MLB Names- Longest, Shortest?

[F.U.Shakespeare]

Rudy May played for the Angels when I was a kid.

A contender for longest may be L’N’H’R, (pronounced “L apostrophe N apostrophe H apostrophe R”).

He played one game in 1912 (Ty Cobb was kicked out for beating up a spectator, and the rest of the Tigers sat out the following game in a show of support for him). The owner scraped together a team of amateurs at the last minute, one of whose name appeared in the scorecard as “L’N’H’R”.

A years-later account of the game speculated, “No one knows to this day if his name was Loopenhower or Leninhasinger, and I bet his wife still calls him a liar when he swears he once played for the Detroits”.

[ElvisL1ves]

Bill Leinhauser was his name.

May 18, 1912: The Tiger players protest Ty Cobb’s suspension and vote to strike. Faced with a $5,000 fine for failing to field a team, club owner Frank Navin orders manager Hugh Jennings to sign up some local amateurs. Al Travers, Bill Leinhauser, Dan McGarvey, Billy Maharg (whose real name was Graham, “Maharg” reversed), Jim McGarr, Pat Meany, Jack Coffey, Hap Ward, and Ed Irvin put on Tiger uniforms. Two Detroit coaches, Joe Sugden, 41, and Jim McGuire, 48, complete the lineup, and score the only two runs for Detroit.

[Hal_Briston]

@Colibri

@BobT

There was also a catcher who went by the name Ed Ott.

Several sites indicate this is the shortest name in baseball history, with five letters total.

I’m guessing the NFL corollary would be Ty Law.

[Rufus_Xavier]

This MLB player had a very short name, which happened to also be the only full player name in major league history that rhymed with the name of his team:

Ted Cox of the Red Sox (1977).

[ElvisL1ves]

Tied by current Patriot receiver P.K. Sam.

[ElvisL1ves]

@Rufus Xavier

the only full player name in major league history that rhymed with the name of his team

But you surely must have a soft spot in your heart for Dave Philley of the Phillies.

[parkov]

Not to mention when Feagles kicked for the Eagles.

[Hyperelastic]

@BobT

There was also a catcher who went by the name Ed Ott.

An episode of “This Week In Baseball” circa 1978 addressed this very question. Ed Ott had the shortest name. Then they introduced a new guy with, IIRC, the longest name in baseball (history?) I can’t for the life of me remember what the name was, except that it was foreign (possibly Dutch), and the guy’s career never went anywhere.

UPDATE After a brief Google search, I located a detailed description of the episode in question. It aired August 7, 1979. The gentleman with the longest name was Wim Remmerswaal (Winnefred Nathan Remmerswaal) of Boston. That would have been the week after my youngest brother was born (he died a couple of years ago).

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=11&threadid=344425

What an interesting thread.

[rackensack]

@anson2995

Sports encyclopedia editor checking in… William Van Landingham is indeed the longest surname in MLB history. That’s actually 14 characters, including the space between the “n” and the “L”. There is also a fellow named John Van Benschoten who is currently playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s also 14 characters.

There could be new sheriff in town someday soon, however. Braves’ farmhand Jarrod Saltalamacchia is currently hitting .308 with 12 HRs this season for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in the high A Carolina League. That’s 14 letters without any steenking spaces – and six more in his first name.