It's a Fine Team, By George!

Wednesday, August 17 2005 @ 10:11 PM EDT

Contributed by: Mick Doherty

In recent Hall of Names forays, we've been focused on common family names (like Davis, Lee and Miller) with occasional off-the-beaten path themes like All-Body Parts and a riff on a popular baseball song.

But now, let's return, by George (literally), to the roots of baseball's Hall of Names.

A few rules on our All-George selections.

  1. We will accept Georges who had that first name but went by a nickname; hello manager George "Sparky" Anderson and, oh yeah, that nets us a pretty decent RF and #3 hitter.
  2. We will also accept those people who had "George" as a first name but went by something else (ooh, that's George Thomas Seaver I see anchoring the pitching staff and a couple of Griffeys named George who went by Ken in the outfield).
  3. We will NOT accept those who had George as a middle name or as part of a nickname, but did not primarily go by that appellation -- sorry Hall of Famers Max George Carey and Ty "The Georgia Peach" Cobb and All-Star closer Rinold George "Ryne" Duren.
  4. We will NOT accept any of the six major leaguers who had "George" as a last or family name; don't fret, none of them were gonna make it anyway.
  5. As much as Jorge Posada would look nice catching for this team, we will NOT accept non-Anglicized versions of the name "George" -- hey, we won't even consider alternate spellings like 1960s RHRP Georges Maranda, who has the right to remain silent, and who wouldn't have made the team even if he did say something that could and would be used against him.
There's quite a lot of brainpower on this team, as Georges Tebbets, Wright, Davis and Sisler were all relatively successful managers (or in the case of Sisler, player/manager), while Ralph George Houk and Rene George Lachemann are not eligible -- though George Dallas Green certainly is.

THE GEORGE-TOWN HOYAS
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

Owner: George Steinbrenner
GM: George Weiss**
MGR: George "Sparky" Anderson**
Bench Coach: George Bamberger

STARTING LINEUP
C George "Birdie" Tebbets*
1B George Sisler**
2B George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss*
SS George Davis**
3B George Brett**
LF George Foster*
CF George Kenneth Griffey Jr.*
RF George "Babe" Ruth**

BENCH
C George Mitterwald
MID IF George Wright**
COR IF George Kell**
OF George Case*
OF George A. Bell*
UTIL George Kelly** (1B/2B/OF)

ROTATION
RHSP George Thomas Seaver** (311-205)
LHSP George "Rube" Waddell** (193-143)
RHSP George "Hooks" Dauss (222-182)
LHSP George "Hooks" Wiltse (139-90)
RHSP George Uhle (200-166)

BULLPEN
CL-R George Zuverink (led 1956 AL with 16 saves)
LHRP George Cappuzzello (1-1, 1 save with '81 DET)
RHRP George "Sarge" Connally (49-60, 31 saves)
LHRP George Sherrill (2-1 for 2004 SEA)
LONG-RH George "Nig" Cuppy (162-98)

Curious ...
A Few Notable Georges Who Didn't Make the Cut
1B George Scott*
1B George Crowe*
1B George McQuinn*
3B George "Whitey" Kurowski*
RF George Kenneth Griffey Sr.*
RF George Hendrick*
LF George Selkirk*
OF/1B George "Catfish" Metkovich

By George, this team sure seems like it could be a lot better ... especially behind the plate (though you could do worse than serviceable guys like Tebbets and Mitterwald) and in the bullpen, especially from the left side.

And yes, we like to think that the talent on this team would lead to an awful lot of "George W's"!

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