Just before the 2024 MLB season began, Los Angeles Dodgers’ first baseman Freddie Freeman donated a clubhouse for his alma mater at El Modena High in Orange. He ended the season by being named World Series MVP. Photo: Tony Richards / foothillssentry.com.
It’s a little lower than last year’s total of nine, but there are seven players from the Golden State in this year’s World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. That is enough to easily lead the way among all states in the US (and other nations) considering all players on the rosters finalized on Friday.
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One year after MVP Freddie Freeman from El Modena High in Orange sparked the L.A. Dodgers to a World Series championship over the New York Yankees with his legendary walk-off grand slam homer in Game 1, Freddie and the Dodgers are back to go for a repeat. They are heavily favored to dispatch the Toronto Blue Jays this time.
One would think that the Dodgers have the same number of California players on their World Series roster this year compared to last year. For various reasons, that isn’t true. They had four last year and there are three this year.
Of course, Freeman is back. The 2007 Orange County Register Player of the Year and 2007 first-team all-state pick by Cal-Hi Sports is continuing to cement his status as a Hall of Famer. He not only was MVP of last year’s World Series, but was MVP in 2021 for the Atlanta Braves. He also has been MVP of the National League.
Tommy Edman, a graduate of La Jolla Country Day near San Diego, also is back on the Dodgers’ World Series roster this year. One who is not is catcher Austin Barnes and there also is a Dodger pitcher, Alex Vesia, who was a mainstay of the bullpen this season who is not on the World Series roster. It was reported earlier this week that Alex and wife were dealing with a “deeply personal matter.” He’s from Steele Canyon of Spring Valley. Also last season, current Dodgers’ starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow (from Hart of Newhall) was out with an injury.
Not counting Vesia, there are still four players from the Blue Jays and the three from the Dodgers for a total of seven from California high schools. By comparison, Texas and Florida have four. We also counted Wisconsin and New York with three plus there are those players from other nations, including Japan (3), Dominican Republic (3) and Venezuela (3).
Here’s a complete list of this year’s other World Series Alums other than Freddie Freeman:
Shane Bieber (Laguna Hills)
This is not the first alumni list that Bieber has been on. We also compile them for major awards like the Cy Young for pitchers and Shane won it for the American League in 2020 as a member of the Cleveland Guardians. Bieber is one of those guys who was not great in high school (walked on to UC Santa Barbara) but has become a dominant pitcher later on. Early in the 2024 season, Shane went down with an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Instead of coming back earlier this season with the Guardians, however, they traded him to the Blue Jays
Tommy Edman (La Jolla Country Day)
The former all-state small schools player for the Torreys (2013 season) came to the Dodgers during the trade deadline last season and had a terrific postseason in helping them win the World Series. In the NLCS last season, he was named MVP. In the final win in that series, Edman had the first four RBI for the team and ended with 11 in the series.
Ty France (South Hills, West Covina)
We were lucky enough to see Ty play as a freshman at South Hills in 2009 in a CIF Southern Section championship game at Dodger Stadium. He had the stats and the impressive skills that made him the State Freshman Player of the Year for that season. France went to San Diego State for three years after high school and made his MLB debut in 2019 for the San Diego Padres. The first baseman has been traded a few times in recent years, including earlier this summer by the Minnesota Twins to the Blue Jays.
Tyler Glasnow (Hart, Newhall)
Coming from a school that has led the state before in having the most alums in MLB as recently as six or seven years ago, Glasnow has become an effective starting pitcher for the Dodgers. In his senior year at Hart in 2011 (when the school was still known as Indians), Tyler went 8-2 on the mound with a 1.25 ERA. He also had 99 strikeouts in 67 innings.
Tyler Heineman (Windward, Los Angeles)
He’s the back-up catcher for the Blue Jays behind standout Alejandro Kirk. Heineman set a school record at Windward in 2009 with a .619 batting average and he had 30 RBI. Windward may have been small school, but Tyler was impressive enough as a catcher to sign with nearby UCLA. He was one of the Bruins’ leading hitters in 2012 and was an eighth round selection in the 2012 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros.
Nathan Lukes (Center, Antelope)
It’s always mentioned on local TV in Sacramento that Nathan is from Sac State, but he’s also a local guy to the region for being a grad of Center High. Before going to the Hornets, Lukes batted .450 with four homers and 26 RBI in his senior season in 2012 for the Cougars. He also went 5-0 as a pitcher with a 0.62 ERA. He’s come up in the Blue Jays’ system and has been a reliable hitter and fielder for them this season.
Manager:
Dave Roberts (Rancho Buena Vista, Vista)
Last year marked the first time since 1968 when our World Series alums research begins in which both managers — Roberts of the Dodgers and Aaron Boone (Villa Park) of the Yankees — went to California high schools. This year, that isn’t the case as Blue Jays’ manager John Schneider is from New Jersey. We always remind our readers that at Rancho Buena Vista, Roberts was more known by us for being the triple-option QB for one the most prolific rushing attacks in state history. He and his teammates in 1989 rushed for 5,831 yards in a 13-1 championship season. That is still top 10 in state history.
Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports
