Doby, Vander Meer and North Jersey's best major league baseball players

John Rowe
Staff Writer

As another World Series promises us memorable moments, maybe even a Game 7 classic, let’s look back at some of the best major league players with Bergen and Passaic county backgrounds.

Some played in the World Series. A few, including Hall of Famer Larry Doby, won the ultimate championship in their sport:

Larry Doby

Pitchers

Johnny Vander Meer

Johnny Vander Meer illustration by The Record's Charlie McGill on Jan. 30, 1972.

The Midland Park native was a four-time All-Star and a member of the Cincinnati Reds’ 1940 World Series winner, but he’ll long be remembered for pitching back-to-back no-hitters.

The lefthander pitched a no-hitter on June 11, 1938, against the Boston Braves, and four days later, in the first-ever night game at Ebbets Field, he no-hit the Dodgers.

Vander Meer was 15-10, with a 3.12 ERA that season, and finished his 13-year career at 119-121, with a 3.44 ERA.

He died in 1997 at 82.

Bill Hands

Bill Hands with the Cubs in 1968.

The right-hander from Rutherford was 111-110, with a 3.35 ERA, in 11 seasons. He pitched for four teams from 1965-75.

His best season was in 1969 when he was 20-14 for the Cubs, as the No. 2 starter behind Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins.

Hands died in March at 76.

Ron Perranoski

The lefty from Fair Lawn, who also pitched at Michigan State, won four World Series titles (two as a player, two as a pitching coach).

Pitching for five teams, from 1961-73, he was 79-74, with a 2.79 ERA, and 179 saves. He was a two-time American League saves leader.

Perranoski’s best years were with the Dodgers, and he later was their pitching coach. Perranoski, 81, lives in Vero Beach, Fla., and is a special assistant to San Francisco Giants general manager Brian Saban.

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Frank McCormick

The Paterson saloon keeper was one of the top pitchers in the Dead Ball Era, playing for six teams, from 1878-1887.

His amazing statistics: 265-214; 2.43 ERA; 1,704 strikeouts, and 466 complete games (yes, 466).

He died in 1918 at 61.

Honorable mention: Ron Villone, Bergenfield; Frank Eufemia, Bergenfield; Pat Pacillo, Rutherford; Bobby Jones, Rutherford; Vin Mazzaro, Rutherford; Jack Egbert, Rutherford; Frank Herrmann, Rutherford (Montclair Kimberley); Jack Lazorko, River Dell; Warren Bogle, Lyndhurst; Mike Jackson, Kennedy; Willie Prall, Pope Pius; Victor Santos, Passaic; Stan Pitula, Hackensack; Tom Acker, Fair Lawn.

Catcher

John Flaherty

John Flaherty with the Devil Rays

After being drafted by the Red Sox in 1988, the West Nyack, N.Y., product, who played at St. Joseph and George Washington University, began a 14-year career in which he played for five teams.

A .252 career hitter, Flaherty hit 80 home runs. He also had a 27-game hitting streak.
Flaherty played his last three seasons with the Yankees, and he delivered the game-winning, extra inning hit to beat Boston in the game Derek Jeter dove into the stands to catch a foul ball.

Honorable mention: Glen Borgmann, Kennedy; Val Picinich, Englewood; Carl Sawatski, Pompton Lakes.

First base

Joe Cunningham

The Saddle Brook resident and Lodi High School graduate was a six-time All-Star in his 12-year career. His best season was 1959 when the lefty swinger hit .345 and finished second in the National League, behind Hank Aaron.

A .291 career hitter, he was a Class A manager in the Cardinals’ farm system and also was a coach on the big league staff. Cunningham, 86, lives in the St. Louis area.

Honorable mention: Mike Laga, Ramsey.

Second base

Danny O’Connell

The graduate of St. Bonaventure High School in Paterson finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1950, as a Pirate.

A .260 hitter, with 39 homers, he played for four teams in a 10-year career.

He died in 1969 at 42.

Honorable mention: Tommy LaStella, St. Joseph; George Knothe, Passaic; Dick Lajeskie, Passaic.

Shortstop

Mark DeRosa

Mark DeRosa with the Braves

The Carlstadt native and Bergen Catholic multi-sport star played for eight teams in 15 seasons after the Braves selected him out of Penn in the seventh round of the 1996 draft.

A .268 hitter who hit 100 home runs, DeRosa had 21 homers and drove in 87 runs as a Cub in 2008.

An Atlanta resident, DeRosa, 42, is an analyst on The Baseball Network.

Third base

Eddie Mayo

The Clifton native played for four teams in nine seasons, hitting .252, with 26 homers. The lefty hitter was second to Tigers teammate Hal Newhouser in the American League MVP balloting in 1945, when he hit .285 and had a .347 on-base percentage.
He drove in two runs in Game 7 as Detroit beat the Cubs in the 1945 World Series.

A Class AAA manager and a third base coach for the Red Sox in his post-playing days, Mayo died in 2006 at 96.

Honorable mention: Fritz Knothe, Passaic; Rob Segedin, Old Tappan.

Outfielders

Larry Doby

Manager Lou Boudreau and Larry Doby, the first African-American player in the American League, standing in the dugout at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Ill., on July 5, 1947.

The Indians signed the pride of Paterson three months after Jackie Robinson broke MLB’s color barrier. Later, Doby was the second African American to be named a major league manager, after Frank Robinson.

On the field, Doby, a Negro League star, was a seven-time All-Star, who hit .283, with 253 home runs, and 970 RBI. He finished second in the American League MVP voting in 1948, when he helped the Indians win their last World Series.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, Doby died in 2003 at 79.

Johnny Briggs

Another major leaguer who prepped at Eastside. He played 12 seasons for three teams and played in Japan for a season.

Briggs batted .253 and hit 139 home runs, with his best seasons as a Phillie.

Briggs, 73, retired from the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department.

Curt Blefary

The lefty hitter from Mahwah was the American League Rookie of the Year as an Oriole, when he hit .260 and homered 22 times, in 1965. He was on a World Series winning team the next season.

A .237 hitter, he had 112 home runs while playing for five teams in eight seasons. He was traded to the Yankees for Joe Pepitone.

Blefary died in 2001 at 57.

Honorable mention: Doug Glanville, Teaneck; Brant Alyea, Rutherford; Ed Sanicki, Clifton; Richie Scheinblum, Englewood; Patrick Kinlehan, St. Joseph.

Designated hitter

Dan Pasqua

Dan Pasqua with the White Sox

The Harrington Park native who played at Old Tappan and William Paterson, was drafted by the Yankees in the third round of the 1982 draft.

Playing for the Yankees and White Sox, from 1985-94, the lefty-swinging power hitter batted .244 and had 117 home runs.

Umpires

Ed Sudol

The Passaic native umpired from 1957-77. During his 21-year career, he worked 3,347 games, including three World Series, three league championship series, and three All-Star games.

He worked home plate when Jim Bunning threw a perfect game against the Mets in 1964. He also was behind home plate for the three longest games in Mets' history. Sudol died in 2004 at 84.

Brian Gorman

After growing up in Closter, Gorman followed his father, Tom, into umpiring.

Gorman, 58, is a crew chief who worked three World Series, two All-Star games, and six league championships on his way up. He debuted in 1991.