It's actually hard to settle on a final total of the number of big
league ballplayers in MLB history with the initials S.S. -- do we count
Sam "Pony" Sager, for instance? (Yes, we do -- and he even actually
makes the team!) Okay, then what about Harry "Slim" Sallee? (No, we
don't.) How about All-Star John Stanley "Jack" Sanford? (Nope, not him
either.)
But that's okay. We still have plenty of options to form a full roster of players whose given first name (regardless of what other name or nickname they actually went by) and last/family name both started with the letter "S," the 19th such double-initial combination we have examined here on Batter's Box. Given all that, it's time to meet ...
The S.S. Minnows
** indicates Hall of Famer (none yet)
* indicates All-Star
LINEUP
C Scott Servais (.245 in 11 years)
1B Scott Spiezio (UTIL guy at .253, 102 HR through '05)
2B Steve Sax* (.281, 444 SB in 14 years)
SS Steve Scarsone (.266, 1992-99)
3B Sammy Strang (.269, 1896, 1900-08)
RF Sammy Sosa* (588 homers through 2005)
CF Stan Spence (.282, 95 homers, 1940-49)
LF Shannon Stewart (.300 through 2005)
DH Steve Souchock (OF/1B hit .255, 1946-55)
BENCH
C Steve Swisher * (.216 in 9 years; 1976 All-Star)
2B/3B/SS/OF Sebastian "Sibby" Sisti (.244, 13 years)
3B/SS/UTIL Scott Sheldon (.235, 1997-2001)
2B Steve Staggs (.255, 1977 TOR, 1978 OAK)
OF/SS Samuel "Pony" Sager (11-for-39 with 1871 Rockford)
OF Stan Swanson (.245, 1971 MON)
ROTATION
RHSP Scott Sanderson* (163-143, 19 years)
LHSP Sherry Smith (114-118, 14 years)
RHSP Steve Stone* (107-93, 1980 AL CYA)
RHSP Scott Stratton (97-114; 34-14 for 1890 Louisville)
RHSP Steve W. Sparks (59-76)
BULLPEN
RHRP Sammy Stewart (59-48, 45 saves, 1978-87)
LHRP Scott Schoeneweis (39-45, 2 saves through 2005)
RHRP Scott Sullivan (40-28, 9 saves, 1995-2004)
LHRP Scott Sauerbeck (20-16, 5 saves through 2005)
LHRP Scott Stewart (11-6, 20 saves, 2001-04)
P.S. for S.S. ... Ironically, the team's weakest position appears to be shortstop; that's right "SS" in your scorebook, where Steve Scarsone, mostly a 2B, may be the best option despite a meager 19 career appearances at the six-hole ... actually, the whole left side of the infield, though there are plenty of options, is pretty weak; Sammy Strang on the hot corner actually did everything but catch in his big league career, though his 393 appearances at 3B were nearly half of his career total games played ...
Though Swisher made one All-Star team, he is the backup backstop to Scott Servais, who while never an All-Star (yet?), has had a longer and better career, for what that's worth ... Scott "Scooter" Sheldon gets a roster spot just for playing all nine defensive positions in the same game once ... Steve Staggs (.255, 1977 TOR, 1978 OAK) and Stan Sperry (.255, 1936 PHI, 1938 PHA) had pretty much the same exact career, but Staggs gets the roster spot because he managed the .255 average in 78 more career AB ...
Because of the heavily right-leaning rotation, we went with three lefties in the bullpen, much to the disappointment of qualified righty hurlers like Scot Shields (28-22, 12 saves, through 2005), Scott Strickland (12-21, 20 saves through 2005), Scott Service (20-22, 16 saves in 12 years), Scott Sanders (34-45, four teams, 1993-99) and Steve Shields (8-8, 3 saves, 1985-89), among others ... Righty "The Other" Steve Sparks appeared in just three games for the 2000 Pirates, compiling a 6.75 ERA ... A lefty reliever who didn't make the cut was former Blue Jay Steve Sinclair, who was 0-3 with Toronto and Seattle in 1998-99 and part of the David Segui trade ...
The 1871 Rockford Forest Citys played just 25 games (finishing 4-21) in franchise history, so Sager's career of eight games -- four as an OF and four as a shortstop, another SS playing SS -- was actually more than thirty percent of the team's entire history ... It was hard to not add OF Seymour "Seem" Studley to the roster, as his nickname over-qualified him for the double-initial team and his name in and of itself was ... well, misleading -- he was just 2-for-21 for the 1872 Washington Nationals ...
And finally, just because there are so many possibilities, let's also meet ...
All Aboard the SS No Way, That's Just a Nickname
LINEUP
C Elmer "Sy" Sutcliffe (.288, 1884-92)
1B "Skyrocket" Smith (.238, 1888 Louisville Colonels)
2B John "Stuffy" Stewart (.238, 1916-17, '22-29)
SS John "Skeeter" Scalzi (6-for-18 for 1939 NYG)
3B George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss* (mstly 2B, .268 in 10 seasons)
LF Ralph "Socks" Seybold (.294, 1899-1908)
CF Francis "Shag" Shaughnessy (.291, 1905 WSH, 1908 PHA)
RF Jared "Skip" Schumaker (6-for-24 for 2005 STL)
BENCH
C Thomas "Sleeper" Sullivan (.184, 1881-84)
2B Elbert "Scottie" Slayback (0-for-8, 1926 NYG)
SS James "Stub" Smith (1-for-10, 1898 BSN)
OF Andrew "Skeeter" Shelton (1-for-40 for 1915 NYY)
3B Emanuel "Sonny" Senerchia (22-for-100, 1951 PIT)
ROTATION
RHSP Wilfred "Sonny" Siebert* (140-114)
LHSP Harry "Slim" or "Scatter" Sallee (174-143, 1908-21)
RHSP Francis Joseph Shea* (56-46, 1947-56; All-Star as rookie)
RHSP Ralph "Sailor" Stroud (20-20, 1910, '14-15)
RHSP Harvey "Suds" Sutherland (6-2, 1921 DET)
BULLPEN
RHRP Harry "Socks" Seibold (48-86, 1916-17, '19, '29-33)
RHRP Foster "Steve" Slayton (0-0, 1928 BOS)
RHP Clarence "Steamboat" Struss (0-1, 1934 PIT)
?RP Seth Sigsby (1G, 3IP, 9.00 ERA, 1893 NYG; 19 years old)
Yes, yes, Skyrocket Smith's given first name of Samuel means he doesn't really belong on the "No Way" team, but we'd have no other SS options at 1B, unless you're talking about someone like Ernie Banks ... There's no DH for this lineup, unless you want to give some AB to Andrew "Skeeter" Shelton, who managed to get one hit in forty career at-bats with the 1915 Yankees ... The entire bench combined for a career batting average of just .174 (88-for-505) ... Meanwhile, the pitching staff has just one lefty -- well, possibly two, depending on Sigsby's "Unknown" status -- but at least it's Sallee, who even had a second nickname, "Scatter" that would ALSO qualify him for this team -- and he's the roster's all-time leader in wins, to boot ...
Among others not qualifying for the team are four gentlemen who went by their "S"-starting middle name but were given a different "first" name on the birth certificate ... This includes former Yankee phenom OF Michael Shane Spencer, whose .262 career average and 59 homers in seven years might have earned him a bench spot on the SS Roster, a couple of contemporary righties in righty William Scott Scudder (21-34, 1989-93) amd lefty William Steven Searcy (6-13, 1988-92) and finally 3B Frank Strickland "Strick" Shofner who is a mixed bag of the middle name guys and the nickname team above, but at 2-for-13 for the 1947 Red Sox, he doesn't make the squad anyway ...
But that's okay. We still have plenty of options to form a full roster of players whose given first name (regardless of what other name or nickname they actually went by) and last/family name both started with the letter "S," the 19th such double-initial combination we have examined here on Batter's Box. Given all that, it's time to meet ...
The S.S. Minnows
** indicates Hall of Famer (none yet)
* indicates All-Star
LINEUP
C Scott Servais (.245 in 11 years)
1B Scott Spiezio (UTIL guy at .253, 102 HR through '05)
2B Steve Sax* (.281, 444 SB in 14 years)
SS Steve Scarsone (.266, 1992-99)
3B Sammy Strang (.269, 1896, 1900-08)
RF Sammy Sosa* (588 homers through 2005)
CF Stan Spence (.282, 95 homers, 1940-49)
LF Shannon Stewart (.300 through 2005)
DH Steve Souchock (OF/1B hit .255, 1946-55)
BENCH
C Steve Swisher * (.216 in 9 years; 1976 All-Star)
2B/3B/SS/OF Sebastian "Sibby" Sisti (.244, 13 years)
3B/SS/UTIL Scott Sheldon (.235, 1997-2001)
2B Steve Staggs (.255, 1977 TOR, 1978 OAK)
OF/SS Samuel "Pony" Sager (11-for-39 with 1871 Rockford)
OF Stan Swanson (.245, 1971 MON)
ROTATION
RHSP Scott Sanderson* (163-143, 19 years)
LHSP Sherry Smith (114-118, 14 years)
RHSP Steve Stone* (107-93, 1980 AL CYA)
RHSP Scott Stratton (97-114; 34-14 for 1890 Louisville)
RHSP Steve W. Sparks (59-76)
BULLPEN
RHRP Sammy Stewart (59-48, 45 saves, 1978-87)
LHRP Scott Schoeneweis (39-45, 2 saves through 2005)
RHRP Scott Sullivan (40-28, 9 saves, 1995-2004)
LHRP Scott Sauerbeck (20-16, 5 saves through 2005)
LHRP Scott Stewart (11-6, 20 saves, 2001-04)
P.S. for S.S. ... Ironically, the team's weakest position appears to be shortstop; that's right "SS" in your scorebook, where Steve Scarsone, mostly a 2B, may be the best option despite a meager 19 career appearances at the six-hole ... actually, the whole left side of the infield, though there are plenty of options, is pretty weak; Sammy Strang on the hot corner actually did everything but catch in his big league career, though his 393 appearances at 3B were nearly half of his career total games played ...
Though Swisher made one All-Star team, he is the backup backstop to Scott Servais, who while never an All-Star (yet?), has had a longer and better career, for what that's worth ... Scott "Scooter" Sheldon gets a roster spot just for playing all nine defensive positions in the same game once ... Steve Staggs (.255, 1977 TOR, 1978 OAK) and Stan Sperry (.255, 1936 PHI, 1938 PHA) had pretty much the same exact career, but Staggs gets the roster spot because he managed the .255 average in 78 more career AB ...
Because of the heavily right-leaning rotation, we went with three lefties in the bullpen, much to the disappointment of qualified righty hurlers like Scot Shields (28-22, 12 saves, through 2005), Scott Strickland (12-21, 20 saves through 2005), Scott Service (20-22, 16 saves in 12 years), Scott Sanders (34-45, four teams, 1993-99) and Steve Shields (8-8, 3 saves, 1985-89), among others ... Righty "The Other" Steve Sparks appeared in just three games for the 2000 Pirates, compiling a 6.75 ERA ... A lefty reliever who didn't make the cut was former Blue Jay Steve Sinclair, who was 0-3 with Toronto and Seattle in 1998-99 and part of the David Segui trade ...
The 1871 Rockford Forest Citys played just 25 games (finishing 4-21) in franchise history, so Sager's career of eight games -- four as an OF and four as a shortstop, another SS playing SS -- was actually more than thirty percent of the team's entire history ... It was hard to not add OF Seymour "Seem" Studley to the roster, as his nickname over-qualified him for the double-initial team and his name in and of itself was ... well, misleading -- he was just 2-for-21 for the 1872 Washington Nationals ...
And finally, just because there are so many possibilities, let's also meet ...
All Aboard the SS No Way, That's Just a Nickname
LINEUP
C Elmer "Sy" Sutcliffe (.288, 1884-92)
1B "Skyrocket" Smith (.238, 1888 Louisville Colonels)
2B John "Stuffy" Stewart (.238, 1916-17, '22-29)
SS John "Skeeter" Scalzi (6-for-18 for 1939 NYG)
3B George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss* (mstly 2B, .268 in 10 seasons)
LF Ralph "Socks" Seybold (.294, 1899-1908)
CF Francis "Shag" Shaughnessy (.291, 1905 WSH, 1908 PHA)
RF Jared "Skip" Schumaker (6-for-24 for 2005 STL)
BENCH
C Thomas "Sleeper" Sullivan (.184, 1881-84)
2B Elbert "Scottie" Slayback (0-for-8, 1926 NYG)
SS James "Stub" Smith (1-for-10, 1898 BSN)
OF Andrew "Skeeter" Shelton (1-for-40 for 1915 NYY)
3B Emanuel "Sonny" Senerchia (22-for-100, 1951 PIT)
ROTATION
RHSP Wilfred "Sonny" Siebert* (140-114)
LHSP Harry "Slim" or "Scatter" Sallee (174-143, 1908-21)
RHSP Francis Joseph Shea* (56-46, 1947-56; All-Star as rookie)
RHSP Ralph "Sailor" Stroud (20-20, 1910, '14-15)
RHSP Harvey "Suds" Sutherland (6-2, 1921 DET)
BULLPEN
RHRP Harry "Socks" Seibold (48-86, 1916-17, '19, '29-33)
RHRP Foster "Steve" Slayton (0-0, 1928 BOS)
RHP Clarence "Steamboat" Struss (0-1, 1934 PIT)
?RP Seth Sigsby (1G, 3IP, 9.00 ERA, 1893 NYG; 19 years old)
Yes, yes, Skyrocket Smith's given first name of Samuel means he doesn't really belong on the "No Way" team, but we'd have no other SS options at 1B, unless you're talking about someone like Ernie Banks ... There's no DH for this lineup, unless you want to give some AB to Andrew "Skeeter" Shelton, who managed to get one hit in forty career at-bats with the 1915 Yankees ... The entire bench combined for a career batting average of just .174 (88-for-505) ... Meanwhile, the pitching staff has just one lefty -- well, possibly two, depending on Sigsby's "Unknown" status -- but at least it's Sallee, who even had a second nickname, "Scatter" that would ALSO qualify him for this team -- and he's the roster's all-time leader in wins, to boot ...
Among others not qualifying for the team are four gentlemen who went by their "S"-starting middle name but were given a different "first" name on the birth certificate ... This includes former Yankee phenom OF Michael Shane Spencer, whose .262 career average and 59 homers in seven years might have earned him a bench spot on the SS Roster, a couple of contemporary righties in righty William Scott Scudder (21-34, 1989-93) amd lefty William Steven Searcy (6-13, 1988-92) and finally 3B Frank Strickland "Strick" Shofner who is a mixed bag of the middle name guys and the nickname team above, but at 2-for-13 for the 1947 Red Sox, he doesn't make the squad anyway ...
