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February 15, 2021
Let’s Have Some Fun On Presidents’ Day!
“When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing and as we sat there in the warmth of the summer afternoon on a riverbank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him that I wanted to be a major league baseball player. My friend said that he’d like to be President of the United States…Neither of us got our wish!” -Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
And the Free World is forever grateful!
Dwight Eisenhower had a life-long love for baseball. At West Point, he tried out for the baseball team but didn’t make it. He was later quoted as saying, “Not making the baseball team at West Point was one of the greatest disappointments of my life, maybe my greatest.”
The tradition of United States presidents throwing out the First Pitch at the start of the baseball season in Washington started with President Taft in 1910, but given Ike’s love for baseball, I’m certain he enjoyed taking his turn, as we see in the photo above.
Looking on as he prepares to toss the First Pitch on Opening Day, April 13, 1954, are his wife Mammie, Washington owner Clarke Griffin, Washington manager Bucky Harris, and Yankee manager Casey Stengel.
Since I’m always looking for ways to connect baseball history with national holidays, the thought occurred to me that maybe we could even have some fun even with Presidents’ Day.
So what I’ve done is to compile a list of every President of the United States chronologically, starting with good old George and up to the present day. And then I tried to come up with a baseball player who shares either the first, middle, or last name with each of the presidents. I’ve also included the years the player was in the Big Show.
Here’s my list of the presidents with at least one namesake from major league baseball. Feel free to add your own in the comments!
- George Washington: Claudell Washington, 1974-1990
- John Adams: Babe Adams, 1906-1928
- Thomas Jefferson: Jesse Jefferson 1973-1981
- James Madison: Madison Bamgarner, 2014-present
- James Monroe: Craig Monroe, 2001-2009
- John Quincy Adams: Sparky Adams, 1922-1934
- Andrew Jackson: Reggie Jackson, 1967-1987, Bo Jackson, 1986-1994
- Martin Van Buren: Deacon Van Buren, 1904
- William Henry Harrison: Harrison Bader, 2017-present
- John Tyler: Tyler Chadwick, 2011-present
- James Polk: Wesley Polk Chamberlain, 1990-1995
- Zachary Taylor: Sammy Taylor, 1956-1963
- Millard Fillmore: Joe Fillmore, 1940-1947
- Franklin Pierce: Billy Pierce, 1945-1964
- James Buchanan: Jake Buchanan, 2014-2017
- Abraham Lincoln: Ezra Lincoln, 1890
- Andrew Johnson: Randy Johnson, 1988-2009
- Ulysses Grant: Mudcat Grant, 1967-1981
- Rutherford B. Hayes: Von Hayes, 1981-1992
- James Garfield: Bill Garfield, 1889-1890
- Chester Arthur: Arthur Rhodes, 1911-2011
- Grover Cleveland: Reggie Cleveland, 1969-1981
- Benjamin Harrison: Josh Harrison, 2011-2020
- Grover Cleveland: Grover Cleveland Alexander 1911-1930
- William McKinley: Pinkie William McKinley Hargrove,
- Theodore Roosevelt: Roosevelt Brown, 1999-2002
- William Howard Taft: Taffy Wright, 1938-1949
- Woodrow Wilson: Wilson Ramos, 2010-2020
- Warren Harding: Charlie Harding, 1913
- Calvin Coolidge: Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tushahoma McLish, 1944-1964
- Herbert Hoover: Paul Hoover, 2001-2010
- Franklin Roosevelt: Jackie Roosevelt Robinson, 1947-56
- Harry Truman: Truman Eugene “Tex” Clevenger, 1954-1962
- Dwight Eisenhower: Charlie Eisenhower, 2006
- John Kennedy: Junior Kennedy, 1974-1983
- Lyndon Johnson: Walter Johnson, 1907-1927
- Richard Nixon: Russ Nixon, 1957-1968
- Gerald Ford: Whitey Ford, 1950-1967
- Jimmy Carter: Gary Carter, 1974-1992
- Ronald Reagan: Doug Reagan Ault: 1976-1980
- George H. Bush: Guy Bush, 1923-1945
- Bill Clinton: Clinton “Clint” Hartung, 1947-1952
- George W. Bush: Bullet Joe Bush, 1912-1928
- Barack Obama: ‘Bama Rowell, 1939-48
- Donald Trump: John Jonathan Trumpbour Matlock, 1971-1983
- Joe Biden: Joe DiMaggio, 1936-1951
Gary Livacari
As always we enjoy reading your comments
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Super job, Gary! Classic photo-and opening Ike quote, priceless.
I’ll just add a few:
#7 Bo Jackson ( for raw speed and power did he eclipse Mickey Mantle?) 1986-1994.
#12 Mike Scott (the Astro pitcher the Mets dreaded to face in a 7th game-’86 playoff). 1979-1991.
#30 aka Cal McLish. Possibly the greatest full name in the history of sports!
#35 Monte Kennedy, so listed. But the Giants’ lefty had the birth moniker, Montia. 1946-1953.
Thanks Bill, duly noted.
Really fun stuff, Gary. Great list of names, both the presidents and the ballplayers.
Thanks Bill!
Taft must have thrown out the first ball earlier. Wilson was president by 1916.
You’re right, it was April 4, 1910.
Hi Gary,
Most entertaining stuff! I got a full charge out of your long list, and another trying to imagine our fearless leader Dr. Livacari counting his blessings at 3:00 a.m., sheep passing by in the dark, and the numbers of ballplayers whose names matched up, some how, some way, with our past presidents. (Please don’t let on how many months ago you began this project.)
You are not alone, by the way. Dr. Insomnia here, with a bit of related trivia for your subscribers and you:
(In the manner of a Final Jeopardy! head-scratcher): “This baseball icon was one of only five Hall-of-Famers with the same last name as a former U.S. president.” (You have 30 seconds, and be sure to frame your answer in the form of a question.)
I was thinking of “Wasted Days & Wasted Nights” before spotting your blog! It’s a welcome reminder that we’re all in this goofy world together.
Well done, Gary,
Michael
P.S. Entries from Drs. Gutman, Schaefer, and any other readers who actually roamed the planet in the 19th Century should probably be disqualified on that basis.
P.P.S. For a tidy fee and upon request, I’ll send you my answers
P.P.P.S. Winfield Scott?
Reggie Jackson and Walter Johnson would be two of the five off the top of my head. Whitey Ford another, but now I’m over 30 seconds!
Yay! And don’t worry about going into extra innings Gary; you had only to name but one.
(How much did you bet?)
You still owe the house a heavy surcharge for that Winfield Scott stuff, however. Was he president of his graduating class?
All the best,
/s/ Sleepless In New Mexico
Wow…not sure what I was thinking there. Guess I had my generals mixed up.
Granted, Gary! I’m amazed that Schaefer didn’t catch it.
Still laughing,
Michael
P.S. I’m thinking Randy Johnson and Gary Carter, both of whose names appeared in your original blog. Are we having fun yet?