Many famous people have rather common names. Michael Jordan, for example, has a fairly common first and last name; and in a specific instance I personally know of, my wife recently had a student named Joe (“please, call me Joseph”) DiMaggio, who is from the Bronx and no relation (except possibly as a fan) to the Yankee Clipper.
Then there are the big name Juniors. Ken Griffey, Sr. and Jr., Cal Ripken Sr. and Jr.; Tony Gwynn, Sr. and Jr.; etc. Not sure how many HOF father/son pairs there are in sports, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if there were any.
On the other hand, there are the occasional namespace collisions that are completely random. There have been multiple players named Kenny Smith, Joe Smith, Pedro Martinez, Bobby Jones (just a few off the top of my head), across sports and even within the same sport. But have any unrelated namesakes ever separately reach the highest honor in sports, to be in that sport’s Hall Of Fame?
Frank and Brooks Robinson are in Cooperstown. 1st ones that came into my head.
ETA:Just thought of Jim and Paul Brown in the NFL hall (though Paul was not a player)
I’m pretty sure it hasn’t happened in baseball. The closest is probably Frank Thomas, the modern-day slugger, and Frank Thomas, who played outfield, third base, and first base for 7 teams in a 16-year career in the 50s and 60s and made the all-star team three times. The modern-day Frank Thomas will probably make the Hall of Fame; the older one had a nice career but never got close and never will.
Yeah, I meant first and last names. Sorry I wasn’t more clear on that.
What prompted my question was reading an article about a college basketball player, a point guard named Isaiah Thomas, whose last name is legitimately Thomas and who was named after the former Pistons guard, but ironically, only because his father lost a betover the 1989 NBA Finals. I’m not suggesting that Isaiah The Younger might ever reach the NBA, much less develop into a HOF point guard, but the possibility is there.
That brought to mind that for one or two years, the Mets had two pitchers on the roster both named Bobby Jones (one lefty and one right), who had actually faced off against each other a year or two before that in a “Bobby Jones Throwdown” (the winning pitcher was, in fact, Bobby Jones – not a relief pitcher). They even have the distinction of being two players with the same name on the same team for two DIFFERENT teams (they were “reunited” in a trade to again both play for another team, I think the Padres).
Neither Jones was of HOF caliber though, though I was at Shea Stadium to see Bobby J. (“Righty”) Jones in his finest hour, a jaw-dropping and out of character one-hitter against the Giants in the 2000 NLDS (and that double was inches away from being caught!).
There were multiple Brian Hunters in the league for a while, and multiple Pedro Martinezes; I don’t think the two Pedros ever pitched against each other, though they were in the same division - the other Pedro was never more than a marginal relief pitcher.
Neither of them was quite good enough to make the Hall of Fame, but in the late Sixties and early Seventies, botht the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco Forty-Niners had All-Pro wide receivers named Gene Washington.
Not to mention that they were contemporaries. They were about the same age and played their sports around the same time. I wonder if they heard of each other.
If only the KC Royals’ Willie Mays Aikens or the Hartford Whalers’ Gordie Howe Roberts had been good enough, they’d qualify in a way. Roberts was actually a teammate of Howe’s, briefly.
Between sports, if the former Boston Bruins forward had been good enough as well as popular enough, Derek Sanderson and the Yankees’ Derek Sanderson Jeter would qualify under the same rule.
In the future, there will PROBABLY be two guys named Dan Reeves in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Dan Reeves who owned the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams is already in, and I suspect the Dan Reeves who took the Broncos and Falcons to the Super Bowl WILL be a Hall of Famer some day.
And there’s already a 49ers defensive back named Jimmy Johnson in the Hall of Fame. It PROBABLY won’t happen, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the Cowboys’ coach Jimmy Johnson made it in some day.
The original Mets had Bob Miller and Bob Miller (though neither was HOF quality, though the latter was one of the top NL relievers once he left the Mets).
There are 48 guys named Williams in the NFL now. 2 Brandons, 2 Kyles, 2 Roys, and 2 Chris so there is a shot there. There are 46 guys named Johnson - 2 Chris and 2 Michaels. There are 43 Smiths - 2 Alexs, 2 Antonios, 2 Marcus, and 2 Steves.
Another opportunity for same lastname-firstname combo*, sadly missed due to the lack of HOF talent on one end, is the case of future NBA HOFer Ray Allen, who briefly had a Celtics teammate named Allan Ray (who will not be a HOFer).
qualification carefully phrased so as to allow this duo to qualify.