got me thinking about former Sooners who have played in the major leagues.

Sixty-nine former Oklahoma student-athletes have made it all the way to the major leagues, but only a handful of those have left more than a casual mark at the highest level of the game.

Former Sooner quarterback Cody Thomas was one of five Oklahoma players selected in this year’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Thomas recently signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sheldon Neuse is another, a first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in the 2016 draft. The All-Big 12 shortstop and Brooks Wallace Award winner as the best in the nation at that position is already playing professionally, as a new member of the Class A short-season Auburn Doubledays in the New York-Penn League.

Both of these former Sooners have a long road to travel to become major leaguers, but they are off of the starting line in quest of one day making it to the The Show.

Roughly 28 percent of the former Oklahoma players who have been MLB draft selections over the years have made it to the major leagues.

Currently, though, only three former OU stars are playing at the major-league level, all starting pitchers: Garrett Richards, a right-hander for the Los Angeles Angels, Jon Gray of the Colorado Rockies and Chase Anderson, who pitches for the Milwaukee Brewer.

Going back in time, however, there have been some pretty good players who hailed from OU who have enjoyed more than a casual cup of coffee at the big league level. Here are the ten I consider to be the very best, in no particular order (six pitchers and three position players):

Dale Mitchell

Dale Mitchell was the eighth Oklahoma Sooner player to reach the major leagues, but he was the first Sooner to be named a major-league All-Star. He reached the major leagues in 1946, his first season of professional baseball. A career .312 hitter, Mitchell, an outfielder, spent 11 seasons in the major league, all but a few months of that time with the Cleveland Indians. He might be best known, however, for making the final out for the Brooklyn Dodgers in in Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.. The Oklahoma baseball field, L. Mitchell Park, is named in his honor.

Lindy McDaniel

A native of Hollis, Okla., Lindy McDaniel enjoyed a 21-year career in the big leagues from 1955 to 1975, the longest of any former Sooner. Appearing primarily as a relief pitcher, McDaniel won 141 games and recorded 172 saves in his career, with an ERA of 3.45. He spent his first eight big league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he was named a National League All-Star in 1960. His most successful years, though, were as a member of the New York Yankees. He had a record of 38-29 in six seasons with the Yankees. He also played for the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals in his long MLB career.

Eddie Fisher

A left-handed reliever for most of his professional career, Eddie Fisher was one of the longest-tenured major-leaguers to have played collegiate ball at Oklahoma. Fisher had a 15-year career in the big leagues, appearing with six different teams. He signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants in 1958. He was with the Chicago White Sox the longest, three different times for a total of seven seasons. In 1965 with the White Sox, Fisher had a record of 15-7 and 24 saves, with an ERA of 2.40. He was one of the nine Oklahoma Sooners all-time to be named an MLB All-Star, being selected to represent the White Sox and the American League in 1965. For his career, Fisher won 85 games and saved 81.

Don Schwall

Don Schwall was an All-Big Eight basketball player at Oklahoma in 1957. He signed with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in 1958. He made his major-league debut on May 21, 1961, with the Red Sox and went on to post a career-best 15-7 record that season. He also was named to the American League All-Star Team in his rookie season. Schwall spent seven seasons in the major leagues with three different teams (Boston in the AL and Pittsburgh and Atlanta in the National League). His career record, mostly as a starter, was 49-48 with an ERA of 3.72.

Mickey Hatcher

Mickey Hatcher had a 12-year major-league career from 1979-1990. He spent six seasons each with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Minnesota Twins. A career .280 hitter with a career slash line of .280/.313/.377 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage), Hatcher’s best season as a big leaguer was in 1983 with the Twins, when he hit .317 for the season in 100 games. In 1988, he started all five World Series games in left field for the world-champion Dodgers.

Danny Jackson

Danny Jackson, a left-handed starting pitcher, was the first-round pick of the Kansas City Royals in the 1982 MLB Draft and made his major-league debut with the Royals in 1983. He was with the world-champion Royals in 1985 and started two World Series games against the St. Louis Cardinals, with whom he would end his career after three seasons (1995-97). In addition to the Royals and Cardinals, Jackson also played for the Cincinnati Reds (3 seasons), the Philadelphia Phillies (2 seasons), the Chicago Cubs (2 seasons) and one year each with the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres. Jackson’s best season in a 15-year MLB career was in 1988 with the Reds, with whom he posted a 23-8 record as a starter and a career-best 2.73 ERA. He was a National League All-Star that season and again with the Phillies in 1994.

Bobby Witt

Bobby Witt, a right-handed starting pitcher who had a 16-year career in major league baseball with six different teams, was the highest drafted Oklahoma Sooner until Jonathan Gray (1993) equaled Witt’s first-round, No. 3 overall selection. Witt was the top pick of the Texas Rangers in 1985. He spent 11 seasons with the Rangers, starting 269 games and posting an overall 104-104 record. His best season was in 1990, when he had a 17-10 record and a 3.36 ERA. Witt was with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001, when the D-Backs won the World Series, defeating the New York Yankees in seven games. He ranks 80th all-time in major league baseball with 1,955 strikeouts in his career.

Greg Norton

Greg Norton never was named an MLB All-Star, but he did play 13 seasons in the major leagues. The five seasons he spent mainly as a corner infielder (third and first base) and pinch-hitter for the Chicago White Sox was his longest stint with one team. He had 600 hits with six different teams, and his 89 career big-league home runs are the most by a former Sooner. In 1999 with Chicago, Norton played in 132 games, hit 16 home runs and drove in 50 runs.

Russ Ortiz

The Sooners produced another outstanding pitcher in Russ Ortiz, who began his professional career as the fourth-round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 1995. He spent his first five big league season with the Giants, producing a total of 69 wins and a combined record of 69-47. His best season, though, came with the Atlanta Braves in 2003, when the right-handed starter recorded one of the best pitching records in the National League at 21-7, with a 3.81 ERA in 22 starts. He was named to the NL All-Star Team that season and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting for the best pitcher in the NL that season. Ortiz’s big league career spanned 12 seasons with six teams (San Francisco, Atlanta, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles).

Jason Bartlett

Jason Bartlett, a shortstop, was drafted in the 13th round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres, but reached the major leagues in 2004 as a member of the Minnesota Twins. He eventually did play in the big leagues with the Padres, but not until near the end of his 10-year MLB career. Bartlett’s best seasons as a major-leaguer came in the three seasons he played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2008-10. A career .270 hitter, in 2009, Bartlett batted .286 with 14 home runs and 66 RBI and had a .690 on-base percentage. He had 169 hits that season and 30 stolen bases.