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Mitch Garver is one of seven natives of New Mexico, as of June 7, who has played Major League Baseball this season and one of a handful to play for a World Series champion.

鈥淚 am pretty proud to be from New Mexico,鈥� Garver told the Journal during spring training. 鈥淚t is not well known for baseball.鈥�

A catcher with Seattle, Garver also has the distinction of being the starting backstop of the mythical all-time MLB team of players born in New Mexico.

Here is our all-time team with birthplace (per ), position and years played in the big leagues, with a proposed batting order:

Vern Stephens (McAllister, shortstop, 1941-55): A veteran infielder, he played in 1720 games 鈥� the most by a native of New Mexico. He was the leadoff hitter for the Orioles in their first home game in Baltimore in 1954 after the team moved from St. Louis. He appeared in the World Series in 1944 with the Browns. Stephens was an eight-time All-Star, led the American League in homers in 1945 and led the league in RBIs three times. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2006. Stephens, who had 247 homers, was born while his parents were on the way from Oklahoma to California, per online sources. He died in Long Beach, California in 1968.

Fred Haney (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, second base, 1922-29): Haney played for the Tigers, Red Sox, Cubs and Cardinals and had a lifetime batting average of .275. The versatile baseball lifer will show up twice more on our list.

Alex Bregman (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, third base, 2016 to present): He helped the Astros win the World Series twice and returned to the playoffs last October with the Red Sox. Now with the Cubs, his 214 career homers as of June 7 is third among New Mexico natives. Bregman has made the All-Star team three times and won the Gold Glove once.

Ralph Kiner (Santa Rita, left field, 1946-55): The lefty slugger led the National League in home runs for seven straight seasons with the Pirates and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975. Kiner died in California in 2014 and is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Farmington.

Cody Ross (Portales, center field, 2003-15): Ross, a high school All-American at Carlsbad High School, would go on to win a World Series ring with the Giants in 2010 and his 132 homers is fourth among New Mexico natives. He was the MVP of the NLCS with the Giants in 2010.

Mitch Garver (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, catcher, 2017 to present): The former La Cueva High and New Mexico star was with Texas when the Rangers won the World Series in 2023, after breaking in with the Minnesota Twins. Garver has been the backup to All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh in Seattle this season. He hit 31 homers with the Twins in 2019.

Jordan Pacheco (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, designated hitter, 2011-16): Also a former star at La Cueva High and UNM, he broke into the majors in 2011 with Colorado and also played for Arizona and Cincinnati. He had two hits in his MLB debut with the Rockies and is now the franchise鈥檚 hitting coach after being promoted from the same role with the Isotopes.

Billy McMillon (Alamogordo, right field, 1996-2004): McMillon was born in New Mexico but grew up in South Carolina and starred in college at Clemson. He played in parts of six seasons but never in more than 66 contests in one year. His first MLB hit came in the 10th inning for the Marlins against the Padres. He also appeared with the Phillies, Tigers and A鈥檚, with his only postseason outing with Oakland in 2003.

Chuck Stevens (Van Houten, first base, 1941-48): Stevens played in 211 games in the majors but probably had a bigger impact on the game after his playing days. He played in the minors for manager and fellow New Mexico native Haney, and the two became good friends. Stevens died in 2018 in California at the age of 99 鈥� at the time the oldest major leaguer. Stevens also had bit roles in two baseball movies, 鈥淭he Stratton Story鈥� (1949) and 鈥淭he Winning Team鈥� (1952) and was the longtime secretary for the Association of Professional Ball Players of America following his playing career.

Trevor Rogers (Carlsbad, starting pitcher, 2020 to present): The lefty was an American League All-Star in 2021 with the Marlins and was one of the top pitchers in the league with the Orioles last season, before hitting a rough spot to start this year with Baltimore.

Wade Blasingame (Deming, starting pitcher, 1963-72): The lefty appeared in 222 games with 128 starts and a record of 46-51 with an ERA of 4.52 with Montreal, Atlanta, Houston and the New York Yankees. Blasingame, the son of a fruit broker, grew up in Fresno, California. 

Duane Ward (Park View aka Los Ojos, relief pitcher, 1986-95): He won a World Series with the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993. Ward, an All-Star in 1993, had 121 saves in the majors. He was a first-round pick out of Farmington High by the Atlanta Braves.

Steve Ontiveros (Tularosa, relief pitcher, 1985-2000): Drafted by Oakland out of the University of Michigan, he pitched in 207 games in the majors, with 73 starts and 19 saves. He was an All-Star in 1995 with Oakland and among the league leaders in ERA the year before.

Mike Dunn (Farmington, relief pitcher, 2009-19): Dunn pitched in 555 games in the majors 鈥� the most of a pitcher born in New Mexico. He appeared in three games in the 2010 playoffs with the Atlanta Braves, against the Giants; Dunn made no starts and had four saves with an ERA of 4.00 in the majors.

Ken Giles (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, relief pitcher, 2014-22): The right-hander was drafted by the Marlins out of Rio Grande High, but opted to attend college in Arizona and was eventually selected by the Phillies. Giles broke in with the Phillies in 2014 and also played for Houston, Toronto and Seattle. He had 115 saves and a stellar 2.71 ERA, and won a World Series ring with the 2017 Astros (Bregman was a teammate).

Haney (manager): Haney guided the St. Louis Browns from 1939-41, the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1953-55 and the Milwaukee Braves from 1956-59. Haney is the only native of New Mexico to manage in the majors, and he led the Braves to the World Series twice in the 1950s with a title in 1957. Haney died in Beverly Hills, California in 1977.

Rod Nichols (born in Iowa, bullpen/pitching coach): A pitcher in the majors (Cleveland, Dodgers, Braves) and pitching coach in the minors, Nichols was a bullpen coach for the Phillies in the 2010s. Nichols grew up in New Mexico and was a batboy for the minor league team in sa国际传媒官网网页入口. After becoming a standout at UNM, he pitched for the Dukes in the minors in 1993.

Haney (general manager, 1961-68): Haney worked in the Angels' front office after his playing and managing career.

Logan White (born in Missouri, scouting director and assistant general manager): After moving from Missouri, White pitched for Elida High, Portales High, Western New Mexico University and in the minors with the Seattle Mariners. He was a scout for the Baltimore Orioles and later served as the Los Angeles Dodgers' director of scouting from 2002 to 2014, with more than 70 of his picks making the majors, including Clayton Kershaw (whose great uncle is Clyde Tombaugh, a longtime astronomy professor at New Mexico State University and the astronomer who discovered Pluto).

Linda Alvarado (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, owner): The New Mexico native went to Pomona College in California, started the Alvarado Company in 1976 and joined the Colorado Rockies ownership group in 1991 鈥� a first for a Hispanic and for a woman.

The seven current MLB players from New Mexico: Bregman, Garver, Rogers, Spencer Arrighetti (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, pitcher, Astros), Mitchell Parker (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, pitcher, Nationals), Chase Silseth (Farmington, pitcher, Angels), Josh Ekness (sa国际传媒官网网页入口, pitcher, Marlins).

David Driver is the co-author of 鈥淔rom Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia鈥檚 Rich Baseball Legacy,鈥� available on Amazon and at . Driver is the former sports editor of papers in Baltimore and Virginia and covered the Washington Nationals from 2013-22 for several outlets.