Hm. I could have sworn we did an All-RC club at one point, but apparently not ... we're "limited" in Hall of Names annals, to every single double-initial, from AA to ZZ, as well as G.M., P.R., J.R., M.D., T.O., B.S., M.O., J.V., P.M., K.B., G.B. and M.B. -- and a few others we may have missed -- but never an all R.C. team. So let's see if Mike has it right as we attempt to royally crown a new HoN roster we can only rightfully dub ...
The R.C. Colas
** indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
Home Ballpark: The Rogers Centre, of course!
COACHING STAFF
Player/Manager: Roger Craig (738-737, 1 NL pennant)
Player/Coach: Roger Connor** (8-37 with 1896 SLB)
STARTING LINEUP
C Roy Campanella** (.276, 242 HR, 1948-57)
1B Rod Carew** (.328, 3,053 hits, 1967-85)
2B Robinson Cano* (.306 since 2005 NYY debut)
SS Ray Chapman (.278, 233 SB, 1912-20)
3B Ron Cey* (.261, 316 homers, 1971-87)
LF Rocky Colavito* (.266, 374 homers, 1955-68)
CF Roger "Doc" Cramer* (.296, 1929-48)
RF Roberto Clemente** (.317, 240 homers, exactly 3000 hits, 1955-72)
DH Roger Connor** (1B/UTIL, .317, 138 homers, 1880-97)
BENCH
C Rick Cerone (.245, 1975-92)
IF Royce Clayton* (.258, 231 SB, 1991-2007)
OF/1B Roy Cullenbine* (.276, 110 homers, 1938-47)
OF Roger Cedeno (.273, 213 SB, 1995-2005)
1B/3B Ron Coomer* (.274, 92 homers, 1995-2003)
PH/DH Rico Carty* (.299, 204 homers, 1964-79)
ROTATION
RHSP Roger Clemens* (354-184, 4672 K, 1984-2007)
RHSP Ray Culp* (122-101, 1963-73)
RHSP Rick Camp (56-49, 1976-85)
RHSP Reggie Cleveland (105-106, 25 saves, 1969-81)
RHSP Roger Craig (74-98, 19 saves, 1955-66)
BULLPEN
RHRP Russ Christopher* (54-64, 35 saves, 1942-48)
LHRP Rheal Cormier (71-64 in 683 games, 1991-2007)
RHRP Roy Corcoran (8-3, 3 saves since 2003 MON debut)
LHRP Randy Choate (5-7, 4 saves since 2000 NYY debut)
LHRP Roy Castleton (3-4, 2.68, parts of 1907-10 NYY, CIN)
RC Cans and Can'ts ... Sure, the bullpen leans to the left, but with an all-RHSP rotation, that's not a bad thing ... Cleveland (25 saves) and Craig (19 saves) both split career time between various rotation and bullpen spots, but both are needed to shore up an RC front five that weakens quickly after its never-gonna-be-HOF ace Clemens and Culp, a solid Red Sox righty in his own time ...
We limited candidates for this roster to players who actually had and went by names that gave them the initials R.C. -- so, sorry Robert "Bob" Cerv* and Richard "Stubby" Clapp ... But wait, on Clapp -- isn't that Doc Cramer patrolling CF? Well, yes, but honestly, whose roster spot would Clapp take? The naming convention applies specifically to folks who had R-names like Richard and Robert but "shortened" it to a non-R name like Dick or Bob ... This rule is especially painful in what it costs the club in the managerial department, one Robert "Bobby" Cox ...
Christopher led the league with 17 saves for the 1948 AL champ Indians but never pitched again; anyone know wny? ... Ray Chapman has a name you might recognize -- he is the only player to be killed while playing a big league game -- he was hit in the head by a ball pitched by Carl Mays on Aug. 15, 1920 and died the next day ...
Chapman deserves his spot in the starting lineup, but this could be that rare HoN team where the entire starting lineup is composed of Hall of Famers and All-Stars, but to do that, we'd have to bump Chapman for Royce Clayton ... Anyone who ever saw Clayton play short knows that's not a good plan ...
Connor was baseball's all-time home run king once upon a time -- he took the all-time crown from Harry Stovey with career dinger #123 in 1895, and held the title until some guy named Ruth hit his own 139th career homer in 1920... Ray Corbin disappeared from majors at age 26 and was released by MIN at age 27, even after several consecutive excellent seasons ... but he wouldn't be eligible for this team anyway, he of the birth certificate reading "Alton Ray Corbin."
The final cuts from the team, other than the sadly ineligible Corbin, were IF Ronny Cedeno (.204 since his 2005 CHC debut) -- even though the bench could really use another middle infield glove -- and OF Ryan Church (.274, 51 homers since his own 2004 MON debut) ... So who's this club missing, Bauxites? And how would they do in, say, the 2009 NL West?
