Fabian Gaffke
Fabian Sebastian Gaffke (1913-1992)

Gaffke was an outfielder who would have earned at least fifteen minutes of fame had ESPN been around in 1937. "Baseball Tonight" certainly would have made a fuss over the five hits Gaffke had for the Boston Red Sox on April 26 against the Washington Senators. Then, in the middle of July, Gaffke had a field day in a series against the St. Louis Browns, scoring five runs in one game, then hitting three home runs two days later.

Gaffke hit .288 that season, but, alas, it was downhill from then on. He had only 10 at bats in 1938 and spent most of the next few seasons in the minors. He played briefly for Cleveland in 1941 and 1942, but hit only .169 for the Indians.

His best seasons were in the American Association playing for the Minneapolis Millers. In 1941 he hit .305 with 21 home runs, but what earned him a spot on a website list of Memorable Millers were his 1936 stats: a .342 batting average, 25 home runs and 132 runs batted in.

Nomar Garciaparra
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (1973- )

As with Ichiro (Suzuki), when you say Nomar, no last name is needed. It's his middle name and is his father's name, Roman, spelled backward.

As a youngster, his nickname was Glass because kids thought he was so scrawny you could see right through him. He was an easy target for ESPN's Chris Berman who Bermanized him this way: Nomar Mr. Nice Guy Garciaparra.

In recent years Garciaparra has been plagued by injuries after beginning his career in spectacular fashion with Boston where he twice led the American League in hitting (.357 in 1999; .372 in 2000). The shortstop was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2004 and missed most of the 2005 season with injuries. He is now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has played first and third base for the Dodgers, mostly at third in 2007 when he batted .283 with seven home runs, a far cry from a career best 35 he hit in his second full season with the Red Sox in 1998.

One of the real shames of the 2004 season, with the Red Sox finally winning the World Series, is that Garciaparra wasn't on the team to enjoy it.

He is married to soccer star Mia Hamm, herself the possessor of a memorable sports name that, surprisingly, has never been taken by an actor.

Debs Garms
Debs C. Garms (1908-1984)

Garms was a small (5-foot-8, 165 pound) outfielder who played without much notice on the St. Louis Browns for four seasons (1932-35).

Dispatched to the minors, Garms returned to the bigs in 1937 with the Boston Braves, dividing time between the outfield and third base. He hit .315 in 1938, .298 in 1939, but the Braves sold the singles hitter to Pittsburgh. There, in 1940, he became an unlikely league batting champion, hitting .355.

Garms had only 358 at bats and wasn't even considered a Pirate regular, but he was awarded the batting title because the highest average by anyone with more than 400 at bats – the old yardstick – was .317 by Stan Hack. Even if Garms were charged with an additional 42 hitless at bats, he would have had a slight edge on Hack. Thus Garms was declared the batting champ.

Garms hit .264 the following season in 220 at bats, though when he retired in 1945 his lifetime average was a solid .293.

Welcome Gaston
Welcome Thornburg Gaston (1872-1944)

The left-handed pitcher wore out his welcome to the major leagues after just three games with Brooklyn, two in 1898 when the team was nicknamed the Bridegrooms (really) and one game in 1899 when the team was known as the Superbas. Gaston had one win, one loss, giving up 13 bases on balls in 19 innings without striking out a batter.

Gaston has a permanent spot on my team because they don't make names like his anymore.

Chippy Gaw
George Joseph Gaw (1892-1968)

In 1920, at age 28, this right-handed pitcher started one game and made five relief appearances for the Chicago Cubs, winning one decision, losing another.

Tookie Gilbert
Harold Joseph Gilbert (1929-1967)

Tookie Gilbert, real name Harold, was the son of Larry Gilbert and brother of Charlie Gilbert, who also played in majors. He was a slugging first baseman in the minor leagues who fared poorly in the majors with the New York Giants in 1950 and briefly in 1953.

As a young boy, his brothers let him play baseball with them; they called him "Rookie", but he pronounced it "Tookie." That's how nicknames are born, and if he had pronounced it the way lots of young kids do, then Gilbert could have been a Wookie.

Gilbert returned to New Orleans when he retired from baseball and was a civil sheriff of Orleans Parish in 1967 when he died from a heart attack while driving his car.

Gillenwater was a childhood favorite, a centerfielder for the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League who had played during the 1940s with the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, Boston Braves and Washington Senators. His big year was 1945 when he hit a solid .288 for the Braves in 144 games, but his average fell 60 points the next season and he was off to the minors where he was an International League all-star.

A pitcher named Claral Gillenwater played briefly for the Chicago White Sox in 1923.

Al Gionfriddo
Albert Francis Gionfriddo (1922-2003)

Like Gillenwater, Gionfriddo's best season in his brief major league career was 1945 when he hit .284 in 122 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

His stroke of luck was being traded to Brooklyn in 1947, which got him into the World Series where he made a memorable play on a long fly ball hit by Joe DiMaggio. Gionfriddo's dramatic catch, subject of one of baseball's most famous photographs, helped the Dodgers win Game Six (but, alas, they went on to lose Game Seven). The World Series was Gionfriddo's farewell to the major leagues.

Gordon Goldsberry
Gordon Frederick Goldsberry (1927-1996)

A light-hitting first baseman for the Chicago White Sox (1949-51) and St. Louis Browns (1952), Goldsberry is better remembered for his years as the Chicago Cubs scouting director. At least, that's what I learned when I researched this project. I'd recalled him strictly because of his terrific name. The obvious Bermanism: Gordon good as Goldsberry.

Purnal Goldy
Purnal William Goldy (1937- )

Goldy was an outfielder, but sounds like a colorful character from a mystery novel set in the South. Fine, except Goldy was from Camden, NJ. He played baseball at Temple University. His major league experience included 29 games with Detroit (1962-63). He batted .231 with three home runs. At six-foot-five, 200 pounds, Goldy had plenty of power.

Glen Gorbous
Glen Edward Gorbous (1930-1990)

Gorbous played 115 games in the major leagues, most of them in 1955 with the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. He was an outfielder who hit .238 and could throw the ball further than he could hit it. True. Gorbous is in the Guinness Book of World Records because in 1957 he threw a baseball further than anyone had ever thrown it before: 445 feet, 10 inches. The record still stands.

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