Namesake Pitchers (newly updated)

HHS regular contributor Kahuna Tuna remarked that in the May 30th game between the Cubs and Dodgers, it was the first time that two pitchers of record both had the surname Wood*. Then it happened again Thursday when Miguel Gonzalez got the win for the White Sox over Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals.

Just for fun, I did a little sleuthing to see how many such games I could find. To simplify things a bit, I was looking only for games with starters having the same surname (and spelling) and who both had the decision. And, I looked only at pitchers who were primarily starters over their careers. Those games are after the jump.

Here’s the list, looking only at starting pitchers with decisions.

  1. Abbott (Jim and Paul) – 1990-09-10
    • This game came in the debut season for both. Paul’s .679 W-L% for the Mariners is the franchise best in 50+ decisions.
  2. Anderson (Brian and Jimmy) – 2000-05-23
    • Brian’s 4.74 career ERA is the 5th highest among 270 retired pitchers with 25 post-season IP, but he is one of only 15 of those pitchers with a post-season ERA more than two runs better than his regular season mark.
  3. Barnes (Jesse and Virgil) – 1924-06-29, 1925-04-23, 1926-06-25, 1926-09-11
    • This pair might have had more starts against each if not for the younger Virgil starting his career as Jesse’s teammate. The elder Barnes took this brother series 3-1.
  4. Brown (Clint and Lloyd) – 1931-08-21
    • After starting the 1930s as a fixture in the Indians rotation, Clint finished the decade as a relief specialist with the White Sox, leading the AL in games finished 4 times in 5 years. His 48 GFs in 1937 set a new single season record that he upped to 56 two years later, a mark that would stand until 1950.
  5. Davis (Curt and Peaches) – 1938-09-06
    • This pair make the list in the last start of Peaches’ career. Curt and Dazzy Vance are the only pitchers to log 1000 IP for the Dodgers after age 35.
  6. De La Rosa (Jorge and Rubby) – 2015-07-05
    • Jorge is one of three pitchers with 1000 IP for the Rockies, and also one of the three active pitchers from Mexico with 1000 IP, the most ever from that country to reach that threshold concurrently.
  7. Fernandez (Osvaldo and Alex) – 1997-04-20
    • Alex and Chicago teammate Charlie Hough are the only pitchers to start 50 games for both the Marlins and White Sox. Fernandez had all of those games aged 30 or younger, Hough aged 43 and older.
  8. Gonzalez (Gio and Miguel) – 2016-06-09
    • Gio is one of only five pitchers with a .500 or better record in 150+ IP for each of the last 6 seasons.
  9. Guzman (Jose and Juan) – 1992-09-20
    • Juan’s .784 W-L% (40-11) is the top mark for pitchers in 50+ starts over their first three seasons.
  10. Hernandez (Felix and Runelvys) – 2005-08-15
    • This was the third start of Felix’s career and the second of 10 in his debut season of 7+ IP. Those 10 such games are tied with Frank Shellenback of the 1918 White Sox for the most since 1913 by a teenage pitcher in the first 12 games of his career.
  11. Hernandez (Felix and Roberto) – 2009-08-232012-08-21
    • Felix passed the 200 mark this season in career starts of 7 IP or longer, trailing only CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon among pitchers currently active in the majors.
  12. Hernandez (David and Roberto) – 2009-09-25
    • Roberto’s 19 wins in 2007 are the most in a second season following a debut campaign winning one-third or less of 10+ decisions.
  13. Jackson (Al and Larry) – 1963-05-30, 1965-07-07, 1966-05-19, 1966-08-11
    • Al earned his 20 losses for the 1962 Mets, allowing 5 or more runs in 14 of those setbacks.
  14. Johnson (Walter and Rankin) – 1914-04-23, 1914-05-29, 1914-06-01, 1914-07-03, 1914-07-06
    • This pair just couldn’t avoid each other, meeting 5 times in half a season, hard to do even if you don’t have the same surname. Rankin was a rookie so, with that baptism of fire (he actually did alright, going 2-3 in the 5 tilts that were all shutouts), it’s no wonder he bolted for the Federal League in mid-season.
  15. Johnson (Walter and Jing) – 1917-06-28, 1917-09-03
    • Jing and Athletic teammate Rollie Naylor both failed to win more than 20 games in 60+ starts over the first three seasons of their careers. That inauspicious debut by teammates has been repeated only four times since, most recently by Joe Kennedy and Ryan Rupe, teammates on the 2001-02 Devil Rays (Kennedy’s 18 wins are tied with Dennis Lamp for the fewest of any live ball era pitcher with 70 starts over his first three seasons).
  16. Johnson (Si and Syl) – 1932-04-27, 1932-05-02
    • Si’s four seasons of 150 IP with twice as many losses as wins are the most by an NL pitcher, but one fewer than HOFer Red Ruffing posted, in consecutive seasons, in the AL.
  17. Johnson (Randy and Jason) – 2006-06-14
    • Jason’s 56 career wins are the fewest in the live ball era among pitchers with 100+ losses
  18. Jones (Bobby and Bobby) – 1999-05-11 (Thanks Artie Z!)
    • Bobby Joseph’s 19 losses for the Padres in 2001 are the most of any pitcher having only one season with more than 10 losses in a 1500 IP career.
  19. Maddux (Greg and Mike) – 1986-09-29, 1988-07-31
    • Mike, a reliever for most of his career, doesn’t meet my criteria but I made an exception.
  20. Martinez (Dennis and Ramon) – 1988-08-29, 1990-05-10, 1990-05-15, 1990-08-191992-07-241993-07-15
    • Dennis and CC Sabathia are the only pitchers to win 100 games for two franchises and not reach 250 career wins
  21. Martinez (Pedro and Ramon) – 1996-08-29
    • Ramon won the duel against his more famous kid brother. Like the Barnes brothers, the younger Martinez sibling started his career as a teammate of his elder.
  22. Niekro (Phil and Joe) – 1967-07-04, 1968-04-23, 1969-07-13, 1969-09-26, 1976-05-29, 1978-09-26, 1979-09-26, 1980-05-11, 1982-09-13
    • The record-holders for decisions against each other (9) and span of seasons (16). Phil wins the series 5-4 and picked up win no. 20 in the 1979 game to match his brother’s win total at the time. Despite all the starts against each other, this pair were actually teammates twice.
  23. Smith (Sherry and George) – 1921-04-20
    • George’s .231 W-L% (12-40) is the lowest of the live ball era in 50+ decisions over the last three seasons of a career
  24. Smith (Eddie and Al) – 1940-05-30, 1940-08-14, 1943-08-27
    • Eddie was an All-Star selection in 1942 when he led the AL in losses with a 7-20 record (his record at the A-S break was 2-13 with a 3.72 ERA).
  25. Smith (Bryn and Zane) – 1986-05-14
  26. Stone (George and Steve) – 1975-06-30
    • Steve and Sandy Koufax are the only pitchers to win the CYA or post a 25 win season in the last two seasons of a career (Koufax did both in both of those seasons).
  27. Taylor (Dummy and Jack) – 1900-09-12, 1901-07-01, 1901-09-26, 1902-06-03, 1903-05-28, 1904-05-07, 1904-08-09
    • No game logs, of course, but this pair opposed each other as starters in these games and almost certainly got the decisions in at least some (or most) of them (Jack getting the decision was pretty much a lock: over the first 9 seasons of a 10 year career, he completed 271 of 274 starts).
    • Interesting parallels in their careers: both made a splash in a debut season of limited innings, then both crashed with 20+ losses in season two and didn’t post another winning record until their fifth season when both won 20 games. Both improved their W-L records over the rest of their careers, Dummy doing so by playing on powerhouse Giant teams and Jack by pitching better, especially in 1902 when he led the NL in ERA, WHIP and shutouts and posted one of just 10 seasons since 1901 of 300 IP with 200 ERA+.
  28. Underwood (Pat and Tom) – 1979-05-31 (Thanks John!)
    • Tom’s 85 wins through age 29 are tied for the 5th lowest total of the expansion era among pitchers to log 1500 IP by that age.
  29. Weaver (Jeff and Jered) – 2009-06-20
    • Jeff can tell his grandkids that the Dodgers traded away Kevin Brown to reacquire him.
  30. Wells (Kip and David) – 2004-08-07
    • Kip’s .292 W-L% for the Cardinals is a live ball era low for the franchise in 20+ career decisions.
  31. Witt (Bobby and Mike) – 1986-09-28, 1989-09-29
    • Mike and Jered Weaver currently stand 3rd and 4th respectively in career IP for the Angels; those rankings should flip by the end of this season.
  32. Young (Cy and Irv) – 1910-06-21
    • Thanks to Kahuna Tuna’s research we know that only Cy got the decision in beating Irv’s White Sox 3-2 in 12 innings. But worth a mention since it was the Cyclone.
    • Irv was traded from the Braves to the Pirates for Harley Young midway through Harley’s lone 1908 season. Both had starts before and after the trade but none against each other.

Kahuna Tuna followed his first post with another identifying pitchers of record whose names matched … “with room to spare”. So, here’s one of those to close.

  • Jim Shaw and Bob Shawkey – 1917-09-07. It’s actually kind of surprising these two had only this one game together as the two were never teammates, played their entire careers in the AL, and combined for more than 400 starts and 400 decisions from 1913 to 1921.

(*) If you’re wonder why the Wood game (with Travis and Alex) isn’t listed, it’s because Travis wasn’t the starter; he relieved Jason Hammel in the 3rd inning.

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no statistician but
no statistician but
7 years ago

It’s kind of surprising that Jim and Gaylord Perry don’t make your list, even though they had limited opportunities, being in different leagues for most of Jim’s shorter career. The publicity potential alone ought to have been enough for managements to have scheduled a confrontation or two, though. Did it ever happen—without them both being the pitcher of record?

Doug
Doug
7 years ago

They started against each other once, on July 3, 1973. Gaylord took the loss and Jim had a ND as the Tigers beat the Indians 5-4. Gaylord allowed a pair of home runs to Norm Cash, the 25th and final multi-HR game of Cash’s career.

John
John
7 years ago

On May 31, 1979 Pat Underwood of the Tigers made his major league debut, defeating big brother Tom of the Blue Jays, 1-0, both taking the decision. Tom went the distance, whit Pat went 8 1/3.

Doug
Doug
7 years ago
Reply to  John

Good one, John.

John
John
7 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Thank you, Doug!

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago

The name Shawkey can be formed by combining the surnames of two other pitchers, Shaw and Key.

no statistician but
no statistician but
7 years ago

Bob Shawkey and Urban Shocker?

Bill James notes their close similarity.

Mike L
Mike L
7 years ago

June 27th, 1925, Tex Vache (Tex Cow) pinch hit a double off of Urbain Jacques Shockeur. 4 days later, on July 1, Shocker relieved Herb Pennock and got Vache on a pop out and a strikeout.

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago

While they were of different era (1907-27 vs 1988-2009 – or would you prefer, 2.17 to 3.29?) the Johnsons, Walter and Randy, probably have the highest combined WAR at 256.6 (152.3 + 104.3).

A game of our era that I would have loved to see would have been Dennis vs Pedro Martinez. Their combined WAR of 135.5 (49.5+86.0) is less than Walter Johnson’s alone!

Doug
Doug
7 years ago
Reply to  BJSG

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

Closest Dennis and Pedro would come to starting against each other was in Dennis’s final 1998 season in Atlanta when he started and lost to the Red Sox on June 9 and Pedro started and won against the Braves the next day. Other than that, the two appeared in two games in 1993, on Apr 28 and July 15, with Dennis starting and taking the loss in both and Pedro posting two identical pitching lines of one IP with three K’s allowing no runs, no walks and two hits, and earning a hold.

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago

Doug: Next Name Anagrams! Galvin and Glavin!

Kahuna Tuna
Kahuna Tuna
7 years ago

Doug, I found another Dennis-Ramón Martínez matchup, won by Dennis, 2-1: 8-19-90. Dennis and Ramón tied in dual-Martínez decisions, 3-3. That July 15-18, 1993 Expos-Dodgers series was a kick. On the 15th Ramón defeated Dennis, 2-1. On the 16th Pedro, in relief, defeated Expos relief ace John Wetteland, 2-1, on a Dave Hansen pinch single in the bottom of the ninth. On the 17th the Expos tied the game on a John Vander Wal three-run pinch homer in the top of the ninth, then pushed across three runs in the tenth off relievers Omar Daal and Roger McDowell for the… Read more »

Kahuna Tuna
Kahuna Tuna
7 years ago

According to the next day’s Leadville, Colorado Herald-Democrat (6/22/1910—link), “The two Cy Young’s started, but the Chicago pitcher [Irv Young] was taken out in the first inning”—hence no decision. Jim Scott pitched the rest of the game for Chicago. That was the first game of a scheduled doubleheader. Irv Young then pitched a ten-inning shutout in the second game. His White Sox, the home team, won 3-0, but I can’t find a record of anyone hitting a home run to win the game. The Sox hit only seven home runs that season.

Doug
Doug
7 years ago
Reply to  Kahuna Tuna

Nice bit of research.

Thanks,

Kahuna Tuna
Kahuna Tuna
7 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Correction: Although the Herald-Democrat shows the White Sox as the home team in that June 21, 1910 doubleheader, other newspapers correctly show them as the visiting team, as do B-Ref and Retrosheet. Thus, those three tenth-inning runs that the Sox scored in the nightcap need not have come in via a home run.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago
Reply to  Kahuna Tuna

Response to #14. Even if someone did hit a HR in the bottom of the 10th with the score tied the rule of the day was that as soon as the first base-runner scored the game was over and the batter would get credit for a single or double depending on which base that base-runner occupied.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
7 years ago

Retrosheet has a list of game-ending non-homers at http://www.retrosheet.org/ending.htm — hits that would be HR by modern rules, but ended before the batter could score by the rules of the day. They do not list any in the AL in 1910.

David P
David P
7 years ago

This one doesn’t quite fit the criteria since it involves a starter and a reliever. Nevertheless…Storm Davis got the victory as the starting pitcher and Ron Davis took the loss in relief.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN198309040.shtml

Artie Z.
Artie Z.
7 years ago

On May 11th, 1999, Bobby Jones (NYM) faced Bobby Jones (COL) in Colorado. NYM Jones went 5.1 innings, gave up 8 ER and took the loss. COL Jones went 5 innings, gave up 2 R (1 earned) and got the win.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL199905110.shtml

They would soon be teammates.

ReliefMan
ReliefMan
7 years ago

There was an article last year that went over more of them, without the requirement that both starters stuck around long enough for the decision:

http://valueoverreplacementgrit.com/2015/07/05/same-last-name-pitching-matchups/

They found 130 examples through 2015, and going back as far as 1876 where the last name was the only name recorded on the box score at all.

Basically any stats that involve names and wordplay, the VORG is going to be all over it.

brent
brent
7 years ago

The Forsch brothers are probably the most surprising omission from this list for me. I am sure they certainly faced each other (yes, combined 0 for 3 against each other as batters)

Doug
Doug
7 years ago
Reply to  brent

The two never started against each other, with or without a decision, so those batting PAs came in these two games (1974-07-21, 1975-06-15) when Ken was relieving. For Bob’s first 5 seasons (1974-78), Ken was primarily a reliever before moving to the AL in 1981. It was really just two seasons, 1979 and 1980, when both were regular starters in the NL (but in opposite divisions), so not starting against each other wasn’t that unexpected.

JDV
JDV
7 years ago

I just started visiting this site again after a lengthy absence. How would I introduce a new topic?

no statistician but
no statistician but
7 years ago
Reply to  JDV

JDV:

Just say what it is. Lots of interesting threads get going that way.

JDV
JDV
7 years ago

On Tuesday night, the Indians’ Francisco Lindor played in his 162nd MLB game. He just missed joining a pretty small group with 200+ hits in his first full-season equivalent. Pretty impressive numbers still: 198 H; 300 TB; 90 R; 84 RBI; 22 SB.
Last night, the Astros’ Carlos Correa played in his 162nd game. His numbers: 170H; 299 TB; 30 HR; 100 RBI; 81 R; 22 SB.
The next one of interest will likely be the Dodgers’ Cory Seager some time in September.

David P
David P
7 years ago
Reply to  JDV

JDV – Interesting stuff. Between Lindor, Correa, Seagar, and Bogaerts we have some great young shortstops and it’ll be interesting to see who ends up putting together a HOF career and who falls to the wayside.

BTW, both Correa and Lindor have exceeded what Jeter did in his first two seasons (172 games). This despite the fact that Jeter was slightly older. Just looking at WAR, Lindor has 7.3, Correa 5.5 and Jeter 3.0 (in 10 extra games). Even Seager is ahead of Jeter with 4.0 WAR in only 93 games.

JDV
JDV
7 years ago
Reply to  David P

Certainly age is a factor I didn’t mention. For comparison, Bogaerts played exactly 162 G through 2014, and turned 22 immediately thereafter. He had: 140 H; 211 TB; 13 HR; 51 RBI; 67 R. We know what he’s done since. Lindor is 22Y-7M; Correa is 21Y-9M; Seager will be about 22Y-5M, barring injury, when he reaches 162.

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago
Reply to  David P

Let’s hope for all of them, that they put up better defensive numbers than Jeter!

David P
David P
7 years ago
Reply to  David P

My 98 year old grandma could put up better defensive numbers than Jeter!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago
Reply to  David P

What team does she play for, David?

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago

On May 1, 1949 in the first game of a DH the Reds starting battery was Dixie Howell/Dixie Howell. That’s the only example (1901-2016) I could find of a starting battery with the same name.

Kahuna Tuna
Kahuna Tuna
7 years ago

Bobby Shantz & his catcher brother Billy were teammates on the 1955 A’s (perhaps ’54 as well, can’t check right now). You may find some “Shantz and Shantz” linescores.

Kahuna Tuna
Kahuna Tuna
7 years ago

I counted 11 games where the starting battery of the 1955 A’s was Bobby Shantz pitching and Billy Shantz catching.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
7 years ago

Those of you who remember the 1970s know Mike Marshall as a reliever for the Dodgers. Those of us born in the 1970s remember Mike Marshall the Dodger 1B-OF.

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago
Reply to  oneblankspace

Heck, I remember Mike Marshall before he was a Dodger on my beloved Expos!
I know he had some unconventional theories about pitching and arm health. But why was he so vilified by MLB?

JDV
JDV
7 years ago
Reply to  BJSG

I remember him as a hometown Mud Hen. He should have been called up in ’68, but I guess the Tigers did OK without him. I also had his ’69 Topps card as a Seattle Pilot.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
7 years ago

Scott Service pitched for a few teams, including 28 games for the 1995 Giants. Scott Servais caught for a few teams, including a total of 69 games (C 62, 1B 1, PH 6) for the 1999 Giants (and 7 more in 2000).

For those of you who don’t remember, they pronounced their names the same.

BJSG
BJSG
7 years ago

John Lester, Jon Leicester and John Leister!

no statistician but
no statistician but
7 years ago
Reply to  BJSG

Moving on to catchers facing one another, Hal Smith and Hal Smith did that seven times in 1960 and twice in 1961. They were similar hitters, but the Orioles-A’s-Pirates-Astros Smith was slightly better, even though the Cards Smith made the All Star team twice.

Gary Bateman
Gary Bateman
7 years ago

In 1969, the Royals had a pitcher named Bill Butler, who went 9-10 with the inaugural team. Nearly 40 years later, they had DH Billy Butler. What other record is there of teams who have had more than one player with essentially the same name?

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago
Reply to  Gary Bateman

The Yankees had 2 Bobby Browns.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago
Reply to  Gary Bateman

Using Fangraphs I created a list of all players from 1901 to date and sorted by name and team on an Excel spreadsheet. I found 2 teams with 3 same named players, the Padres with Dave Roberts and the Pirates with Hal Smith. There 53 instances of a team with 2 same named players, some of them are father-son combinations.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago

I should add that I may have missed a few because of teams which changed names such as Robins and Dodgers,etc.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
7 years ago

Sorry guys, it looks like I misinterpreted my own results. There have been 108 instances of a team with 2 same named players and 2 instances of a team with 3 same named pitchers. Again I may have missed a few due to team name changes.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
7 years ago

The Phillies had two Brian Hunters during the same off-season.

Aaron (The Goof)
Aaron (The Goof)
7 years ago

I was at that first Two Martinez special between Ramon and Dennis. My family was vacationing in Montreal. We were on the highway out of town when I was reading through an Expos magazine. It was maybe 7 p.m. I noticed that the game started in a half hour and mentioned that aloud. My parents asked if we wanted to go. We did, so we went. Little did I know we were seeing the future champs. Or the only Alfredo Griffin homer of the year and next to last of his long career. Or the first career win for Ramon,… Read more »

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
7 years ago

Speaking of Martinez with Montréal… In 1989, Dave Martinez hit three home runs for the Expos. Two of them were in the same game at Wrigley Field where Martinez led off. Since my cousin the Iowa Cub fan was in town, we went to the game. At about the 8th pitch of the game, I said to myself “He’s either waiting for a walk or one he can hit out of here.” He hit the 14th pitch for a homerun.

Evil Squirrel
7 years ago

The same surname pairing in #12 is a bit of an anachronism since Roberto Hernandez was still playing as Fausto Carmona in 2009 (And during his first matchup with Felix Hernandez as well)…