It's hard to argue ... if the Blue Jays are to have a wildly succesful
2007 season, young Adam Lind has to play something of a key role. That
wouldn't be a shock -- Lind has a lot of talent -- but it would set
something of a precedent; in the entire history of The Great Game, only
one player with the given first name "Adam" has made an
appearance on a MLB All-Star roster, that being current Cincinnati
behemoth Adam Dunn, with the 2002 NL squad.
Oh, sure, if you want to get technical ...
... you can make a case that the 1943 game featured NYG RHSP Ace (that was his real given first name!) Adams, but let's not confuse the point -- there have been 28 major leaguers historically with the last/family name of "Adams," but the Blue Jay tie to this Hall of Names story is about Lind and his ilk, not Russ' or {{{shudder))) Terry's families.
So when you search the greatness of baseballreference.com for the name "Adam," remove those surnames (as well as the two Adamson surnames, not to mention 19th century .164-hitting backstop John Quincy Adams Strick and WWII OF Bruce Adams Sloan), and you're left with just 40-some men with the first or middle name "Adam" who have played big-league ball. (And still just the one All-Star so far -- and we can say "so far" because nearly half of those, 20 to be exact, are still active.)
So, maybe we can get a decent squad out of all this as we attempt to build a team that can only bear one name, obviously ...
Adam's Ribs
** indicates Hall of Famer (none so far)
* indicates All-Star (yep, just the one
MGR William Adam Meyer (317-452, 1948-52 PIT)
LINEUP
C Adam Melhuse (.241, parts of six seasons through 2006)
1B David Adam LaRoche (32 homers in 2006)
2B Adam Kennedy (.280, 123 SB through 2006)
SS Jeffrey Adam Everett (.249 through 2006)
3B Adam Debus (.229, 1917 PIT)
LF Adam Dunn* (198 homers in six years through 2006)
CF Adam Comorosky (.285 in 10 years; .313/12/119 for '30 PIT)
OF Adam Hyzdu (.229, parts of seven seasons, 2000-06)
DH Adam Lind (.367/2/8 with 2006 TOR)
BENCH
C John Quincy Adams Strick (.164 with 1882 Louisville Eclipse)
IF/OF Adam Riggs (.216, parts of four seasons, 1997-2004)
OF/3B/1B Adam Piatt (.248, 2000-03 OAK, TBD)
OF Adam Greenberg (HBP in only plate appearance, 2005 CHC)
OF Adam Jones (.216 with 2006 SEA)
ROTATION
RHSP Adam Eaton (54-45 through 2006)
LHSP Adam Loewen (6-6 as 2006 rookie)
RHSP Adam Rankin Johnson Sr.(22-30, 1914-15, '18)
LHSP Adam Pettyjohn (1-6, 2001 DET)
RHSP Adam Bernero (11-27 through 2006)
BULLPEN
CL-RH Adam Wainwright (3 saves in '06; 4 more in post-season)
RH-SET Adam Johnson (1-3, 2001, '03 MIN)
RH-SET Adam Rankin Johnson Jr. (1-0, 1941 PHA)
LHRP Adam Butler (0-1, 1998 ATL)
RH-LONG Adam C. Peterson (5-11, 1987-91 CHW, SDP)
Adam's Apples & Notes ... We'll stick to players who either had the given first name "Adam" (whether they went by that or something else) or who went by "Adam" even if wasn't their given first name (see LaRoche and Everett for examples) ... But it looks like we'll have to break our own rule in order to have a backup catcher on the squad, so Mr. Strick, welcome aboard to you and your career OPS+ of 59 ... Lots of our Adam candidates seemed to be brief cuppajoe light-hitting part-times ... See Rocap, Shabala and Stern for just three of several examples ... Dunn and LaRoche and maybe Lind can change all that ...
The only other time we'll break that rule is to bring on board a manager, Billy Meyer -- that's William Adam Meyer to you, and he's the only man with "Adam" anywhere on his birth certificate to manage a big league game ... The last man cut from the squad -- and this should tell you something about the available pitching "depth" -- was RHRP Adam L. Peterson, who posted a 16.88 ERA for the 2004 Blue Jays, and who wouldn't have even been the most successful Adam Peterson in the bullpen ...
So the question remains, then ... could this All-Adam squad play .500 ball? You know, break "Eve"-n?
Oh, sure, if you want to get technical ...
... you can make a case that the 1943 game featured NYG RHSP Ace (that was his real given first name!) Adams, but let's not confuse the point -- there have been 28 major leaguers historically with the last/family name of "Adams," but the Blue Jay tie to this Hall of Names story is about Lind and his ilk, not Russ' or {{{shudder))) Terry's families.
So when you search the greatness of baseballreference.com for the name "Adam," remove those surnames (as well as the two Adamson surnames, not to mention 19th century .164-hitting backstop John Quincy Adams Strick and WWII OF Bruce Adams Sloan), and you're left with just 40-some men with the first or middle name "Adam" who have played big-league ball. (And still just the one All-Star so far -- and we can say "so far" because nearly half of those, 20 to be exact, are still active.)
So, maybe we can get a decent squad out of all this as we attempt to build a team that can only bear one name, obviously ...
Adam's Ribs
** indicates Hall of Famer (none so far)
* indicates All-Star (yep, just the one
MGR William Adam Meyer (317-452, 1948-52 PIT)
LINEUP
C Adam Melhuse (.241, parts of six seasons through 2006)
1B David Adam LaRoche (32 homers in 2006)
2B Adam Kennedy (.280, 123 SB through 2006)
SS Jeffrey Adam Everett (.249 through 2006)
3B Adam Debus (.229, 1917 PIT)
LF Adam Dunn* (198 homers in six years through 2006)
CF Adam Comorosky (.285 in 10 years; .313/12/119 for '30 PIT)
OF Adam Hyzdu (.229, parts of seven seasons, 2000-06)
DH Adam Lind (.367/2/8 with 2006 TOR)
BENCH
C John Quincy Adams Strick (.164 with 1882 Louisville Eclipse)
IF/OF Adam Riggs (.216, parts of four seasons, 1997-2004)
OF/3B/1B Adam Piatt (.248, 2000-03 OAK, TBD)
OF Adam Greenberg (HBP in only plate appearance, 2005 CHC)
OF Adam Jones (.216 with 2006 SEA)
ROTATION
RHSP Adam Eaton (54-45 through 2006)
LHSP Adam Loewen (6-6 as 2006 rookie)
RHSP Adam Rankin Johnson Sr.(22-30, 1914-15, '18)
LHSP Adam Pettyjohn (1-6, 2001 DET)
RHSP Adam Bernero (11-27 through 2006)
BULLPEN
CL-RH Adam Wainwright (3 saves in '06; 4 more in post-season)
RH-SET Adam Johnson (1-3, 2001, '03 MIN)
RH-SET Adam Rankin Johnson Jr. (1-0, 1941 PHA)
LHRP Adam Butler (0-1, 1998 ATL)
RH-LONG Adam C. Peterson (5-11, 1987-91 CHW, SDP)
Adam's Apples & Notes ... We'll stick to players who either had the given first name "Adam" (whether they went by that or something else) or who went by "Adam" even if wasn't their given first name (see LaRoche and Everett for examples) ... But it looks like we'll have to break our own rule in order to have a backup catcher on the squad, so Mr. Strick, welcome aboard to you and your career OPS+ of 59 ... Lots of our Adam candidates seemed to be brief cuppajoe light-hitting part-times ... See Rocap, Shabala and Stern for just three of several examples ... Dunn and LaRoche and maybe Lind can change all that ...
The only other time we'll break that rule is to bring on board a manager, Billy Meyer -- that's William Adam Meyer to you, and he's the only man with "Adam" anywhere on his birth certificate to manage a big league game ... The last man cut from the squad -- and this should tell you something about the available pitching "depth" -- was RHRP Adam L. Peterson, who posted a 16.88 ERA for the 2004 Blue Jays, and who wouldn't have even been the most successful Adam Peterson in the bullpen ...
So the question remains, then ... could this All-Adam squad play .500 ball? You know, break "Eve"-n?
