Who is the greatest Cub born in each state or country?

Around here, we like to note that there are Cubs fans from all over the country and in fact, from all over the world. No matter if you live a few blocks from Wrigley Field, Massachusetts, California, or in the farthest corners of the world, you’re still a part of the Cubs family. But did you know that the Cubs players come from all over the United States and the world as well?

I’ve gone through baseball-reference.com and looked up the greatest Cub from every state and a few foreign countries. This list is a bit subjective, but if you want to argue against my choices, do so in the comments below.

Also, each player is listed as coming from the state or country that they were born in. Yes, I know someone might have moved away as a toddler and grew up somewhere else, but I’m not going to try to adjudicate every single Cubs player by where they spent the most of their childhood.

With that said, here’s my list. Feel free to offer your own suggestions!

Alabama: Billy Williams

Sweet swingin’ Billy Williams from Whistler, Alabama. Hey, this is easy so far.

Alaska: No one

Now I’ve run into a problem. There have only been 12 major league ballplayers born in the state of Alaska and none have played for the Cubs. Daniel Schlereth played for the Iowa Cubs and Aaron Cunningham made it as far as Spring Training in 2014.

Arizona: Lou Novikoff

It was either him or Bob Howry. “The Mad Russian” Novikoff is more famous for being a colorful player than a good one, but at least he played four years for the Cubs, mostly during World War II, but spent the pennant-winning 1945 season in Los Angeles.

Arkansas: Don Kessinger

California: Frank Chance

Colorado: Gene Packard

The Cubs signed Packard from Kansas City when the Federal League collapsed. He pitched only 39 games and 157 innings for the Cubs in 1916 and April of 1917, but he put up a 2.87 ERA, which is good but not great for the deadball era. But it’s probably better than the one year Goose Gossage played for the Cubs. Or the one game of Brian Matusz.

Connecticut: Fred Goldschmidt

Goldschmidt was a pitcher who won 107 games for the White Stockings in the early 1880s when you still had to pitch underhanded.

District of Columbia: Johnny Klippstein

Swingman for the Cubs in the early ‘50s.

Delaware: Delino DeShields

Florida: Andre Dawson

I’m going with Dawson for now, but Anthony Rizzo may already have the better case. At the moment, they’ve played almost the exact same number of games in a Cub uniform and Rizzo will pass him in the next few days.

Georgia: Jody Davis

You could make a case for Moises Alou if you want. I won’t.

Hawaii: Scott Feldman

Idaho: Larry Jackson

Illinois: Phil Cavarretta

Indiana: Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown

Iowa: Cap Anson

Anson’s parents founded the city of Marshalltown, Iowa.

Kansas: Joe Tinker

Kentucky: Fred Pfeffer

Pfeffer was the White Stockings’ starting second baseman throughout most of the 1880s and one of the better power hitters of the era.

Louisiana: Lee Smith

Maine: George Gore

Another White Stocking of the 1880s, Gore was a speedy outfielder and the only Maine-born player to ever win a batting title when he hit .360 in 1880.

Maryland: Bill Nicholson

“Swish” was an outfielder on the Cubs from 1939 to 1948, hitting 205 home runs and winning the National League home run title in 1943 and 1944.

Massachusetts: Jimmy Ryan

Look, the White Stockings of the 1880s were a really good team, OK? Ryan was an outfielder for the Chicago White Stockings/Colts/Orphans from 1885 to 1900. He had 2,084 hits as a proto-Cub and 99 home runs.

Michigan: Kiki Cuyler

Minnesota: Michael Wuertz

The Twins rarely let the good Minnesotans leave the state. If they get away, they get them back.

Mississippi: Guy Bush

Missouri: Rick Sutcliffe

Montana: Ed Bouchee

There are only 23 Montana-born major league ballplayers in history. Bouchee was the Cubs’ first baseman in 1960 and 1961. The only other Cub born in Montana was third baseman Dave Meier, who batted .400 in his time with the Cubs in 1988. Of course, it was only 2 for 5.

Nebraska: Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander

Nevada: Kris Bryant

Although he grew up in Nevada, Greg Maddux was born in Texas.

New Hampshire: Lefty Tyler

Tyler pitched for the Cubs from 1918 to 1921, starting Games 2, 4 and 6 of the 1918 World Series. He lost Game 6 after allowing two unearned runs over seven innings. If Max Flack had caught the line drive in the fourth inning, Cubs fans might be taunted with “1918” like the Red Sox fans were for years and Boston fans could have heard “1916.”

Yes, he’s better than Sam Fuld.

New Jersey: Bill Hands

New Mexico: Ralph Kiner

New York: Johnny Evers

North Carolina: Mark Grace

North Dakota: Lynn Nelson

Only 17 major leaguers are from North Dakota and Nelson, who pitched for the Cubs in 1930 and 1933, is the only North Dakotan to ever play for the Cubs.

Ohio: Charlie Root

Oklahoma: Bobby Murcer

I don’t think anyone from Oklahoma has played more years with the Cubs than Koyie Hill, but it looks like Murcer played the most games. He wasn’t just average with the Cubs over almost three seasons, but that’s better than Al Dark or Johnny Callison.

Oregon: Darwin Barney

If you think it’s Dave Kingman, fine, but Kingman couldn’t do anything other than hit home runs and he was injured a lot of the time he was in Chicago. The Cubs couldn’t wait to get rid of him after the 1980 season.

Pennsylvania: Hack Wilson

Puerto Rico: Geovany Soto

Geo is just holding the crown for Javier Baez.

Rhode Island: Gabby Hartnett

South Carolina: Hal Jeffcoat

Jeffcoat was an mediocre outfielder for the Cubs from 1948 to 1953 when he decided to become a pitcher and he had two seasons as a reliever for the Cubs in 1954 and 1955.

South Dakota: Terry Francona

Yes, the Indians manager played 86 games for the Cubs in 1986.

Tennessee: Bill Madlock

Texas: Ernie Banks

Utah: Elmer Singleton

I’d never heard of Singleton before last month, and now he’s made two of my lists like this, since he’s also on my “oldest Cubs” list.

Vermont: Bert Abbey

Abbey pitched for the Colts from 1893 to 1895. He wasn’t very good, but he wins by default.

Virginia: Randy Hundley

Washington: Ron Santo/Ryne Sandberg

I’m not picking between Santo and Sandberg. No way. You can if you want in the comments, but Washington State has three Hall-of-Famers born in the state and two of them are Cubs legends. (The other is Earl Averill, whose son Earl Averill Jr. played for the Cubs in 1959 and 1960.)

West Virginia: Sheriff Blake

Pitched for the Cubs from 1924 to 1930. He was the losing pitcher in relief of the infamous Game 4 of the 1929 World Series when the Cubs blew an 8-0 lead when the Athletics scored 10 runs in the bottom of the seventh. But normally, he was a good pitcher.

Wisconsin: Andy Pafko

Wyoming: Dick Ellsworth

And now for some select foreign countries:

Canada: Ferguson Jenkins

Mexico: Rodrigo Lopez

He’s not the only Mexican to play for the Cubs, but there’s slim pickings. There are several Mexicans in the Cubs minor leagues currently and with luck, Lopez will lose this title pretty quickly.

Cuba: Jose Cardenal

Dominican Republic: Sammy Sosa

Venezuela: Carlos Zambrano

Colombia: Jose Quintana

Panama: Adolfo Phillips

Japan: Kosuke Fukudome

We all hope Yu Darvish will take this title soon.

South Korea: Hee-Seop Choi

Note: When transcribing this list from my written notes, I accidentally left out Vermont and Oklahoma. I have corrected this mistake. My apologies.