Clarification: the name in the song title does NOT necessarily have to be used as a name IN the song title, so be creative -- "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" does, in fact, qualify budding author Jose Canseco for this team.

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"Johnny Be Good" by Chuck Barry - Johnny Bench (C)
"Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix (although Led Zeppelin does a neat cover - Joe Carter (1B)
"If I were a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the Roof - Rich Amaral (2b)
"In the Hall of the Mountain King" - King Kelly (3B)
"F*** Mike Harris" by Dope Poet Society (ok, they're not huge...) - Mike Bordick (SS)
"Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison - Bobby Brown (CF)
"John the Revelator" by Santana (or any good bluesman) - John Scott (RF)
"Brian Wilson" by BNL - Brian Lesher (I hated that guy... LF)

"The Night that Pat Murphy Died" by Great Big Sea - Pay Murphy (C)
"Chris Cayton" by Goldfinger - Chris Gomez (mINF)
"Touch of Grey" by Grateful Dead - Grey Clarke (cINF)
"General Taylor" by Great Big Sea - Taylor Douthit (OF)

"Jimmy" by Tool - Jimmy Key (SP) (L)
"Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Stones - Jack Morris (SP) (R)
"Behind Blue Eyes" by The Who - 'Blue Moon' Odom (SP) (R)
"Jeremy" by Pearl Jam - Jeremy Affeldt(SP)
"Jack and Dianne" John Mellencamp - Jack Armstrong (SP)

"Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkle - Robinson Checo (RP)
"Ms. Jackson" by Outkast - Jackson Todd (RP)
"Arnold Layne" also by Pink Floyd - Arnold Umbach (RP)
"Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz - Clint Nageotte (RP)
"Me and Bobby McGee" by Janice Joplin - Bobby Thigpen (RP)

If someone wants to figure out the bullpen roles be my guest. I don't have the head for it.

Just a few Hall of Famers to get us started:

Pancho & Lefty, by the great Townes Van Zandt (and memorably covered by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson) nets us either Lefty Grove or Lefty Gomez. Can't go wrong with either one of those. It also nets us Pancho Herrerra, but I think we can do without him.

Robert Earl Keen, Jr. has a song called Willie, so that gets us the Say Hey Kid.

Petula Clarke and Charlie Robison each have a song called Walter, so that gets us Big Train Johnson and Walter Alston, a very fine manager.

And thanks to Sonny and Cher for their big hit, I Got You, Babe, we can add the Sultan of Swat to this team.

Joseph, I'm surprised you take Lesher over Giles for BNL's Brian Wilson. Frankly, Giles' OPS+ is over twice what Lesher's is.

Also, Eminem's "Stan" offers a good choice for OF:
HOF OF Stan Musial

Townes Van Zandt was great. And if I must listen to the tune before getting the player, I'll take Chrissie Hynde's version of "I Got You, Babe", rather than the original.

"Jackie Wilson Said" by Van Morrison will net us Jackie Robinson. "Jimmie Mack" will lead straight to Jimmie Foxx. "Da Doo Ron Ron" courtesy of Phil Spector and the Crystals (or Bette Midler) will give us Ron Santo, or if we prefer a Hall of Famer at third, Michelle Shocked's fine "Eddie" becomes Mr. Mathews in our hands. Hmm, shortstops- no Honus or Arky that's for sure. "Rockin' Robin" was indeed Yount's nickname.

Now, we need a leftfielder (Babe is in right and Willie is in center). Eminem's "Stan" is indeed The Man.

For the pitching staff, we have Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove, and maybe Key so far. Woody Guthrie's "Tom Joad" is Terrific for us. I'll stop there.

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I tried to grab as many former Jays as possible.

"David Watts" by the Kinks = David Wells

"Paul Revere" by the Beastie Boys - Paul Molitor (DH, 3B or 2B)
"You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon - Al Simmons, OF
"Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" by Elvis Presley - Teddy Higuera, P

"Freddie's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield - Freddie Fitzsimmons, P
"Hats Off to Larry" by Del Shannon - Larry Dierker, P
"Rico Suave" by Gerardo - Rico Petrocelli, SS

"Albert Flasher" by the Guess Who = Albert Belle
"Rocket Man" by Elton John = 'Rocket' Roger Clemens (way obvious)
"Kentucky Woman" by Neil Diamond = Earle Combs 'The Kentucky Colonel'
"Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler = Earl Averill
"Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil = Mickey Mantle

Johnny Angel......Shelley Fabares...........Angel Berroa SS

"Jacob's Ladder" by Huey Lewis and the News = Jacob Cruz or Jacob Brumfield, OF (not exactly all-stars but meh, I love Huey Lewis)

"Aces High" by Iron Maiden = Ace Adams, RP (All-star reliever from the 40's)

"Adam's Song" by blink-182 = Adam Dunn, OF

"Blue Monday" by New Order = Rick Monday, OF

"Gone Shootin'" by AC-DC = Shooty Babitt, 2B (excellent defensive 2B who had a cup of coffee with the A's in 1981)

"The Good Fight" by Dashboard Confessional = Andrew Good, RP (young Diamondbacks swingman)

"Hard Candy" by Counting Crows = Candy Cummings, SP (self-styled inventor of the curveball. Candy Maldonado fits too, but I've got enough OF's already)

"Heart of Darkness" by the Headstones = Alvin Dark, manager

"Hello Houston" by The Starting Line = Tyler Houston, C (or Houston Jimenez, SS)

"I Fought the Law" by the Clash = Vern Law, SP (All-star for Pittsburgh in the 50's-60's)

"Hey Kid" by Diesel Boy = Kid Carsey, SP (218 CG in the late 1800's but walked almost twice as many batters as he K'ed)

"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers = Scott Downs, RP (also referenced by "You Can't Bring me Down" by Suicidal Tendencies)

"Joey" by Concrete Blonde = Joey Cora, 2B/SS (quality leadoff hitter)

"Kemp" by Millencolin = Steve Kemp, OF (All-star for Detroit in the late 70's)

"Little Bones" by the Tragically Hip = Ricky Bones, SP

"Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows = too easy.

"Nice Guys Finish Last" by Green Day = Guy Bush, RP (22-year ML career, another old-timer who walked more batters than he struck out)

"Red Skies" by The Fixx = Red Faber, SP (was effective even at age 44)

"Strawberry Fields Forever" by the Beatles = Darryl Strawberry, OF (surprised nobody beat me to this one)

"Tiny Teddy" by the Headstones = Ted Williams, OF (or Ted Lilly, SP)

"True Drew" by Diesel Boy = J.D. Drew, OF

"Vlad the Impaler" by Gwar = Vladimir Guerrero, OF (another one I'm surprised nobody else beat me to the punch... or maybe the song is a little too obscure)

"Walking on a Thin Line" = Huey Lewis and the News = Larry Walker, OF (obligatory Canadian content, and I'd probably have him DH or maybe play 1B because of outfield depth, and for the life of me I can't find a song that references an actual 1B)

Heh, it starts and ends with Huey Lewis. How appropriate. :D

Oops, I apologize for a couple of those... I scanned over the rules a little too quickly. I guess Walker, Downs, Dark, and Babitt are disqualified. Since there was no mention of whether plurals were okay, I'm going to keep Ace Adams and Adam Dunn.

Does "Vlad the Impaler" count for double points? Not technically his full name, but it is his full nickname. :)

"Mo Money, Mo Problems" by Notorious B.I.G. - Mo Vaughn, 1B
"Kyle's Mom's a B**ch" by Eric Cartman - Kyle Lohse, P

Still, Parker, great looking team! Can you build a full roster within your own rule set there? By the original rules -- and thanks for all the great feedback already -- how does this look? The 25-man roster has 13 Hall of Famers, four guys who should be Hall of Famers, and most of the rest were All-Stars at some point. Can anyone come up with an alternate team using 25 entirely different players? You have some good starting options as I decided to not use any one name twice.

Lineup (* indicates Hall of Famer)
C JOHNNY Bench* ("Johnny Angel" by Shelly Fabares)
1B JIMMIE Foxx* ("Jimmie Mack" by Lavern Baker)
2B PAUL Molitor* ("Paul Revere" by the Beastie Boys)
SS RICO Petrocelli ("Rico Suave" by Gerardo)
3B RON Santo ("Da Doo Ron Ron" by Shaun Cassidy)
LF STAN Musial* ("Stan" by Eminem)
CF MICKEY Mantle* ("Mickey" by Toni Basil)
RF ROCKY Colavito ("Rocky Raccoon" by The Beatles)
DH BABE Ruth* ("Babe" by Styx)

Bench
C/MGR AL Lopez* ("You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon)
MidIF BILLY Martin("Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Paper Lace)
CorIF KING Kelly* ("Rain King" by Counting Crows)
OF DUKE SNIDER* ("Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler)
PH JOSE Canseco ("Do You Know The Way To San Jose?" by The Carpenters)

Rotation
RHSP WALTER Johnson* ("Walter" by Petula Clarke)
LHSP LEFTY Grove* ("Pancho & Lefty" by Townes Van Zandt)
RHSP JACK Morris* ("Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones)
LHSP JIMMY Key (""Jimmy" by Tool)
RHSP JESSE Crain* ("Jesse" by Carly Simon)*

Bullpen
CL LEE Smith ("Stagger Lee" by Nick Cave)
R-SET BOBBY Thigpen ("Me and Bobby McGee" by Janice Joplin)
L-SET JEREMY Affeldt ("Jeremy" by Pearl Jam)
LOOGY ARTHUR Rhodes ("Arthur's Theme/Best That You Can Do" by Christopher Cross)
LONG BLUE MOON Odom ("Blue Moon," covered by many artists)

We've got a couple good leftys already, but let's get Vida Blue in there thanks to Ricky Martin's "Living la vida loca".

Janis, guys! Young people, sheesh.

Jesse Crain is a reliever, and besides Tom Seaver just might be a better pitcher (courtesy of Woody Guthrie's Tom Joad- young people, think "The Ghost of Tom Joad" by Springsteen).

It looks like the relief crew needs some help- how about Rich Gossage courtesy of Hall & Oates-"Rich Girl" or better yet, Tevye's "If I were a rich man".

Alternative 25:

C IVAN Rodriguez ("Ivan Meets G.I. Joe" by the Clash)
1B WILL Clark ("I Will Follow" by U2)
2B JACKIE Robinson ("Jackie O" by John Mellencamp)
SS RABBIT Maranville ("White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane)
3B ROBIN Ventura ("Fly Robin Fly" by Silver Convention)
LF BILLY Williams ("Billy's Third" by the Undertones)
CF WILLIE Mays ("Big Willie Style" by Will Smith)
RF JACK Clark ("Happy Jack" by the Who)

SP PEDRO Martinez ("Hey Pedro" by Chuck Berry)
SP DAVID Wells ("David Watts" by the Kinks)
SP SHANE Reynolds ("Shane" by Liz Phair)
SP LARRY Dierker ("Hats Off to Larry" by Del Shannon)
SP FREDDIE Fitzsimmons ("Freddie's Dead" by Curtis Mayfield)

RP GOOSE Gossage ("Grey Goose" by Leadbelly, later Nirvana)
RP BRUCE Sutter ("Lenny Bruce" by Bob Dylan)
RP KYLE Lohse ("Kyle's Mom's a B**ch" by Eric Cartman)
RP TOMMY Byrne ("Tommy Gun" by the Clash)
RP ED Correa ("Ed Ames" by Pavement)
RP GUY Hoffman ("Jealous Guy" by John Lennon)

C BUCK Ewing ("Buck Wild" by E.U.)
1B MO Vaughn ("Mo Money Mo Problems" by Notorious B.I.G.)
IF JAY Bell ("Blue Jay Way" by the Beatles)
IF RAY Durham ("Ray of Light" by Madonna)
OF JESUS Alou ("Jesus Is Waiting" by Al Green)
OF AARON Rowand ("Oh Aaron" by Aaron Carter)

Oh, it's a reliever you want? We can get ourselves Dennis Eckersley, thanks to Badfinger and their 1974 song, "Dennis".

And smart move getting Gossage on this team without using Duke Ellington's "Blue Goose". That way there's still room for Goose Gozzo...

After a little more thought, I'd like to replace my three weakest relievers (Kyle Lohse, Ed Correa, and Guy Hoffman) with:

SP JIM Palmer ("Jim Dandy" by Black Oak Arkansas")
RP JOHN Franco ("Dear John" by Hank Williams)
RP RICH Garces ("Baby You're a Rich Man" by the Beatles)

Palmer bumps Shane Reynolds to the bullpen.

Okay now that I've read ALL the rules, I'll try to put together an actual lineup. As a sidebar, I don't know that there are all that many Barry Bonds fans here in Winnipeg, but since the Koskie signing there has definitely been more baseball buzz around town than usual.

LINEUP
C MIKE Piazza ("I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince)
1B FRED McGriff ("O.K. Fred" by Errol Dunkley)
2B ROD Carew ("Hot Rod Lincoln" by Johnny Bond)*
SS ALAN Trammell ("Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" by Pink Floyd)
3B TROY Glaus ("Troy" by Sinead O'Connor or "Lil' Troy - Still a Bitch" by D12 if that's more your speed)
LF RUSTY Greer ("Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden)
CF JIM Edmonds ("Jim Fear" by the Dillinger Escape Plan, or "Jim Dandy" by Black Oak Arkansas if you've never heard of the DEP)
RF VLADimir Guerrero ("Vlad the Impaler" by Gwar)
DH MANNY Ramirez ("Manny, Moe, and Jack" by the Dickies)

* I was DYING to use Louie, Louie for Sweet Lou(is) Whitaker... playing by the rules is no fun.

BENCH
UI MARK Loretta ("On Ya Mark" by H.A.W.K. or "Miss The Mark" by Fuzzy)
UO JESSE Barfield ("Just Like Jesse James" by Cher)
PH FRANK Thomas ("Dirty Frank" by Pearl Jam)
PR JOHNNY Damon ("Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge)
C BOB Boone ("Bob" by NOFX)

ROTATION
LHP SANDY Koufax ("Sandy" by Air Supply)
RHP KERRY Wood ("Kerry Dance" by James Lyman Molloy)
RHP ANDY Ashby ("Andy Warhol" by David Bowie)
LHP ERIC Milton ("Eric the Red" by Fat Mattress)
RHP SHANE Reynolds ("Shane" by Kim Wilde)

BULLPEN
CL BILLY Wagner ("Billy Bayou" by Roger Miller)
SU DAN Quisenberry ("Dan Dare" by the Art of Noise)
LR PAUL Quantrill ("Tall Paul" by the Chordettes)
MR JOHN Smoltz ("Dear John" by No Doubt)
MR BUDDY Groom ("Buddy Holly" by Weezer)

Okay, I think that covers it. I avoided using any player mentioned earlier by me or anyone else. I also avoided using any song mentioned earlier, or the same name twice. John and Johnny technically aren't the same name, if the name in the song title has to be exact.

Rather than shoot for a roster of all-time best players, I tried to put together a team using quality players that have been in the majors during my time as a fan, as well as some personal favorites even if they weren't neccesarily the best overall choice. Sorry if some of my song choices aren't quite mainstream but a lot of the good songs were already taken. :)

I guess I should've said I TRIED to avoid using players/songs already mentioned... while I was putting this list together, Pete Sommers beat me to the punch with Shayne Reynolds and the Jim Dandy song reference. Great minds and all that, I suppose. :D

This is awesome ... I had first crack and just might have the third-best team out of the three posted!

Did you Beatles & Baseball (now THAT could be a blog!) fans know that no "Jude" has ever appeared in a big league game?

Speaking of the Beatles, the use of Mark Loretta, of course, prompts me to start humming "Get Back" here at my desk.

Pete Sommers, can you send me your e-mail address please? COMN.

Tunes kept coming last night:

Kids' songs/Great first basemen

Frere Jacques (FOURNIER)
Skip to my Lou (GEHRIG)

Great tunes

Sitting by the Dock (ELLIS) of the Bay- Otis Redding
Minnie (MINOSO) the Moocher- Cab Calloway

20% Cancon

50 Mission Cap (ANSON)- Tragically Hip

And, finally a ruling please,

Is "(Cool) Papa (BELL) was a Rolling Stone-the Temptations" OK, or do we need the Cool in there too?

Let's go with the classic rat song, "Ben" by the Jackson 5 and give us Ben Sheets

Let's go with the classic rat song

Or we could go with the classic Ratt song "Slip of the Lip" and get Leo Durocher to manage this squad.

Hmm I wonder, if we loosened up the rules a bit could we do an all-Beatles song title team?

Brandon Backe - Back in the USSR
Zach Day - A Day in the Life
Scott Downs - Dont let me Down
Kerry Wood - Norweigan Wood
Brad Penny - Penny Lane
Darryl Strawberry - Strawberry Fields Forever
Rocky Colavito - Rocky Raccoon
Jay Buehner - Blue Jay Way
Terrence Long - The Long and Winding Road
Charlie Maxwell - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Sun Woo Kim - Here Comes the Sun
Bill Buckner - The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Johnny Bench - The Ballad of John and Yoko
Ron Gardenhire - Octopus's Garden

and if we really stretch the rules...

Willie Mays - Maybe I'm Amazed
Denny Tomori - Yellow Submarine

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Here's another complete team. As far as I can tell, I didn't repeat any songs, players, or first names from my first team, or any songs or players from anyone else's team.

C JERRY Grote ("We Saw Jerry's Daughter" by Camper Van Beethoven)
1B RUDY York ("A Message to You Rudy" by the Specials)
2B RED Schoendienst ("Red Red Wine" by UB40)
SS CHRISTIAN Guzman ("Sister Christian" by Night Ranger)
3B BILL Mueller ("Don't Mess with Bill" by the Marvelettes)
OF GEORGE Bell ("Bob George" by Prince)
OF BAKE McBride ("Shake and Bake" by Digital Underground)
OF HARRY Simpson ("Harry Rag" by the Kinks)

SP RANDY Johnson ("Randy Scouse Git" by the Monkees)
SP ROGER Clemens ("Jolly Roger" by Adam and the Ants)
SP JASON Schmidt ("Jason and the Argonauts" by XTC)
SP KEVIN Brown ("Cousin Kevin" by the Who)
SP FERNANDO Valenzuela ("Fernando" by ABBA)

RP PREACHER Roe ("Son of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield)
RP JAMES Baldwin ("James K. Polk" by They Might Be Giants)
RP BUZZ Capra ("Buzz Buzz Buzz" by Jonathan Richman)
RP SILVER King ("You Got the Silver" by the Rolling Stones)
RP DALLAS Green ("Dallas" by Joe Ely)
RP ADAM Bernero ("XTC vs. Adam Ant" by They Might Be Giants)

C-1B ROBERT Fick ("Dr. Robert" by the Beatles)
IF HOMER Bush ("Open the Door, Homer" by Bob Dylan)
IF GENE Alley ("Sweet Gene Vincent" by Ian Dury and the Blockheads)
OF SO Taguchi ("She's So Cold" by the Rolling Stones)
OF MACK Jones ("Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin)
OF LEE Lacy ("Jimmy Lee" by Aretha Franklin)

Note that XTC, Adam Ant, and "XTC vs. Adam Ant" each provided a player.

"Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin? Surely you meant the "Ella in Berlin" version?

Good team, Pete, and some fine "striding to the plate" music.

Pete, rather than snarking about how you're showing up the Hall of Names guy with your awesome work here, you deserve a No-Prize ... so here's the album cover to "Severe Tire Damage," on which TMBG released "Adam Ant vs. XTC."

Bravissimo.