Hall of Famers Who Played American Legion Baseball

Hall of Fame players are not made overnight. The following is a list of Hall of Fame members who began their diamond days by playing in American Legion baseball. Parentheses indicates the year in which they were inducted to the Hall of Fame.

  • Bob Feller (1962)
  • Ted Williams (1966)
  • Joe Medwick (1968)
  • Stan Musial (1969)
  • Roy Campanella (1969)
  • Lou Boudreau (1970)
  • Yogi Berra (1972)
  • Early Wynn (1972)
  • Warren Spahn (1973)
  • Ralph Kiner (1975)
  • Robin Roberts (1976)
  • Bob Lemon (1976)
  • Eddie Mathews (1978)
  • Al Kaline (1980)
  • Bob Gibson (1981)
  • Frank Robinson (1982)
  • George Kell (1983)
  • Brooks Robinson (1983)
  • Don Drysdale (1984)
  • Harmon Killebrew (1984)
  • Pee Wee Reese (1984)
  • Hoyt Wilhelm (1985)
  • Bobby Doerr (1986)
  • Catfish Hunter (1987)
  • Willie Stargell (1988)
  • Johnny Bench (1989)
  • Carl Yastrzemski (1989)
  • Joe Morgan (1990)
  • Jim Palmer (1990)
  • Gaylord Perry (1991)
  • Rollie Fingers (1992)
  • Hal Newhouser (1992)
  • Tom Seaver (1992)
  • Reggie Jackson (1993)
  • Steve Carlton (1994)
  • Richie Ashburn (1995)
  • Jim Bunning (1996)
  • Earl Weaver (1996)
  • Phil Niekro (1997)
  • Nellie Fox (1997)
  • George Brett (1999)
  • Robin Yount (1999)
  • Sparky Anderson (2000)
  • Carlton Fisk (2000)
  • Dave Winfield (2001)
  • Gary Carter (2003)
  • Eddie Murray (2003)
  • Paul Molitor (2004)
  • Ryne Sandberg (2005)
  • Wade Boggs (2005)
  • Bruce Sutter (2006)
  • Tony Gwynn (2007)
  • Dick Williams (2008)
  • Joe Gordon (2009)
  • Jim Rice (2009)
  • Whitey Herzog (2010)
  • Doug Harvey (2010)
  • Roberto Alomar (2011)
  • Bert Blyleven (2011)
  • Pat Gillick (2011)
  • Ron Santo (2012)
  • Barry Larkin (2012)
  • Bobby Cox (2014)
  • Tom Glavine (2014)
  • Tony LaRussa (2014)
  • Greg Maddux (2014)
  • Joe Torre (2014)
  • Mike Piazza (2016)
  • Jeff Bagwell (2017)
  • Tim Raines (2017)
  • Iván Rodríguez (2017)
  • John Schuerholz (2017)
  • Trevor Hoffman (2018)
  • Chipper Jones (2018)
  • Jack Morris (2018)
  • Jim Thome (2018)
  • Alan Trammell (2018)
  • Harold Baines (2019)
  • Roy Halladay (2019)
  • Mike Mussina (2019)
  • Lee Smith (2019)
  • Ted Simmons (2020)
  • Gil Hodges (2022)
  • Fred McGriff (2023)
  • Scott Rolen (2023)
  • Jim Leyland (2024)
  • Joe Mauer (2024)

Future Hall of Fame pitcher Rollie Fingers (right) accepts the American Legion's Player of the Year Award from Hall of Famer Bill Dickey in 1964. Many Hall of Famers played in organized youth baseball leagues as youngsters. BL-899-64 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

Bob Feller photographed on his high school graduation day in 1936 in Van Meter, Iowa. BL-1501-91 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

Robin Yount signed with the Milwaukee Brewers the day after his final American Legion game in Woodland Hills, Calif. BL-3259-98 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

Don Drysdale was a second baseman for his American Legion team in Van Nuys, Calif., until he took the mound one day when his team needed a pitcher. He threw a shutout, and the rest was history. BL-737-76 (National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)