Now, fortunately for us, the numbers work -- a standard baseball roster has 25 spots and a standard NFL starting lineup, when you include the specialists, also has 25 spots. So the challenge to you is to build the best possible baseball team with Football Hall of Fame names AND the best possible football team with Baseball Hall of Fame names. Actually, don't feel constrained by the HOFer list(s) -- anyone who played the one sport at the major league level is eligible for the other roster.
Confused? Don't be ... it's this simple:
First, we're looking for football players with baseball names ... Do you start Steve "Cy" Young at quarterback or go with the active new kid, Carson "Jim" Palmer? In your backfield, sure, Shaun "Grover Cleveland" Alexander would be nice, but you can't ignore Jim "Mordecai" Brown, or to step outside of the HOF limits, Walter "Jay" Payton, now can you? Out wide, do you like Anthony "Gary" Carter and Tony "Pete" Hill or do they even add up to match Jerry "Sam" Rice? And what about one of the six newest football Hall of Famers, Michael "Monte" Irvin?
The team's defense might be okay (or, uh, simply awesome), anchored by guys like Carl "Ernie" Banks, Fred "Dizzy" Dean and Bruce "Eddie" Matthews -- though yes, we recognize that Bruce spells his last name with two T's while Eddie Mathews stopped at just the one, so make that Bruce "Gary" Matthews (Sr. or Jr.) if you must.
And hey, as baseball's Hall of Names has shown in the past, a host of common names have stuffed major league rosters over the years -- the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown plays host to men named Jackson, Johnson, Kelly, Robinson, Smith, Taylor, Wagner, Williams and Wright, for instance -- but again, don't limit yourself to Hall of Fame names for the Hall of Names team!
Second, we're looking for baseball players with football names ... again, we'll just start with that list of Hall of Famers (the one in Canton, Ohio, not Cooperstown), but feel free to move beyond that ...
There are quite a few impressive options in the outfield, like Dave "Jim" Parker, Hack "Larry" Wilson, Kenny "James" Lofton and Andruw "Deacon" Jones (The aforementioned Jay "Walter" Payton probably doesn't make this team) ... Of course, the infield has as options, among others, Tony "Lawrence" Taylor, Frank "Randy" White and Ron "Lamer" Hunt, with a choice of third basemen including Mike "Joe" Schmidt and Buddy "Bobby" Bell. The bench can always use a versatile catcher/infielder/outfielder like Tyler "Ken" Houston, too ...
You want pitching? Well, it doesn't start and stop with Ted "Bob" Lilly and Milt "Dave" Wilcox, when you can also call on Walter "Jimmy" Johnson, Ed "Bill" Walsh, Whitey "Len" Ford and Kerry (or Wilbur for that matter) "Willie" Wood ... think we might build a decent rotation from those options? ... As for managers, we need go no further than the Hall of Fame choice of player/manager provided by the duo of Bucky "Franco" Harris and 19th century legend King "Jim" Kelly ....
Like its Cooperstown counterpart, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton is also stuffed with members who have relatively common family names; in addition to some already mentioned, the gridiron Hall includes men monikered Allen, Sanders, Mitchell, Moore, Connor, Long, Haynes, Lane, Little, Brown, Davis and Jordan -- though that last one calls to mind a minor league baseball player who was a little better at hoops -- among many others.
All that said, let's see if we can't build up the two rosters; here's what we need and a start at what we have based on the above examples. Whatchagot to make either of these teams any better? We're looking to fill the empty spots or upgrade the ones that are already listed. Bring it on!
Updated: Players shown listed in italics have been added (with some minor changes) at reader suggestion in the thread.
| Coach Bill "Ed" Walsh OFFENSE QB1 Peyton "Rick" Manning (sorry, Archie, sorry Eli!) QB2 Steve "Cy" Young RB Walter "Jay" Payton RB Jim "Mordecai" Brown WR Jerry "Sam" Rice WR Michael "Monte" Irvin TE Tony "Juan" Gonzalez T G Bruce "Gary" Matthews C G Larry "Grady" Little T K KR DEFENSE DE DT Fred "Dizzy" Dean DT DE LB LB Carl "Ernie" Banks LB CB CB S S P |
MGR Bucky "Franco" Harris LINEUP C Charles "Keyshawn" Johnson 1B Willie "Gene" Upshaw 2B Frank "Randy" White SS Bucky "Richard" Dent 3B Mike "Joe" Schmidt LF Hack "Larry" Wilson CF Andruw "Deacon" Jones RF Dave "Jim" Parker DH Dick "Marcus" Allen BENCH C/UTIL Tyler "Ken" Houston IF Tony "Lawrence" Taylor IF Buddy "Bobby" Bell IF/OF Chipper "Walter" Jones OF Enos "Webster" Slaughter UTIL King "Jim" Kelly ROTATION RHSP Walter "Jimmy" Johnson LHSP Whitey "Len" Ford RHSP Ed "Bill" Walsh LHSP Ted "Bob" Lilly RHSP Kerry "Willie" Wood BULLPEN CL Donnie "Lenny" Moore RP RP RP RP |
Bonus points for anyone discovering a full-name-match (first/given name plus family name) -- and yes, an individual who played both sports, such as Jim Thorpe, is considered to have "the same name" as himself -- but such an individual MUST be added to both rosters to qualify, so Thorpe probably doesn't make it ... though there's always Bo Jackson ...
