When I was a kid I had a favorite player. Ok, I had many different favorite players, but most of them were favorites because they were good. But one of my favorite players was a favorite because of his name – Jamie Quirk. It helped that he was also on the team I was indoctrinated to like (just kidding, Dad!), but I collected so many of his baseball cards all because of his name. He was not a good player – his highest season WAR was .9 – but his name was Jamie! Of course another much better Jamie came along (Moyer) and redeemed the MLB Jamies. But Jamie Quirk was still my favorite.
I wonder if there are players you have followed in your fandom due to sharing a name with them. So, I figured I’d take a stab at identifying who that might be for each of you – and, of course, you can also add in your own comments to the post to let us know who your favorite namesake player might be.
| EFL | ||||||
| TEAM | WINS | LOSSES | PCT. | GB | RS | RA |
| Kaline Drive | 14 | 7 | .685 | — | 108.2 | 71.9 |
| Flint Hill Tornadoes | 10 | 10 | .517 | 3.5 | 100.0 | 99.1 |
| Haviland Dragons | 10 | 11 | .468 | 4.6 | 111.9 | 118.9 |
| Peshastin Pears | 10 | 12 | .448 | 5 | 110.3 | 122.0 |
| Canberra Kangaroos | 10 | 12 | .447 | 5 | 97.6 | 112.6 |
| Cottage Cheese | 7 | 11 | .403 | 5.6 | 79.1 | 97.8 |
| Bellingham Cascades | 8 | 13 | .398 | 6 | 104.1 | 138.6 |
| D.C. Balk | 9 | 13 | .391 | 6.3 | 94.2 | 118.8 |
| Pittsburgh Alleghenys | 8 | 13 | .383 | 6.4 | 94.6 | 120.4 |
| Portland Rosebuds | 8 | 14 | .365 | 6.9 | 115.5 | 152.6 |
| Old Detroit Wolverines | 4 | 16 | .180 | 10.3 | 64.2 | 137.9 |
Kaline: W, 2-0 (37PA; 21.3IP)
| AVG: 0.189 | OBP: 0.189 | SLG: 0.351 | OPS: 0.541 |
| ERA: 2.96 | WHIP: 1.362 |
There have been some really good Tom’s to play in the MLB. Tom Gordon, Tom Glavine, Tommy John, just to name a few. The Drive even own a Tom (Murphy) who, consequently, is not the first Tom Murphy to play in the MLB. There is even a Tommy (Bridges) who had a stellar career for the Detroit Tigers as a SP in the 1930s. But I am going to go with Tom Seaver as Tom’s favorite Tom. Seaver’s career WAR is 109.9 and he is, rightly so, in the Hall of Fame. In terms of the Drive’s day yesterday, their pitching continues to be excellent, and they again added more space between themselves and the Tornadoes (and everyone else). It’s common knowledge that you should not sleep on a drive (unless you aren’t the driver). Tom is clearly in the driver’s seat, and the rest of us need to stay awake, though. Don’t let the drone of the road lull us into a sleep because I think we will wake up to find our destination will be atop Mount Kaline when we were aiming for something more local, like the flint hills (ok, maybe that is just me).
Flint Hill: L, -1-(-1) 45PA; 23.3IP)
| AVG: 0.095 | OBP: 0.156 | SLG: 0.262 | OPS: 0.417 |
| ERA: 4.64 | WHIP: 1.416 |
How awful is that score? All we had to do was score 1 run, or even 0 runs and we would have won. But no, the Tornado batters had their worst day of the season. The pitching wasn’t spectacular, but it was better than replacements and removed several replacement IPs. If our hitters don’t figure out how to emerge from this slump, we could be in big trouble.
Haviland: W, 2-0 (46PA; 7.7IP)
| AVG: 0.154 | OBP: 0.267 | SLG: 0.333 | OPS: 0.600 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.649 |
It’s no surprise to anyone that there are hundreds of Johns who have played in the MLB, making this a difficult task. You would think I, as one of his children, would know which John the Dragons favor, but outside of the disciple and also the evangelist, I am not privy to this information. There was a John Henry Johnson who pitched in the late 70s/early 80s and was pretty decent, but I don’t think it was him. I am going to guess that his favorite John is John Olerud, the soft-spoken/loud-bat first baseman for the Mariners. Although, now that I think about it, it could have been Johnny Bench?
How about the Dragons? They have found a way to move up in the standings after a few days down the standings. Yesterday it was the pitchers, who threw 7ip and didn’t give up a single run.
Peshastin: W, 10-9 (46PA; 1IP)
| AVG: 0.293 | OBP: 0.370 | SLG: 0.707 | OPS: 1.077 |
| ERA: 18.00 | WHIP: 2.000 |
There have actually been 5 different Phil Smiths who have played in professional baseball. None of them were very good, but I don’t think any of the rest of us have such a legacy of namesakes in the big leagues. There are two Phil’s from which to choose, and this is tough choice. Phil Niekro, the great knuckleballer, and Phil Rizzuto (both of these Phils were good and both are enshrined in Cooperstown). So which one is it? Based on era, I am going to go with Niekro, because he was pitching when Phil would have been watching as a child.
The Pears have also found a way to resurrect themselves from the lower levels of the league. Having a day OPSing over 1.000 definitely helps. The Pears got 5 HRs yesterday, and now sit just 5 games behind the Drive.
Canberra: L, 4-7 (41PA; 1IP)
| AVG: 0.222 | OBP: 0.317 | SLG: 0.306 | OPS: 0.623 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 2.000 |
When I first began to think of Ryans that the Canberra management might have been cheering for, I thought of Ryne Sandberg. But then I realized that a man who makes a living looking at details would not choose someone whose name was slightly different than his. So which Ryan would earn his affection? I’m going to say the flamethrower Nolan Ryan. I know, his first name isn’t Ryan, but I don’t think it matters in this case. Ryan was so dominant as a pitcher – he was one of the posters I had hanging on my bedroom wall – and any Ryan, first or last name, would be sure to claim his as his own.
The Roos had a ho-hum day yesterday. They hit 0 HRs (not a surprise for them this season, I guess) and no one but Bregman had more than 1 hit on the day.
Cottage: “L,” 3-2 (49PA; 10IP)
| AVG: 0.143 | OBP: 0.265 | SLG: 0.381 | OPS: 0.646 |
| ERA: 2.70 | WHIP: 0.700 |
There have been some great Daves in the history of the MLB. Dave Stewart, Dave Winfield, Dave Kingman, but I think I know which Dave won Dave’s heart – the Dodger All-Star second baseman, Davey Lopes! Davey stole 557 bases in his 15 year career, with a high of 77 when he was 30 years old. How great is that?
The Cheese lost yesterday, but they should have won. Their pitching was especially good, led by Danny Duffy, who gave up 1 ER in 5 IP. And Luis Robert (will he be ODs #1 pick next year?) went 2 for 5 with a 2B and a HR.
Bellingham: W0, L2, 8-15 (30PA; 1.3IP)
| AVG: 0.296 | OBP: 0.300 | SLG: 0.556 | OPS: 0.856 |
| ERA: 0.00 | WHIP: 0.769 |
There’s really only one choice for Andre – the Hawk, Andre Dawson. When I was a child, WGN was in every cable package, so even in the Pacific NW I could watch Andre Dawson hit HRs over ivy fences almost every day of the summer. He was an incredible player, and a great namesake (way better than Jamie Quirk).
The Cascades continue to hit really well, led yesterday by Paul Goldschmidt (welcome back!) and, once again, Hanser Alberto. But they need more pitching in order to continue their climb up the standings.
DC: L, 3-11 (42PA; 1.3IP)
| AVG: 0.143 | OBP: 0.143 | SLG: 0.238 | OPS: 0.381 |
| ERA: 20.77 | WHIP: 3.846 |
While there have been plenty of Bobs in the MLB, there are a dearth of Robs. There was Rob Dibble, who was fun to watch because it looked like he would explode on any given pitch. And there have, surprisingly, been quite a few Bobbys (Bonilla and Valentine, to name two). But not a lot of Robs. For this reason, I think Rob would have been drawn to an amazing player whose name was very close, Rob(in) Yount. Yount amassed over 3,000 and – get this – played his entire career for the Brewers!
The Balk had a pretty rotten day yesterday, although Mookie Betts did his best to make things better (2 for 5 with a HR). Archie Bradley and his beard gave up 3 runs in 1.3 IP, which didn’t help anything.
Pittsburgh: W0, L2, 6-23 (47PA; 9IP)
| AVG: 0.167 | OBP: 0.213 | SLG: 0.333 | OPS: 0.546 |
| ERA: 12.00 | WHIP: 2.111 |
Like the great Daves, there have been some great Marks in the MLB. But one of the interesting things is that Mark seems to be a fairly recent name in terms of ballplayers. One of the best Marks was Mark Grace, who played 1B for the Cubs in the 90s. But I think that was too recent to be someone Dr. Weinert would root for based on sharing a name. So there are two to choose from – Mark Fidrych and Mark Belanger. Fidrych was a very good pitcher for the Tigers, winning Rookie of the Year in 1976 (I think Mark would have been in his 20s, so even Fidrych might be too young to be chosen by Mark Weinert). Belanger played SS for the Orioles for 17 years, winning 8 Gold Gloves, 1 All-Star nod and three years of being top 30 in MVP voting. So I guess I am going with Belanger, though this might be the pick I am most uncertain about.
The Alleghenys also had a rough day yesterday – most teams in the EFL had rough offensive days yesterday. But it was their pitching that really did them in, led by (guess who?!?!) a Red Sox! Nate Eovaldi was torched for 8 runs in 5 IP, and he is supposed to be the good pitcher on the Sox staff.
Portland: W, 8-5 (43PA; 11IP)
| AVG: 0.294 | OBP: 0.429 | SLG: 0.441 | OPS: 0.870 |
| ERA: 4.91 | WHIP: 1.182 |
I am pretty sure I know the Mark that Mark Johnson cheered for as his namesake, and he was actually good. His name is Mark Gubicza and he was also a Royal (I know you didn’t make us choose the Royals, dad, don’t worry!). Gubicza was first in Pitcher WAR in 1988, winning 20 games and finishing 3rd in the Cy Young, behind Frank Viola (who also had 7.7 Pitcher WAR that season) and Dennis Eckersley (now a Red Sox broadcaster suffering through a season very unlike his dominant pitching career). It wasn’t fair that Mark’s namesake was so good and mine was so bad, but it was fun that Jamie Quirk was Gubicza’s catcher.
Yesterday was more like the Rosebud days we are used to. Almost every hitter contributed, but Jorge Polanco did the most, going 3 for 5. Like the Tornadoes, the pitching wasn’t that good, but it was better than what the Rosebud pitchers have been doing this month, so it helped him get the win.
Old Detroit: W, 8-4 (45PA; 13.4IP)
| AVG: 0.390 | OBP: 0.444 | SLG: 0.659 | OPS: 1.103 |
| ERA: 5.37 | WHIP: 1.418 |
Ron maybe wishes he was born a little later in life so that Acuna could be his favorite namesake player, because that would be an easy choice. But there are quite a few historical choices that are very good choices: Ron Darling, Ron Guidry, Ron Cey. I am not quite sure if a Detroit fan will willingly choose to root for a Chicago player, but I wonder if little Ron’s favorite namesake player was Ron Santo. Santo played several positions (3rd, SS, 2nd, LF, 1B) and we know that old Ron values versatility. He also had what could be considered something near an Edgar Martinez Career line, before Edgar was playing in the MLB. Finally, he was born in Seattle, WA, and I happen to know Ron has a soft spot in his heart for people who live in or are from Seattle.
Yesterday was the type of hitting day the Wolverines have been pining for all season. And they finally got it! Luis Urias, finally freed from the alternate site, has been hitting very well (3 for 4) and the speedy Trea Turner joined in the 3-hit goodness (3 for 4 with a HR and, surprisingly, a GIDP). But the LA-based pitchers got lit up – Buehler giving up 4 runs in 4.7IP and Heaney giving up 4 runs in 5.7IP.
Thanks for this note, Jamie. I was of the age to root for Rons (and collect baseball cards, etc) in the sixties, and Ron Santo was active then. But I was a Dodger fan then, before my powers of judgment matured and I took to the Tigers (which was before my powers of judgment began to slip, and I became an M’s fan).
I didn’t pay much attention to Santo because he was a Cub and the Cubs were from some faraway and therefor irrelevant place. Ron Fairly was my favorite baseball-playing Ron (which generated some crucial grace when I had to listen to Ron Fairly Obvious do color for the M’s). But I don’t know if I’d ever have listed Ron Fairly as one of my favorite players in general. That list was headed by Sandy Koufax and Maury Wills as of about 1965/66.
1966 was a bad year for me. My parents force-marched me from Huntington Beach, CA to Hillsboro, OR. None of the kids at my new church, or in my new nieghborhood, or even at my new school were baseball fans. I bragged about the Dodgers as my way of finding my proper place with these baseball ignoramuses — but then the Dodgers were humiliated by the Orioles in a World Series sweep featuring Willie Davis’ three errors in one inning. (Davis was probably my fourth-favorite player, after Don Drysdale.) Immediately after the Series Koufax retired. Later that fall the Dodgers traded Wills right off the face of the earth, to the Pirates. My baseball world was in ruins.
During the 1969 season, the Dodgers traded Fairly to the Expos as ransom for getting Maury Wills back. But it was too late. I was still a Dodger fan, but my passion had subsided. It did not return until 1975 when I became roommates with an inexplicably loyal Reds fan from Wenatchee. By then the Dodgers had Ron Cey (and the even-more-wooden Steve Garvey) plus good players at every other position, the perfect heroes in the struggle against the Big Red Machine’s invasion of my Weesner Village apartment.