From the Queen City to The Show: The all-time Staunton Braves MLB team

The Staunton Braves of the Valley Baseball League have been sending players to the Major Leagues since the 1960s – and enough to field an All-Star team of alums.

One of those players was Will Harris, who was a two-way player while in Staunton and then was a reliever in the Majors.

“Great summer – back when I could still hit. We had some really good guys. We had some big leaguers on our team,” Harris told this reporter earlier this decade.

Other future players on that 2003 Staunton team were University of Virginia standout Joe Koshansky and Gaby Sanchez, an MLB All-Star with the Miami Marlins in 2011.

This mythical team is based on the player’s performance at the pro level and nothing to do with all well they fared with Staunton. Priority is given to those that played at least 10 seasons of pro ball.

Here is the team

• Catcher: Jerry May (1964-1973). The Staunton native and North River High graduate began his pro career in the Appalachian League with Kingsport in 1961. May played with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals, and played his last season with the New York Mets. The catcher was back of the plate when Dock Ellis of the Pirates threw a no-hitter at the San Diego Padres in 1970. May died in a farm accident in Augusta County in 1996.
• First base: Aubrey Huff (2000-2012). The lefty batter was drafted by Tampa Bay out of the University of Miami in the fifth round in 1998. He ended his career with 242 homers in 6,104 at-bats and an average of .278 while also playing for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants. Huff won a World Series ring with the Giants in 2010 and 2012.
• Second base: Wayne Tolleson (1981-1990). The South Carolinian was taken by the Texas Rangers out of Western Carolina in the 1978 draft, and Tolleson inked a deal, after he had turned down signing with the Pirates the year before. He hit .241 while playing for the Rangers, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. His son, Steve, also played in the Majors (with Oakland, the Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays); his father played in the minors, and his brother, Michael, played one year in the minors with Cleveland.
• Shortstop: Craig Robinson (1972-1977). A native of suburban Philadelphia, he was drafted out of Wake Forest in the 11th round in 1970 by the Phillies. While he hit just .219 in the Majors with no homers, Robinson was in the starting lineup at short for the Atlanta Braves for two memorable games in 1974 – when Hank Aaron tied and then broke the career homer mark of Babe Ruth. Robinson played for the Phillies, Braves and Giants.
• Third base: Gaby Sanchez (2008-2014). Sanchez had 61 homers in the Majors with an average of .254. He was drafted by the Marlins out of the University of Miami in the fourth round in 2005 and also played for the Pirates.
• Left field: Luke Scott (2005-2013). The Florida native was taken in the ninth round of the 2001 draft by Cleveland out of Oklahoma State. He played in the Majors for the Houston Astros, Orioles and Tampa Bay, and was teammates with Huff in Baltimore. Scott was the Orioles MVP in 2010 when he hit a career-high 27 homers – he had 135 in his career.
• Right field: Joe Nunnally (1995-2000). The Danville native and Hargrave Military Academy product was drafted in the third round in 1992 by Cleveland out of Miami Dade. He hit a homer in his first at-bat in the Majors, with Kansas City, and would later hit a homer in his first at-bat while playing in Japan. Nunnally also played for the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, and had 42 homers and an average of .246 in The Show.
• Center field: Jon Jay (2010-2021). The Florida native, taken in the second round out of the University of Miami by the Louis Cardinals in 2006, had a fielding percentage of .996 in center field in the majors. Jay was a member of the Cardinals team that won the World Series in 2011 and he ended his career with a batting average of .283.
• Starting pitcher: Walt Terrell (1982-1992). From Indiana, the right-hander was drafted in the 33rd round out of Morehead State by the Rangers after also playing in the Cape Cod League while in college. He pitched in the playoffs for the Detroit Tigers in 1987 and also pitched in the big leagues for the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees and Pirates. A starter, he won 111 games in 11 years.
• Closer: Shawn Camp (2004-2014). From Robinson High in Fairfax, Camp was taken in the 16th round by the Padres out of George Mason in 1997. He led the league in games pitched with 80 in 2012 for the Chicago Cubs and he also appeared with the Royals, Tampa Bay, Toronto and the Phillies. Camp appeared in 541 games, with no starts, and had 12 saves.
• Other pitchers: Sammy Stewart (1978-1987), Will Harris (2012-2021), Chris Perez (2008-2014). Stewart was part of the Orioles 1983 World Series team. Harris was drafted out of LSU by the Colorado Rockies in the ninth round in 2006. “We used him mainly in a middle relief, closer role,” former Staunton head coach Lawrence Nesselrodt told this reporter about five years ago. Harris had 21 saves in the Majors; he was with Houston in 2019 when the Nationals beat the Astros in the World Series. Harris ended his career in Washington. Perez was a two-time All-Star with Cleveland.
• Utility player: Chad Tracy (2004-2013). The Charlotte native was drafted out of East Carolina by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh round in 2001. He ended his career with the Nationals.
• Backup catcher/DH: Chris Widger, 1995-2006. From New Jersey, he was taken in the third round by the Seattle Mariners out of George Mason in 1992. Widger played for several teams and ended his career with the Orioles. The veteran catcher hit .238 with 55 homers.
• Manager: Brian Snitker, who played for Staunton in the 1970s, led Atlanta to a World Series title as a skipper in 2021.