"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" - - - - 9/13/14

As baseball season winds down and writer's block makes another appearance, I thought I'd play a baseball surname-association game using each letter of the alphabet. The subjects are the first baseball players who immediately came to my mind; yes--no rhyme, no reason, folks............


A- Aaron, as in Hall of Famer "Hammerin' Hank"--who clubbed a "then-record" 755 home runs LEGITIMATELY during a remarkable career. Yes, still the all-time RBI leader in MLB history--an impressive record that STILL gets under-publicized and is under-appreciated....
B- Bonds, as in Barry (or the person that WFAN's Steve Somers refers to as "Bar-roid")--a steroid bum who tainted THE most sacred record in baseball history ( HR's--see above). Then again, could it REALLY have been just flaxseed oil, Barry?....
C- Cloninger, (Tony), who was the only MLB pitcher in history to hit two grand slams in one game; won 24 games one year (1965), as well....
D- Davis; though there are many athletes with this surname, I immediately thought of Willie--who spent 14 years with the Dodgers and was a two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner. Kind of a "free spirit", too....
E- Etchebarren (Andy), the catcher who spent 12 years with the Orioles; his claim to fame was having one of the most unmistakable "mugs" on baseball cards back in the day (just Google a pic, folks, and you'll see what I mean)....
F- Fidrych (Mark), the pitcher nicknamed "The Bird" who set the baseball world on fire in 1976 with 19 wins; his grooming of the mound area and talking to the baseball will never be forgotten. He was supposed to appear on my TV show shortly before he died in 2009; that was MY loss, Mark....
G- Gehrig (Lou), aka "The Iron Horse"--probably the greatest Yankees player who spent his entire career in New York. His stats were simply OUTRAGEOUS--and the world lost him to ALS (now also called Lou Gehrig's Disease) at the tender age of 35....
H- Herndon (Larry), a steady outfielder who enjoyed a 14-year career with the Giants and Tigers in the 70's/80's; I always thought he was gonna be a better player than he actually was, but he still nets a nice pension....
I- Incaviglia (Pete), a former first-round pick who never duplicated the 30 HR's he hit during his rookie season for the Rangers in '86; "Inky" quickly became known as a "strikeout waiting to happen". In fact, my Dad had a former schoolmate nicknamed "Inky", too--Josephine Incandella of Ansonia (now THAT's Italian, folks)....
J- Javier (Julian), who played in the majors between 1960 and 1972; one of the first players I remember who wore eyeglasses and the father of former big leaguer Stan Javier....
K- Kaat (Jim), who pitched a mind-boggling 25 years in the "bigs" and won an amazing SIXTEEN consecutive Gold Glove awards. Oh, and he became one of the few ex-"jocks" who actually possessed INCREDIBLE broadcasting skills. Nicknamed "Kitty"....
L- Leyritz (Jim), the former Yankees catcher. To this day, I still wonder how this bum beat DUI manslaughter charges stemming from a 2007 crash down in Florida; sadly, a woman was killed....
M- Marichal (Juan), the Hall of Fame pitcher. He was probably the first pitcher my Dad mentioned to me as a kid--telling me how great he was on a continual basis. He was also one of the first pitchers I ever saw in person--pitching at Shea Stadium in the early 70's; what a leg-kick and what a PITCHER....
N- Nixon (Russ), the former catcher/manager; his name came to mind probably due to the fact that his family was somehow related to one of my Mom's closest friends....
O- O'Toole (Jim), who pitched (and WON) the first big league game I ever saw in person as a member of the White Sox (vs. the Yankees at Yankee Stadium); sadly, he was done with baseball at the age of 30....
P- Popovich (Paul), who played 11 seasons in the majors in the 60's and 70's; good fielder, but NOT a hitter--for sure....
Q- Queen (Mel), who I remember as a kid pitching for Cincinnati and California; won just 20 games in his career--with FOURTEEN of them coming in ONE season (1967). Oh, I immediately thought of Jimmy Qualls, too, right after remembering Mel; Mr. Queen still gets the nod...
R- Rivera ("Bombo", not Mariano), a former outfielder whose real name was Jesus. But REALLY--how can you EVER forget anyone nicknamed "Bombo"?....
S- Skowron ("Moose"), the former Yankees first baseman who was a member of numerous championship teams. Also, he happened to be one of the more entertaining/down-to-earth people I've ever had the honor of speaking to. We miss you, "Moose"....
T- Tidrow (Dick), the pitcher who won 100 games over a 13-year career. I mean, how can ANY baseball fan also forget ANYONE nicknamed "Dirt"?....
U- Unser (Del), a valuable utility player (especially while playing in Philly) who once hit three pinch-hit home runs in consecutive at-bats; simply a tough out....
V- Vizquel (Omar)--still the best-fielding shortstop I have EVER seen, PERIOD (sorry, Ozzie Smith)....
W- Wickersham (Dave); don't remember much about him other than the fact that I had his baseball card while growing up (a former pitcher for Detroit in the 60's)....
X- Xavier (Joe), who actually NEVER played in the "bigs" but made it to the Brewers' AAA farm team in 1990. Sheesh, couldn't the team have brought him up for ONE stinkin' game in September so he could have enjoyed the distinction of being the only MLB player EVER whose last name began with an "X"?....
Y- Young (Delmon), who's still playing baseball but may be best-remembered for yelling an anti-Semitic slur while intoxicated a couple of years ago on the streets of NYC. Geez--you'd think I would have thought of someone like "Yaz" instead, right?....
Z- Zdeb (Joe), who had a very brief career with the Royals in the late 70's (outfielder). Why did THIS guy come to my mind immediately? I think I was always impressed with the funky spelling of his last name--which is simply (or maybe NOT-so-simply) pronounced \ZEB\.

*Look for more A-to-Z columns to come, folks..........