Initially Speaking, That Is
We continue our double twist on the Hall of Names (initially speaking) ... who are the best double-initial players for each of the first 23 letters of the English alphabet?
As mentioned last time (see AA through CC), that's not a random stopping point; there has never been a major league player whose last name began with "X" and none of the "Y" and "Z" players had alliterative first names. (Jimmie "Double X" Foxx, though a worthy Hall of Famer, here obviously is not a true Hall of Namer.) Well, unless you count RHRP George Washington "Zip" Zabel, who was 12-14 for the 1913-15 Cubbies -- that's your alliterative double-initial Chicago Cubs.
Then again, it turns out that three of the other letters -- I.I. and Q.Q. don't have any candidates, either, and there are just two V.V.'s while Ugueth Urbina is pretty much flying solo in the "UU" category, so we'll settle for, at best, 20 double-letter teams; here are three more ...
... with, as always, a few rules
Nicknamed players will be recognized only when they are a natural-born double initial; that is, if it is the nickname itself that gives them the double initial, they can just go right on home, they aren't welcome here, y'hear? So Hall of Famer Adrian "Cap" Anson and All-Star Elwood "Woody" English (the former in the previous article and the latter in this one, below) will earn mention, but Rich "Goose" Gossage and Leon "Goose" Goslin are summarily dismissed.
In the final tally, when the all-double-initial "champion" for each letter is chosen, natural names that were actually used will be given preference. So for instance, Andy Allanson was no Hall of Famer, and he probably won't end up being the AA rep on this list, but he outranks Anson, who went by a nickname,
And as the Python boys would say, middle names are right out -- so while Johnny David Damon may someday belong on the Hall of Fame roll call (though probably not), he does not belong in this particular Hall of Names roster.
|
DD
Winner:DON DRYSDALE |
Sure, Dizzy Dean was probably a better pitcher than Don Drysdale, but Don beats out Ol' Diz for the DD title as Dean's given name not only started with a J, it was Jay ... We get some intersting two-sport crossovers in the DD category, with Dave DeBusschere, a CHW RHRP who went on to NBA glory with the New York Knicks and D.J. Dozier, the former Lions and Vikings tailback who later briefly played OF for the Mets ...
The middle infield is a bit problematic, but if we move Delino DeShields to shortstop, making him the DD SS -- and he did play 10 games there in his career -- we can plug in old Red Sox sparkplug Denny Doyle at 2B ... Seriously, who knew that the apparently dyslexic J.D. Drew's initials stood for "David Jonathan"? ... |
| All-DD All-Stars |
The SANDRA DDs **indicates Hall of Fame * indicates All-Star LINEUP C Dave Duncan* 1B Dan Driessen 2B Denny Doyle SS Delino DeShields 3B Doug DeCinces LF David Jonathan "J.D." Drew CF Dom Dimaggio* RF David Dellucci DH Darren Daulton* ROTATION RHSP Jay "Dizzy" Dean** RHSP Don Drysdale** LHSP Dave Dravecky* RHSP Doug Drabek* LHSP Doug Davis BULLPEN CL-RH Dick Drago RH-SET Darren Dreifort LH-SET Denny Driscoll RH-LONG Danny Darwin LH-LONG Dave Danforth BENCH: C Dick Dietz 2B/3B/SS David Doster OF Dick Davis OF Dom Dallessandro 1B/3B/OF Don Demeter |
|
EE
Winner: "WOODY" ENGLISH |
Fewer than 300 players in major league history have had the last initial "E," so it seems likely to be difficult to put together a double-initial All-EE team ... Sure, Elwood English didn't go by an E.E. name, but the gap is so large between him and any other double-E player that we have to give the best EE player nod to the Wood-man ...
We essentially have no outfielders other than Eddie Eayrs whose left arm probably needs to be used for the pitching staff, and Roy Elsh (real name Eugene), so we're tagging the three individuals Baseball-Reference.com identifies onluy as Eland, Edwards and Evans, respectively, as Eddie, Egbert and Ernie to give us something approximating a full roster ... For experience sake, Edwards with 5 career AB and Evans with 4 will join Elsh in the EE OF, with Eland, who managed just three career AB; and no, none of the three ever walked, were HBP or reached in some other way, so the plate appearance numbers are the same ... Casey Stengel, who would probably be happy to take his '62 Mets over this squad, once said, "You have to have a catcher because if you don't you're likely to have a lot of passed balls." Well, we're about to find out how true that is, because we simply don't have a backstop for this squad ... With some reaching and stretching, the rest of the roster can be filled out ... We do have to go to a four-man rotation and four-man bullpen, down from the usual five each to get to the finish line, though ... Eckenstahler and Erautt weren't really starting pitchers, but we can't go with a two-man rotation, now can we? ... |
| All-EE All-Stars |
The EyE CHARTS **indicates Hall of Fame (none) * indicates All-Star LINEUP C VACANT 1B Earl "Eddie" Edmonson (5 AB) 2B Elmer "Moose" Eggert (3 AB) SS Elwood "Woody" English* 3B Eugene "Gene" Elliott (13 AB) OF Eugene "Roy" Elsh (173 G) OF Edwards (5 AB) OF Evans (4 AB) ROTATION RHSP Ed Eiteljorge (9 G) RHSP Eric Erickson (7 years) LHP Eric Eckenstahler (27 G through '03) RHP Eddie Erautt (6 years) BULLPEN RHRP Ernesto "Chico" Escarrega (73 IP) RHRP Edward "Leon" Everitt (16 IP) RHRP Ed "Doc Edelen (1 IP) OF/LHRP Eddie Eayrs (39 IP) BENCH: OF Eland (3 AB) Alone again, natural-E |
|
FF
Winner: FRANK FRISCH |
Our top FF player is the only one to make it into Cooperstown thus far, Frank Frisch, who as a bonus even had an FF nickname, as he was known as the "Fordham Flash" ... The other FF in the Hall of Fame is a former commissioner, Ford Frick, best known for pasting the asterisk next to Maris' 61st homer ...
In 1961, RHRP Frank Funk was 11-11 with 11 saves ... Frank Fleet played more at 2B than the 14 games he spent at the hot corner, but then he only played 88 games total, so he gets the start at third ... Yes, that's right, it's Fred Frank and Fred Frink in the OF, along with Frank Fahey (say that three times fast) ... Even though Fahey was also a RHRP who played just 10 big league games, he outclasses Frink who played in two games and never came to the plate; Fred Frank's 53 AB makes him the veteran in the OF ... No offense to Fahey, but it'd be nice if Frank Funk were an OF rather than, as mentioned, a RHRP -- then we'd have a Seussian Grinchlike Frink-Frank-Funk outfield ... Felix Fermin and Frank Fennelly were pretty much the same guy at shortsop, but the former's slightly longer career earns him the start, with Fennelly now the most experienced hand on the FF bench ... LHRP Fred "Fritz" Fisher, even with the extra F nickname, doesn't make the cut as he lasted exactly one-third of an inning with the '64 Tigers ... |
| All-FF All-Stars |
ONE eFFin' GREAT TEAM **indicates Hall of Fame * indicates All-Star LINEUP C Frank Fernandez (.199, 6 years) 1B Ferris Fain* (.290 in 9 years) 2B Frank Frisch** (2880 hits) SS Felix Fermin (.259, 10 years) 3B Frank Fleet (.231, 5 years) OF Frank Fahey (10 G) OF Fred Frank (53 AB) OF Fred Frink (2 G, 0 AB) ROTATION RHSP Freddie Fitzsimmons (217-146) RHSP Fred "Cy" Falkenberg (130-123) LHSP Frank Foreman (96-93) RHSP Fred Frankhouse* (106-92) RHSP Frank Figgemeier (1 game) BULLPEN CL-RH Frank Funk (20-17, 18 saves) LHRP Fred Fussell (14-17, 5 saves) RHRP Frankie Francisco (5-1 in 2004) LHRP Frank Fanovich (0-5 in 2 seasons) RHRP Frederick Fass (0-1, 1 sv, 15.2 IP) BENCH: C/OF Frank "Silver" Flint (.236, 13 years) C Fred Fagin (3 AB) 1B Frank Foutz (72 AB) 2B/SS Frank Fuller (63 AB) SS Frank Fennelly (.257, 7 years) |
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050905180249105