The Baltimore Orioles raise the first question of eligibility for the Lobby of Numbers.

In choosing which letter of the alphabet to go with for today's Hall of Names entry, I thought to choose the one that would yield the best team overall. Originally, I leaned toward building a "J" team, which we will get to eventually, but finally settled on the "R" squad.

I think we have a winner.

After struggling through the All-Z and All-Q teams recently, with what was actually a nice break for a Y squad that had 93 former major leaguers including three Hall of Famers to choose from, we now head over to the daunting task of forming a team from the 92 men (and just two Hall of Famers) whose last or family name begins with the letter "V."

In the long history of the Great Game, just 43 men whose last or family name begins with the letter "Q" have made it to the major league level. None have been Hall of Famers; really only one even had an oustide shot at Cooperstown, and -- alphabetically anyway -- he appears last on the "Q" list. He'll be the team's closer.

This is going to be a darn sight harder than the Y and Z teams we recently put together. But let's give it a go ...

Well, the recent All-Z team didn't turn out too badly (and if you're wondering, yes, this is leading up to something -- a Batter's Box Challenge, in fact -- this coming off-season). But as we work our way (backwards for now, though we'll probably jump around a bit as we proceed) through the alphabet, we ask ourselves the eternal question, "Y Not?"

That is, what kind of Hall of Names team can be built using only the 93 men to have reached the MLB level whose last/family name begins with the letter "Y"? And unlike our previous Z-team, we actually have a Hall of Famer -- actually, four of them! -- to start with.

The specter of whether or not Babe Didrikson Zaharias should win a spot on the recent All-Babe team raised another interesting question ... what kind of Hall of Names team could be gathered using only the 74 men to have reached the MLB level whose last/family name begins with the letter "Z"?

Jordan raises the issue of M*A*S*H in his latest Minor League Update (a show that managed to never "jump the shark," incidentally) which leads, as you might guess, to an All-M*A*S*H Hall of Names team quest.

We've used movies (All-Grease) and T.V. Shows (All-Sesame Street, All-Simpsons) as the basis for the Hall of Names before, but this is the first time we're going to a franchise that was both a classic movie AND a classic TV show.

Way back on January 10, Batter's Box asked the leading question, what is it with baseball and lawyers? After input from the esteemed Jamey Newberg and the seven or eight dozen shysters who frequent these here parts of the Web, the matter was largely dropped.

Then more recently -- just last week, in fact -- in a standard "Baseball's Hall of Names" feature, we examined the posibilities presented by an "All-Doc" (or alternatively, an "All-M.D.) team.

And if you've been to college, you know the pre-law guys don't want the pre-med guys to have anything they don't get (and vice versa), so we feel obliged to offer an "All-Legal" team here on Batter's Box. However, we'll take a bit of a different tack than we did with our medical squad -- and be sure to watch for the wacky Chief Justice Showdown at the end of the show!

NEW! Sidebar comments with a complete "All-J.D." team and Craig Burley's special complete team of all actual lawyers!

OK, not really Hall of Names. Mick holds proprietary rights there, and I've been doing enough poaching in other people's fields, surely. This is more like the Lobby of Numbers.

It's hard to believe, but slightly more than two years into the series, we have reached baseball's magical number, with this sixtieth installment of Baseball's Hall of Names here on Batter's Box Interactive Magazine (if you're curious, the entire list is available at http://www.mickdoherty.com/sports/hallofnames.htm).

And what better way to celebrate #60 than to put together an All-Babe team, if indeed that's possible?

Today is Mark Funderburk's 48th birthday. A propos of nothing for the former Twin outfielder, but would you believe that not a single player with the first name of "Mark" has ever been inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame? (The closest we get is the great, but in this case only "middling" David Mark Winfield.) Now, that may change shortly when Mark McGwire becomes eligible -- but then again, why talk about the past when we can focus on the future?

Well, in this case, Mr. McGwire, because it's fun(derburk) ... and there have been a whole bunch of really fine Marks to don big league uniforms; wait until you get a load of the pitching staff.

So Roy "Doc" Halladay is set to go for the Jays tomorrow against the Indians.

A great nickname like Doc's can spur an entire Hall of Names feature all on its own, but when you add in the fact that it's also been my nickname on and off for 20 years (given my initials, M.D. and the fact that my last name is pronounced "Dockerty in some places), and toss in the additional nugget that I changed jobs this week and now am full-time in the healthcare industry, well, this seems like a natural.

There' have been plenty of major league players nicknamed "Doc." And plenty more with the initials "M.D." But when those two groups go shinguard-to-stethescope, who comes out ahead? Let's find out.

Some time last week, Magpie managed to work the "immortal Jean-Luc Picard" into the lede for one of the final official Game Threads. If you don't know -- well, first, shame on you -- Picard is the captain of the starship Enterprise-D from the mid-1980's TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Given that Mags posted that thread on the same day the WB network announced with finality that Enterprise, the current iteration of Star Trek, would not return next season, it got me to thinking ... could we combine the two great geek passions of my life, Baseball's Hall of Names and science fiction (specifically in this case Star Trek) to come up with an All-Trek lineup?

Even though nobody named "Picard" has ever played major leage ball, with FIVE series and something like forty-six movies in the can, we ought to be able to field a pretty, um, stellar (har!) team. Warp factor nine, Mr. Magpie. Engage!

Yep, the Royals are coming to town starting tonight, and though it's not quite as obvious as the Jays vs. Rays Hall of Names teams we engaged back on April 6, all All-Royal team seems in order.

This may not be what you're expecting, though ...

It's taken parts of three years to get here, but at long last, we've reached the final installment of our 12 "all-month" teams for Baseball's Hall of Names roster.

This team, unlike all the other month teams -- in fact, unlike all the other month teams combined -- has a wide variety of major league players who bear the name of the month itself. I mean, we appreciate you June Greene, thanks for stopping by the booth, Don August, but the fortuitously named "May Bee-Knots" (a no-prize for anyone who designs the uniform logo!) is captained by its best player, a man born in May, who also made his MLB debut in May, who also is the greatest center fielder ever to play the game ... a man named Mays. Nice start.

But before we get into formulating the team wearing the emerald birthstones, let's look a little more carefully into this all-"May" name thing ...