Top baseball player from every NWO county
O 1-2
Allen - Brad Komminsk (Lima Shawnee)
Over his eight year major league career Brad Komminsk played for six different ball clubs. Before being drafted fourth overall in 1979, Komminsk was a high school All-American. Komminsk will be best remembered for his over the wall catch that didn’t count.
Auglaize - Bob Ewing (New Hampshire)
The local boy had an impressive eleven year major league career just after the turn into the 20th century. Ewing started playing baseball professionally at age 24 for the local Wapakoneta team before eventually signing with the Reds. Ewing ended his career with a 2.49 ERA and 998 strikeouts. After his playing days Ewing would eventually become the sherriff of Auglaize County.
Crawford - Gates Brown (Crestline)
Gates Brown didn’t take the traditional route to the major leagues. Brown was serving time at the Mansfield State Reformitory when he started playing for the prison team and was scouted out by major league clubs. Signing with the Detroit Tigers, Brown would become a pinch hitter and play thirteen years in the majors. He is one of just six local players to win the World Series.
Defiance - Chad Billingsley (Defiance)
A star pitcher and cornerstone of the resurgance of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chad Billingsley started his baseball life for the powerhouse Defiance Bulldogs. Drafted in the first round straight out of high school, Billingsley only took a few seasons in the minors before becoming a major leaguer. Billingsley helped the Dodgers break a twenty year NLCS drought in 2008 and was named to the All Star team in 2009.
Erie - Elmer Smith (Milan)
Elmer Smith graduated from the now closed Milan High School. Smith started his career with local semi-pro teams before being scouted out by Cleveland. Smith had a strong start to his career before taking the 1918 season off due to being drafted for World War I. Smith would return and eventually win the World Series with Cleveland in 1920 where he hit the first grand slam in World Series history. Smith would also win the World Series with the Yankeees in 1923.
Fulton - Roy Beecher (Swanton)
Roy Beecher is Fulton County’s only professional baseball player. It is unclear how much of his life he spent in Swanton but his named appeared in multiple newspaper articles in the town. Beecher played a total of four major league games for the New York Giants.
Hancock - Grant Johnson (Findlay)
A pioneer of the Negro Leagues, Grant “Home Run” Johnson was one of the best local players in history. Johnson was a 1909 professional All-American and won multiple titles both domestically and internationally. Johnson also hit over .400 in multiple seasons.
Hardin - Ray Brown (Alger)
Hall of Famer Ray Brown never got the credit he deserved during his life due to his status as a negro league player, but that didn’t stop him from being selected to Cooperstown in 2006. A star at the now closed Alger High School, Brown would go on to a stellar career. In 14 years of Negro League baseball, Brown was a 2x All-Star and 2x World Series Champion. He also won the pitching Triple Crown in 1938. Brown is in both the Nationals and Pirates Hall of Fames for his contribution to baseball in the respective cities.
Henry - Rich Reese (Deshler)
The pride of Deshler, Rich Reese had a solid ten year major league career, mostly with the Twins. Although his exact birth year is unknown, Reese was a young prosepct that spent half a decade in the minors following graduation from Deshler before making his professional debut. Reese would play mostly play first base and left field for Minnesota and actually received MVP votes in 1969. Following his playing career he would go on to be the CEO of Jim Beam.
Huron - Andrew Chafin (Western Reserve)
One of the Diamondbacks star releivers at the moment, Wakeman native Andrew Chafin became Western Reserve’s first professional athlete when he took the mound in 2014. Chafin has spent most of his career as a Diamondback with layovers with the Athletics, Cubs and Tigers. Chafin is a fan favorite for his down-to-Earth country style with big hair and a big mustache.
Lucas - Roger Bresnahan (Toledo Central)
One of only two local players to be in the Hall of Fame, Roger Bresnehan was one of the few players of the era to attend high school where he attended the now closed Toledo Central. Bresnahan had a seventeen year major league career and was a World Series champion in 1905 with the Giants. Bresnahan also finished eleventh in the MVP voting in 1914. Bresnahan is also credited with the invention of the catcher’s mask.
Marion - Toby Harrah (Marion Elgin)
Signed to a major league contract out of a factory, Toby Harrah would go on to a seventeen year major league career. A star at Marion Elgin, every major league team tought he was going to accept a football scholarship, this turned out not to be true so Harrah went to work in a factory until the Phillies discovered the oversight and signed him in the winter of 1966. Harrah would go on to be the last ever player for the Washington Senators and become a four time All Star.
Mercer - Wally Post (St. Henry)
Mercer County’s first superstar, Wally Post had a fifteen year major league career. In 1955, Post led the NL in games played and finished 12th in the MVP voting. Post hit one of the longest home runs ever recorded, when in 1961 he sent a shot 569 ft. at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. He is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
Ottawa - Chris Bassitt (Genoa)
An ace for the Blue Jays, Curtice native and Genoa graduate Chris Bassitt is currently one of the top pitchers in the American League. Bassitt became the first Genoa graduate to play professional sports when he took the mound in 2014. Bassitt has since earned a spot on the All Star team and has received Cy Young votes in two different seasons.
Paulding - Doug Bair (Oakwood)
The only local player to win two World Series, Doug Bair was a star athlete at the now closed Oakwood High School. After attending Bowling Green State, Bair was drafted by the Pirates where he would began a fifteen year journeyman career. Bair would play for seven different teams and win a World Series with the Cardinals in 1982 and Tigers in 1984.
Putnam - Larry Cox (Ottawa-Glandorf)
Larry Cox was the first pro athlete to come out of the newly formed Ottawa-Glandorf High School. Cox spent many years in the minors before making his catching debut in 1973. Over his nine year major league career Cox would play for five different teams including being a member of the first ever Mariners squad.
Sandusky - Brad Snyder (Bellevue)
Bellevue’s Brad Snyder was an All-State performer for Bellevue before becoming one of the best players in Ball State history. Snyder made his major league debut in 2010 after years in the minors and would bounce back and forth between the two before his retirement in 2017.
Seneca - Grant Jackson (Fostoria)
Fostoria’s Grant Jackson had a long and winding life in baseball. Jackson was a phenomenal athlete for Fostoria during its industrial years before going on to an eighteen year major league career where he would reach the World Series with three different teams, finally winning the title with the Pirates in 1979. Jackson was also an All Star for the Phillies in 1969.
Van Wert - Phil Saylor (Van Wert)
Van Wert County’s only professional baseball player, Phil Saylor played one game for the Phillies in 1891. Not much is known about Saylor other than that he attened Ohio Wesleyan just before turning pro.
Williams - Matt Wisler (Bryan)
One of Bryan’s famed pitchers, Matt Wisler has had a solid career in professional baseball. Making his debut in 2015, Wisler has played for a handful of teams in his career and currently under contract with the Tigers and assigned to the Toledo Mud Hens.
Wood - Chris Hoiles (Elmwood)
Chris Hoiles was an Orioles favorite for ten years as a catcher. He was a part of many memorable moments, like hitting a walk off grand slam when down by three runs to beat the Mariners in 1996, or having an errorless season in 1997 or becoming the first catcher to hit two grand slams in one game in 1998. Also, Hoiles just nearly missed the All Star team in 1993 and finished sixteenth in the All Star voting. He is a member of the Orioles Hall of Fame.
Wyandot - Ed Hahn (Nevada)
Nevada’s Ed Hahn started his major league career at the age of twenty-seven in the minors before making his major league debut the very next year. Midway through his first full year, Hahn was sold to the Chicago White Sox. In the World Series, Hahn was hit by a pitch and broke his nose before coming back two games later to eventually help the White Sox take their first ever pennant.
