Which Baseball Player Was Born Closest to the Kellogg's Headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan?

Only four players in MLB history were born in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Bill Stein and Bob Rush were the two names that I recognized.  The other two were Dann Howitt who I remembered only after looking him up and Gowell Claset who played in eight games in 1933.

I wanted to see who was born closest to the headquarters.  Maybe there were players who new people who worked there.  Maybe that's why they got in the set or maybe that helped them get free cards?



Only 13 players were born in Michigan and appeared in a regular-issue Kellogg's set.  Rick Wise was the closest to Battle Creek since he was born in Jackson, Michigan.

Wise grew up in Portland, Oregon.  His Little League team made it to the World Series.

Wise is known for throwing a no-hitter, being traded for Steve Carlton and for hitting two homers in the no-hitter game.  He also hit two homers in another game.

He hit 15 career homers and batted a solid .195.

He appeared in the 1972 Kellogg's set as a Phillie and the 1976 set with a Boston uniform.



Things that are not as commonly known about Wise:

1.  He was the winning pitcher in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, considered one of the greatest baseball games.  That was the game where Carlton Fisk hit his famous homer.

2.   His first win was in 1964 in game two of a doubleheader.  In game one Jim Bunning threw a perfect game.

3.  He played 18 seasons accumulating 188 wins to go with 181 losses.

4.  The first homer given up by him was hit by Willie Mays.

5.  He gave up more homers to Hank Aaron (6) than to any other batter.

6.  Of the 11 batters that faced Wise the most, four were Cubs.  Did he pitch more against the Cubs or did he just pitch longer into those games since he was facing the Cubs?

7.  More Cubs.  Pete Rose batted against Wise 83 times without homering.  Only three players stepped up more times without a homer.  Yes, all were Cubs - Kessinger, Beckert and Santo.   Beckert did hit .333 but the other two didn't post strong batting averages against Wise.  

8.  In a 1971 game against you guessed it, the Cubs, Wise gave up three runs in the first two innings before retiring 32 consecutive batters through the top of the 12th inning.  He then drove in the winning run with his third hit of the gam in the bottom of the 12th.