Greatest Arizona-Born Baseball Players

A couple of years ago, Barnett’s Sports Arizona magazine selected the 50 greatest Arizona athletes. One of the selection prerequisites was that the athlete must have been born and raised in Arizona. Arizona State University and NFL football star Curley Culp was named the greatest Arizona-born athlete, followed by Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Charlie Hickcox. Among Arizona’s top 50 athletes were ten present and former major leaguers. University of Arizona and New York Giants star Hank Leiber, ranked number eight on the Sports Arizona list, was rated the top Arizona-born baseball player. The following are Sport Arizona’s biographies on the top Arizona-born athletes from the sport of baseball.

Hank Leiber

It was the spring of 1932 and Hank Leiber was standing in the lobby of the plush Los Angeles Biltmore, anxiously awaiting his first encounter with the New York Giants John J. McGraw. Always in search of talent, McGraw had sent word years earlier to his former ace hurler, Art Nehf, who was living in Arizona, that he should keep an eye out for anyone that looked like a ballplayer. Nehf had been searching for quite some time to find a player who could compete at the major league level before he came across Leiber. And boy could Leiber play.

Born in Phoenix on January 17, 1911, Leiber was a big strapping fellow at 6-feet-l, 225 pounds. At Phoenix Union High, Leiber was the Arizona High School Baseball Player of the Year in 1928. He was also a star in football and an all-state center in basketball. In college, Leiber was a three-sport star at the University of Arizona, where he excelled in baseball, football and basketball. Famed Southern California Coach Howard Jones called Leiber “the greatest plunging back I ever saw.” He was named All-Southwestern Conference as a fullback in 1930 and 1931. But as good as Leiber was at football, it was baseball where he would make his living.

Leiber broke into the big leagues with the Giants in 1933 as an outfielder. He played in 813 games with the Giants (1933-38, ’42) and Chicago Cubs (1939-41) during a 10-year career that was cut short by two beanballs. Leiber was a three-time National League All-Star, who played in two World Series with the Giants, losing to the New York Yankees in 1936 and 1937. In 1935, Leiber had his best year, hitting .331 with 22 home runs, 110 runs scored and 107 runs batted in. With the Cubs in 1939, Leiber belted three home runs in one game and finished with 24, fourth best in the National League behind Johnny Mize, Mel Ott and Dolf Camilli. Known for his plate-crowding stance, Leiber suffered his first beaning in 1937 when he was hit during spring training by an 18-year-old rookie pitcher from Cleveland named Bob Feller. He missed most of that season but returned to hit .364 in the World Series. The second and more serious beaning took place in 1941 when he was hit in the head by the Giants’ Cliff Melton. A year after the incident, he retired. Leiber finished his career with a lifetime .288 average and 101 home runs.

After leaving baseball, he returned to Tucson and became a successful real-estate developer. He passed away in November, 1993, at the age of 82.

John Denny

John Denny was 23 years old when he began his second season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976. He was coming off a solid rookie season, when he posted a 10-7 record, and was looking for an encore performance. He found it. By allowing just five earned runs in 47 innings during the final month of the season, Denny edged out Tom Seaver and Doug Rau for the National League ERA (earned run average) title. His 2.52 ERA tied him with Lon Warneke (1932), Bill Doak (1914), and Jeff Tesreau (1912) as the youngest right-handed NL pitchers to win the title. Denny won 11 games that year and went on to post double figures in wins seven times during a 12-year career spent with St. Louis, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati.

Denny’s crowning accomplishment came in 1983 when he went 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA and overwhelmingly captured the National League Cy Young Award after garnering 20 of 24 first place votes. His .760 winning percentage was the second-highest in Phillies’ history. Philadelphia reached the World Series that season and Denny was on the mound in Game One. He pitched the Phillies to a 1-0 advantage by limiting the Baltimore Orioles to one run over 7 2/3 innings of a 2-1 victory, though Baltimore went on to win the series in five games. Denny’s 2.45 ERA in 1984 would have been good enough for a second ERA title, but he was 7 2/3 innings short of qualifying due to an elbow problem that forced him to miss 59 games. Denny finished his career with a 123-108 record.

Born in Prescott on November 8, 1952, Denny lettered in baseball, football, basketball and track at Prescott High School. He holds the school record for strikeouts in a game (19) and was honorable mention all-state. In football, Denny was a punishing defensive back who earned second-team All-AAA Skyline Region Honors. Denny attended Yavapai Junior College and Southern Illinois University.

Billy Hatcher

The 1990 World Series was one to remember for Billy Hatcher. The Cincinnati Red became the first player in series history to hit safely in his first seven at-bats and finished with the .750 average (9-for-12) as the Reds swept the Oakland A’s. His bat went straight to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Born in Williams on October 4, 1960, Hatcher attended Williams High School and was three times all-state in baseball, two times all-state in football and two times state track and field champion in four events. Hatcher finished his high school career with a .516 average, and was a junior college All-American at Yavapai College in Prescott. A career .268 hitter, Hatcher played 11 years in the major leagues with six teams.

He was hired as a minor-league instructor by the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in December of 1995.

Tom Pagnozzi

A three-time Gold Glove winner, Tom Pagnozzi is considered one of the best defensive catchers in the major leagues. He spent his entire 11-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals and participated in a World Series and two League Championship Series. He was a National League All-Star in 1992.

Born on July 29, 1962 in Tucson, Pagnozzi attended Rincon High School, where he received all-state honors in baseball. He also lettered in basketball. Pagnozzi started his college career at Central Arizona Junior College and broke school records for batting average, doubles, runs and hits. After transferring to Arkansas, Pagnozzi was named All-Southwest Conference in 1983, after leading the team in hitting (.362), runs batted in (50), and doubles (16). As a pro, Pagnozzi had his best season in 1996, when he batted .270 with 13 home runs, 55 RBI.

Alex Kellner

Alex Kellner grew up on a 25-acre ranch, just seven miles out of Tucson in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains. It was at the age of 4 that Kellner first began shagging flies from his father, Johnny (who played in the Arizona Leagues during the 1920s). Born on August 16, 1924, Kellner was named after Hall of Fame pitcher Grover “Cleveland” Alexander. Kellner worked on his pitching control by constantly throwing tennis balls through a drainpipe on the ranch. The practice made Kellner one of the most dominating left-handed pitchers ever to be produced in Arizona. He attended Amphitheater High School, where he was named High School Baseball Player of the Year in 1938.

In 1943, Kellner joined the Navy, where he was the water-tender aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. He broke into the major leagues with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics squad late in 1948. In his 1949 rookie season. Kellner was one of the top hurlers in the league. He won 20 games and earned a spot on the American League All-Star Team. Kellner won 101 games and lost 112 during a 12-year career with Philadelphia, Kansas City, Cincinnati and St. Louis. He settled back in Tucson when his playing days were over and worked in construction. He passed away in May 1996.

Gary Gentry

It was a 1971 article in Sports Today in which Gary Gentry, then a pitcher for the New York Mets, talked about his hatred of living in the Big Apple during the baseball season. The Phoenix native mentioned that he was more comfortable in Arizona where he loved to hop on his motorcycle and drive up the trails at Squaw Peak and Camelback mountains. Gentry enjoyed nothing more than riding those trails, gazing at the mountains and breathing the clean air.

Born on October 6, 1946, Gentry was a three-sport star at Camelback High School, where he was an all-scholastic in football, a guard on the basketball squad and a second baseman on the baseball team. At Phoenix College, Gentry was a two-time All-American and pitched the school to the National Junior College Championship. Then he enrolled at Arizona State and during his sophomore year compiled a 17-1 record, winning sixteen straight games at one point, and leading ASU to the 1967 NCAA title. Gentry’s 229 strikeouts that season is a school record and his ERA of 1.14 ranks third best in the record books. He was All-American and named the College Player of the Year that season. He is in the ASU Sports Hall of Fame.

As a pro, Gentry played seven years with the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves, compiling a 46-49 career record. In the Mets miracle season of 1969, Gentry, then a rookie, won 13 games and lost 12. He won the third game of the World Series against Baltimore that year, allowing no runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Eddie Leon

Born in Tucson on August 11, 1946, Eddie Leon was an all-state baseball player his senior year at Tucson High. At the University of Arizona, the shortstop was a two-time All-American and three-time team MVP. In 1966, he set a school and national record with 75 runs batted in. In 1967, he led the Wildcats in hitting (.340) and finished his career second on the school’s all-time list with 28 triples. The sure-handed infielder played for three teams in an eight-year major league career. He was a charter member of UA’s Hall of Fame and is now involved with real estate development in Tucson.

Don Lee

One of the most dominant pitchers of his time, Don Lee holds several University of Arizona records, including most career wins (38), most complete games (36), and shutouts (8). Lee went 14-2 his junior year and 15-0 with a 1.14 earned run average in his senior year, when he earned All-America honors. He is a member of the school’s Hall of Fame. Born in Globe on February 26, 1934, Lee lettered in baseball, football, and basketball at North Phoenix High School and was a member of the 1949 state championship baseball team. He played for six teams in a nine-year major league career. Lee is retired and lives in Tucson.

Phil Ortega

Born of Yaqui Indian and Mexican descent on October 7, 1938 in Gilbert, Phil Ortega was one of the most dominating Arizona high school pitchers of all time. At Mesa High, Ortega compiled a 28-5 career record with 337 strikeouts and a 0.82 ERA as he led the school to two state championships. He was the first player named High School Baseball Player of the Year two consecutive seasons (1958 and 1959). Nicknamed the “Chief,” he spent 1O years in the major leagues with three teams. He compiled double figures in victories three straight seasons from 1965 through 1967.

Lerrin LaGrow

A veteran of 10 major league seasons, Lerrin LaGrow was born in Phoenix on July 8, 1948. He attended Glendale High School and was all-state in baseball and all-conference in basketball. At Arizona State University, LaGrow was 19-1 over a two year period. He ranks third at ASU in all-time winning percentage (.950) and is a member of the school’s Sports Hall of Fame. As a member of the Detroit Tigers’ farm team, LaGrow was named Southern League Player of the Year in 1970. He had his best season in the majors when he went 7-3 with a 2.45 ERA and 25 saves in 1977 for the Chicago White Sox.

Curt Blakeney is the editor of Harnett’s Sports Arizona magazine. This article is reprinted courtesy of Sport’s Arizona.