More research.
Yesterday, I experienced one of those moments of synchronicity that are probably all too common for baseball card collectors. I know they are for me.
While shuffling through some cards while the game played on TV in the background, I came across this night card of former Diamondback/current Met Chris Young just as the name "Chris Young" was uttered by the TV broadcaster.
But the TV game wasn't the Mets, it was the Mariners and Tigers. And the Chris Young mentioned wasn't the hitter, but the veteran pitcher, who started for Seattle.
That caused me to wonder how many card groupings I have of two different players with the same name. Not including father and son, of course (sorry, Sandy Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr.)
I immediately went to my incomplete card database to find out:
1. Mike Adams (Twins outfielder from '70s and recent Phillies reliever)
2. Frank Baker (Indians outfielder in '70s and Yankees/Orioles infielder of '70s)
3. Jose Bautista (Orioles pitcher of late '80s and current Blue Jays slugger)
4. Ryan Braun (current Brewers hitter and Royals reliever of few years ago)
5. Kevin Brown (ex-Dodgers/Rangers/Orioles/Marlins/Padres/Yankees pitcher; Mets/Brewers reliever of early '90s; and Rangers/Blue Jays/Brewers catcher from late '90s/early '00s)
6. Mike Brown (Angels/Pirates outfielder of mid-'80s and Red Sox/Mariners pitcher of mid-80s)
7. Bill Butler (current Royals first baseman/DH and Royals/Twins pitcher of early '70s)
8. Dave Campbell (Padres infielder of early '70s and Braves reliever of late '70s)
9. Chris Carter (current Astros slugger and Red Sox outfielder from 2008-09)
10. Tim Corcoran (Tigers/Phillies outfielder/first baseman and Rays reliever from late '00s)
11. John Doherty (Tigers pitcher of mid-90s and Angels first baseman of mid-70s)
12. Adam Eaton (current White Sox/Diamondbacks outfielder and Padres/Rangers/Phillies pitcher of '00s)
13. Chris George (early '00s Royals pitcher and 1991 Brewers pitcher)
14. Bob Gibson (Cardinals Hall of Fame pitcher of '60s and mid-80s Brewers reliever)
15. Brian Giles (Indians/Pirates/Padres outfielder of '90s/'00s and Mets infielder of early '80s)
16. Alex Gonzalez (Marlins/Reds/Braves shortstop who played with Tigers earlier this season and Blue Jays shortstop of '90s/early '00s)
17. Luis Gonzalez (Astros/Diamondbacks/Dodgers hitter of '90s/'00s and Rockies role player from 2004-06)
18. Tom Gorman (Kansas City A's pitcher of 1950s and mid-1980s Mets reliever)
19. Greg Harris (Padres/Rangers/Red Sox pitcher of '80s/'90s and Padres/Rockies pitcher of late '80s/'90s)
20. Ramon Hernandez (Pirates pitcher of '70s and A's/Padres/Orioles/Reds catcher of 2000s)
21. Jose Herrera (Astros/Expos outfielder of late '60s and mid-1990s A's outfielder)
22. Jim Hughes (Boys of Summer Dodgers reliever and mid-1970s Twins starter)
23. Brian Hunter (Braves/Reds/bunch of other teams first baseman of '90s and Astros/Tigers/bunch of other teams outfielder of '90s)
24. Ron Jackson (White Sox first baseman of '50s and Twins/Angels corner infielder of late '70s/early '80s)
25. Bob Johnson (Rangers catcher of early '80s; Pirates pitcher of '70s; and Orioles infielder of '60s)
26. Dave Johnson (Orioles/Braves infielder of '60s/early '70s; Twins pitcher of mid-1970; and Orioles reliever of early '90s)
27. Randy Johnson (Mariners/Astros/Yankees strikeout ace of '90s/'00s, Twins DH of early '80s and Braves infielder of early '80s)
28. Jeff Jones (A's reliever of '80s and 1983 Reds hitter)
29. Tim Jones (late '80s/early '90s Cardinals infielder and 1977 Pirates pitcher)
30. Pat Kelly (White Sox/Orioles hitter of '70s; Yankees infielder of '90s; and Blue Jays catcher from 1980)
31. Steve Kline (Yankees pitcher of '70s and Expos/Cardinals/Giants reliever of '90s/'00s)
32. Mark Lee (Padres pitcher of late '80s and Brewers pitcher of early '90s)
33. Scott Lewis (Angels pitcher of early '90s and 2008-09 Indians pitcher)
34. Luis Lopez (Mets/Brewers infielder of '90s and early '90s Indians/Dodgers pinch-hitter)
35. Mike Marshall (Dodgers/Expos/Tigers/Braves reliever of '70s and Dodgers/Red Sox first baseman of '80s/early '90s)
36. Carlos Martinez (current Cardinals reliever and White Sox corner infielder of early '90s)
37. Jose Martinez (1969-70 Pirates infielder and 1994 Padres pitcher)
38. Pedro Martinez ('90s/'00s Red Sox/Expos/Dodgers pitching great and mid-90s Padres/Astros reliever)
39. Ramon Martinez (1990s Dodgers starter and Giants/Cubs utility infielder from '00s)
40. Brad Mills (early '80s Expos utility player and recent Blue Jays/A's pitcher)
41. Bobby Mitchell (mid-70s Brewers DH and early '80s Twins center fielder)
42. Jose Morales (Expos, Twins, Dodgers pinch-hitter of '70s/early '80s and late '00s Twins catcher)
43. Joe Morgan (Reds/Astros Hall of Fame second baseman and late '80s Red Sox manager -- also played for Braves, Indians, A's in early '60s)
44. John Morris (late '80s Cardinals outfielder and early '70s Brewers/Giants pitcher)
45. John O'Donoghue (1960s A's/Indians pitcher and 1993 Orioles reliever)
46. Steve Ontiveros (1970s Giants/Cubs third baseman and 1980s/90s A's pitcher)
47. Dave Roberts (1970s/80s Padres/Tigers/Astros/Pirates pitcher; 1970s Padres/Rangers infielder; and '00s Dodgers/Red Sox/Padres outfielder)
48. Jeff Robinson (late '80s Pirates reliever and late '80s/early '90s Tigers starter)
49. Henry Rodriguez (1990s Dodgers/Expos/Cubs outfielder, 2012-13 Reds infielder, and recent A's/Nationals reliever)
50. Greg Smith (Cubs infielder of late '80s and 2008 A's pitcher)
51. Mike Stanton (Mariners reliever of '80s and Braves/Yankees/Mets/host of other teams reliever of '90s/'00s
52. Frank Thomas (White Sox Hall of Famer and Pirates slugger from '50s)
53. Rich Thompson (Indians/Expos reliever of late '80s and 2012 Rays outfielder)
54. Bernie Williams (Yankees center fielder of '90s/'00s and early '70s Giants outfielder)
55. Reggie Williams (Dodgers outfielder of late '80s and Angels outfielder of late '90s)
56. Chris Young (A's/Diamondbacks/Mets outfielder and Padres/Rangers/Mets/Mariners starting pitcher)
Well, that was a few more than I thought. But most of them I knew already.
If you see any obvious omissions it's either because I don't have a card of one or the other players in the combo or because I've only completed the cards through last names with Ms in my database (for example, I added the 1950s Frank Thomas to this list even though I haven't listed him in the database yet).
Also, I didn't include players with same-sounding names but different spellings, such as Chris and Cris Carpenter.
And if this post looks familiar, I did something similar a couple years ago.
I'll try to come back to this list and complete it as I continue to go through my database, but no promises because you know how that goes.
OK, I think that's all the research posts for now, because good gosh this post took like two days to do.
Next up something easy.
Like a trade post.
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Night card binder candidate: Chris Young, 2010 Topps Update, #US-124
Does it make the binder?: Yep.
Comments
One of those useless memories clogging my brain was listening to Howie Rose during a rain delay (I think) of a Mets game. This was at the time the Indians' Brian Giles was coming up through the farm system. For we card collectors of the time, he was already a pretty hot prospect. Howie saw the name in a story or box score and went ballistic because he assumed it was the former Met. I remember him yelling, "Give it up already! What are you, 34, 35? Just give it up!" The Mets' Brian Giles had been out of pro ball for 4 years at the time. I always wondered how Howie couldn't know that. Turns out we were both wrong. He thought the prospect was the former Met and I didn't realize the former Met was still playing in Mexico.
Brian Anderson the Indians pitcher and the Chisox OF
Rick Anderson the mets pitcher and the Rick Anderson on the Mariners Rookies card in 81 Topps
Juan Castillo, mid-80s Brewer IF and a Met pitcher briefly in the mid-90s
Doug Davis, the longtime pitcher and a catcher on the Rangers very briefly in the 90s
Not a major leaguer, but you might have cards of a Glenn Davis dodger pitcher, in 1998 Topps or 1999 SP. Of course there was also the Astros slugger
Mark Davis the worst Cy Young winner ever, and Mark Davis, brother of former Dodger Mike who had a brief MLB career and is now an attorney
There was a Jose Fernandez who played briefly for the Expos, and of course the current Marlin pitcher. I interviewed a 3rd Jose Hernandez for my blog but he did not make MLB
There was a Mike Fitzgerald who played briefly for the Cardinals, around the same time the other guy was catching for the Expos
Freddy Garcia Pirates 3B, Yankees P
In the late 00's there were two Edgar Gonzalezes, I even had them combined as one guy in my spreadsheet for a while
Carlos Hernandez Astros P, Dodgers C
Jim Hunter Brewers P in the early 90s, Yankees HOF P Catfish
Chris Johnson, early 90s Brewer, recent Astro
Erik Johnson early 90s SF C, current White Sox
Three Mark Johnsons in the mid-90s
Two Bobby Jones who both pitched for the Mets (I think possibly even teammates at one point)
Tim Jones on a famous 1978 Topps card with Jack Morris, and early 90s Cardinals IF
Dan Meyer - 80s Mariners OF and 00s A's P
Two Keith Millers who were IFs in the 80s, one Met, one Phillie
John Patterson, Giants OF and Nats P
Tony Pena 80s Cardinal C and late 00s DBack (not TP Jr)
Jason Phillips, C with Mets, Pirates P circa 2000
Erasmo Ramirez - I interviewed the lefty, there is a righty more recently, both pitched in MLB w/in last ten years (don't have a card of the lefty personally)
Mike Ramsey, 88 Dodgers backup and longtime Cardinals backup
Alex Sanchez Blue Jays rookie pitcher junk wax favorite, Rays outfielder
Dave Schmidt outfielder in 1982 Topps Red Sox Rookies, also long time 80s P
Two Billy Smiths in 1982 Topps
Two pitchers named Mike Smith in 1990 Topps, another pitcher named Mike Smith in the early 00s
Two pitchers named Steve Sparks in the late 90s early 00s
Three Mike Stantons if you count Giancarlo
Dave Stapleton, Boston 1B and Milwaukee P
Jason Thompson, late 70s Pirate and mid-90s Padre
Three Craig Wilsons in the 1990s
Two Jim Wrights in 1979 Topps (later they used the wrong one's auto in 1982 Topps)