10 Rockford Born Major League Baseball Players

The 2016 Major League Baseball swung into action yesterday with three games. The rest of the league starts their season either today or tomorrow.

It got me thinking about players from the area who play or have played in the major leagues.

The list is surprisingly short. Major League Baseball has been around for 113 years. To only find 10 players in the majors born in Rockford was a huge surprise.

More stunning is there is only one active player in the majors born in Rockford.

Jake Smolinski, Boylan Catholic High School grad, and current Oakland A's outfielder is the only baseball player from Rockford currently playing in the majors.

Lachlan Cunningham, Getty Images

The rest of the players are somewhat recognizable, however some are from way back in the day.

The most recognizable outside of Smolinski is Josh Bell. Bell played for the L.A. Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, and the New York Yankees. Bell currently plays for the Lancaster Barnstormers Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

Elsa, Getty Images

Here's the other 8:

Next: You Can Help Rockford Kids Become Awesome Readers in 20 Minutes