Reader Challenge: You spell that HOW?

Friday, December 19 2008 @ 04:38 PM EST

Contributed by: Mick Doherty

You may not remember him, but today is Geoff Zahn's birthday. Zahn, a fine LHSP in the '70s and '80s, won 18 games once and was one of the first big two-time winners in early free agency, signing with both the Twins in '77 and the Angels in '81.

But this isn't about Zahn, the pitcher. It's about his name -- Geoff. There have been only five Geoffs in big league history, so though we were able to build a fine All-Jeff team back in '06, an All-Geoff team simply ain't happening.

Similar "sorry, ain't happening" notes to guys names Jon (rather than John), Kris (rather than Chris) and Marc (instead of Mark) among many others. Which leads us to this question ...

Who are the best alternatively-spelled common-name players in major league history? Don't limit your thinking to the four names above -- sure, Jon Papelbon and Kris Benson are in play here, but so is Shawon Dunston.

Who else belongs on this team?

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