Friend of the VORG David Branson sent me the following message recently:
@dianagram Greg Gagne and Gary Gaetti were teammates on a WS winning team. Other teams with players sharing the same repeating initials?
Well, using the Lahman Baseball Database as my source for names, I found at least 382 instances of team-seasons with at least two teammates having the same repeating initials.
The record for one team in one season is four, held by the 1920 Red Sox, as follows:
| Age | B | T | Ht | Wt | DoB | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Harper | 25 | L | L | 6′ 2″ | 165 | Apr 24, 1895 | 27 |
| Hob Hiller | 27 | R | R | 5′ 8″ | 162 | May 12, 1893 | 17 |
| Harry Hooper HOF | 32 | L | R | 5′ 10″ | 168 | Aug 24, 1887 | 139 |
| Herb Hunter | 24 | L | R | 6′ 0″ | 165 | Dec 25, 1895 | 4 |
Here is the complete list of those teams since 1900 with at least three teammates having matching sets of repeating initials:
| TEAM | POS | Name | INIT |
| BOS-1920 | P | Harry Harper | HH |
| BOS-1920 | 3B | Hob Hiller | HH |
| BOS-1920 | OF | Harry Hooper | HH |
| BOS-1920 | OF | Herb Hunter | HH |
| HOU-2013 | 1B | Chris Carter | CC |
| HOU-2013 | #N/A | Cody Clark | CC |
| HOU-2013 | 1B | Carlos Corporan | CC |
| HOU-2012 | CF | Brandon Barnes | BB |
| HOU-2012 | RF | Brian Bixler | BB |
| HOU-2012 | RF | Brian Bogusevic | BB |
| ARI-2010 | OF | Ryan Roberts | RR |
| ARI-2010 | P | Rafael Rodriguez | RR |
| ARI-2010 | LF | Rusty Ryal | RR |
| MIN-2008 | P | Brian Bass | BB |
| MIN-2008 | P | Boof Bonser | BB |
| MIN-2008 | 3B | Brian Buscher | BB |
| KCA-2007 | P | Brian Bannister | BB |
| KCA-2007 | P | Billy Buckner | BB |
| KCA-2007 | DH | Billy Butler | BB |
| ANA-2003 | P | Scott Schoeneweis | SS |
| ANA-2003 | P | Scot Shields | SS |
| ANA-2003 | 1B | Scott Spiezio | SS |
| ANA-2002 | P | Scott Schoeneweis | SS |
| ANA-2002 | P | Scot Shields | SS |
| ANA-2002 | 1B | Scott Spiezio | SS |
| ARI-2002 | P | Matt Mantei | MM |
| ARI-2002 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| ARI-2002 | P | Mike Myers | MM |
| DET-2002 | P | Mike Maroth | MM |
| DET-2002 | C | Mitch Meluskey | MM |
| DET-2002 | P | Matt Miller | MM |
| ANA-2001 | P | Scott Schoeneweis | SS |
| ANA-2001 | P | Scot Shields | SS |
| ANA-2001 | 1B | Scott Spiezio | SS |
| ARI-2001 | P | Matt Mantei | MM |
| ARI-2001 | P | Mike Mohler | MM |
| ARI-2001 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| ARI-2000 | P | Matt Mantei | MM |
| ARI-2000 | OF | Matt Mieske | MM |
| ARI-2000 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| HOU-2000 | P | Mike Maddux | MM |
| HOU-2000 | C | Mitch Meluskey | MM |
| HOU-2000 | OF | Matt Mieske | MM |
| MON-1999 | P | Mike Maddux | MM |
| MON-1999 | CF | Manny Martinez | MM |
| MON-1999 | 2B | Mike Mordecai | MM |
| CHN-1998 | OF | Matt Mieske | MM |
| CHN-1998 | 2B | Mickey Morandini | MM |
| CHN-1998 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| ML4-1997 | C | Mike Matheny | MM |
| ML4-1997 | OF | Matt Mieske | MM |
| ML4-1997 | P | Mike Misuraca | MM |
| BOS-1995 | C | Mike Macfarlane | MM |
| BOS-1995 | P | Mike Maddux | MM |
| BOS-1995 | P | Matt Murray | MM |
| CIN-1990 | P | Ron Robinson | RR |
| CIN-1990 | P | Rosario Rodriguez | RR |
| CIN-1990 | OF | Rolando Roomes | RR |
| LAN-1990 | P | Mike Maddux | MM |
| LAN-1990 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| LAN-1990 | P | Mike Munoz | MM |
| CIN-1989 | P | Ron Robinson | RR |
| CIN-1989 | P | Rosario Rodriguez | RR |
| CIN-1989 | OF | Rolando Roomes | RR |
| KCA-1989 | C | Bob Boone | BB |
| KCA-1989 | P | Bob Buchanan | BB |
| KCA-1989 | 1B | Bill Buckner | BB |
| LAN-1989 | OF | Mike Marshall | MM |
| LAN-1989 | P | Mike Morgan | MM |
| LAN-1989 | P | Mike Munoz | MM |
| MIN-1989 | 3B | Gary Gaetti | GG |
| MIN-1989 | SS | Greg Gagne | GG |
| MIN-1989 | P | German Gonzalez | GG |
| MIN-1988 | 3B | Gary Gaetti | GG |
| MIN-1988 | SS | Greg Gagne | GG |
| MIN-1988 | P | German Gonzalez | GG |
| CLE-1985 | C | Butch Benton | BB |
| CLE-1985 | P | Bert Blyleven | BB |
| CLE-1985 | CF | Brett Butler | BB |
| LAN-1983 | OF | R.J. Reynolds | RR |
| LAN-1983 | P | Rich Rodas | RR |
| LAN-1983 | OF | Ron Roenicke | RR |
| ATL-1979 | 1B | Bob Beall | BB |
| ATL-1979 | C | Bruce Benedict | BB |
| ATL-1979 | OF | Barry Bonnell | BB |
| ATL-1978 | 1B | Bob Beall | BB |
| ATL-1978 | C | Bruce Benedict | BB |
| ATL-1978 | OF | Barry Bonnell | BB |
| ML4-1970 | P | Bobby Bolin | BB |
| ML4-1970 | P | Bruce Brubaker | BB |
| ML4-1970 | OF | Bob Burda | BB |
| MIN-1968 | 1B | Rich Reese | RR |
| MIN-1968 | SS | Rick Renick | RR |
| MIN-1968 | 3B | Rich Rollins | RR |
| NYN-1963 | C | Chris Cannizzaro | CC |
| NYN-1963 | C | Choo-Choo Coleman | CC |
| NYN-1963 | OF | Cliff Cook | CC |
| NYN-1962 | C | Chris Cannizzaro | CC |
| NYN-1962 | C | Choo-Choo Coleman | CC |
| NYN-1962 | 3B | Cliff Cook | CC |
| CLE-1935 | P | Belve Bean | BB |
| CLE-1935 | 2B | Boze Berger | BB |
| CLE-1935 | C | Bill Brenzel | BB |
| BOS-1929 | OF | Bill Barrett | BB |
| BOS-1929 | 3B | Bob Barrett | BB |
| BOS-1929 | P | Bill Bayne | BB |
| CHA-1924 | P | Bob Barnes | BB |
| CHA-1924 | SS | Bill Barrett | BB |
| CHA-1924 | 2B | Bill Black | BB |
Awesome! Thanks!