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The Chris Berman factor ESPN announcer Chris Berman revolutionized the baseball name game several years ago when he started making puns at the expense of players in the news. All sports figures are likely to be Bermanized, but baseball players seem to provide most of the gems. I tried to remain unaffected by the Berman Factor when I made my selections and I think I succeeded – though some players on my list have been tagged by the ESPN wizard. I bow to the master and pass along some of my favorite Bermanisms. You can find the complete list on the ESPN website. Puns such as these: Rick
See Ya Later Jim
2 Silhouettes |
I never should have
read the local newspaper that morning. It's a free daily tabloid very
big into reader involvement. Many months have passed since the newspaper
solicited readers' favorite baseball names. Only a few readers participated
and all of their choices seemed to be players nicknamed Lefty. This pathetic
response provided fuel for the argument newspapers should report the news,
not recycle trivia. Leave that to people who have time on their hands
and not enough of a life to fill it. People like me and a whole bunch
of others I discovered when I went online to research this project. Anyway, that baseball name thing got into my head like a commercial jingle that drives you nuts. I gave in and decided to compile my own list of favorite baseball names. I started with a few who've been in my memory bank forever, then I read through my old copy of The Baseball Encyclopedia (which since has ceased publication) only to discover that one name led to another ... and another. The more I looked, the more I had to keep looking. As I did, of course, my list got longer and longer. I hate to think what would have happened if I were a real baseball fan instead of someone whose interest surfaces only occasionally, like a craving for Tater Tots. It has taken months
... and while my research has a long way to go, I have compiled a list
of favorite baseball names. Several belong to players who came and went
before I was born. And I could tell by the websites I visited that even
when my interest peaks, it is small compared with the obsession that grips
true baseball fanatics. Some of them seem quite mad. Obviously, I'm a
fine one to talk. My list is a mixture of men with interesting real names ... and those with ordinary surnames who happened to receive colorful nicknames. Some are interesting names that coincidentally belong to baseball players; others are names that are interesting only because of their association with baseball. (If you want to know more about my choices – some of them no-brainers, others made for deep, dark personal reasons – click on the letters in the list below.) What separates baseball from other team sports is how each baseball player is guaranteed a place in the spotlight. There’s no place to hide when it’s your turn to bat. And pitchers command attention whenever they're on the mound, some becoming household names after just one game. Which is why so many (old) baseball fans recall Bobo Holloman, a native of Thomaston, Georgia, who in 1954 threw a no-hitter in his first major league start. It was the only complete game Alva Lee Holloman ever pitched. He had only two other victories in his one-season major league career. But a no-hitter, for the St. Louis Browns, yet, insured Holloman’s baseball immortality. And while I recall Bobo Holloman – I saw him pitch in Syracuse before he went up to the majors – his name is not on my list of favorites. Baseball has hundreds of Bobo Hollomans. There's also something about baseball that attracts people interested in history and statistics. I don't think any game is more driven by statistics, and those statistics are the glue that keeps major league baseball intact. The statistics, the history and the memories. And, of course, the names. No sport can match baseball when it comes to names. Here's my list. It's a long list. Much, much too long. But it barely scratches the surface. |
| By the letters: |
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Gair
Allie
Loren
Babe B2 B3
Putsy
Caballero
C2 C3
Dim
Dom Dallessandro D2 |
Bad
Bill Eagan
Ferris
Fain
Fabian
Gaffke G2
Noodles
Hahn H2
Ham
Iburg
Shoeless
Joe Jackson
Cactus
Keck
Chet
Laabs |
Duster
Mails M2
Offa
Neal
Prince
Oana
Satchel
Paige P2
Joe
Quest
Ken
Raffensberger R2 |
Ebba
St. Claire S2
Taylor
Tankersley
Tommy
Umphlett
Fernando
Valenzuela
Woodie
Wagenhorst W2
Jim
Baxes
Yam
Yaryan
Zip
Zabel |
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Much of my information came from The Baseball Encyclopedia and my favorite baseball book, aptly titled The Ultimate Baseball Book(1979 edition). And then there were those terrific websites listed above, plus several others I visited along the way. One of those sites carried an interesting disclaimer that also refers to this project; that is, I assumed the photographs I copied from various sources are in the public domain. If there are any problems, contact me at: For that matter, also contact me if you've got better photos to share. Photo
at the top: – Photo credit: Wide World (via The Ultimate Baseball Book) |
