HOF Geography Trivia
 

Outside of the United States and its territories (well, one particular territory), members of the Hall of Fame include natives of 8 other countries. 2 of the 8 countries produced only Hall of Famers elected as pioneers, executives, and/or umpires.

So, what are the 6 foreign countries that were the birthplaces of Hall of Fame players? And, as a bonus, what are the 2 countries that produced Hall of Famers exclusively in the non-player categories?

In the year that Chipper got elected, I'll 'chip' away at the answer:

One of the two countries that contributed only non-players is England.


That's a guess and the best I can do with out using reference material...which I consider 'trivia PEDs'.


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Panama - Rod Carew
Canada - Fergie Jenkins
Dominican Republic - Pedro Martinez
Venezuela - Luis Aparicio
Cuba - Orlando Cepeda

I can't get the 6th

Well I know Cuba has got to be one. The Dominican Republic is another. I know Carew is from Panama. Not sure about the others. Wasn't Blyleven from Denmark or Holland?

Wait, wasn't Bert Blyleven born in the Netherlands? So I guess that's country six.

Yep, that's all of 'em. Impressive.

There's still one other country with a non-player in the Hall.

England is one of the non-player countries with Harry Wright.

I realize you specified 'elected' and not 'selected', but Tony Perez was born in Cuba and, of course, Marichal and Guerrero hail from the Dominican.

ERROR! Will Robinson!

Cepeda is from Puerto Rico, not Cuba.

Would've guessed Scotland as the other non-player country, but looked it up and that's wrong.
So don't nobody bother guessing Scotland.

I thought it was Chadwick. And I thought Cepeda was Puerto Rican not Cuban as well.

Yes, Cepeda is from P.R., but Perez (in addition to some of the Negro Leaguers) is from Cuba. Both Chadwick and Wright are from the U.K., England specifically, as is one lesser known member of the Hall.

And there's still the one other country that hasn't been mentioned yet.

Could one of the Negro League HOFers have been from Venezuela?

Do you just mean because the birth records might be kind of spotty? There isn't one whose place of birth is listed officially as Venezuela.

Just a guess. Mexico would seem an obvious possibility but can't think of anyone.

Historically Holland is only part of the Netherlands, but the two names names are often considered interchangeable.

The obvious exception is the absence of netherlandaise sauce in my cook book.;)

Carry on.

Non players - United Kingdom and Germany
Players - Netherlands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Panama and Canada.

Indeed. And who, without looking of course, knows the name of the Deutschlander?

Chris Van Der Ahe?

Sufficiently Teutonic but not yet in the Hall

Barney Dreyfus. Germany was not a country at the time he was born. It was a federation of states.

Fair point. And yes, Dreyfus.

Glenn, I was not being picky. I was just pointing out that German Unification had not fully happened when he was born. Just a point of historical interest.

So, in a few years, Japan will obviously be added to the list (Ichiro Suzuki).

Also, it is very likely that France will join the list in a few years as well.

I'll take guesses as to who that likely future hall of famer is.

Steve

Unless Ichiro gets pegged as a steroid user.

Brian (you gotta have 'wa')

Frank, you never fail to crack me up. :D

There is no one born in France that could make it as a player. Bruce Bochy could make it as a manager but that may be close. Even though he won three Worlds Series and Manager of the Year once, his overall won/loss record is below .500 and his post season record is barely above .500.

True, but in both the regular season and the postseason he has a better winning % than Connie Mack. And the more important point may be that every manager with 3 or more WS titles is in the Hall (except for Bochy so far).

Yep, that's who I was thinking of.

Steve

Any chance Fernando Valenzuela makes it someday?

For the effect they had on the global market , both Fernando and Hideo Nomo deserve some great recognition, though I don't think either are 'One-Percenters'.