Interactive Hall of Names: Is Your Name in the Tunes?

Tuesday, February 08 2005 @ 11:58 AM EST

Today, we're taking a slightly different approach to building a new lineup for Baseball's Hall of Names ... it's the All-Top-40-Hits Team, and everyone is invited to contribute ideas, especially if they can squeeze in a reference to a favorite popular song.

We're looking for ballplayers whose first names appear in the titles (not just the lyrics) of popular songs of the rock era, roughly since the end of World War II. You must provide the title of the song, the artist who performed it and the player you are invoking. For instance, I might submit: "Mickey" by Toni Basil, CF Mickey Mantle (or if we need a catcher, Mickey Cochrane).

There are a few rules ...

1. It must be a song most people will recognize, not just some random "Barry Rocks" anthem by your cousin's garage band in Winnipeg.
   
2. Songs about baseball and baseball players are not eligible for use, so no chance of getting your entire starting outfield from Terry Cashman's "Talkin' Baseball (Willie, Mickey and the Duke)."
   
3. The song must have lyrics, not just be a dedication of some sort. So, "Daniel" by Elton John is fine, but "Brian's Song" is not. But if this team laments the possible loss of Brian Downing, as fine a hitter as he was, it's going to be in trouble.
   
4. The name must be exact; that is, the aforementioned Elton John classic "Daniel" does not net us Hall of Famer Dan Brouthers, nor does the imnmortal Shaun Cassidy's "Hey Deanie" qualify Dean Chance, or Dizzy Dean for that matter.
   
5. In fact, on the Dean example, forget Dizzy altogether. First names only -- so as much as we love Bowling For Soup's "Andrew," Shane Andrews doesn't make this team because it isn't exact AND it's a family name.
   
6. Nicknames are fine. "Rocky Raccoon" by a little band called the Beatles means Rocky Colavito is welcome on this team. Or, if we really need pitching, Rocky Biddle. But not Don "The Rock" Schulze.
   
7. Forty google bonus points for any example of a player whose full name is in a song title without breaking the above Rule #2. For example, while Jim Croce's title character (Bad Bad) Leroy Brown has never made the majors, there has been both a hit song by the Coasters and a 19th-century pitcher named Charlie Brown.
   
8. One song, one player. This means if you want both Johnny Bench and Johnny Vandermeer on this team, you'd better come up with both Shelly Fabares' "Johnny Angel" and "Johnny Be Good" by Chuck Berry. But "Abraham, Martin and John" doesn't help you there, because of the above "exact" rule.

• "Benny and the Jets" by Elton John: OF Benny Agbayani
  
• "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Paper Lace: 2B Billy Martin
  
• "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Christopher Cross: LHRP Arthur Rhodes
  
• "Jesse" by Carly Simon and "Jesse's Girl" by Rick Springfield: two Hall of Famers in OF Jesse Burkett and SP Jesse Haines (remember, two songs = two players).
  

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