Sibby Sisti
Sebasian Daniel Sisti (1920-2006)

This Buffalo, New York, native was a handy guy to have around because he was at home playing any infield position. He joined the Boston Braves in 1939, just before his 19th birthday.

His career peaked in 1941, then he hit a slump in 1942, and spent the next three years with the Coast Guard during World War II. He returned in 1946, played for Indianapolis of the American Association, hit .343 and was named Minor League Player of the Year.

In 1947 he returned to the Braves. In all, Sisti spent 13 seasons with the team, retiring in 1954, the Braves' second year in Milwaukee.

Sisti became a minor league coach and manager. He appeared in the Robert Redford film, 'The Natural', playing the manager of the Pirates.

I always had a special place for Sisti in my memories because he spoke at my high school's athletic banquet in 1954.

Jimmy Slagle
James Franklin Slagle (1873-1956)

The 5-foot-7 Slagle bore at least three nicknames – Rabbit, Shorty and (yes) The Human Mosquito. But nothing embarrassed the outfielder so much as being fooled by the hidden ball trick and getting picked off second base during the 1907 World Series when he played for the Chicago Cubs. But that's just a Series footnote. The Cubs swept Detroit after Game One ended in a 3-all tie, and Slagle was the hitting star of Game Two, driving in the go-ahead run in a 3-1 victory.

Enos 'Country' Slaughter
Enos Bradsher Slaughter (1916-2002)

Enos (aka Country) Slaughter was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1985, but it was in 1946 that he secured immortality when his daring running won the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals and broke the hearts of Boston Red Sox fans, who would know the feeling often until 2004.

Slaughter was Charlie Hustle before Pete Rose was even born, a fiery competitor who remained in the major leagues until 1959 – when he was 43.

He missed three years for WW2 service, but accumlated 2,383 hits, 1,247 runs and 1,304 runs batted in, with a .300 lifetime btting average.

He went to the New York Yankees in 1954 and played in three more World Series.

Terrmel Sledge
Terrmel Sledge (1977 - )

The outfielder-first baseman has yet to live up to the potential displayed during a couple of minor league stops. He spent the 2004 season with the Montreal Expos who became the Washington Nationals in 2005 when Sledge spent the summer on the disabled list. The Nationals traded him to Texas and the Rangers then traded him to San Diego. He spent most of 2006 with Portland of the Pacific Coast League, batting .311 with 24 home runs. He played 38 games with San Diego, batting .229. He played 100 games with the Padres in 2007, but batted only .210.

Sledge's nickname is obvious: Hammer.

Smash Smajstrla
Craig Lee Smajstrla (1962- )

This last name looks like something you'd get by picking up nine Scrabble letter squares and spilling them on the board. I couldn't pronounce it once, much less say it three times fast.

Smajstrla was a second baseman who got into eight games with Houston in 1988. He was a pinch hitter, a pinch runner and handled one chance in the field. He struck out once, scored a couple of runs, but had no hits in three at bats.

I found one online item that said as of 1999 he was a Houston-based scout for the Major League Scouting Bureau.

Wonderful Willie Smith
Willie Smith (1939-2006)

This is perhaps baseball's all-time feel good name. I feel wonderful just thinking about it.

Willie Smith came into the majors with Detroit in 1963 as a good-hitting pitcher. Like several players on my list, Smith has a Syracuse connection. He'd played there on his way up, Syracuse being a Detroit farm team at the time. I lived elsewhere, but followed his exploits from afar.

Detroit, unimpressed with Smith's pitching, traded him to the Los Angeles Angels who were more impressed with his hitting. Smith made 15 pitching appearances but spent most of his time in the outfield, hitting .301. A big fuss was made over Smith at the time, but he never again hit anywhere near .300.

His major league career ended in 1971, but for the rest of his life he remained Wonderful Willie Smith. He died in January, 2006.

Smoot was an outfielder for five seasons (1902-1906), playing with the St. Louis Cardinals until he was dealt to Cincinnati halfway through 1906.

He was regarded as an above-average hitter with a good future, but his batting average dropped from .311 in 1905 to .252 the following year.

Rumor was Smoot's eyes were failing, but it was rheumatism that shortened his major league career, though he played minor league ball for several years afterward.

Chappie Snodgrass
Amzie Beal Snodgrass (1870-1951)

I've uncovered nothing on this guy, though I suspect there's a story or two out there somewhere. First, I love his real name. Second, he played only three major league games, in 1901 with the Baltimore Orioles during the first season of the American League. He was 31 at the time. He had one hit in 10 at bats, but earned his ticket out of Baltimore by making three outfield errors in six chances. He was born in Springfield, OH, and died in New York City.

Karl Spooner
Karl Benjamin Spooner (1931-1984)

In the language of baseball, karl spooner means "what might have been."

Spooner was 23 when he was brought up by the Brooklyn Dodgers late in the 1954 season. He pitched two games, threw two shutouts, allowed just seven hits and struck out 27. He was sure to become the next Big Thing.

But a sore arm just got worse and worse through the 1955 season when he won eight games. In relief he pitched three shutout innings in Game Two of the '55 World Series, but gave up five runs and was lifted in the first inning when he started Game Six. He never again pitched in the majors.

Tim Spooneybarger
Timothy F. Spooneybarger (1979- )

This pitcher may have more in common with Karl Spooner than just the first six letters of his last name.

Reliever Spooneybarger went on the disabled list in June 2003 and has been injured ever since.

Spooneybarger is on this list (1) because I like the sound of his name and (2) it's one of the few last names in baseball to break the 12-letter barrier.

Jigger Statz
Arnold John Statz (1897-1988)

Statz is a baseball legend. He played with teams when he was in the majors on and off from 1919-1928.

He batted .319 with the Chicago Cubs in 1923, with 209 hits and 110 runs, but was not destined to remain in the big leagues. No, the legend of Jigger Statz was established in Los Angeles where he played 19 seasons in the Pacific Coast League, getting more than 3,300 hits, a minor league record.

Adding in his 737 big league hits, Statz joins Ty Cobb and Pete Rose as the only professional baseball players with more than 4,000 hits.

As for his nickname ... well, according to an interview the 5-foot-7 Statz gave a reporter in 1941, he received his nickname because he was a small youngster and people called him Chigger, a reference to the tiny, pesty bug. Somewhere along the way Chigger became Jigger.

Snuffy Stirnweiss
George Henry Stirnweiss (1918-1958)

Stirnweiss apparently got his nickname from the comic strip, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith.

He was an infielder, usually at second base, who spent the first seven seasons of his 10-year career with the New York Yankees. He led the American League in hitting in 1945 with a .309 average. (There were only three .300-plus hitters that season.)

He died in 1958 when the commuter train he was riding into New York City plunged off the Newark Bay Bridge. He was only 39.

Tanyon Sturtze
Tanyon James Sturtze (1970- )

When I see his name I think of the mysterious Kaiser Soze from the movie, 'The Usual Suspects'.

Sturtze is a pitcher who has bounced around a lot in his 10-year major league career. His latest bounce landed him with the Atlanta Braves after spending the 2006 with the New York Yankees. However, he didn't do much pitching in 2006 because he was sidelined by a shoulder injury. He remained on the disabled list through the 2007 season.

"Good Kid" Susce
George Cyril Methodius Susce (1908-1986)

Susce was a catcher in 109 games and first baseman in 31 games over eight seasons from 1929-44. Hit .228 with two home runs. He played for five teams, bouncing from league to league, first with the Philadelphia Phillies, then the Detroit Tigers, then the Pittsburgh Pirates, then the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians. His son, George, pitched from Boston and Detroit in the 1950s, his best season being his rookie year (1955) when he posted a 9-7 record.

Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro Suzuki (1973- )

When you say Ichiro, you've said it all. He is so well known by his first name, that some don't seem to realize Ichiro has a last name, and even if they do, they can't remember it.

Suzuki was a superstar in Japan before he arrived in the United States in 2001 to play for the Seattle Mariners. That season he hit baseball's Trifecta – he won the American League batting title, was named rookie or the year AND the league's most valuable player.

In 2004 he broke the major league record for hits in one season (262). He lead the American League for the second time that season with a .372 batting average. In 2007 was batted over .300 for the seventh straight season, hitting .351, second best in the league.

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