A: Hank Aaron. It's so fitting that the Hammer is first on my list of favorite players. Hank was my childhood hero (as the several blogs I've written about him can attest). Now, as an adult, and realizing what a decent, humble and devout man he was, I admire him even more.
B: Ernie Banks. Who doesn't love Mr. Cub. Anyone who played his whole career for the hapless Cubbies and still be known for the motto, "Let's play two!" is a great ambassador for the game. I saw him once of celebrity Wheel of Fortune, and there may have never been a worse player. Who guesses "W" as your very first letter of a new word. It only made me more of a fan.
C: Bernie Carbo. This ws a no brainer, as I actually knew Bernie in the late 1990's. We met at a summer camp where we were both hired to be speakers. That fall, he and his wife, Tammy, spent a week with us at our home in Maine, and we had several speaking / performing engagements together. Distance and time has caused us to lose touch, but I know for a fact what a great guy Bernie Carbo is.
D: Dave Dravecky. Some things are bigger than sports. Dave Dravecky's story is one of those things. Diagnosed with cancer at the peak of his career, he was treated and pronounced well enough to get back on the field. In his first game back, his arm, weakened from the cancer, broke while pitching. This moment is one of the most heart wrenching in all of sports history. Yet, a devout Christian, Dravecky handled it all with such grace and hope.
E: Darrell Evans. Being a life long Atlanta fan, players from the Braves will be common on this list. As a kid, I met Darrell Evans as he arrived by taxi at Montreal's Jarry Park prior to a game. He pleasantly agreed to sign an autograph,, which I still have. He was also th efirst player to have 40 home run seasons in both leagues.
F: Dan Frisella. A hot / cold relief pitcher, Frisella was another Brave who signed an autograph for me as he got out of his taxi at Jarry Park. He died way to young in a dune buggy accident in 1977.
G: Ralph Garr. Ralph Garr has always been my second favorite player of all times, behind Henry Aaron himself. I loved his speed on the basepaths, and his consistent .300 + batting average. I saw him being interviewed during a broadcast that was honoring Hank Aaron, and Ralph was hysterical.
H: Tom House. Another 1970's era Brave who signed my scrapbook. He has gone down in history as the man who caught Hank Aaron's record breaking 715th home run. I'll never forget watching that game in 1974!
I: Rasiel Iglesias: I was stuck in this letter for a while, not being able to think of anyone whose last name started with "I". Then it occured to me that the Braves' (did I mention that I'm a Braves fan since 1970?) current closer is Rasiel Iglesias. Although he had a bit of a slump last spring, he ended the year as one of the premier closers in the league...again.
J: Chipper Jones: How can it be anyone else for an Atlanta Braves fan. I remember the hype when he was their first round pick in the 1990 amateur draft. I remember the agony of how he blew out his knee during spring training the year he was supposed to be a rookie. I remember the comeback, the World Series victory in 1995, and the years of greatness that was his Hall of Fame career.
K: Willie Keeler: So here I deviate away from the Braves for a moment. At five feet four and a half inches, Wee Willie was one of the smallest to ever ply in the bigs. Yet he amassed Hall of Fame numbers including a .341 batting average by "hitting them where they ain't". He also stole 495 bases in his career, and in 1898 he hit 206 singles, a record that stood for over a century.
L: Mark Lemke: The Lemmer was the second baseman for the Braves during much of their 1990's glory days. Bobby Cox said his hands were as quick as Bobby Richardson's, and who can forget his "Little Big Man" heroics when he hit .417 in the 1991 World Series.
M: Willie Mays / Greg Maddox (tie): Being a Braves fan, how can I not include Greg Maddox, arguably the greatest pitcher to ever play the game, in my list of favorites. His control was masterful. His game intelligence unparralleled, and his fielding gave the team an extra infielder - as proven by his record eighteen gold gloves,
Then again, as a kid, I remember the last few years of the Say Hey Kid's career, and what a fun player he was to watch and read about. I even wrote an opinion paper in eighth grade sopporting the position that Willie Mays was the greatest baseball player ever. (I got a B. The teacher was a Red Sox fan!)
N: Phil Niekro. As a Braves fan in the 1970's, there were not a lot of highlights with the obvious exception of Hank Aaron's record breaking home run. Niekro was one of those exceptions. His knuckleball was the thing of legends. And his no hitter in 1973 was one of my favorite childhood memories.
O: Rowland Office: Yes, he is also a Brave, and he makes my list because he hit the only Braves home run I ever witnessed in person. It was 1974, in Montreal's Jarry Park, and this rookie center fielder put one over the right center field fence.
P: Marty Perez: I may have mmentioned that I gathered a few Braves' autographs in Montreal when I was a kid. Marty Perez, Atlanta's shortstop at the time, was another one who signed my scrapbook for me. When asked where his baseball card was in my book, I told him I hadn't come across one yet in any of the packs I'd bought. He told me, "That's okay, it's not a good picture of me." At the time, I thought this was the funniest thing ever.
Q: Dan Quinsenberry. There's not a lot of ex-ballplayers whose name starts with Q, but Quinsenberry was my clear choice of the few that there are. He was an all star relief pitcher, with a side arm delivery that had his knuckles practically scrape the ground with each pitch made him an obvious choice for my "Q" entry. And with a name that sounds like a kids' breakfast cereal, who else could I possibly chosen.
R: Babe Ruth / Jackie Robinson (tie). Two names that need no introduction; two choices that need no justification; Two players who changed the major leagues forever. There's no way I could have chosen just one.
S: Manny Sanguillen. By now you would assume my "S" choice would be Braves' hall of famer John Smoltz. Why would I choose the Pirates catcher over the Braves superstar? I remember as a kid reading the back of Manny Sanguillen's baseball card that he did not even start to play baseball until the age of 19. As an eleven year old, the obvious conclusion was, since I had started playing at around nine years old, I had a head start on the Pirates all star, so I was a shoo-in for the big leagues. Ah, childhood logic.
T: Frank Tepidino. Tepidono came up as a Yankee, but had a few seasons as the Braves primary pinch hitting choice. I read on the back of his card that two of his uncles had played semi-pro ball. Then, when I mentioned his name, my dad noted that he had served in the army with a Frank Tepidino who was a very good ball player. We connected the dots, and figured that the major league Frank was probably the nephew of my father's war time buddy. We met Tepidino in Montreal, and our conclusion was right. He had a very nice chat with my dad about the older Frank Tepidino. PS: google "Frank Tepidino" and you will see that he was a heroic first responder on 9/11.
U: Cecil Upshaw. Going back a little before my Braves fandom, Atlanta won the National League Western division in 1969. Cecil Upshaw was their top choice out of the bullpen that season.
V: Zoilo Versalles. How can you not cheer for a guy whose nickname is Zorro. His was the epitome of a career define by one season. In 1965, he was the American League MVP, hitting .273 (compared to a career .243) ,19 of his career 95 home runs. and stealling 27 of his career 97 bases.
W: Billy Williams: I found out many years after they retired that Billy Williams - Cubs hall of fame outfielder - was a childhood friend of Hank Aaron. I heard an interview with him as he spoke of growing up in Mobile with Hank and Tommie Aaron, Willie McCovey and a younger Amos Otis.
X: Leovigildo Xiqués: This is the only X last name I could find, and he was a Cuban born Negro League outfielder for three years in the 1940s.
Y: Cy Young 511 career wins. 749 complete games, and an award named after him. What's not to love.
Z: Heinie Zimmerman: The third best player nicknamed Heinie, after Heinie's Manush and Groh.