Presidential All Stars

Monday was Presidents Day. As I reflected on the list of great and not so great leaders of our nation, I began to wonder if you could put together a baseball team composed of players who shared their last name with a president. Of course you can! My rules for this exercise are as follows: Last name only, so the ever growing list of players with first name Jackson are not eligible. The player has to have had a reasonably long career in Major League Baseball and been at least an average player or better. The list is composed primarily of fairly recent players. With only a couple of notable exceptions, they all played within my lifetime. I know that’s a pretty long time, but baseball has been around for almost 200 years. So with that in mind, and “Hail to the Chief” playing in the background, here’s my list. I will have a starter and a backup listed, with some notable honorable mentions.

Catcher - 1. Gary Carter ( HOF “the Kid” was one of the most well respected players ever) 2. Terry Kennedy (14 year career with 4 different teams)

First Base - 1. Reggie Jefferson (9 years with 4 teams) 2. Adam Kennedy (14 years with 4 teams, half of the time with the Angels)

Second Base - 1. Davey Johnson (13 year playing career, mostly with the Orioles, but set a single season HR record by a second baseman with 43. That record was broken by Marcus Semien in 2021. Johnson also managed teams for 17 years, winning a World Series in1986 with the Mets) 2. Chris Taylor (long time Dodger is a versatile fielder, capably manning IF and OF spots.

Shortstop - 1. Jack Wilson (solid shortstop for 14 years, primarily with Pittsburgh. His son Jacob, also a shortstop, was last year’s runner up AL Rookie of the Year for the Athletics) 2. U L Washington (this 11 year infielder is best remembered for playing with a toothpick in his mouth)

Third Base - 1. Josh Harrison (13 years with 6 teams, mainly the Pirates) 2. John Kennedy (this utility infielder was in the majors from ‘62 to ‘74 with 5 teams. Yes, he was with the Senators from ‘62-‘64, so his time in Washington overlapped the other John Kennedy)

Outfielders - 1. Shoeless Joe Jackson ( not eligible for Cooperstown, but he makes my team. Not the only “president” accused of taking money for personal gain) 2. Reggie Jackson (HOF who was known as Mr. October for his playoff accomplishments and also holds the dubious record of most career strikeouts.) 3. Joe Carter ( 16 year career, best known for walk off homer to win World Series for Toronto in 1993)

4-6 - Claudell Washington, Trot Nixon and Willie Wilson

Honorable Mention - Otis Nixon, Dan Ford, Craig Monroe, Michael Taylor, Randy Bush

Special Shout Out - Evan Carter hasn’t played long enough to be named to this team, but I hope he has a great career and leaps into the top 3 in a few years!

Starting Pitchers - 1. Walter Johnson (HOF) 2. Whitey Ford (HOF) 3. Randy Johnson (HOF) How would you like to have those three in your starting rotation?

Next 5 - Billy Pierce, Matt Harrison, Reggie Cleveland, CJ Wilson, Brad Lincoln

The Jackson Five ( Danny, Luke, Edwin, Larry, Mike) They pitched better than they sang

Bullpen - 1. Mike Adams 2. Ian Kennedy 3. Matt Bush ( all three of these high leverage relievers were on the Texas Rangers roster in a year that they went to the World Series)

Coaching Staff - Manager - Ron Washington (former Ranger manager), Pitching Coach - Dave Bush (pitched one year for Rangers, current assistant pitching coach), Catching Coach - Bobby Wilson (former player and coach for Rangers), Bench Coach - Russ Nixon (12 year big league catcher who managed for 5 years, but not for the Rangers)

Special Mention - Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander doesn’t qualify for this team (last names only) but he was obviously named after Grover Cleveland. And finally, the Washington Nationals just traded for catcher Harry Ford. This will be only his second year in the majors, but maybe one day he’ll qualify for this team. He won’t be the first Ford in Washington.

It will be interesting to see how this list changes in the future. What players are out there working their way to MLB with presidential names? And who will be elected President in the future to add to our possibilities? Stay tuned.

That’s one man’s opinion - what’s yours?