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Thursday, September 01 2005 @ 10:51 PM EDT

Contributed by: Mick Doherty

I won't go into the long and tedious details, but I've spent some time thinking about game show hosts recently -- and that naturally led to a Hall of Names take on the topic.

That's right, a team made up entirely of players who share their last/family name with renowned game show hosts such as Len "Bob" Barker, Andre "Richard" Dawson and Blake "Ben" Stein.

As with any game show, of course, a loud nasty buzzing sound will occur ...

... if we break any of the rules, as follows:

  1. Each game show host name can only be used once to add a player to the roster; that is, adding Len Barker would make Kevin Barker ineligible. As omnipresent as Anne Robinson's "Weakest Link" might have seemed a few years ago, only one Robinson, not all four Robbies in Cooperstown, can make this team.
  2. We will only focus on last/family names -- so, Maury Povich, host of the re-made "Twenty-One" does not qualify Maury Wills for the team; nor does "Jeopardy" maven Alex Trebek net us Grover Cleveland Alexander.
  3. No alternate spellings will be accepted; so while Fred Clarke was a Hall of Famer, he does not qualify for the team just because of Dick Clark.
  4. One host, Jim Perry of "Card Sharks" actually has the same exact name as a former MLB All-Star, Gaylord's brother Jim, also a RHSP. Wait, make that two hosts -- as former original "Password" host Jack Clark had the same name as the later moody slugger.
  5. And you'll note that means there are at least two Clarks who were notable game show hosts, Jack and Dick, so we can have two of them on our roster as well.
  6. I'll be honest, I don't know a damn thing about Canadian game shows, so will focus on U.S.-produced and broadcast shows; please feel free to give Canadian-themed suggestions at the conclusion of this presentation.
  7. The host in question (and his or her most notable show) related to each player's name will be specified parenthetically after the standard player stats or career note.
  8. We're stretching a tiny bit to include Vanna White, but there are no "Sajaks" in big league annals, while former daytime "Wheel of Forture" host Rolf Benirschke would be great if this team needed a placekicker.
  9. We'd love to go with All-Star RHRP Dr. Mike Marshall, for Peter Marshall, longtime host of "The Hollywood Squares," but his real last name was LaCock, and if that name rings a bell, it's because Marshall's son, Pete LaCock, was a 1B with the division-dominating Kansas City teams of the 1970s. And MLB players who are sons of game show hosts, even if they have a different "stage" name, get a bye right onto this team.
LET'S GO TO THE JUDGES: Among the game show host names you WON'T be seeing here as they have no MLB equivalents are Wink Martindale, Maury Povich, Pat Sajak, Regis Philbin, Alex Trebek, Jimmy Kimmel, Bert Convy, Gene Rayburn, Chuck Barris, Dick Cavett, Jeremy Paxman, Jeff Probst and Chuck Woolery ... We'd love to have an outfield partly patrolled by Frank Robinson, or maybe Brooks at the hot corner, but this team has no backup catcher OR manager, and we can fill both roles with one Hall of Famer in Uncle Robbie, Wilbert Robinson ... And look at that outfield, anyway! Two All-Stars flanking a Hall of Famer, and all three sharing names with different hosts of "Family Feud."

THE HOSTS WITH THE MOST
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

Player/MGR Wilbert Robinson (Anne of "The Weakest Link")

Lineup
C Terry Kennedy* (Tom of "The Big Game" and "Password Plus")
1B Bill Stein (Ben of "Win Ben Stein's Money")
2B Frank White* (Vanna of "Wheel of Fortune")
SS Alfredo Griffin* (Merv of "To Tell the Truth")
3B Mickey Finn (Pat of "The Joker's Wild")
LF Brady Anderson* (Louie of still later "Family Feud")
CF Earle Combs** (Ray of the later "Family Feud")
RF Andre Dawson* (Richard of the original "Family Feud")
DH Jack Clark* (also Jack of original "Password")

Bench
C Wilbert Robinson (Anne of "The Weakest Link")
1B/OF Pete LaCock (son of Peter Marshall)
IF Tim Cullen (Bill of "To Tell the Truth" among many others)
OF Mark Davidson (John of the new "Hollywood Squares")
UTIL Bruce Edwards* (Ralph of "This is Your Life")

Rotation
RHSP Jim Perry* (Also Jim of "Card Sharks")
LHSP Watty Clark (20-game winner in '32; Dick of "Pyramid")
RHSP Len Barker* (Bob of "The Price is Right")
LHSP Ted Gray* (George of the syndicated daytime "Weakest Link")
RHSP Brooks Lawrence* (Vicki of "Win, Lose or Draw")

Bullpen
LHRP-CL Tom Hall (32 career saves; Monty of "Let's Make a Deal")
RHRP Uel Eubanks (Bob of "The Newlywed Game" among others)
LHRP Doc Newton (Todd of "Whammy!")
RHRP Bill Fleming (Art of the original "Jeopardy")
LH-LONG Jeff Francis (Arlene of "Talent Show" and "The Prize Patrol")

Okay, Bauxites ... buzz in with suggestions to improve this team!

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