Monday, December 23, 2019

Singer or Soccer Star?

I guess it all started with Cher and Pele. For some reason, singers and soccer stars are famous for going by their first names.

Now, I'm a lot more familiar with the latter rather than the former. In fact, I'd be surprised if there's anyone out there who know these two groups equally well. It's kind of like a Venn diagram where the two circles never quite touch.

So, let's see how you do. Cast your votes, then scroll down to see how you did (and to learn a little more about who these folks actually are).



1.  Aaliyah


2.  Alisson


3. Ashanti


4.  Cafu


5.  Dalida


6.  Dida



7.  Dido



8.  Dio


9.  Ederson



10.  Edurne



11.  Enya



12.  Imany



13.  Joselu



14.  Juanes



15.  Kaka



16.  Kenedy


17.  Kesha


18.  Lorde


19.  Maxwell


20.  Neymar


21.  Rivaldo



22.  Shakira



23.  Shaqiri



24.  Sia



25.  Tarkan



26.  Tinashe



27.  Willian



28.  Xavi



29.  Xhaka



30.  Zico




Answers


1.  Aaliyah


Real name:  Aaliyah Hauton
Country:  USA
Age:  Died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22
Notes:  Illegal marriage with R. Kelly at age 15



2.  Alisson


Real name:  Alisson Becker
Country:  Brazil
Age:  27
Notes:  Goalie for Liverpool, Brazil



3. Ashanti


Real name:  Ashanti Douglas
Country:  USA
Age:  39
Notes:  In 10-year relationship with rapper Nelly



4.  Cafu


Real name:  Marcos Evangelista de Morais
Country:  Brazil
Age:  49
Notes:  Most caps ever for Brazil



5.  Dalida


Real name:  Iolanda Gigliotti
Country:  France
Age:  Suicide at age 54 in 1987
Notes:  Born in Egypt of Italian parents



6.  Dida


Real name:  Nélson de Jesus Silva
Country:  Brazil
Age:  46
Notes:  Goalie for Milan, Brazil



7.  Dido


Real name:  Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong
Country:  UK / Ireland
Age:  47
Notes:  Arsenal fan



8.  Dio


Real name:  Ronnie James Dio
Country:  UK
Age:  Died at age 67 in 2010 of stomach cancer
Notes:  Lead singer for Black Sabbath



9.  Ederson


Real name:  Ederson Santana de Moraes
Country:  Brazil
Age:  26
Notes:  Goalie for Manchester City, Brazil



10.  Edurne


Real name:  Edurne García Almagro
Country:  Spain
Age:  34
Notes:  Began career at age 7 acting in soap operas


11.  Enya


Real name:  Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin
Country:  Ireland
Age:  58
Notes:  Name Anglicized to Enya Brennan




12.  Imany


Real name:  Nadia Mladjao
Country:  France
Age:  40
Notes:  Family was from Comorros



13.  Joselu


Real name:  José Luis Mato Sanmartín  
Country:  Spain
Age:  29
Notes:  Actually born in Germany


14.  Juanes


Real name:  Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez
Country:  Colombia
Age:  47
Notes:  Lives in Flroda


15.  Kaka


Real name:  Ricardo dos Santos Leite
Country:  Brazil
Age:  37
Notes:  Midfielder, Ballon d'Or winner


16.  Kenedy


Real name:  Robert Kenedy 
Country:  Brazil
Age:  23
Notes:  In Chelsea organization



17.  Kesha


Real name:  Kesha Sebert
Country:  USA
Age:  32
Notes:  AKA Ke$ha



18.  Lorde


Real name:  Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor
Country:  NZ / Croatia
Age:  23
Notes:  Name comes from her "fascination with royals and aristocracy"


19.  Maxwell


Real name:  Gerald Maxwell Rivera
Country:  USA
Age:  46
Notes:  Son of a Haitian mother and Puerto Rican father



Real name:  Maxwell Scherrer Cabelino Andrade
Country:  Brazil
Age:  38
Notes:  defender, primarily with PSG


20.  Neymar


Real name:  Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior
Country:  Brazil
Age: 27
Notes:  3rd highest scorer for Brazil



21.  Rivaldo


Real name:  Rivaldo Barbosa Ferreira  
Country:  Brazil
Age:  47
Notes:  Ballon d'Or winner


22.  Shakira


Real name:  Shakira Mebarak Ripoll
Country:  Colombia
Age:  42
Notes:  Partner of Gerard Pique, Barcelona & Spain star


23.  Shaqiri


Real name:  Xherdan Shaqiri
Country:  Switzerland
Age:  28
Notes:  Born in Yugoslavia of Albanian parents



24.  Sia


Real name:  Sia Furler
Country:  Australia
Age:  44
Notes:  Since 2014, has covered most of her face at concerts and on TV


25.  Tarkan


Real name:  Tarkan Tevetoğlu
Country:  Turkey
Age:  47
Notes:  Born in Germany



26.  Tinashe


Real name:  Tinashe Jorgensen Kachingwe
Country:  USA
Age:  26
Notes:  Father is from Zimbabwe



27.  Willian


Real name:  Willian Borges da Silva
Country:  Brazil
Age:  31
Notes:  Winger for Chelsea, Brazil



28.  Xavi


Real name:  Xavier Hernández Creus
Country:  Spain  
Age:  39
Notes:  Has won 31 trophies for Barcelona & Spain


29.  Xhaka


Real name:  Granit Zhaka
Country:  Switzerland
Age:  27
Notes:  Has Albanian parents



30.  Zico


Real name:  Arthur Antunes Coimbra
Country:  Brazil
Age:  66
Notes:  Star for Brazil, coach since 1999



Real name:  Woo Ji-Ho
Country:  S Korea
Age:  27
Notes:  Leader of the boy band Block G

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Worst Baseball Career Ever - Pitchers

Last week, we looked at the worst baseball careers ever, for batters. We defined that as coming up to only once, then whiffing.

So, how can we define something similar for pitchers? How about you get one shot in the bigs, and never record an out? Makes sense to me.

Notes:
  • I eliminated any position players who were in just to mop up.  These had to be real honest-to-goodness hurlers
  • I limited it to the modern era (1903 and after).
  • I’m listing them from least disastrous to most disastrous (and using earned runs as way to do that)

BTW, no Walter Alstons in this group


Lou Bauer
Year:  1918
Team:  Philadelphia A’s
Earned runs:  1
Game notes:  Walked the 2 batters he faced
Player tidbits:  Only 1 season of minor league ball for his whole career


Gordie Sundin
Year:  1956
Team:  Baltimore Orioles
Earned runs:  1
Game notes:  18 years old
Player tidbits:  All state in high school for baseball, football & basketball



Bill Moore
Year:  1925
Team:  Detroit
Earned runs:  2
Game notes:  3 straight walks
Player tidbits:  Played one year in Williamsport PA (home of Little League)



Marty Walker
Year:  1928
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies
Earned runs:  2
Game notes:  Starter on the last day of the season; got the loss
Player tidbits:  Full name was Martin Van Buren Walker



Joe Brown
Year:  1927
Team:  Chicago White Sox
Earned runs:  3
Game notes:  Starter
Player tidbits:  With such a common name, it’s surprising to know that there’s only one other Joe Brown among the almost 20,000 players who have donned an MLB uniform



William Ford
Year:  1936
Team:  Boston Braves
Earned runs:  3
Game notes:  Starter
Player tidbits:  Gave up pitching & played OF for 4 years in the minors  



Mike Palagyi
Year:  1939
Team:  Washington Senators
Earned runs:  3
Game notes:  Faced 3 Hall of Famers: Joe Cronin, Jimmie Foxx, and Ted Williams
Player tidbits:  Lived to be 96



Jim Schelle
Year:  1939
Team:  Philadelphia A’s
Earned runs:  3
Game notes:  A's would end up losing 16-3
Player tidbits:  Never got above C league otherwise



Fred Bruckbauer
Year:  1961
Team:  Minnesota Twins
Earned runs:  3
Game notes:  Twins would end up losing 20-2
Player tidbits:  Slated to be a starter for the Twins that year, but blew his arms out in spring training



Doc Hamann
Year:  1926
Team:  Cleveland Indians
Earned runs:  6
Game notes:  No other professional baseball before (or after) his MLB debut
Player tidbits:  He and Bruckbauer were both from New Ulm, MN


Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Worst Baseball Career Ever – Batters

So, what could possibly constitute a “worst baseball career ever” – in this case, if you’re a batter?  How about if you got up only once, and then struck out?  Yup, that’s it.  Just one shot at glory, and you blew it big time.

Notes:
  • I eliminated any pitchers.  Hey, they can’t bat anyway, right?
  • I also eliminated anyone who was listed without any position.  Just wanted to make sure they weren’t pitchers.
  • I limited it to the modern era (1903 and after).
  • I’m listing them from oldest to most recent.  

BTW, the famous Moonlight Graham actually got his bat on the ball.  He at least avoided a big K.

There is one famous major leaguer here though.  In fact, he’s in the Hall of Fame!  Can you guess who he is?  Read on …


Claude Gouzzie
Year:  1903
Team:  St. Louis Browns
Position:  2B
Interesting Tidbit:  Born in France



Willy Fetzer
Year:  1906
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies
Position: OF
Interesting Tidbit:  Head baseball coach at Davidson, NC State & UNC



Hunky Shaw
Year:  1908
Team:  Pittsburgh Pirates
Position:  3B
Interesting Tidbit:  Actually had his own (T206) baseball card



Larry McClure
Year:  1910
Team:  New York Giants
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  Attended Choate & Amherst



Ed Conwell
Year:  1911
Team:  St Louis Cardinals
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  Nickname was “Irish”



John Vann
Year:  1913
Team:  St Louis Cardinals
Position:  C
Interesting Tidbit:  Played in minors for 17 years



George Tomer
Year:  1913
Team:  St Louis Browns
Position:  3B
Interesting Tidbit:  Once managed the Kalamazoo Celery Pickers



Delos Brown
Year:  1914
Team:  Chicago White Sox
Position:  SS
Interesting Tidbit:  Only played 2 years of professional baseball



Al Cypert
Year:  1914
Team:  Cleveland Indians
Position: 3B
Interesting Tidbit:  Had a law degree from Harvard



Frank Fletcher
Year:  1913
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies
Position:  3B
Interesting Tidbit:  AKA Fletcher Franks



Buck Sweeney
Year:  1914
Team:  Philadelphia A’s
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  Born Charles Francis


Harry Daubert
Year:  1915
Team:  Pittsburgh Pirates
Position:  SS
Interesting Tidbit:  Once played for the Lima (OH) Cigarmakers


Newt Halladay
Year:  1916
Team:  Pittsburgh Pirates
Position:  SS
Interesting Tidbit:  Died of TB at age 21



Ed Murray
Year:  1917
Team:  St Louis Browns
Position:  SS
Interesting Tidbit:  Namesake Eddie Murray is in the Hall of Fame



John Cavanaugh
Year:  1919
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies
Position:  3B
Interesting Tidbit:  1st player born in 1900s to play in MLB


Augie Swentor
Year:  1922
Team:  Chicago White Sox
Position:  3B
Interesting Tidbit:  Only played 3 seasons in professional baseball



Uke Clanton
Year:  1922
Team:  Cleveland Indians
Position:  1B
Interesting Tidbit:  Also made an error in that one game



Joe Price
Year:  1928
Team:  New York Giants
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  Nickname was “Lumber”


Dutch Fehring
Year:  1934
Team:  Chicago White Sox
Position:  C
Interesting Tidbit:  Head baseball coach at Purdue & Stanford


Walt Alston
Year:  1936
Team:  St Louis Cardinal
Position:  1B
Interesting Tidbit:  In the Hall of Fame as a manager for the Dodgers



Bill Sodd
Year:  1937
Team:  Cleveland Indians
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  107 home runs in 7 minor league seasons



Carl McNabb
Year:  1945
Team:  Detroit Tigers
Position:  2B
Interesting Tidbit:  Nickname was “Skinny”



Doc Daugherty
Year:  1951
Team:  Detroit Tigers
Position:  SS
Interesting Tidbit:  1945 West Virginia Amateur Athlete of the Year



Dick Teed
Year:  1953
Team:  Brooklyn Dodgers
Position:  C
Interesting Tidbit:  17 seasons in the minors



Moose Morton
Year:  1954
Team:  Boston Red Sox
Position:  C
Interesting Tidbit:  Father Guy played in MLB for 11 years



Rod Miller
Year:  1957
Team:  Brooklyn Dodgers
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  At bat came at age 17



Leroy Ream
Year:  1969
Team:  Philadelphia Phillies
Position:  OF
Interesting Tidbit:  High school teammate of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan



John Bormann
Year:  2017
Team:  Pittsburgh Pirates
Position:  C
Interesting Tidbit:  Called up from A ball