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SPRING TRAINING
Voters select Scottsdale spring training all stars
(Submitted Photo)
Ted Williams was the top vote getter for the outfield in Arizona Baseball Legacy and Experience’s 2023 all-time Scottsdale spring training all star team.
Posted
The distant past, the recent past and the present are all part of the all-time Scottsdale spring training All Star team.
Roughly 250 voters participated in a month-long process to select the team through a joint undertaking between the city of Scottsdale and the nonprofit group Arizona Baseball Legacy and Experience, according to a press release.
Voters participated both electronically and by filling out ballots available at a spring training exhibit entitled “Legends All Stars and Rogues” at Scottsdale’s Civic Center Library. The exhibit remains open through April.
The top vote getter among all players was Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams (169 votes), who trained in Scottsdale with the Red Sox from 1959-60. Joining Williams in Scottsdale’s all-time outfield are Barry Bonds (134 votes), who played for the Giants from 1993 through 2007, and Carl Yastrzemski (128 votes), who played for the Red Sox in Scottsdale from 1961 through 1965.
Only one of the Scottsdale All Stars still plays. Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford broke in with the team in 2011 and has two World Series rings. This will be his 12th season.
In all, five Major League teams have called Scottsdale Stadium their spring training home, more than any other venue. The Baltimore Orioles were the first in 1956, boasting a promising rookie named Brooks Robinson.
Robinson would go on to a Hall of Fame career, and not surprisingly, was a runaway selection by voters as Scottsdale’s all-time All Star third baseman.
“The spring training history of Scottsdale is rich and filled with great players,” Mike Phillips, president of the Arizona Baseball Legacy and Experience, said in a written statement. “We thought it would be fun for fans to pick the best of the best for a Scottsdale All Star team. There were several close position outcomes which just adds fuel to the never-ending debate over who was the greatest.”
Making the All Star team were five Giants, three Cubs, two Red Sox and a lone Oriole.
The Athletics, who trained in Scottsdale from 1979 to 1981, did not place anyone on the team, but they came close. Hall of Famer and all-time stolen base leader Rickey Henderson finished fourth in outfield voting for the Scottsdale All Star team.
Cubs players locked down both pitching slots -- long-time Cactus League ambassador Ferguson Jenkins was voted Scottsdale’s all-time starting pitcher and fellow Hall-of-Famer Bruce Sutter captured the closer’s role.
Below are complete results with vote totals. Scottsdale All Stars are in bold.
The mission of Arizona Baseball Legacy and Experience is to celebrate Arizona baseball. Learn more at ABLEAZ.org
Scottsdale All Star voting 2023:
First base
156 -- Ernie Banks, Cubs, 1967-71
68 -- Will Clark, Giants, 1986-2000
13 -- Andres Galarraga, Giants, 2003
