Unusual Namesakes for Some US Airports

Ever wondered why the Atlanta airport is called Hartsfield? Or the Chicago one O’Hare? Or my own airport, in Charlotte, Douglas? Who were these people?

I mean, I get George Bush (Houston), Louis Armstrong (NOLA), even Harry Reid (Las Vegas), and Daniel Inouye (Honolulu). But those other dudes??? Curious minds want to know.

So, here they are. I’ve listed them in decreasing number of flights per year. Enjoy!

Atlanta (Hartsfield)

• Who:  William B. Hartsfield
• Why:  Longest-serving mayor of Atlanta
• When:  After he died in 1971
• Fun fact:  Was formerly Candler Field, after another mayor (and founder of Coca Cola); another mayor, Maynard Jackson, had his name appended to the official name in 2003

Hartsfield

Chicago (O’Hare)

• Who:  Edward “Butch” O’Hare
• Why:  Naval aviator during WWII, first naval aviator to win the Medal of Honor
• When:  1949
• Fun fact:  Father was killed by Al Capone after he testified against him

Butch and father

Charlotte (Douglas)

• Who:  Ben Douglas
• Why:  Mayor who oversaw the opening of the airport in 1936
• When:  1954
• Fun fact:  Originally named Morris Field, after a WWI aviator

Boston (Logan)

• Who:  Gen. Edward Lawrence Logan
• Why:  Local pol
• When:  1923
• Fun fact:  Built on landfill, subsuming three islands

St. Louis (Lambert)

1. Who:  Albert Bond Lambert
2. Why:  Local businessman (Listerine), Olympian (golf), and aviator; bought and developed airport, then sold it to the city
3. When:  1923
4. Fun fact:  His support is why Lindbergh’s plane was named the Spirit of St. Louis

Lambert left, Orville Wright right

Dallas (Love)

• Who:  Moss L. Love
• Why:  In 1913, crashed his Wright plane while training; eighth fatality in aviation history 
• When:  1917
• Fun fact:  Died in San Diego; has no connection to Texas that I could discern

Houston (Hobby)

• Who:  William P. Hobby
• Why:  Texas governor 
• When:  1967
• Fun fact:  Briefly named for Howard Hughes (then rescinded, because federal law denies funds to any installation named after a living individual)

Hobby

Cleveland (Hopkins)

• Who:  William R. Hopkins
• Why:  Mayor & aviation enthusiast; bought land for airport
• When:  1951
• Fun fact: Burke Airport, also in Cleveland, was named after another mayor, Thomas A. Burke

Hopkins

Hartford (Bradley)

• Who:  Eugene M. Bradley
• Why:  Crashed his plane there during training 
• When:  1941, same year airport opened (as an air base)
• Fun fact:  Actually in Windsor Locks, halfway between Hartford and Springfield, MA

Omaha (Eppley)

• Who:  Eugene C. Eppley
• Why:  Businessman, contributed funds to make the airport jet-ready
• When:  1960

• Fun fact:  On a former oxbow of the Mississippi, it is surrounded on three sides by Iowa

Providence (Green)

• Who:  T.F. Green
• Why:  Governor and senator
• When:  1938
• Fun fact:  Lived to age 98

Knoxville (McGhee Tyson) 

• Who:  Charles McGhee Tyson
• Why:  Local boy shot down at the very end of WWI
• When:  1930, at airport’s opening
• Fun fact:  His father, a general and senator, donated the land for the airport on the condition that it be named after his son

2025 MLB Draft – Funny Names

Well, another draft. And another set of funny names.

Do note, though, that MLB can’t hold a candle to the NFL and NBA. For MLB, it’s typically just some lame first name like Cade, or Cole, or Chase, or whatever. Surnames are often boring things like Brown, and Miller, and Williams, and stuff like that.

The draft does involve 600 picks however. So, quantity, if nothing else, should give us a shot here. So, let’s see what we got.

Here are the 25 oddest names from the 2025 MLB draft. I’m ranking them in increasing order of oddness. I’m also adding position, school, MLT team & a fun fact or two.

25.  Nolan Sailors

• Pos:  of
• School:  Creighton
• Team:  KC
• Draft pick:  128
• Note:  Was once a Norman CornBelter

24.  Core Jackson

• Pos:  ss
• School:  Utah
• Team:  NYY
• Draft pick:  164
• Note:  Canadian

Not to be confused with Jackson Core, runner with UNC-Asheville

23.  Murf Gray

• Pos:  3b
• School:  Fresno St  
• Team:  PGH
• Draft pick:  73
• Note:  Real name is Triston Allen

22.  Cam Cannarella

• Pos:  of
• School:  Clemson
• Team:  MIA
• Draft pick:  43
• Note:  I wonder how often he gets called Can Cammarella

21.  James Quinn-Irons

• Pos:  of
• School:  George Mason  
• Team:  TB
• Draft pick:  147  
• Note:  Comp sci major

20.  Pico Kohn

• Pos:  p
• School:  Mississippi State
• Team:  NYY
• Draft pick:  134
• Note:  Real name is William Stephen

19.  Tate Southisene

• Pos:  ss
• School:  HS
• Team:  ATL
• Draft pick:  22
• Note:  Grad of Basic High School (NV)

18.  Sean Episcope

• Pos:  p
• School:  Princeton
• Team:  MIL
• Draft pick:  156
• Note:  All depends on how many syllables you give it, I guess

17.  Brayden Corn

• Pos:  of
• School:  Western Carolina
• Team:  SEA
• Draft pick:  452
• Note:  Has been a Catamount, Owl & Flamingo

16.  Kyson Witherspoon

• Pos:  p
• School:  Oklahoma
• Team:  BOS
• Draft pick:  15
• Note:  Twin Kyle pitched for Oklahoma as well; drafted by DET

15.  Ike Irish

• Pos:  c
• School:  Auburn  
• Team:  BAL
• Draft pick:  19
• Note:  Alliteration for the win!

14.  Kruz Schoolcraft

• Pos:  p
• School:  HS (OR)
• Team:  SD
• Draft pick:  25
• Note:  6’8”

13.  Wehiwa Aloy

• Pos:  ss
• School:  Arkansas  
• Team:  BAL
• Draft pick:  31
• Note:  Hawaiian

12.  Slater de Brun

• Pos:  of
• School:  HS (OR)
• Team:  BAL
• Draft pick:  37
• Note:  Makes music under the name Lil Slayyy

11.  Kane Kepley

• Pos:  of
• School:  UNC
• Team:  CUB
• Draft pick:  56
• Note:  5’8”

10.  Bruin Agbayani

• Pos:  ss
• School:  HS (HI)
• Team:  MIN
• Draft pick:  179
• Note:  Full name is Bruin Kazuya Paliku Agbayani

9.  Gabel Pentecost

• Pos:  p
• School:  Taylor (Div III)
• Team:  HOU
• Draf pick:  186
• Note:  Homeschooled

8.  McLane Moody

• Pos:  p
• School:  HS (AR)
• Team:  PGH
• Draft pick:  443
• Note:  Played varsity in HS at 14

7.  Truitt Madonna

• Pos:  c
• School:  HS (WA)
• Team:  SD
• Draft pick:  340 
• Note:  No relation to the Material Girl

6.  Luke Lacourse

• Pos:  p
• School:  HS (MI)
• Team:  LAA
• Draft pick: 169 
• Note:  Love that 'lliteration

5.  Randy Ramnarace

• Pos:  p
• School:  Univ of New Haven (Div II)
• Team:  KC
• Draft pick:  488
• Note:  Honestly, can’t get enough of the stuff

4.  Grayson Grinsell

• Pos:  p
• School:  Oregon
• Team:  DET
• Draft pick:  189
• Note:  2-way player in college

3.  Joey Wimpelberg

• Pos:  p
• School:  Univ of Central Florida  
• Team:  DET
• Draft pick:  519
• Note:  Assuming his nickname is “Wimpy”

2.  Cannon Pickell

• Pos:  of
• School:  Western Carolina
• Team:  MIA
• Draft pick:  588
• Note:  Special callout to Cannon Peeples, catcher for Tennessee drafted by CLE

1.  Maximus Martin

• Pos:  ss
• School:  KSU
• Team:  BOS
• Draft pick:  298
• Note:  Not to be confused with Max Martin, pitcher with Cal-Irvine drafted by KC

Geographically-Inclined TV & Radio Call Signals

Huh? Whuh?

You know, when the call signal for a TV or radio station reflects the city it’s in. WNYC is one example. There’s probably something similar in your area as well.

For me, that might be WUML, the radio station for U-Mass Lowell. Or, further south, WCNC, for the TV station in Charlotte, NC.

Let’s see what else is out there. Below are the 50-or-so major markets in the US. Now, do they or don’t they?

 

Hits

• Boston – WBOS (Bloomberg radio)
• Hartford – WHCT (TV)
• New York – WNYC (public radio)
• Buffalo – WBUF (radio)
• Philadelphia – WPHI (news radio)
• Baltimore – WBAL (news/talk radio & TV)

• Washington DC – WASH (radio)
• Pittsburgh – WPIT (Christian radio) & WPGH (TV)
• Cleveland – WCLV (classical radio)
• Columbus – WCOL (country radio)
• Detroit – WDET (public radio)

• Milwaukee – WMIL (country radio)
• Raleigh – WRAL (radio & TV)
• Charlotte – WCNC (TV)
• Atlanta – WATL (TV)

Close but no cigar

• Jacksonville – WJAX (TV)
• Orlando – WORL (talk radio)
• Tampa – WTMP (sports radio)
• Miami – WMIA (Spanish radio)

• New Orleans – WNOL (TV)

 

• St Louis – KSTL (Christian radio)
• St Paul – KSTP (radio & TV)
• Oklahoma City – KOKC (talk radio)
• DFW – KDFW (TV)

• San Antonio – KSAT (TV)
• Phoenix – KPHX (sports radio) & KPHO (TV)
• Denver – KDEN (Spanish TV)
• SLC – KSL (news/talk radio & TV)

• Las Vegas – KVEG (radio)
• Portland – KPOR (Christian Spanish radio)
• Sacramento – KSAC (Spanish radio)
• LA – KLAC (sports radio), KLAX (Spanish radio)

Misses

• Indianapolis – WIND (Chicago talk radio)

• Nashville – WNSH (defunct NYC country radio)
• St Pete – WSTP (Salisbury NC country radio)
• Memphis – WMPH (Wilmington DE high school radio), WMEM (Presque Isle ME public radio)

• Minneapolis – KMIN (Grants NM country radio)
• Dallas – KDAL (Duluth MN radio)
• Austin – KAUS (Austin MN news/talk radio)

• Seattle – KSEA (Salinas CA Spanish radio)
• Oakland – KOAK (Red Oak IA country radio)
• San Francisco – KSFC (Spokane public radio)
• San Jose – KSJC (Silverton CO radio), KSJ (Mobile AL country radio)

• San Diego – KSDC (Centralia MO Christian radio), KSD (St Louis country radio)