Never accuse a major league ballplayer of "jakin' it." Well, maybe San Diego baseball fans would actually be thrilled
if their entire starting rotation started "Jake-ing it" in the manner
of young Mr. Peavy. Could we build a representative (read:
decent) Hall of Names roster built entirely of choices from the 56 men in big league history who bore the first name "Jake"?
Actually, to clarify, given our usual "no nickname" rule, of those 56 MLB Jakes, only two have actually been named "Jake" (Mooty and Westbrook) and just 27 of the 56 -- that's less than half -- were even named "Jacob," so we will go with the full BaseballReference.com search on the name, including nicknames, to amass our 56 candidates, finding just one Hall of Famer and three All-Stars (two active, both pitchers, both already named here!). But as they say in Cleveland these days, let's get started -- it's a beautiful day for baseball at ...
THE JAKE(S)
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
MGR Jake Stahl (263-270 -- 1905-06 WAS, '12-13 BOS; 1912 champs)
LINEUP
C Jake Early* (.241, parts of 1939-49)
1B Jake Beckley** (.308, 2930 hits, 1575 RBI, 1888-1907)
2B Jake Wood (.250, 79 SB, 1961-67)
SS Jake Flowers (mostly 2B, .256, 1923, '26-34)
3B Jake Virtue (mostly 1B, did all but C; .278, 1890-94 CLE)
LF Jake Powell (.271, parts of 1931-45)
CF Jake Stenzel (.339!, 1890, '92-99)
RF Jake Stahl (mostly 1B; .261, 1903-13; '10 AL HR leader with 10)
DH Jake E. Daubert (.303, 1910-24, 1913 NL MVP)
BENCH
C Jake Gibbs (.233, 1962-71 NYY)
IF/OF Oscar "Jake" Dugey (mostly 2B; .194, parts of 1913-20)
LHSP/OF/IF Jake Boyd (3-16; .241, 1894-96 WAS)
OF Jake Brown (.209, 1975 SFG)
OF/SS Bloody Jake Evans (.238, 1879-85)
OF Jake Gettman (.278, 1897-99 WAS)
ROTATION
RHSP Jake Peavy* (57-45 through 2006)
LHSP Jake Weimer (97-69, 1903-09, three-time 20-game winner)
RHSP Jake Westbrook* (56-53 through 2006)
LHSP Walter "Jake" Miller (60-58, 1924-31 CLE, '33 CHW)
RHSP Jake Thielman (15-16, 1905 STL; 30-28 career)
BULLPEN
CL-RH Pete "Jake" Appleton (57-66, 26 saves, 1927-42, '45)
LH-SET Jake Woods (8-5, 1 save through 2006 with LAD, SEA)
RH-SET Jake Boultes (8-14, 1907-09)
LHP Jake Wade (27-40, 1936-39, '42-46)
RHP Jake Mooty (16-23, 8 saves parts of 1936-44)
NOTES ... Stahl was the Senators' player/manager in 1905-06 at the ages of 26 and 27 and led the Red Sox to a 1912 ring as a player/manager in 1912, finishing 105-47 and taking the World Series by the unlikely count of 4-3-1 from the New York Giants ... Jakie May was a LHP who won 72 games over 14 years mostly in the 1920s, but doesn't make the cut thanks to that extra vowel. There is no "I" in "Jake," sir ...
Jake Gibbs, Jake Wood and the uncleverly nicknamed Jake Jacobs and Jake Jaeckel were the only men with that name to appear in the majors in the 1960s (okay, Jake Striker pitched in two games for the '60 CHW); Gibbs and Brown were the only two Jakes of the 1970s, while nobody named Jake appeared in MLB at all in the 1980s OR the 1990s, so the name apparently took quite a downturn in popularity ... That said, thank goodness for a recent resurgence or this team's rotation, sans Peavy and Westbrook, would be in serious trouble ...
Hey, pair Oscar "Jake" Dugey with old shortstop-turned-manager Dick Howser and you'd have a spunky young team doctor as your double play combination in Dugey Howser, M.D. ... Weimer was once traded by the Cubs to the Reds for Harry Steinfeldt, who was a fine hitter and also the un-rhymed third baseman in the famed Tinker-Evers-Chance infield ... Sure, there have been two Jake Millers, as well as a Jake Wood and a Jake Woods, but did you know there actually have been two Jake Dauberts, one named Jacob A. Daubert, who is on this team, and Harry "Jake" Daubert, who struck out in his only career MLB at-bat, with the 1915 Pirates? ... Jake Stenzel -- why has nobody ever heard of this guy? His WORST seasonal batting average in the five years between 1893 and 1897 was .353! ...
Jake Virtue played just five career games at the hot corner, but he's the choice over Jake Atz, who played just three games there (and was a career .218 hitter) and the aforementioned Dugey, who also played there just thrice (and hit just .194 in his career) ... Jake Drauby played exclusively at 3B in his 10-game stint with the 1892 Washington Senators but hit just .206 and his fielding percentage was an abysmal .763 ...
Not sure why, but it seems that a large number of those early-century Jakes played primarily at the other corner infield spot, including the only Hall of Famer, and no less than three in our starting lineup, including the 3B and the RF ... Beckley's HOF status earns him the right to wear the first baseman's mitt ... Move off Beckley around the starting IF, and Wood, Flowers and Virtue sounds a bit more like a garden shop's motto than a baseball infield ...
So, Bauxites, how else can you help this team avoid jakin' it?
Actually, to clarify, given our usual "no nickname" rule, of those 56 MLB Jakes, only two have actually been named "Jake" (Mooty and Westbrook) and just 27 of the 56 -- that's less than half -- were even named "Jacob," so we will go with the full BaseballReference.com search on the name, including nicknames, to amass our 56 candidates, finding just one Hall of Famer and three All-Stars (two active, both pitchers, both already named here!). But as they say in Cleveland these days, let's get started -- it's a beautiful day for baseball at ...
THE JAKE(S)
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
MGR Jake Stahl (263-270 -- 1905-06 WAS, '12-13 BOS; 1912 champs)
LINEUP
C Jake Early* (.241, parts of 1939-49)
1B Jake Beckley** (.308, 2930 hits, 1575 RBI, 1888-1907)
2B Jake Wood (.250, 79 SB, 1961-67)
SS Jake Flowers (mostly 2B, .256, 1923, '26-34)
3B Jake Virtue (mostly 1B, did all but C; .278, 1890-94 CLE)
LF Jake Powell (.271, parts of 1931-45)
CF Jake Stenzel (.339!, 1890, '92-99)
RF Jake Stahl (mostly 1B; .261, 1903-13; '10 AL HR leader with 10)
DH Jake E. Daubert (.303, 1910-24, 1913 NL MVP)
BENCH
C Jake Gibbs (.233, 1962-71 NYY)
IF/OF Oscar "Jake" Dugey (mostly 2B; .194, parts of 1913-20)
LHSP/OF/IF Jake Boyd (3-16; .241, 1894-96 WAS)
OF Jake Brown (.209, 1975 SFG)
OF/SS Bloody Jake Evans (.238, 1879-85)
OF Jake Gettman (.278, 1897-99 WAS)
ROTATION
RHSP Jake Peavy* (57-45 through 2006)
LHSP Jake Weimer (97-69, 1903-09, three-time 20-game winner)
RHSP Jake Westbrook* (56-53 through 2006)
LHSP Walter "Jake" Miller (60-58, 1924-31 CLE, '33 CHW)
RHSP Jake Thielman (15-16, 1905 STL; 30-28 career)
BULLPEN
CL-RH Pete "Jake" Appleton (57-66, 26 saves, 1927-42, '45)
LH-SET Jake Woods (8-5, 1 save through 2006 with LAD, SEA)
RH-SET Jake Boultes (8-14, 1907-09)
LHP Jake Wade (27-40, 1936-39, '42-46)
RHP Jake Mooty (16-23, 8 saves parts of 1936-44)
NOTES ... Stahl was the Senators' player/manager in 1905-06 at the ages of 26 and 27 and led the Red Sox to a 1912 ring as a player/manager in 1912, finishing 105-47 and taking the World Series by the unlikely count of 4-3-1 from the New York Giants ... Jakie May was a LHP who won 72 games over 14 years mostly in the 1920s, but doesn't make the cut thanks to that extra vowel. There is no "I" in "Jake," sir ...
Jake Gibbs, Jake Wood and the uncleverly nicknamed Jake Jacobs and Jake Jaeckel were the only men with that name to appear in the majors in the 1960s (okay, Jake Striker pitched in two games for the '60 CHW); Gibbs and Brown were the only two Jakes of the 1970s, while nobody named Jake appeared in MLB at all in the 1980s OR the 1990s, so the name apparently took quite a downturn in popularity ... That said, thank goodness for a recent resurgence or this team's rotation, sans Peavy and Westbrook, would be in serious trouble ...
Hey, pair Oscar "Jake" Dugey with old shortstop-turned-manager Dick Howser and you'd have a spunky young team doctor as your double play combination in Dugey Howser, M.D. ... Weimer was once traded by the Cubs to the Reds for Harry Steinfeldt, who was a fine hitter and also the un-rhymed third baseman in the famed Tinker-Evers-Chance infield ... Sure, there have been two Jake Millers, as well as a Jake Wood and a Jake Woods, but did you know there actually have been two Jake Dauberts, one named Jacob A. Daubert, who is on this team, and Harry "Jake" Daubert, who struck out in his only career MLB at-bat, with the 1915 Pirates? ... Jake Stenzel -- why has nobody ever heard of this guy? His WORST seasonal batting average in the five years between 1893 and 1897 was .353! ...
Jake Virtue played just five career games at the hot corner, but he's the choice over Jake Atz, who played just three games there (and was a career .218 hitter) and the aforementioned Dugey, who also played there just thrice (and hit just .194 in his career) ... Jake Drauby played exclusively at 3B in his 10-game stint with the 1892 Washington Senators but hit just .206 and his fielding percentage was an abysmal .763 ...
Not sure why, but it seems that a large number of those early-century Jakes played primarily at the other corner infield spot, including the only Hall of Famer, and no less than three in our starting lineup, including the 3B and the RF ... Beckley's HOF status earns him the right to wear the first baseman's mitt ... Move off Beckley around the starting IF, and Wood, Flowers and Virtue sounds a bit more like a garden shop's motto than a baseball infield ...
So, Bauxites, how else can you help this team avoid jakin' it?
