Do they have a (Carl)ton of talent?

Sunday, October 05 2008 @ 07:51 PM EDT

While we're thinking about common names that haven't yet received the Hall of Names treatment, the exploits of a certain faster-than-Mercury outfielder with Tampa Bay's Rays, one Carl Crawford, reminds us that that appellation has not yet been addressed.

And despite the weak headline above, there aren't a ton of famous Carls from any walk of life -- Jung and Sagan on the science side of things, and "not Ryne" Sandburg from the poetic; then there's Carl Lewis -- maybe we should sign him up as a designated pinch-runner, though that didn't work out too well for Herb Washington back in the day.

Anyhow, let's see how well we can do with an All-Carl of Names squad, then, beginning, as always, with just a few rules ...

• First, we will only consider those players who actually went by Carl, regardless of whether it was their given first or middle name -- so as much as Carl Reginald "Reggie" Smith might fit nicely in the middle of our batting order, he is not eligible ... nor, alas, is the diminutive greatness of Edward Carl Gaedel;
• Sorry, no room on the roster for OF/2B/3B Fred Carl (.202, 1889 Louisville Colonels) or C Lew Carl (0-for-3, 1 game, 1874 Baltimore Canaries) as their family names don't really fit the given-names spirit of this roster;
• Last names like Carleton, Carlson and Carlton -- though that last one sure would help the rotation from the left side! -- are right out;
• No alternate spellings like "Karl" so guys like Pagel, Spooner and Rhodes -- you may recall that last guy as "Tuffy" -- are not eligible, while Scott Karl is eliminated on two counts;
• Sorry, players named "Carlos" will not be considered (unless, again, they went by Carl, but that's not a common practice); hey, if you think that's discriminatory, it's not -- way back in 2004, we published an early All-Carlos Hall of Names effort -- and yes, Toronto was well-represented.

The Jung Ones
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

MGR: VACANT Nobody named "Carl" has ever managed in the big leagues; should we give the job to Carlos Tosca?

LINEUP
C Carl Sawatski (.242, 58 homers, parts of 1948-63, five teams)
1B Carl Yastrzemski** (.285, 452 homers, 1961-83)
2B Carl Lind (.272, 1927-30 CLE)
SS Carl Husta (3-for-22, '25 PHA)
3B Carl Vandagrift (.250, 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers, Fed League)
LF Carl Everett* (.271, 202 HR. 107 SB, eight teams, 1993-2006)
CF Carl Crawford* (.293, 306 SB through 2008)
RF Carl Furillo* (.299, 192 homers, 1946-60 Dodgers)
DH Carl Reynolds (OF, .302, 80 homers, 1927-39; .369/22/104 with '30 CHW)

BENCH
C Carl Nichols (.204, 1986-91 BAL, HOU)
C/OF/1B/3B Carl Taylor (.266, 1968-73, PIT, STL, KCR)
IF Carl Sawyer (.222, 1915-16 WAS)
IF Carl Manda (4-for-15, 1914 CHW)
OF Carl Warwick (.248, 1961-66; 17 homers, '62 STL, HOU)
OF Carl Boles (.375 career -- 9-for-24 with '62 SFG)

ROTATION
RHSP Carl Hubbell** (253-154, 2.98 ERA, 1928-43 NYG; 33 saves)
RHSP Carl Mays (207-126, 2.92 ERA) 1915-29)
RHSP Carl Erskine* (122-78, 2 no-hitters, 1948-59 Dodgers)
LHSP Carl Weilman (85-95, 10 svaes, 1912-17, '19-20 SLB)
RHSP Carl Morton (87-92, 1969-76 MON, ATL; '70 NL ROY with 18 wins)

BULLPEN
RHRP Carl Willis (22-16, 13 saves, parts of 1984-95)
LHRP Carl Fischer (46-50, 11 saves, five teams, 1930-35, '37)
RHRP Carl Scheib (debuted at 16 for '43 PHA; 45-65, 17 saves, through '54)
RH-Long Carl Pavano* (66-66 through 2008)
LH-Long Carl Druhot (8-10, 1906-07 CIN, STL)

The final cuts ... We had to use nearly every position player in big league Carl annals to form this roster; the only ones not making it were OF Carl Sumner (8-for-29, '28 BOS) and a couple of guys who came to the plate, both for the Tigers way back when, but never played the field in Carl Linhart (a Czech native who was 0-for-2 for '52 DET) and Carl McNabb (who struck out in his only AB with '45 DET) ...

Well, there was one more in RHP/OF Carl East, who made one start in his big league debut for the '15 SLB (6 ER in 3.1 IP, no decision), then came back to the majors nine seasons later as an OF (and went 2-for-6 for '24 WAS) ... There were 19 other Carls to not make the roster, and every single one was a pitcher ... The best of those have been RHSP Carl Pavano* (66-66 through 2008) and RHS/RP Carl Willey (38-58, 1958-65 Braves, Mets), with additional "thanks for playing, but the coach wants to see you in his office" shout-outs to RHSP Carl Cashion (12-13, 1911-14 WAS; 10-6 in '12), RHRP Carl Doyle (6-15, 2 saves, 3 teams, 1935-36, '39-40), RHR/SP Carl Sitton (3-2, 2.88, 1909 CLE) and RHRP Carl Holling (4-8, 4 saves, 1921-22 DET)... All the others, from (alphabetically) Bouldin and Dale to Stimson and Thomas, were a combined 7-24 in the big leagues ...

So, Bauxites ... dow would this squad of cool Carls do in the 2008 AL East?

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https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20081005192915194