Among baseball fans, there's an old game of making up fictitious teams around a theme, based on players' last names. The All Food Team is a common example, featuring Jim Rice, Darryl Strawberry, Bob Lemon and newcomer Coco Crisp, among others. There's also the All Animal Team, which you can add to the Food Team if you're not a vegetarian: Tim Salmon, Mike Lamb, Steve Trout, Rob Deer.
I have my own theme team, which I call The Girls Team. The team so far:
Babe Ruth, Captain
Pete Rose, Manager
Ted Lilly
Alex Cora (brother Joey is on the Animal Team because I call him The Weasel)
Mark Loretta
Mark Grace
Andy Dominique
Nellie Fox (you're never too old for this team, just ask the Babe)
Minnie Minoso
Jim Tracy
Honourary team reporter: Shirley Povich.
I call them girls, mind you, not women, which lets me say things like, "Not bad, for a girl," when one of them hits a home run, or "What do you expect from a girl," when he strikes out. When I heard the Red Sox had acquired Mark Loretta, I said, "Just what we need, another girl on the team." See, it's a joke.
13 comments:
Ha, friends of mine did this with football. For a Grey Cup party they wanted to serve ham (in honour of Tracy Ham), Pringles (in honour of Mike Pringle), etc.
Manager: Connie Mack. (Why did we never think of him before?)
Also, one of the greatest Negro Leaguers -- third baseman Judy Johnson.
Connie Mack - of course!!!
(Why did we never think of him before?)
Considering it's only my mother's name...!
Yes, Judy Johnson. More family names.
I'm in Baltimore for a nursing conference. I threw in an extra cheer for the Sox for ya, at the Orioles-Sox game last night. Clement had a great evening. I wish I could say the same for the relief.
Matt
Hey, thanks! How great you were at the game.
That first inning was hilarious. Relief pitching, not so much.
I've got two current Major Leaguers to add to your girls team:
Shelley Duncan, NYY
Kelly Johnson, ATL
Thanks, ish!
Whenever I hear the name Shelly Duncan, I always think he should be advertising Wheat Thins. Then I remember that's Sandy Duncan. :)
And Kellys are always welcome on the team.
Thanks for stopping by!
From the 1918 Cubs: Leslie Mann. Deadball Era catcher Les Nunamaker (Red Sox 1911-14) is another Leslie.
There were two players known as Dolly Gray and one as Dolly Stark. (Not their birth names, however.)
Bob Allison was a long-time outfielder for the Senators/Twins. Rookie of the Year 1959.
Misruling on Kelly. No Kelly, Kerry, Chris, Pat... no names that are frequently female and male.
Bob Allison - great, thanks!
Ummm, what about Fred LYNN?? How could you have forgotten him?
No worries, Amy, he's long been on the team. I just forgot to type him in. Good call.
OK, I feel much better. He was after all the team's favorite rookie my first year as a Sox fan back in 75.
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