Jun 18 2019 07:20 AM
Shawn Whalen had a dream. The British Columbian outfielder wanted to be a major league ballplayer. And he worked at it enough that he became 15th-round draftee of the San Diego Padres. But after four years of grinding it out in the bush leagues, that dream came to an end.
Or rather, it transferred. Shawn had three sons, and he raised them with the same desire, and now they all toil in the minor leagues. Fiercely competitive and loyally supportive, the dream lives on in cross-continental calls and texts among Shawn and his three boys: Caleb, Brady, and … Seaver.
Yes, such was Shawn's baseball jones that one of his boys was named for the greatest pitcher ever to market a bottle a wine. Perhaps he was signaling to the Mets to draft his son, and continue the Metly association with that name. The Mets didn't bite, but the Tampa Bay Rays did, taking young Seav in the 32nd round in 2017.
And in honor of The Mini-Franchise, currently toiling with The Bowling Green Hot Rods, we bring you this quiz. NAME THE METS WHOSE FIRST NAME IS THE LAT NAME OF A BASEBALL HALL OF FAMER.
Caveats? Oh, there's always caveats!
1) Please answer in the form of a compound name. If you had a Hall-of-Famer named “Caleb Wilson,” then a correct guess would read “Caleb Wilson Ramos.”
2) He doesn't have to actually be named after a Hall-of-Famer. If his name is, perhaps, “Gummy Bumpkins,” it doesn't matter if he played a generation before, say, theoretical Hall-of-Famer “Elmer Gummy.” He qualifies.
3) But watch those diminutives and nicknames! The name on a guy's birth certificate is the name that matters. If he is known in baseball circles as “Steve Pumpkin,” but his actual name is “Stephenson Lewis Pumpkin,” and there is a Hall-of Famer named “Hopalong Stephenson,” Mr. Pumpkin qualifies! So participants should mentally look back on yearbooks of years past and recall their favorite Mets' legal names.
As much as I'd like to link Hugh Duffy to Duffy Dyer, for the purposes of this exercise, Duffy's name is “Don Robert Dyer.”
4) No translations. If there is a Hall of Famer named Xavier William, and your guy's name is “Guillermo Sadecki,” he doesn't qualify!! Even if he played under the name of “Willie Sadecki.” Stop kidding yourself, Guillermo!
5) Closed book! Do you wonder to yourself if Danny Boitano is actually named “Dandridge,” but can't recall for certain? Don't look it up! The only way to find out is to sack up and guess!
6) Want extra points? Sure, who doesn't? One way to achieve bigger score is to name Mets whose first name invokes [I]more than one Hall-of-Famer[/I]. Have the Mets had a player named “Waner Matsui”? If they did, you can score your standard three points for guessing “Paul Waner Matsui,” but you get bonus points if you guess “Paul [I]Lloyd[/I] Waner Matsui.” As some players appear more than once because of multiple Hall of Famers with the same last name, you'd be answering
Other bonus points are out there too, if you dare play! There's even an anti-bonus demerit! The judges may have to use discretion.
7) This could get hard.. Many of these will be easy pickin' but there are Mets with obscure legal names, and Hall of Famers who are obscure as well, so there may have to be some hints if the kwiz drags on for days. The quizmasters regret if this gets tedious.
That probably covers it, though we reserve the right to clarify further. Three points for a correct guess. One point docked for an incorrect one. One guess per post. No consecu-posting. We found 60 guys, some appearing more than once. You get bonus $$ if you come up with somebody our crack team overlooked. Best of luck!
1) ______________________, 1963-1965
2) ______________________, 1964-1964
3) ______________________, 1964-1965
4) ______________________, 1965-1966
5) ______________________, 1967
6) ______________________, 1970
7) ______________________, 1974-1975
8) ______________________, 1975-1976
9) ______________________, 1977-1978
10) ______________________, 1977
11) ______________________, 1977
12) ______________________, 1978-1982
13) ______________________, 1978
14) ______________________, 1982-1985
15) ______________________, 1982
16) ______________________, 1984
17) ______________________, 1985-1989
18) ______________________, 1985
19) ______________________, 1987
20) ______________________, 1988-1992
21) ______________________, 1989-1990
22) ______________________, 1990-1991
23) ______________________, 1992-1995
24) ______________________, 1992
25) ______________________, 1995
26) ______________________, 1995
27) ______________________, 1998-2000, 2001
28) ______________________, 1999-2000
29) ______________________, 1999-2004
30) ______________________, 2000-2004
31) ______________________, 2000
32) ______________________, 2001
33) ______________________, 2001
34) ______________________, 2001
35) ______________________, 2003-2007
36) ______________________, 2003-2008
37) ______________________, 2004
38) ______________________, 2004
39) ______________________, 2004
40) ______________________, 2005-2007, 2009
41) ______________________, 2006
42) ______________________, 2007
43) ______________________, 2008-2009
44) ______________________, 2009
45) ______________________, 2009
46) ______________________, 2011
47) ______________________, 2013
48) ______________________, 2013
49) ______________________, 2014
50) ______________________, 2015-2016
51) ______________________, 2015-2016
52) ______________________, 2015
53) ______________________, 2019
54) ______________________, 2019
55) ______________________, 2019
56) ______________________, 2019
57) ______________________, 2019
58) ______________________, 2019
59) ______________________, 2019
60) ______________________, 2019
