Rulers of Baseball

12" Wooden Ruler made in U.S.A. of American-grown basswood.

More than any other sport, baseball has a special meaning to Americans, as well as a fascinating and tumultuous history. While baseball is played in other parts of the world, most notably the Caribbean and Japan, we have limited our list to players, owners and managers from teams of the various leagues in the United States. 

African-Americans originally played in a separate league. Andrew “Rube” Foster is the earliest player/manager on our list to represent the Negro National League. The name Cy Young is better known to us from the award still given to the best pitchers in the American and National leagues.

It’s fun to read the colorful nicknames given to some of the players, such as “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, “Joltin’ Joe” DiMaggio and “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron. As far as teams go, the New York Yankees have the most mentions on our list. The Brooklyn Dodgers come in second, even though they decamped to Los Angeles as early as 1957.

The order of names is not by birth date but rather by the years in which these players and managers flourished in the leagues. The “head” is none other than Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier by becoming the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball when he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.

If you like this ruler, you might also be interested in Rulers of Auto Racing, Rulers of the Olympics or Rulers of Football.