The Most Famous 5 Greek Baseball Players
At the beginning of the 20th century, immigrants from all over the world travelled to the United States in search of a better life. Approximately during that period baseball was starting to gain lots of supporters. From the first wave of Greek immigrants emerged some of the most exceptional baseball players that earned their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Among them, Milt Pappas, nicknamed “Gimpy”, is probably the most famous Greek pitcher of all times. Milt played only three games in the minor league before he was recruited by the Baltimore Orioles and made his major league debut in 1957. For 17 years, Pappas had been an outstanding baseball player with an impressive record of 209 wins. Also during his career, he played for many clubs.
Eric Karros is another great baseball player with Greek roots. He played as a first baseman in Major League Baseball during 1991 – 2004. During his long career, Karros had accumulated an impressive record of 268 batting average, 284 home runs and 1027 runs batted in. He also holds the record for second-most career home runs. At the moment, Eric Karros is a respected baseball sports commentator for the television channel Fox Sports 1.
From a more recent generation of Greek players, it’s worth mentioning Mike Moustakas.
George Kottaras, on the other hand, was a catcher for numerous clubs. Kottaras was part of Greece’s national baseball team for the 2004 Olympics.
Tino (short for Constantino) Martinez is recognized by many as one of the best Greek major leaguer ever. He started playing the game when he was only 5 years old. His first success as a baseball player came during the 1988 Summer Olympics that took place in Seoul, South Korea. Throughout his 16 years career, had hit 229 home runs, scored 1008 runs and drove in 1271 runs. In 2014, the New York Yankees dedicated a Monument Park plaque to Martinez for his impressive career and contribution to baseball. This is an honour awarded only to the best professional baseball players that ever played this sport.
