Ohhkay .... so it's been an awfully long time since we created and published a Hall oF Names team here on Batter's Box. It's about time we changed that, hey? And no better reason to change up than to notice the adoration and adulation bestowed upon the greatness of a former Blue Jay second baseman in the recent Top Seasons In Jays History thread.
So now, all-Alomar ... no, wait, that wouldn't really work. There have only been three Alomars to play big league ball, all part of the same family (two generations), Roberto and the two Sandys ... so we'd cover the middle infield and behind the plate, often the toughest positions to fill on the field, but the rest of the diamond would be bare. So let's honor Robbie Alomar instead with an All-Roberto Hall of Names team. There have been two Hall of Famers (including Alomar himself, of course) and five additional All-Stars, so talent should be pretty ample. Let's see ....
First, as always, a note on rules ... In this case, we are only going to use players who used "Roberto" as their given first name. So apologies to Luis Mercedes, Tom Silverio, Juan Agosto and Hank Izquierdo, all of whom could have made this team's bench. All the rest of our candidates are named Roberto or at least go by "Bobby," so given that ,,, away we go!
All-Roberto
**indicates Hall of Famer
* indicates All-Star
LINEUP
C Bobby Ramos (1978-84; .190/4/17 in 103 fames over six years)
1B Bobby Bonilla* (.279/287/1173)
2B Roberto Alomar** (.300/230/1134, 474 SB)
SS Roberto Pena (also 3B/1B/2B; .245/13/154, 1965-71)
3B Bobby Avila* (.281, 80 HR, 78 SB; 1954 batting champ @ .341)
LF Bobby Estalella (.also 3Bl 282/44/309, 1935-45)
CF Roberto Kelly* (.290/124/585 over 14 years)
RF Roberto Clemente** (.317, 3,000 hits, 240 HR, 1305 RBI)
DH Roberto Petagine (.227/12/54, 1994-98, 2005-06)
BENCH
C
IF
IF Roberto Mejia (.219/10/40, 1993-95, ’97)
OF Roberto Ortiz (1941-44, ’49-50; .255/8/78)
OF
UTIL
ROTATION
SP Roberto Heredia Hernandez* (2006-12, CLE, 53-69)
SP
SP
CP
SP
BULLPEN
CL Roberto Manuel Rodriguez Hernandez*, (67-71, 326 saves)
RP Bobby Munoz (11-22, 5.14, 1993-98; 7-5, 2.67 with ’94 PHI)
RP Roberto Rodriguez (4-3, 4.52, 7 saves, 1967, ’70)
RP Roberto Novoa (7-7, 4.51, 2004-06)
RP Roberto Ramirez (2-5, 7.69, 1998-99)
RP Roberto Rivera (0-0, 5.40 in 5IP with 1995 CHC)
RP Roberto Duran (1997-98 DET, 0-1, 6.58 in 31 games)
RP Roberto Vargas (0-0, 2 saves, 8.76 ERA, 1955)
Notes ... Well, let’s see … there have been just nine pitchers named “Roberto: in MLB history, and only one of them, current Indian Roberto Hernandez, has actually been primarily a starting pitcher … Here;s hoping for LOTS of high-scoring, long bullpen games, as the ‘bertos do have an eight-man pen headed by 326-save man Roberto “No, I’m not the same guy as the SP” Hernandez … The bench is certainly weak,, hey? … And the starting lineup, while complete, starts off like a ball of fire – Alomar, then Avila, followed by Clemente, Bonilla and Kelly … then, whoops, the lineup slides into non-conforming shapelessness …It’s interesting that five of our players carried the first name “Roberto” but all went by “Bobby.” NO conclusions … just … interesting!
