NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — “Books on Deck” is using the time during a delayed start to the baseball season to showcase many of the great baseball books that are being released in the spring and summer of 2020.
Next up is DB Firstman of the SABR Baseball Research Journal with the book, “Hall of Name." DB is a Queens native, a Mets fan and a lover of all things anthroponymy (the study of the names of human beings).
“Hall of Name” breaks down 100 of the greatest names in baseball history into four categories; Baseball Poets (names that rhyme or are alliterative), Dirty Names Done Dirt Cheap, Sounds Good to Me and No Focus Group Convened.
Boof Bonser, Callyx Crabbe, Greg Legg, Orval Overall, Ugueth Urbina, Milton Bradley, Van Lingle Mungo and many others get the star treatment as we learn some fun facts, including one about former Met, Lastings Milledge.
“He was given the name Lastings because he was the last-born child in his family," Firstman tells Wayne Randazzo.
Firstman also announces the depressing news that Ledell “Cannonball” Titcomb was never actually called Cannonball.
“Hall of Name” is a fun, breezy read that baseball fans will definitely get a kick out of learning about the players behind some of the standout names in the game.