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One of the most common given/first names in the English-speaking world is, of course, Robert. (Our own Dudek's and Pettapiece's ears -- er, eyes -- have certainly perked up at this point.) It's also one of the most common given/first names to not yet have its own Hall of Names roster published here on Batter's Box ... and it's time to take care of THAT little oversight.

Yes, this is (in part, anyway) a team made up entirely of players who appeared in the major leagues with "Robert" (not "Roberto" -- sorry Mr. Alomar, Mr. Bonilla and especially Mr. Clemente) as their first/given name (sorry, Jeffrey Robert Bagwell and Bret Robert Boone, among many others) and who actually went by (Sayonara, Robert Kevin Appier and Robert Britt Burns) some form of that name ...

... Actually, just for the sake of argument (translation: "because we can"), we'll also provide an All-Roberto team in addition to the All-Robert squad, not to mention teams made up of players with the last/family names of "Roberts" and "Robertson." If we combined the four teams of given names and surnames, we might end up with the finest Hall of Names team ever formulated -- but that is not to be. So here's our first squad, and presumably their mascot will involve a set of wacky chattering teeth as we meet ...

The Oral Roberts
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star

MGR Bob Brenly* (303-262, 1 WS title)

Starting Lineup
C Bob Boone* (seven Gold Gloves; .311 BA in post-season)
1B Bob Watson* (.295, 184 homers)
2B Bobby Doerr** (.288, 223 homers, nine-time All -Star)
SS Bobby Grich* (came up a SS, blocked by Belanger)
3B Bob Dillinger* (.306 career BA; led AL in SB, 1947-49)
LF Bob Cerv* (.276, 105 homers)
CF Bob Johnson* (.296, 288 homers, eight-time All-Star)
RF Bobby Thomson* (.270, 264 homers; one was pretty famous)
DH Bob Elliott* (3B/OF hit .289, 170 homers, 1947 AL MVP)

Bench
C Bob Schmidt* (1958 rookie SFG All-Star, faded quickly)
C/IF/OF Robert Fick*(.260, 65 homers through 2005)
IF Bobby Knoop*(.236, three Gold Gloves in 9 years)
IF Bobby Richardson* (.266, 7-time All-Star)
OF/1B Bob Skinner* (.277, 103 homers)

Rotation
RHSP Bob Feller** (266-162)
LHSP Bobby Shantz* (119-99, 1952 AL MVP)
RHSP Bob Gibson** (251-174)
LHSP Bob Veale* (120-95)
5SP-RH Bob Lemon** (207-128)

Bullpen
CL-RH Robb Nen* (314 saves; 35+, 1996-2002))
SET Bobby Thigpen* (201 saves, 57 in 1990)
SET Rob Dibble* (89 saves; 31 in 1991)
LONG Bob Grim* (61-41, 37 saves)
LONG Bob Shaw (108-98, 32 saves)

All-Roberto
C Roberto "Bobby" Estalella
1B Roberto Petagine
2B Roberto Alomar*
SS Roberto Pena
3B Roberto "Bobby" Bonilla*
LF Roberto Ortiz
CF Roberto Kelly*
RF Roberto Clemente**
DH Roberto "Bobby" Avila*
RHSP Roberto "Bobby" Munoz
LHRP Roberto Rivera
CL-RH Roberto Hernandez*
LHRP Roberto Duran
All-Roberts (Surname)
C Skipper Roberts
1B Dave L. Roberts
2B Curt Roberts
SS Red Roberts
3B Dave W. Roberts
LF Bip Roberts
CF Dave Roberts (no mid initial)
RF Leon Roberts
DH Brian Roberts*
RHSP Robin Roberts**
LHSP Dave Roberts
CL-RH Grant Roberts
LHRP Dale Roberts
All-Robertson
C Jim Robertson
1B Bob Robertson
2B Sherry Robertson
SS Andre Robertson
3B Gene Robertson
LF Don Robertson
CF Dave Robertson
RF Mike Robertson
DH Daryl Robertson
RHSP Charlie Robertson
LHSP Jeriome Robertson
RHRP Rich P. Robertson
LHRP Rich W. Robertson

Bobbing and Weaving ... No, despite the name of this little subsection of notes, there has never been a big-leaguer named "Bob Weaver" ...

If we were to be true to the linguistic origins of the "Robertsons" team, we'd have to extend an invitation to Aaron Boone, one supposes ... or better yet, to Bret Boone, that is, to the aforementioned Bret Robert Boone, one of the many notables to not make any of the squads above based on that pesky middle name rule ... Otherwise, the younger Boone might have centered a very nice double-play combination with Lawrence Robert Bowa and John Robert Mize at short and first, respectively ... James Robet Horner fills the hot corner for that particular disqualified infield ... Let's shed a tear at the loss of Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige while we're at it ...

And let's not forget those who actually had the given first name of Robert but who went by a middle name or nickname instead, such as RH closer Robert Meiklejohn "Mike" MacDougal, RHSP Robert "Bo" Belinsky, OF Robert James "Rick" Monday* and most especially LHSP Robert "Lefty" Grove -- Paige and Grove would've made for a heck of a 1-2 punch at the front of the rotation, but hey, we DO have three Hall of Famers in our starting five already ...

We can't confirm that it's the only Roberts-for-Roberts trade ever completed, but OF Leon Roberts was once sent from the Tigers to the Astros in a seven-player swap that sent LHS/RP Dave Roberts, among others, to Motown ... Speaking of the Tigers, All-Robertson RHSP Charlie "Racehorse" Robertson once tossed a perfect game for the 1922 White Sox against the Motor City Kitties of Ty Cobb and Charlie Gehringer ...

So, Bauxites, can you "Rob" Peter to pay Paul and make this team any better?

Yessirree, Bob! | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Pepper Moffatt - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 06:49 PM EST (#138427) #
The mainstream sports media called Roberto Clement "Bob" for decades, despite his wishes,the same way they changed Mr. Aaron's first name from Henry to Hank:

Smithers - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 07:29 PM EST (#138429) #
I know he doesn't count because of wacky Louisiana naming conventions, but hopefully by 2010 our very own Robert Victor Ryan would have had a shot to replace Rob Dibble as a setup man on the team. Still, how you get from Robert Victor to Bo Junior (B.J.) is a bit of a stretch to me.
Magpie - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 08:02 PM EST (#138431) #
I was all ready to jump on my High Horse, amazed that Bobby Bonds didn't make the cut. So I went to baseball-reference.com to remind myself of some of his very impresssive accomplishements, and... well, whaddya know! It turns out his name was "Bobby Lee Bonds." Not a Robert at all.
Magpie - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 08:11 PM EST (#138432) #
There just has to be a "Dread Pirate Roberts" joke in here somewhere...

Did anyone else look at the very last name on the "Roberto" team, and think "Not the Roberto Duran? Oh yeah, that other one."

Duran, Duran, Roberto Duran. (I can go either way with this one!) But I remember a catcher named Dempsey, a pitcher named Corbett and a DH named Fullmer. I know that Robinson and Leonard and Johnson and Louis ought to be easy enough to find...

Fighting men.

J Mc - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 09:04 PM EST (#138436) #
I too am very surpised that Bobby Bonds didn't make the first cut. Even to someone that doesn't have aracane knowledge of baseball stats (eg: Me) he would be an obvious choice. I'm not sure about this but didn't Bobby come awfully close to a 30 HRs /30SBs in a season. Maybe he even accomplished this. Ummm...to be honest I have to take a closer look at the list to see if Bobby Thigpen is on the list. He had like, what, 58 saves. He might be Robert, though. Mike
J Mc - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 09:07 PM EST (#138437) #
Thigpen's a set-up guy. Sorry, I perhaps was stricken momentarily blind by Bobby Bonds' exclusion. Still a good list.
Mick Doherty - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 09:39 PM EST (#138442) #
On a completely unrelated note, I'd like to point out that this is, according to my personal Hall of Names archive, the 162nd Hall of Names story published to Batter's Box. (More than a dozen of those by someone other than me, so I can't take full credit for a "full season") ... I just like pointing out baseball's magic numbers when they pop up -- for instance, the sixtieth Hall of Names piece was All-Babe. What's next?
Magpie - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 11:06 PM EST (#138443) #
didn't Bobby come awfully close to a 30 HRs /30SB

Better. He came within a single homer of being the first 40 HR, 40 SB guy. 30-30 was just a regular season for him...

But he's not a Robert! Who knew!

Mike Green - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 11:08 PM EST (#138444) #
The 755th Hall of Names in 2017 will honour Henry Aaron. Will it be all-Biblical, all-Henry, all-Alabama, all players who once played second base? Stay tuned.
Geoff - Monday, January 02 2006 @ 11:36 PM EST (#138446) #
No Bob Wickman, coming off his finest season?

And Bob Kelly Abreu gets no respect?

Howry looks like a good set-up guy. Then there's young guys like Jenks and Crosby who might fit the bobby bench.

Is there a rule against active duty for these that precludes consideration?

gv27 - Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 12:48 AM EST (#138448) #
Your sense of names remains unparalleled, Mick. My favourite "Bob" is one of the few big league pitchers to ever record three put-outs in one inning: Bob Heffner.
HollywoodHartman - Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 11:27 AM EST (#138458) #
I'd know random stats about guys named Bob too if I sat next to Scott Carson around 100 times a year.
gv27 - Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 12:42 PM EST (#138463) #
He's a piece of work, Mr. Carson. Has this freakish ability to remember the number of every Blue Jay in the team's history.

I don't think he knows Bob Heffner. HUGH Heffner, definately. But not Bob.
HoJu - Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 12:51 PM EST (#138465) #
I hope there's a spot in the booth for Robert George Uecker
J Mc - Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 01:33 PM EST (#138471) #
As silly as this may sound; a recall Bobby Bonds having 39 HRs and 43SBs in the old RBI Baseball game. Glad someone mentioned Bob Ueker. This was fun. Projected stats over a season much more difficult to do with any degree of accuracy. Michael
Yessirree, Bob! | 15 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.