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In the more than four years that Baseball's Hall of Names has been around Batter's Box, we've seen more than 300 entries into the pantheon, including the top 25 North American family (last) names -- and a number of other surnames -- as well as the top 25 North American given (first) names, and more than 50 other less common given names ranging from Harold, Murray and Gus to Jake, Corey and Alf.

So I found myself thinking, what's a common name we haven't graced with HoN treatment? And, with apologies to my high school best friend, college roommate and about 15 guys I worked with at American Airlines some time back, I realized ... we've never done an All-Tim Team (say that three times fast).

You know, come to think of it, there aren't all that many iconic Tims. Actors like Robbins, Curry and Conway, okay, but none is exactly a Bob DeNiro; a computer wiz like Berners-Lee, still not as well-known as a Bill Gates or Steves Wozniak and Jobs; the late great Tim Russert was a fine newsman, but the first names in news are Walter and Dan; Tim McGraw's daddy was a fine ballplayer, but Tug's first name was Frank. So, now what?

What the hell ... let's give Tim a try, shall we? As always, a few clarifying rules ...



  • First, when we search "Tim" in the greatness that is BaseballReference.com, we get more than 250 returns but many -- a wide majority, actually -- are players who were named (or went by) Tom. Whatever. Them guys ain't eligible for this team.
  • Second, it doesn't matter if the player's name is actually "Timothy" -- we see "Timon" in a couple of cases, for example -- as long as he went by Tim. That takes otherwise viable candidates like current MIN RHSP Timothy Scott Baker, who goes by his middle appelation, out of the running. From a different angle, it eliminates a close-but-no-cigar bench candidate like Timo Perez.
  • Of course, last/family named Tims -- like Timberlake, Timmerman. Timmons, Timpner and Timlin -- are right out. Maybe we'd have made an exception if former Jay farmhand Jordan Timm had made it to the show, but the LHP's 5-2/3.63 mark (and eight saves) in three seasons didn't move him past Dunedin, so no go there. So anyway, forgive the team name -- hey, what squad isn't happier with one less "E' to their credit? Now, let's see what we can come up with as we meet ...

    The Tim Bombs
    ** indicates Hall of Famer
    * indicates All- Star

    MGR: Tim Johnson (88-74, 1998 Toronto Blue Jays)
    Coach: Tim Murnane (58-51, 1884 Boston Reds)
    Coach: Tim Hurst (39-111, 1898 St. Louis Browns)

    Lineup
    C Tim McCarver* (.251, 97 homers, 1959-80)
    1B Tim Jordan (.261, parts of 1901-10; twice led NL in homers)
    2B Tim Teufel (.254, 86 homers, 1983-93)
    SS Tim Foli (.251, 1970-85)
    3B Tim Naehring (.282, 1990-97)
    LF Tim Hendryx (.276, parts of 1911-21)
    CF Tim Raines* (.294, 808 SB)
    RF Tim Salmon (.282, 299 homers, 1992-2006)
    DH Tim Laudner* (C - .225, 1981-89; 1988 All-Star)

    Bench
    C Tim Laker (.226, five teams, 1992-2006)
    IF Tim C. Hulett (.249, 1983-95; hit 17 of 48 career HR in '86)
    IF Tim Flannery (.255, 1979-89, all with SDP)
    1B/OF Tim Murnane (player/coach; .261, 1872-78, '84)
    1B/OF Tim M. Corcoran (.270, four teams, 1977-86)
    UTIL Tim O'Rourke (IF/OF .291, 1890-94)

    Rotation
    RHSP Tim Keefe** (342-225, 1880-93)
    RHSP Tim Hudson* (135-70 through 2007)
    RHSP Tim Belcher (146-140, seven teams 1987-2000)
    LHSP Tim Lollar (47-52, 1980-86, mostly with SDP)
    RHSP Tim Lincecum (24-10 so far with SFG)

    Bullpen
    CL-RH Tim Burke* (49-33, 102 saves, 1985-92)
    RH-SET Tim Stoddard (41-35, 76 saves, 1975-89)
    LH-SET Tim Byrdak (with 4th team, HOU, in 2008; 4-5, 3 saves through '07)
    RHP Tim Crabtree (21-22, nine saves, 1995-2001 TOR,TEX)
    LHP Tim Birtsas (14-14, parts of 1985-90)

    It's Tim Time ... Only three Tims have managed in the big leagues, all for exactly one season, and two of those before the turn of the 20th century ... Johnson, who Jay fans likely will remember both fondly and ruefully, was the bst of the bunch in both career wins and winning percentage ... Belcher won 146 games, and reached double digits in season wins nine times, but never won more than 15 in a single season and never sniffed an All-Star team selection ...

    Birtsas was out of MLB (headed to Japan) before turning 30, but before that, part of two of the biggest trades of the 1980s as he was included in the package that sent Rickey Henderson from Oakland to the Bronx, then later in the one that brought Dave Parker to Oakland from Cincinnati ... Tim Blackwell spent some time caddying for Carlton Fisk for the '75 Red Sox, a year when Fisk hit a pretty famous home run ... Actually, for some reason, it seems like a ton of Tims served as backup catchers, including McGinley, McIntosh, Talton, Thompson, Donohue, Griesenbeck, Hosley, Manning and Spehr in addition to Blackwell, but we have a couple of All-Star backstops -- one will start as the DH -- so only Tim Laker sneaks onto the roster as a third receiver ... That said, Spehr may have been the quintessential backup catcher; he lasted nearly a decade in the big leagues, appearing in no less than 32 games each season -- but never more than 63 games in any one season either; oddly, he hit nine of his 19 career homers in his final (1999) season with KCR, never hitting more than three in any other campaign from 1991-98 ...

    On the other hand, late cut Tim Bogar did everything but catch in his big league career; though primarily a SS/3B, he roamed from the left side of the infield to play everywhere (okay, his OF experience was limited to LF), including two one-inning trips to the mound for the 2000 Astros ...

    If you remember Tim Burke, you probably picture him as an Expo -- but do you recall that he finished up his career with a season and a half in New York, winning four games with the Mets and two with the Yankees? ... Conroy , a lefty, had a forgettable (7.71 ERA) two-game stint as an 18-year old rooke for the 1978 A's right after being their first-round draft pick out of high school; he was then banished to the minors until 1982 and was out of the majors before turning 28 ... Crews spent six years with the Dodgers before signing with the Indians as a free agent, but was killed in a tragic boating accident during Spring Training before ever breaking camp with the Tribe ...

    Cullen was traded -- twice, once in 1968, once in 1972 -- in deals for Ron Hansen ... Dillard, for no reason that is readily apparent, was nicknamed "Bridget" ... Drew started his career with the Indians, then was packaged with Bartolo Colon off to Montreal for a return that included Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips, so that worked out okay for the Tribe; the older brother of both J.D. and Stephen, Drew hung around for two seasons then left as a free agent for one year with the Braves, then dropped out of big league ball at age 25 ... Drummond was part of that huge Aguilera/Tapani package the Mets put together to get Frankie "Sweet Music" Viola out of Minnesota ...

    Tim Foli was never much of a hitter -- in 16 full seasons, he amassed just 1,515 hits -- but he had ten knocks for the Pirates as they won the 1979 World Series, and an OPS of .808 in that Series win ... Griesenbeck, a Texas A&M grad from San Antonio, bore the full name Carlos Phillipe Timothy Griesenbeck -- so that's a shortcut from 32 letters to just three for good ol' "Tim" ... Too bad Hendryx died in 1957 or he might have had to take some pretty wicked guitar lessons and changed his name to "Timi" ... Maybe he could have made some magic dust with ex-Dodger 17-game winner Tim Leary ...

    Because we want a lefty in the rotation, Lollar -- believe it or not, the best southpaw Tim starter in MLB history to date -- bumps righty candidates Tim Leary (78-105, 1981, '83-94, seven teams) and Tim Redding (24-40, 2001-07; 10-11 for '08 WAS) off the squad ... Theoretically, LHS/RP Tim Conroy (18-32, 4.71 over seven years) could also be considered for the spot, but Lollar can actually do double-duty as a pinch-hitter; he was a fine hitting pitcher, compiling a career batting average of .234 with eight homers in just over 200 at-bats ... Redding is leading the National League in starts this season? Really? ... Speaking of "Really?" moments, Tim Salmon retired following the 2006 season one dinger shy of 300 and with more than 1000 RBI -- and he never made an All-Star team? Really? ...

    The Timothy Craig Hulett on this roster is different from -- and apparently not related to -- the Timothy Craig Hulett who goes by "Tug" and made his MLB debut with SEA as an IF/DH in 2008 ... In 1979, IF Tim Johnson was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Toronto Blue Jays for IF Tim Nordbrook -- is this baseball's only historical all-Tim even-up trade?

    W. Tim Jones played everywhere on the diamond for the Cardinals -- even one four-out appearance on the mound -- except arguably the "easiest" defensive position, 1B ... Tim B. Jones "retired" after one brief three-outing stint with the Pirates, sporting a pretty career ERA of 0.00 ... The latter Jones' given first name was "Timmothy" and the extra "m" makes him unique -- the only player in big league history to bear that name ... Tim Jordan, this team's 1B, led the National League in home runs twice in a three-year period (1906 and '08), slamming a grand total of (a then rather remarkable) 12 each season; he hit another eight total in his five other big league seasons combined ...

    One of the great "what the hell?" moments on BaseballReference.com is courtesy of the "Transactions" portion of Tim Pugh's page and his 1996 waiver wire odyssey ... Consider: On May 10, Pugh was selected off waivers by the Kansas City Royals from the Cincinnati Reds. Then on July 8, he was elected off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds from the Kansas City Royals. Four days later, on July 12, he was selected off waivers by the Kansas City Royals from the Cincinnati Reds. Finally, just over a month later, on Aug. 15, he was selected off waivers by (guess who?) the Cincinnati Reds from the Kansas City Royals. So he ended up where he started and probably lost half his season's salary to apartment rental deposits ...

    Tim Keefe is the only member of this Hall of Names squad to also have a plaque in the Hall of Fame; he won 28 or more games for seven straight seasons (1883-89), topping 40 twice and besting 30 four other times ... Laudner, one season after his only All-Star appearance (he doubled in his only midseason classic at-bat), was out of baseball at the age of 31 ... 19th-century utilityman Tim Manning's hometown won't ever provide a Hall of (Place) Names roster as he joined Planet Earth back in 1853 in Henley-On-Thames, England ... More evidence that times have changed drastically -- RHRP Tim McCabe was 5-1 with a 2.92 from 1915-18 with the St. Louis Browns, good for a career ERA+ of 96 ...

    2B Tim Shinnick debuted at 22 with the 1890 American Association champion Louisville Colonels, and was among the league leaders in triples, RBI and stolen bases; the next year, he hit .221, fell off precipitously in every category, and the 1891 Colonels finished eighth -- then Shinnick disappeared, never playing another big league game after his age 23 season ... Stoddard, who stood 6'7" was a fine college basketball player, starting at forward (opposite a pretty fair teammate named David Thompson) for a Final Four team at NC State in the 1970s ...

    As previously noted in a long-ago Hall of Names jaunt, we're not sure if Tim Teufel ever had an at-bat against a certain contemporary of his, pitcher Jim Gott, but if he did, that might have been the most momentous at-bat in the history of the universe. What, you didn't take German? ... Every time I add Tim Raines to one of these Hall of Names teams, I automatically add the second asterisk after his name, then have to correct myself -- hopefully someday, that "mistake" will be accurate ...

    Other MLB "Tim" names you may know include Fortugno, Harrikala, Layama, Scott (the final cut from the bullpen), Pugh, Spooneybarger, Costo and Ireland, among dozens of other candidates ...

    So, Bauxites, can this Talented Tim Team be Topped?

  • Timmy! | 11 comments | Create New Account
    The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
    CeeBee - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 04:07 PM EDT (#192888) #
    Can we have a knuckleballer please?  Tim Wakefield and his 178-157   W/L record and 2800 innings would be one of my starting 5.  And please pretty please can Tim Wallach patrol the hot corner? :)
    Mick Doherty - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 04:46 PM EDT (#192891) #
    Absolutely right, CeeBee.
    Not sure how I missed those two guys!
    • Wallach bumps Naehring to the bench and Hulett gets his pink slip.
    • Wakefield to the rotation for ... Belcher? Again, if we want to keep a lefty in the first five, and we do, then it's either Belcher or Lincecum and I'd be more than willing to bet the farm that the latter ends up with the better career numbers.
    That work?

    CeeBee - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#192892) #
    How about making Wakefield the swingman..... long man-6th starter maybe? Crabtree could be the 11th man in the pen or the first callup.
    Mike Green - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 06:15 PM EDT (#192893) #
    Tim Worrell would be an acceptable long-man.  I don't know what it was, but the missing guys were all Tim Ws. 

    Naehring would be quite an improvement on Laudner as the DH.  I'd make Laudner the back-up catcher, and keep Hulett.  This is quite a good club.  Raines, Hendryx, Salmon, Jordan, Wallach, McCarver, Naehring, Teufel, Foli would be an above average offence.  The starters are excellent.  The bullpen and bench are fine.  I think that they would have a fighting chance to win any of the 2008 divisions, and would be the favourite for all but the AL East. 

    Mick Doherty - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 07:12 PM EDT (#192894) #
    Good catch on the missing all being W's, Mike -- I went back and checked and realized I never clicked through to last page of results in the BaseballReference.com search returns for Tims ... Wakefield, Wallach and Worrell were all on that page, as were a couple of other guys, but no one else who would threaten to make the roster.

    ANY team wants more W's and I think this team just picked up three ...

    Magpie - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 07:51 PM EDT (#192895) #
    You know, come to think of it, there aren't all that many iconic Tims.

    I don't know about that.

    Photobucket

    What manner of man are you that can conjure up fire without flint or tinder?
    Mick Doherty - Saturday, September 27 2008 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#192897) #
    Funny. I was undecided about leading with South Park or Monty Python but figured the circus wouldn't be as obvious ... I see it would have been for at least one honored Bauxite!
    Some call me Tim - Monday, September 29 2008 @ 01:14 AM EDT (#192915) #
    Thank you Mick for the excellent topic and Mike for the flattering picture!
    Magpie - Tuesday, September 30 2008 @ 08:47 AM EDT (#192958) #
    Mike?

    Well, you're a busy man...

    Mike Green - Tuesday, September 30 2008 @ 10:12 AM EDT (#192961) #
    Nah, it definitely wasn't me.  My iconic Tim would have been "Tiny Tim".  Somehow "tiptoeing through the tulips" doesn't mesh real well with trying to score from second on a sharp single to left...
    Some call me Tim - Wednesday, October 01 2008 @ 10:23 PM EDT (#193043) #
    Oops!  Sorry Magpie.  Obviously I need to read more closely and not just look at the M.!  Thanks to you then for the lovely photo.

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