With the surprising Colorado Rockies looking to take a 3-0 advantage in
the NLCS today, I found myself wondering what an All-Rocky team would
look like; no, not a Helton-Holliday squad, but rather a
Colavito-Bridges sort of Hall of Names collection.
Unfortunately ...
... there have been just 13 men nicknamed "Rocky" to play big league ball, and even if we expand our search to include all forms of "Rock" -- thus netting us guys like OF Tim "Rock" Raines and IF Pat Rockett -- we can't build a complete roster.
Well, then, how about a Stone-cold lock of a team? But there have only been 14 men with the last/family name "Stone" to play in the big leagues, and even if we expand our search to include all forms of "Stone" -- we can't build a complete roster.
Essentially, among our 34 Rocks, we have no catchers amd a lack of legitimate starting pitchers-- the best approximation of the latter being Rocky Coppinger. Meanwhile, our 39 Stones have no infielders outside of one shortstop, who is at least our only Hall of Famer (so far), and not much of a bench -- not to mention no real closer in the bullpen.
But if we combine these two terms, "rock" and "stone." maybe we can, er, cobble something together ... in fact, maybe we can get all kinds of "Satisfaction" putting together a team called ...
ROCKIN' WITH THE STONES
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
Owner: Horace Stoneham
Player/Manager: Joe "Rocks" Start (18-7, 1873 New York Mutuals)
LINEUP
C Robert Stone Higgins (.143, parts of 1909-12)
1B Joe "Rocks" Start (.299, 1871-86; player/manager)
2B Rocky Bridges* (.247, 1951-61)
SS Travis "Stonewall" Jackson** (.291, 1922-36)
3B Bobby "Rocky" Rhawn (also 2B/SS; .237, 1947-49)
LF Earl "Rock" Averill** (.318, 238 homers, 1929-41)
CF Tim "Rock" Raines* (.294, 808 SB, 1979-2002)
RF Rocky Colavito* (.266, 374 homers, 1955-68)
DH Ron "Rocky" Swoboda (.242, 1965-73)
BENCH
C Connie "Stone Face" Murphy (.143, 1893-94)
IF Ike Rockenfield (.221, 1905-06)
IF Pat Rockett (.214, 1976-78 as ATL SS)
OF John "Rocky" Stone (.310, 77 homers, 1928-38)
OF George R. Stone (.301, 1903, '05-10)
OF Jeff Stone (.277, 75 SB, 1983-90)
ROTATION
RHSP Steve Stone* (107-93, 1971-81; 1980 AL Cy Young)
RHSP Bill Stoneman* (54-85, 1967-74)
LHSP George H. Stone (60-57, 1967-75)
RHSP Lil Stoner (50-58, 1922-31)
RHSP Rocky Coppinger (also RP; 17-11, parts of 1996-2001)
BULLPEN
RHRP Rocky Biddle (20-30, 46 saves; 34 saves in 2003)
LHRP John Rocker (13-22, 88 saves, 1998-2003; 38 in '99)
RHRP Stoney McGlynn (17-33, 2 saves, 1906-08; 14-25 in 1907)
LHRP Arnie Stone (4-3, 1923-24)
LHRP Dean Stone* (29-39, 1953-63)
FINAL CUTS ("The Stonecutters"?)
OF Ron Stone (.241, 1966, '69-72)
3B Rocky Krsnich (.215, 1949, '52-53)
3B/IF Exra "Salt Rock" Midkiff (.207, 1909, '12-13)
1B Rocky Nelson (.249, parts of 1949-61)
OF Paul Stoner Smith (.227, 1916 CIN)
RHRP Dwight Stone (10-20, 1913-14)
LHRP Dick Stone (3 G, 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1945 WSH)
RHRP Floyd "Rock" Stromme (0-1, 1939 CLE)
RHRP Rocky Cherry (real first name; 1-1 with 2007 CHC)
RHRP Rocky Childress (2-3, 1985-88)
RHRP Ricky Stone (11-9, 2 saves since 2001)
RHS/RP Ed "Rock" Rakow (36-47, 5 saves, 1960-67)
STUCK IN THE QUARRY(MEN) ... There has never been a ballplayer with a name like "pebble} or "boulder" or even "gravel" -- LHSP Nick Gravelle was 25-19 as an A/AA pitcher in the Pirates system a few years ago, but there are no other rocky-stoney synonyms readily apparent. Are there? ... There have been two men (nick)named John "Rocky" Stone -- John T., a fine pre-WWII OF, who makes the above squad, and and John V., a cuppajoe WWI RHRP, who does not (and who didn't even make the "final cuts" list!) ...
Okay, "Stonewall" and "Stone Face" are stretching it a little, but even with infielder Rockett on the bench, at least we didn't open the door for Roger "Rocket" Clemens, as that's a different type of rock(et) altogether ... Unlike many past Hall of Names efforts, obviously here nicknames are not only allowed, but required ... For the record, and this is by coincidence rather than design, the final 25-man roster includes 12 Rocks, 12 Stones and one Rocky Stone ... That's stone-cold rock-solid.
Unfortunately ...
... there have been just 13 men nicknamed "Rocky" to play big league ball, and even if we expand our search to include all forms of "Rock" -- thus netting us guys like OF Tim "Rock" Raines and IF Pat Rockett -- we can't build a complete roster.
Well, then, how about a Stone-cold lock of a team? But there have only been 14 men with the last/family name "Stone" to play in the big leagues, and even if we expand our search to include all forms of "Stone" -- we can't build a complete roster.
Essentially, among our 34 Rocks, we have no catchers amd a lack of legitimate starting pitchers-- the best approximation of the latter being Rocky Coppinger. Meanwhile, our 39 Stones have no infielders outside of one shortstop, who is at least our only Hall of Famer (so far), and not much of a bench -- not to mention no real closer in the bullpen.
But if we combine these two terms, "rock" and "stone." maybe we can, er, cobble something together ... in fact, maybe we can get all kinds of "Satisfaction" putting together a team called ...
ROCKIN' WITH THE STONES
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
Owner: Horace Stoneham
Player/Manager: Joe "Rocks" Start (18-7, 1873 New York Mutuals)
LINEUP
C Robert Stone Higgins (.143, parts of 1909-12)
1B Joe "Rocks" Start (.299, 1871-86; player/manager)
2B Rocky Bridges* (.247, 1951-61)
SS Travis "Stonewall" Jackson** (.291, 1922-36)
3B Bobby "Rocky" Rhawn (also 2B/SS; .237, 1947-49)
LF Earl "Rock" Averill** (.318, 238 homers, 1929-41)
CF Tim "Rock" Raines* (.294, 808 SB, 1979-2002)
RF Rocky Colavito* (.266, 374 homers, 1955-68)
DH Ron "Rocky" Swoboda (.242, 1965-73)
BENCH
C Connie "Stone Face" Murphy (.143, 1893-94)
IF Ike Rockenfield (.221, 1905-06)
IF Pat Rockett (.214, 1976-78 as ATL SS)
OF John "Rocky" Stone (.310, 77 homers, 1928-38)
OF George R. Stone (.301, 1903, '05-10)
OF Jeff Stone (.277, 75 SB, 1983-90)
ROTATION
RHSP Steve Stone* (107-93, 1971-81; 1980 AL Cy Young)
RHSP Bill Stoneman* (54-85, 1967-74)
LHSP George H. Stone (60-57, 1967-75)
RHSP Lil Stoner (50-58, 1922-31)
RHSP Rocky Coppinger (also RP; 17-11, parts of 1996-2001)
BULLPEN
RHRP Rocky Biddle (20-30, 46 saves; 34 saves in 2003)
LHRP John Rocker (13-22, 88 saves, 1998-2003; 38 in '99)
RHRP Stoney McGlynn (17-33, 2 saves, 1906-08; 14-25 in 1907)
LHRP Arnie Stone (4-3, 1923-24)
LHRP Dean Stone* (29-39, 1953-63)
FINAL CUTS ("The Stonecutters"?)
OF Ron Stone (.241, 1966, '69-72)
3B Rocky Krsnich (.215, 1949, '52-53)
3B/IF Exra "Salt Rock" Midkiff (.207, 1909, '12-13)
1B Rocky Nelson (.249, parts of 1949-61)
OF Paul Stoner Smith (.227, 1916 CIN)
RHRP Dwight Stone (10-20, 1913-14)
LHRP Dick Stone (3 G, 5 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1945 WSH)
RHRP Floyd "Rock" Stromme (0-1, 1939 CLE)
RHRP Rocky Cherry (real first name; 1-1 with 2007 CHC)
RHRP Rocky Childress (2-3, 1985-88)
RHRP Ricky Stone (11-9, 2 saves since 2001)
RHS/RP Ed "Rock" Rakow (36-47, 5 saves, 1960-67)
STUCK IN THE QUARRY(MEN) ... There has never been a ballplayer with a name like "pebble} or "boulder" or even "gravel" -- LHSP Nick Gravelle was 25-19 as an A/AA pitcher in the Pirates system a few years ago, but there are no other rocky-stoney synonyms readily apparent. Are there? ... There have been two men (nick)named John "Rocky" Stone -- John T., a fine pre-WWII OF, who makes the above squad, and and John V., a cuppajoe WWI RHRP, who does not (and who didn't even make the "final cuts" list!) ...
Okay, "Stonewall" and "Stone Face" are stretching it a little, but even with infielder Rockett on the bench, at least we didn't open the door for Roger "Rocket" Clemens, as that's a different type of rock(et) altogether ... Unlike many past Hall of Names efforts, obviously here nicknames are not only allowed, but required ... For the record, and this is by coincidence rather than design, the final 25-man roster includes 12 Rocks, 12 Stones and one Rocky Stone ... That's stone-cold rock-solid.
