Eighteen SABR members vied for supremacy in a challenging quiz about the middle names of Hall of Fame members at the July meeting on Zoom yesterday.
Jerry Miller spent quite some time researching and verifying information about middle names and crafted a fun and sometimes perplexing quiz won by Cy Morong with 62 out of 100 points. Other notable scores were 38 by Jim Baker, 30 by Frank Rechtorovic, 24 by Jan Larson and 17 by Mike Dillon. Your faithful correspondent broke double digits, though just barely with 11! Frequent quiz-maker Jim noted that the mark of a good quiz is having at least one participant score greater than 50 percent correct. Try your hand at the quiz below (answers follow the questions). Many thanks to Jerry for the quiz.
With the MLB shortened season less than a week away, we utilized the poll function on Zoom to gauge the mood of our virtual room. Because of Zoom settings, poll results were not preserved, but here are the general results of these quick poll questions.
I asked how many of the 60 scheduled MLB games might be played. Half of the participants were confident all 60 will get played, but the other half voted for ranges of games equaling less than 60. Notably, no one thought the whole season would get wiped out without a game being played.
I also asked what the group thought about the eventual 2020 World Series Champion (assuming we get that far). Most would consider that team a legitimate champion. Some mentioned that injuries are part of the game, so combating coronavirus is something with which all teams will have to contend. Does this, then, mean that the eventual champion will be the team that most successfully avoids the coronavirus? Some said that if one of the super-teams wins (Dodgers or Yankees, perhaps), then the title would largely be considered legitimate, but maybe less so if a “bad” team (such as the Marlins) gets hot and wins in a shortened season. Still, others pointed out that the playoff format will be same, so that may provide an equalizing effect.
For fun, I asked participants to imagine themselves on the mound pitching to Rob Manfred; what would they do? The majority opted to knock him on his butt, but others would choose to groove him a sweet pitch, give him a pass or pitch him tough.
In other discussions, Jan Larson and Monte Cely talked about their recent visit to the Dell Diamond to watch the Round Rock Hairy Men play. They said there was good raw talent on the field, but they sometimes saw defensive lapses.
This was our fourth consecutive virtual meeting on Zoom since the pandemic started and our 164th consecutive month with a meeting. We’re planning another Zoom meeting next month. More details to follow on our email list.
HALL OF FAME MIDDLE NAMES QUIZ
By Jerry Miller
* 25 questions, worth four points each. One point credit for each answer involving 4+ names, two points credit for each answer involving 2 names.
1) As near as I can tell, there are two pairs of HOFers that have the same first AND middle names. The following two questions concern those HOFers.
The first pair involves two players that formerly held two of the most sacred records in baseball. However, one of them went by his middle rather than his first name. Name them. Hint: the two names are also shared by a prominent African-American scholar, author, and television personality (brownie points for naming him).
2) The other pair were inducted into the HOF and had their numbers – more specifically, their CONSECUTIVE NUMBERS – retired by the same team. Name them.
3) While we are on the subject of pairs, I am looking for the names of two other players. One is a HOFer and one of the greatest players of all time. The other had a .324 lifetime BA and hit .393 in a single season, yet is NOT in the HOF. The HOFer’s middle name is the same as the other player’s last name, and both of them were better known by the same nickname. Name them.
4) This HOFer’s middle name is Louis. However, he is not known by either Louis or his first name (Vernon), but by his nickname. Name him.
5) This HOFer was born on a train, and named after the doctor who delivered him, so his middle name is the doctor’s last name. Name him (extra brownie points if you actually know the middle/last name).
6) The parents of this HOFer obviously liked redundancy and alliteration. Also, they liked redundancy and alliteration. His first and middle names are Frank and Francis, and his last name also begins with an “F.” Name this 3-F HOFer.
7) Andre Dawson’s middle name is the same as a HOF pitcher that he faced 89 times and struck out against 25 times. The HOF pitcher used their shared middle name as his first name. Name him.
8) In the category of strength up the middle, there are two HOFers with the middle name of Peter that are each generally acknowledged as the greatest or at least near-greatest at their respective positions in the middle of the diamond. Neither of them is known by their real first or middle names. Name them.
9) Believe it or not, the most popular first name for HOFers is “George.” They include George Brett, George Davis, George Kell, George Sisler, George Weiss, and George Wright. They also include two Georges who were better known by their middle names. Name them.
10) In addition to the two Georges better known by their middle name, there were also two Georges who were better known by their nicknames. One was a manager and one was a player. Name them.
11) On the list of the most feminine HOFers is one whose middle name was (Don’t Call Me) “Shirley” and one whose middle name was “Louise” (sorry, no Thelmas). Because I don’t expect anyone to get this right, you can receive partial credit for naming the HOFers whose first names were “Adrian.”
12) This HOF second baseman was born in 1918, the last year of World War I, and was given his middle name in honor of General John “Black Jack” Pershing, the commander of American forces in that war. Name him.
13) Name two HOFers who were given their middle names in honor of Presidents.
14) And while we are being political, this HOF second baseman was named after a three named, three time unsuccessful presidential candidate, who also served as Secretary of State and helped attack the teaching of evolution during the famous Scopes trial. Name both the player and the famous person for whom he was named.
15) This HOFer was named for a Civil War battle site where his father was wounded, so his middle name is a geographical or geological term. Name him.
16) This HOF player was named after a professional hockey player, and his middle name is the same as the hockey player’s last name. Name him and the hockey player for which he was named.
17) Willie Mays shares the same middle name as this HOF pitcher, who gave up Willie’s 607th, 608th, and 621st career home runs. Name both the pitcher and their shared middle name.
18) Besides Mays, there is one member of the 600+ Home Run club with the same middle name. Name him.
19) A number of HOFers have unusual middle names. I won’t go so far as to ask you whose middle name is “Gazaway” (Vic Willis), but you should still be able to identify each of these HOFers from the following middle names:
- a) Dornel
- b) Moses
- c) Martinez (a nod to Gilbert and Raeanne)
- d) True
20) As near as I can tell, the most popular middle name among HOFers is “Joseph,” which is convenient because it is also my middle name. For up to four points, name four out of the eight HOFers with the middle name “Joseph.” To help, here are clues as to the four most prominent:
- a) All-time leader in HRs by a catcher
- b) Second winningest manager in MLB history
- c) First third baseman elected to HOF
- d) One of the first two umpires elected to the HOF
21) Two HOF players with the same middle name (Lee) each won the National League Most Valuable Player awards in consecutive years (1969 and 1970). Name them.
22) Several HOF players are known by their middle rather than their first names. Identify the following HOFers by their first names:
- a) Wesley (clue: his namesake spoke at one of our winter meetings)
- b) Lynn (clue: same middle name as Andre Dawson)
- c) Jacob (clue: ended his HOF career with the Houston Colt .45s)
- d) James (clue: hit a HR in his first MLB at bat, then never hit another)
23-24) OK, this is technically a surname rather than a middle name question. However, in Hispanic culture, a child may be given the surname of both his father (apellido paterno) and his mother (apellido materno). As a result, several Hispanic HOFers have on their HOF plaques surnames other than those which we know them by. Name the HOFers with the following additional surnames on their HOF plaques (one point each, max of eight points):
- a) Walker (no, Larry doesn’t count).
- b) Rigal
- c) Velazquez
- d) Pennes
- e) Alvino
- f) Sanchez
- g) Méndez
- h) Torres
25) The only father-son combination in the HOF were also each named for a 19th century railroad magnate, as is a famous U.S. university. Name those two HOFers and, for extra credit, the person for whom they were named.
ANSWERS
1) Henry Louis Aaron and Henry Louis Gehrig (also Henry Louis Gates, Jr.)
2) Joseph Paul DiMaggio (NYY #5) and Joseph Paul Torre (NYY #6)
3) George Herman “Babe” Ruth and Floyd Caves “Babe” Herman
4) Vernon Louis “Lefty” Gomez
5) Rodney Cline Carew
6) Frankie Frisch
7) (Lynn) Nolan Ryan, Jr.
8) John Peter “Honus” Wagner and Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra. Note: it was mentioned that Pee Wee Reese’s full name is Harold Peter Henry Reese. I consider the question and answer of Honus Wagner to be technically correct, since he is universally regarded as one of the two or so best SSs to ever play the game, whereas no one I know would put Pee Wee in that category. Still, I would accept Pee Wee as an alternate answer.
9) George Thomas Seaver and George Kenneth Griffey, Jr.
10) George “Sparky” Anderson and George Herman “Babe” Ruth
11) Hazen Shirley “Kiki” Cuyler; Effa Louise Manley; Adrian “Addie” Joss; Adrian Constantine “Cap” Anson
12) Robert Pershing “Bobby” Doerr
13) Grover Cleveland Alexander, Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Note: Benjamin Harrison (Ben) Taylor was born in 1889, the year after Benjamin Harrison was elected president. In addition, Oscar Charleston’s middle name was McKinley, and he was born the same year that William McKinley was elected president. However, I have been unable to find any definitive source to indicate that either was named after the presidents.
14) William Jennings Bryan (Billy) Herman
15) Kenesaw Mountain Landis
16) Derek Sanderson Jeter. OK, according to one website that I just read (jockbio.com), this is an urban myth: “Derek Sanderson Jeter was born June 26, 1974 in Pequannock, New Jersey. The first of two kids—he has a sister, Sharlee—Derek grew up in a sports-crazy home. For quite some time a story circulated that his parents, Dorothy and Charles, named him after hockey star Derek Sanderson, the dynamic forward of the Boston Bruins. Derek says that isn’t true. He was named after his grandfather, Sanderson Charles Jeter.”
Even if he wasn’t named after him, it’s still ironic to note that the greatest modern Yankee has the same name as a Boston sports icon.
17) Don Howard Sutton
18) James Howard Thome
19) a) Wilver Dornel “Pops” Stargell
- b) Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove
- c) Reginald Martinez “Mr. October” Jackson
- d) Denton True “Cy” Young
20) a) Michael Joseph Piazza
- b) John Joseph McGraw
- c) Harold Joseph “Pie” Traynor
- d) William Joseph (Bill) Klem
Also, Dan Joseph Brouthers; James Joseph Collins; John Joseph Evers; and Michael Joseph (King) Kelly.
Note: It was mentioned, correctly, that Jimmy Collins was the first 3B elected to the HOF (1945), whereas Traynor was not elected until 1948. Because as indicated above both of their middle names are Joseph, I would regard either as correct.
21) Willie Lee McCovey (1969) and Johnny Lee Bench (1970).
22) a) Wesley Branch Rickey
- b) Lynn Nolan Ryan
- c) Jacob Nelson Fox
- d) James Hoyt Wilhelm
23-24) a) Roberto Clemente Walker
- b) Atanacio Pérez Rigal (Tony Pérez)
- c) Roberto Alomar Velazquez
- d) Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes
- e) Vladimir Guerrero Alvino
- f) Juan Antonio Marichal Sanchez
- g) José de la Caridad Méndez Baez
- h) Iván Rodríguez Torres
A: Note: Other HOFers include Luis Ernesto Aparicio and Montiel Martín Magdaleno Dihigo Llanos, but their full names are not on their HOF plaques.
25) Leland Stanford (Larry) MacPhail; Leland Stanford (Lee) MacPhail, Jr.
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