Animal names
Posted by Andy on March 19, 2011
It's not too hard to find baseball players with a first or last name the same as an animal. For example there's Chief Yellow Horse, Rob Deer, Goat Anderson, Rabbit Maranville, Newt Halliday, Colt Morton, and lots of guys named Fox.
But can you come up with a player for whom both his first and last names are animals? Answer is after the jump.
A reader, Tristan M, wrote in and remarked on the very interesting baseball name of Chicken Wolf, an outfielder with Louisville of the American Association in the late 19th century. (Mind you, his real full name of William Van Winkle Wolf is also pretty interesting...)
Can you find any other players with two animal names, or for that matter a first and last name that are both examples from some other category?
March 19th, 2011 at 9:55 am
If you count Billy Goat, then Billy Martin counts.
March 19th, 2011 at 10:17 am
Chicken Hawks
March 19th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Lest we forget, the Pirates pitching staff in the late '60s had a Moose {Bob} as well as a generous serving of Veal{e} {likewise Bob}.
March 19th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Ray Lamb would be 2 animal names
March 19th, 2011 at 10:55 am
Also, although not animal names, we had a good situation in Cincy in the '70s;
If something was wrong with the John {Bench}, we could always count on the {Bill} Plummer.
March 19th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Marlon Byrd, phonetically.
March 19th, 2011 at 12:57 pm
Frank, that reminds me of the Reds in the early 30s, with the platoon at third where, as a coach joked, "I don't think the fans want to see Joe Stripp or Charlie Dressen."
March 19th, 2011 at 3:40 pm
You pick the category... a couple of fun names off the top ... Dizzy Trout... Boots Day.
March 19th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Garland Wood? Lake Lagunas ? Marshall King? Royal Price? Stoney Jewell? Rocky Stone? Homer Ball? June Raines? Houston Summers? Huston Street? Dusty Rhodes?
March 19th, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Whenever (Kevin) Bass faced (Steve) Trout in the Mid 80's was a little disturbing.
March 19th, 2011 at 4:51 pm
I think John Lamb may have been on the same Pirate staff as Moose and Veale. The Phillies had Bobby Wine and John Boozer in the mid-sixties.
March 19th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
With all due respect to our family values friends... it could be noted that If the A's pitcher named Harden went by the name Dick,rather than Rich,I believe a new category would exist. That being said,I would add the name Dick Pole , and " Big Unit " Johnson to that list.
March 19th, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Bringing it down a notch further....I didn't actually listen to this particular game, but several of my diehard friends swear this was said during a Twins broadcast "Randy Johnson has been trying to get inside on Randy Bush all night".
March 19th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
And then there was the game in which Chien Ming Wang started opposite Devon Bush...
March 19th, 2011 at 6:48 pm
Just don't ask what a White Sox announcer said Pizarro was about to do back in '63.
March 19th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
@12 - I once tried to come up with the all-time "rude souding names" team. Dick Pole and Randy Johnson were certainly on the roster. Along with Randy Bush, Nig Clarke, Al Nipper, Pete LaCock and a few others.
I guess "Goose" is too low-hanging a fruit, huh? (Gossage, Goslin, probably a few others.)
March 19th, 2011 at 8:52 pm
rusty kuntz
March 19th, 2011 at 10:51 pm
Nobody said glasscock yet?
March 20th, 2011 at 12:55 am
There is a 2003 topps baseball card featuring Brandon Puffer and Jung Bong. I always figured this was no accident haha. Here is the card...
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004853S5C/ref=asc_df_B004853S5C1471671?smid=A2WIC6J3XHYC6C&tag=shopzilla_mp_1236-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B004853S5C
March 20th, 2011 at 1:00 am
Can Bong -hit ?
March 20th, 2011 at 1:38 am
While not being pursued by a Randy Bass, there's good ol' plain & simple Jay Pike (1871), brother of Lip, something that a Chicken Hawks lacks but a Rusty Kuntz, presumably, still has.
March 20th, 2011 at 3:37 am
Johnny Dickshot!
March 20th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Chicken Wolf
Frenchy Bordagaray
Cuckoo Christensen
Dick Cox
Greasy Neale
Ownie Carroll
Lil Stoner
Chief Hogsett
Spook Jacobs
Yip Owens
Egyptian Healy
Oris Hockett
Dee Fondy
Braggo Roth
Topsy Hartsel
Beals Becker
Jigger Statz
Grover Land
Ducky Holmes
Wonderful Monds
Socks Seybold
Taffy Wright
Rabbit Warstler
Shorty Fuller
Dick Pole
Mule Watson
Smead Jolley
Tricky Nichols
Foghorn Bradley
Riggs Stephenson
Preacher Roe
Spec Shea
Swede Risberg
Rebel Oakes
Bump Wills
Nook Logan
Goat Anderson
Johnny Dickshot
Chubby Dean
Vinegar Bend Mizell
Firpo Marberry
Sad Sam Jones
Heinie Manush
Solly Hemus
Choo Choo Coleman
Noodles Hahn
Hoot Evers
Stub Brown
Adonis Terry
Piggy Ward
Sun Daly
Boob Fowler
Skinny Graham\
Tubby Spencer
Hooks Wiltse
Admiral Schlei
Bull Durham
Moose McCormick
Fatty Briody
Nig Clarke
Jap Barbeau
Bunk Congalton
Birdie Tebbetts
Jumbo Latham
Dude Esterbrook
Snake Deal
Chink Taylor
Pinky Swander
Heinie Groh
Dots Miller
Schoolboy Rowe
Bugs Bennett
Speed Martin
Kewpie Pennington
Grover Lowdermilk
Scrappy Moore
Cyclone Miller
Jocko Halligan
Bug Holliday
Wild Bill Widner
Mother Watson
Jumbo McGinnis
Icicle Reeder
Farmer Vaughn
Pop Corkhill
Oyster Burns
Ripper Collins
Candy Cummngs
Snuffy Stirnweiss
Silver King
Dusty Rhodes
Hippo Vaughn
Hub Perdue
Iron Davis
Ensign Cottrell
Birdie Cree
Boardwalk Brown
Toots Coyne
Shag Thompson
Press Cruthers
Wickey McAvoy
Pug Griffin
March 20th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
To continue on your theme, Rich Argan, you could include Dick Burns, a pitcher and outfielder in 1883 and 1884. Then there was Woodie Held, an outfielder and infielder with several clubs from 1954 to 1969.
March 20th, 2011 at 7:11 pm
#16, Goose Goslin comes pretty close to qualifying for the two-animal-name list (which, lest we forget, was the original idea of this discussion). I always assumed he was given the nickname Goose because of the surname Goslin.
And concerning the tangential discussion on great matchups, the 1980s occasionally saw God (Jim Gott) square off against the Devil (Tim Teufel). See, e.g., http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Tim_Teufel
March 20th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
For whatever it is worth... last year the Orioles made a trade: acquired Jake Fox for Ross Wolf... an animal for animal trade.Do any others come to mind ?
March 20th, 2011 at 8:33 pm
@25
Contributing to his nickname of Goose was the fact that when he chased a fly ball he had a habit of waving his arms. Other players thought he looked like a bird flapping its wings. Given that his surname was Goslin, Goose was an appropriate nickname.
Also, how does this name grab you: Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish.
March 20th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Bryan Edmund Haas - AKA Moose
George William Haas - AKA Mule
March 20th, 2011 at 9:20 pm
"Mudcat" Grant
March 20th, 2011 at 9:59 pm
Oil Can Boyd could always fix Rusty Peters any day.Or Rusty Kuntz for that matter.
March 20th, 2011 at 10:52 pm
Charlie Keller - AKA King Kong
March 21st, 2011 at 10:54 am
Roadrunner Garr?
March 21st, 2011 at 10:56 am
I've always wondered who won the battle between Jim Gott & Tim Teufel? I think Teufel batted something like .217 against Gott. Is there a winner there?
March 21st, 2011 at 11:00 am
@25 / 27 -- Bill James said that Goose Goslin got that nickname because of his goose-like nose, and he quotes Goslin acknowledging his beak: "I been hitting .344 as a one-eyed hitter, you know. If I could see around my nose, I'd hit .600."
http://www.amazon.com/Bill-James-Historical-Baseball-Abstract/dp/0684806975#reader_0684806975
March 21st, 2011 at 11:16 am
Bill Hopper was nicknamed Bird Dog....
March 21st, 2011 at 11:26 am
Martin Griffin?
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griffma01.shtml
March 21st, 2011 at 11:40 am
"Chick" Gandil, Jim Panther
March 21st, 2011 at 11:42 am
I think this one takes the (seed) cake:
Jay Bugg Partridge --
starting 2B for the 1927 Brooklyn Robins.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/partrja01.shtml
March 21st, 2011 at 3:06 pm
@ John Autin,
not to sound condescending, but do you know what 'bird dog(ing)' refers to?
if it was/is used in the same context as i think it was, the mr. hopper, in a sport populated by 'skirt chasers' - was most likely pretty bad to earn that nickname.
March 21st, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Duke -- To quote Tom Lehrer:
"When correctly viewed,
EVERYTHING is lewd!"
But I still think the most frequent (notice how I avoided the phrase "number one") meaning of "bird dogging" is scouting.
March 21st, 2011 at 9:47 pm
@38.
John, Partridge wins the trifecta (plus bonus points for Robins). Good sleuthing.
Interesting way Robins handled their very-first-time-in-the-majors 2nd baseman. Started him every game of Robin's first 108 games (and all but one were complete games), finally tired (presumably) of all his errors (52 for the year) in mid-August and sat him down for two weeks (he was pinch-hitting so he probably wasn't injured), then bring him back to play 2nd again for all but five of the games the rest of the way. Perhaps, as a college man, they thought he could handle the pressure.
Anyway, the errors got even worse the following year (.903 fielding avg), and he was gone by July.
March 22nd, 2011 at 12:01 pm
@41, Doug -- I wonder if the '27 Brooklyn DP combo was among the worst ever in terms of all-around play? Partridge rated at -1.3 WAR (-0.4 offensive, -0.9 defensive). His keystone mate, Johnny Butler, rated at -1.4 WAR (-0.9 offensive, -0.5 defensive). Both played fewer than 100 MLB games after that season.
Incidentally ... Both Partridge and Butler have some interesting minor-league numbers:
-- Jay Partridge made the majors at 24 after a good year at class-A Nashville, hitting .333 and ranking 10th in Southern Assn. slugging. After washing out with Brooklyn, he returned to Nashville, where in 1930, Partridge hit .361 with 40 HRs, .630 SLG and 373 total bases. All were career highs, by far (he never hit more than 12 HRs in any other season) -- but all were topped by Nashville teammate and minor-league slugging legend Jim Poole, who smashed 50 HRs and 403 total bases.
-- Johnny Butler didn't reach the bigs until age 33. Two years before his MLB debut, with Wichita of the class-A Western League, Butler hit .353 with 20 HRs and 70 doubles in 157 games. But he didn't lead that circuit in doubles, not quite: Lyman Lamb of Tulsa hit 100 doubles in 168 games. There must have been some major park factors involved: It was Lamb's 3rd straight year with at least 68 doubles (for a 3-year average of 80); two of Lamb's teammates also topped 50 doubles in 1924, and Tulsa as a team batted .322 and averaged 49 doubles and 19 HRs per 600 AB. According to B-R's minor league stats, Lyman Lamb -- listed at 5'7" and 150 lbs. -- hit 608 doubles in 16 years in the minors.
March 22nd, 2011 at 7:16 pm
@42 and "I wonder if the '27 Brooklyn DP combo was among the worst ever in terms of all-around play?"
John, I think, with a bit of extra effort, you could answer that question fairly readily using Play Index. First, search for seasons with players playing a minimum number of games at 2B, and filter for WAR below a certain value. Save that result. Then do the same for SS, and save that result. Sort both lists by year and team, and match-merge the two lists and see what you get.
Possibly not completely fool-proof, but the next best thing. Trickiest things may be how to handle split seasons, and setting the games played and WAR filtering about right (strict enough to avoid a ridiculous number of results, but not so strict that "legitimate" seasons of interest get missed).
March 23rd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Doug @43 -- Thanks for the suggestion. Actually, the P-I search was even more direct than that: I set the requirements to (a) Wins Above Replacement <= (-1.3), (b) 80+ games played at either 2B or SS, and (c) "Find Teams with Players Matching Criteria." There were 12 modern teams with 2 such players, so I kept raising the (negative) WAR requirement until I found the worst matched-pair DP combo:
-- 2B Fresco Thompson (-2.4 WAR) and SS Tommy Thevenow (-3.2 WAR) of the 1930 Phillies.
Both were disastrous defenders that year; Thevenow (56 errors) was charged with -1.6 dWAR, Thompson a brutal -2.1.
Thevenow is well known as one of the worst hitters to have a long MLB career, with a 51 OPS+ in over 4,000 PAs and -9.5 oWAR. He had been considered a good glove in the past, especially in 1926 when he helped the Cards win the World Series and ran 4th in the MVP vote despite batting an empty .256.
P.S. Thevenow hit the only 3 HRs of his career in 1926, 2 in the regular season and 1 in the World Series in which he went 10 for 24. After '26, Thevenow played exactly 1,000 more regular-season games but never hit another HR.
March 24th, 2011 at 2:51 am
@44.
Thanks, John. 1930 Phillies. Guess it had to be some sad-sack 100-loss team - no surprise there.
As I was reading your assessment of Thevenow, Rick Cerone instantly came to my mind. Cerone and Thevenow both created long careers out of one early good season (offensively for Cerone, defensively for Thevenow), and where they made their only appearances on the MVP list.
Despite having a reputation (in some quarters) for being good defensively, Cerone was a career -1.1 dWAR and, absent his 2.7 dWAR in 1926, Thevenow was -0.2 dWAR the rest of his career.
Despite mostly nothing careers, both attracted the attention of several teams (3 for Cerone, 4 for Thevenow) in the last 3 years of their careers. At least Cerone extended his career by actually turning in some of his better OPS+ seasons in his last 3, part-time, seasons. Thevenow, as usual, did nothing.
You mentioned Thevenow's 1926 WS homer - so I thought maybe that was a dramatic event that made him forever memorable. But, that homer was in game 2, a ninth-inning shot that turned a 5-2 Cardinal lead into a 6-2 Cardinal victory. Only thing possibly memorable about it was that it was an inside-the-park job.
No way to make sense of it, I guess - some guys just lead charmed lives.
March 24th, 2011 at 3:14 am
One really odd thing about that 1926 Series. Games 1 and 2, on a Sat and Sun, both attracted over 60,000 to Yankee Stadium. Games 6 and 7, also at Yankee Stadium, also on Sat and Sun a week later, attracted only 48,000 and 38,000. Go figure !