I used to be against the proliferation of events in the Olympics, but this year's games have turned me around. We should have everything! I want to see all facets of existence done by the best of the best. Kickball with Messi but also bowlers pitching with crazy torque is an obvious one. But I'm a screenwriter and I would totally watch Olympic screenwriting. Each country sends 1-5 writers, they get a topic from the IOC, and we watch them break the story and play candy crush for a week. I would even consider Olympic Sleeping: everyone goes to bed at 8 (no drugs, obviously) and we see who wakes up last, maybe with machines measuring depth of sleep. Let's go!
As part of a first-day-of-class assignment, I asked my college algebra students to send me a message from their school email with the name of an MLB player past or present or "don't know any". The responses so far are:
Asked 16 people, no hardcore baseball fans, all casual fans down to barely know anything about it:
-Babe Ruth was picked five times
-Derek Jeter was picked twice
-Bob Gibson
-Satchell Paige
-oh my God....I dunno
-Reggie Jackson
-Casey Stengel ('Wow,' I said. She asked 'Is he not a baseball player?' 'Well, he did play baseball, but he's known more for being a manager.' She then followed up with 'Oh, then Reggie Jackson.')
-A-Ron ('A-RON?' I asked, yes was the response. When told that it was actually A-Rod, but close enough, they followed it up with "Well, then Babe Ruth.")
-"Ohhhh...I can't think of his name." (When I told her it's okay, she wasn't the first person who couldn't name someone, and so far the top answer was Babe Ruth, she replied "Yeah, that's who I was thinking of.")
-Bryce Harper (I almost didn't ask this person because I thought they were more than just a casual fan)
1. none (co-worker - 20s - male) he could not think of a single player. I am rethinking his employment.
2. Pete Rose (co-worker - 50s - male)
3. Hank Aaron (co-worker - 60s - male)
4. Albert Pujols (co-worker - 20s - male)
5. Shohei Ohtani (co-worker - 20s - male) - he actually said, "uh....Dasanti". I said, not looking for water recs, you mean Ohtani? He said, "yeah - him"
6. George Brett (my daughter, 20s)
7. Sammy Sosa (my son, 30s)
8. Bobby Witt Jr (my son, 15)
9. Ron Kittle (co-worker - 60s - male)
10. Jackie Robinson (co-worker - female - 30s)
bonus because I can't count: Roger Clemens (friend - female - 40s)
My answer: Cookie Rojas - I was 3 yrs old girl in Kansas City in 1974 and I remember hearing his name. What 3 yr old doesn't love a Cookie? I've had a heart for him ever since. My lifelong Royals affliction is what brought me to Joe P.
Not to be a total dick (pun intended) about it but the French pole vaulter did not lose a medal on that jump. He lost the chance to get into the final (he would have had to make another height after that one to get in). His personal best is 5.81 and you had to jump 5.90 in the final to get a medal.
I reached out to my internet friends (from around the world, encompassing a wide range of baseball interest) with a short google form. It had three questions:
1. Name a baseball player, any baseball player
2. How much of a fan of baseball are you? (on a scale of 1 - actively dislike to 5 - absolutely love)
3. What's your favorite team? (if you have one)
I got 38 responses with 31 different players!
5 players got multiple responses: Babe Ruth got 4; Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, Shohei Ohtani, and Jose Canseco each got 2
All four who answered Babe don't like baseball (include one person who said they couldn't name a team), definitely an argument for him still being the best known baseball player in the general population.
The two who answered Gehrig also don't like baseball and didn't list teams. This is a group that watches a lot of movies, The Pride of the Yankees could definitely be an influence.
one guy most think of as a basketball player - Michael Jordan
A-Rod got one vote from somebody who listed The Savannah Bananas as their favorite team, which is oddly appropriate
One person listed the Tokyo Swallows as their team (Mickey Mantle was their player)
One person listed UNC baseball as their team (Nick Castellanos was their player)
Only 24 of 38 people listed a favorite team at all and of them 5 qualified it with something like "I guess, they're in my city but I don't pay attention or care"
On the "How much of a fan of baseball are you?" question the same number of people answered 1 or 2 combined as answered 3, 4, or 5 combined (19 in each case)
The list:
(name a player, how much do you like baseball from 1 to 5 [1=hate, 5=love], favorite team if you have one)
Albert Pujols 5 St. Louis Cardinals
Alex Rodriguez 1 The Savannah Bananas
Andrew McCutchen 4 Pirates
Anthony Rizzo 4 Chicago Cubs
Babe Ruth 1 I only care about art. I like the retro Astro’s logo. Idgaf about the team itself.
Babe Ruth 1 Red Sox???
Babe Ruth 2 Toronto Blue Jays
Babe Ruth 1 Don’t think I know any
Barry Bonds 1
Bobson Dugnutt 2 n/a
Buster Posey 2 Giants, I guess
Derek Jeter 3 Texas Rangers
Derek Jeter 2
Greg Maddux 1 Atlanta
Gunner Henderson 4 Orioles
Hunter Pence 2 I guess the Giants because I live in SF but I don't care about baseball!
Ichiro Suzuki 3 Yankees
Jackie Robinson 2 NA
Joe Mauer 4 Minnesota Twins
John Kruk 5 Philadelphia Phillies
Jose Canseco 1
Jose Canseco 3 SF Giants
Julio Franco 4 Atlanta Braves
Ken Griffey Jr 3
Kyle Schwarber 4 Phillies
Lou Gehrig 2
Lou Gehrig 1 🤷♀️
Michael Jordan 3
Mickey Mantle 2 Tokyo Swallows
Nick Castellanos 3 UNC baseball 🫠
Nolan Ryan 2 Rangers? (occasionally)
Ozzie Guillen 3 White Sox
Paul O'Neill 3 Yankees
Royce Lewis 4 Twins
Sammy Sosa 3 Nationals? Dodgers?
Shoeless Joe 2 No fave
Shohei Ohtani 3
Shohei Ohtani 2
The name of the form I used to collect this: A Meaningless Question
which prompted one of the respondents who I knew was also a listener to ask if this was for The Poscast 😅
I live in Sweden, and baseball is not on Sweden's radar, but I asked 10 people all the same. Here are their responses:
- None
- None
- Babe Ruth
- Babe Ruth
- Babe Ruth
- Babe Ruth
- Babe Ruth (he had a hard time remembering the name and kept calling him "Little Guy")
- A-Rod
- Munenori Kawasaki (the Monkey Never Cramp clip is the only bit of baseball they've ever watched)
- Tom Gordon (because he's featured prominently in a book by Stephen King)
10 people I got to “Name a baseball player” said:
FP Santangelo
Cal Ripken
Alex Rodriguez
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Aaron Judge
Barry Bonds
Brian Wilson
Shohei Ohtani
Mark Prior
I used to be against the proliferation of events in the Olympics, but this year's games have turned me around. We should have everything! I want to see all facets of existence done by the best of the best. Kickball with Messi but also bowlers pitching with crazy torque is an obvious one. But I'm a screenwriter and I would totally watch Olympic screenwriting. Each country sends 1-5 writers, they get a topic from the IOC, and we watch them break the story and play candy crush for a week. I would even consider Olympic Sleeping: everyone goes to bed at 8 (no drugs, obviously) and we see who wakes up last, maybe with machines measuring depth of sleep. Let's go!
I have the solution to your toothpaste problem. Roll as usual then secure in the rolled position with a binder clip.
Mantle
Maris
Williams
Clemente
Mantle
Mantle
Beckert
Mantle
Banks
Ruth
From random members of Evanston Il bike club
As part of a first-day-of-class assignment, I asked my college algebra students to send me a message from their school email with the name of an MLB player past or present or "don't know any". The responses so far are:
Jackie Robinson (4 responses)
Mike Trout
Nolan Ryan
Derek Jeter
Chipper Jones
Don't know any (2 responses)
Ken Griffey Jr
Jose Canseco
Julio Rodriguez
Babe Ruth
Ichiro
Mookie Betts
Ken Griffey Jr
Ichiro
Ken Griffey Jr
Ken Griffey Jr
Yes, I'm in Seattle. Nobody I asked were big baseball fans. Many took some time before thinking of someone.
Asked 16 people, no hardcore baseball fans, all casual fans down to barely know anything about it:
-Babe Ruth was picked five times
-Derek Jeter was picked twice
-Bob Gibson
-Satchell Paige
-oh my God....I dunno
-Reggie Jackson
-Casey Stengel ('Wow,' I said. She asked 'Is he not a baseball player?' 'Well, he did play baseball, but he's known more for being a manager.' She then followed up with 'Oh, then Reggie Jackson.')
-A-Ron ('A-RON?' I asked, yes was the response. When told that it was actually A-Rod, but close enough, they followed it up with "Well, then Babe Ruth.")
-"Ohhhh...I can't think of his name." (When I told her it's okay, she wasn't the first person who couldn't name someone, and so far the top answer was Babe Ruth, she replied "Yeah, that's who I was thinking of.")
-Bryce Harper (I almost didn't ask this person because I thought they were more than just a casual fan)
-Mickey Mantle
These 3 are from my boomer parents and my wife. We live in the midwest. Most of my friends are baseball fans so I didn't ask them.
Mickey Mantle (mom)
Luis Aparicio (dad)
Kirby Puckett (wife)
Babe Ruth
Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
Elly De La Cruz
Mike Trout
Byron Buxton
These are my 10 that I got from people
In Nashville TN:
1. none (co-worker - 20s - male) he could not think of a single player. I am rethinking his employment.
2. Pete Rose (co-worker - 50s - male)
3. Hank Aaron (co-worker - 60s - male)
4. Albert Pujols (co-worker - 20s - male)
5. Shohei Ohtani (co-worker - 20s - male) - he actually said, "uh....Dasanti". I said, not looking for water recs, you mean Ohtani? He said, "yeah - him"
6. George Brett (my daughter, 20s)
7. Sammy Sosa (my son, 30s)
8. Bobby Witt Jr (my son, 15)
9. Ron Kittle (co-worker - 60s - male)
10. Jackie Robinson (co-worker - female - 30s)
bonus because I can't count: Roger Clemens (friend - female - 40s)
My answer: Cookie Rojas - I was 3 yrs old girl in Kansas City in 1974 and I remember hearing his name. What 3 yr old doesn't love a Cookie? I've had a heart for him ever since. My lifelong Royals affliction is what brought me to Joe P.
(originally posted under wrong episode)
Not to be a total dick (pun intended) about it but the French pole vaulter did not lose a medal on that jump. He lost the chance to get into the final (he would have had to make another height after that one to get in). His personal best is 5.81 and you had to jump 5.90 in the final to get a medal.
I asked 8 people, none of them baseball fans.
Babe Ruth -- female, 72
Babe Ruth -- female, 59 and English
Babe Ruth -- male, 64
Mickey Mantle -- female, 40-ish
Mickey Mantle -- male, 40-ish
Joe DiMaggio -- mal,e 70-ish
Ozzie Smith -- female, 41
Marty Marion -- male, 65, whose brother is married to Marion's granddaughter.
I reached out to my internet friends (from around the world, encompassing a wide range of baseball interest) with a short google form. It had three questions:
1. Name a baseball player, any baseball player
2. How much of a fan of baseball are you? (on a scale of 1 - actively dislike to 5 - absolutely love)
3. What's your favorite team? (if you have one)
I got 38 responses with 31 different players!
5 players got multiple responses: Babe Ruth got 4; Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig, Shohei Ohtani, and Jose Canseco each got 2
All four who answered Babe don't like baseball (include one person who said they couldn't name a team), definitely an argument for him still being the best known baseball player in the general population.
The two who answered Gehrig also don't like baseball and didn't list teams. This is a group that watches a lot of movies, The Pride of the Yankees could definitely be an influence.
Some other highlights before the full list:
there was one fictional player - Bobson Dugnutt (https://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/8klxnf/the_full_fighting_baseball_snes_rosters_more_than/?rdt=40948)
one guy most think of as a basketball player - Michael Jordan
A-Rod got one vote from somebody who listed The Savannah Bananas as their favorite team, which is oddly appropriate
One person listed the Tokyo Swallows as their team (Mickey Mantle was their player)
One person listed UNC baseball as their team (Nick Castellanos was their player)
Only 24 of 38 people listed a favorite team at all and of them 5 qualified it with something like "I guess, they're in my city but I don't pay attention or care"
On the "How much of a fan of baseball are you?" question the same number of people answered 1 or 2 combined as answered 3, 4, or 5 combined (19 in each case)
The list:
(name a player, how much do you like baseball from 1 to 5 [1=hate, 5=love], favorite team if you have one)
Albert Pujols 5 St. Louis Cardinals
Alex Rodriguez 1 The Savannah Bananas
Andrew McCutchen 4 Pirates
Anthony Rizzo 4 Chicago Cubs
Babe Ruth 1 I only care about art. I like the retro Astro’s logo. Idgaf about the team itself.
Babe Ruth 1 Red Sox???
Babe Ruth 2 Toronto Blue Jays
Babe Ruth 1 Don’t think I know any
Barry Bonds 1
Bobson Dugnutt 2 n/a
Buster Posey 2 Giants, I guess
Derek Jeter 3 Texas Rangers
Derek Jeter 2
Greg Maddux 1 Atlanta
Gunner Henderson 4 Orioles
Hunter Pence 2 I guess the Giants because I live in SF but I don't care about baseball!
Ichiro Suzuki 3 Yankees
Jackie Robinson 2 NA
Joe Mauer 4 Minnesota Twins
John Kruk 5 Philadelphia Phillies
Jose Canseco 1
Jose Canseco 3 SF Giants
Julio Franco 4 Atlanta Braves
Ken Griffey Jr 3
Kyle Schwarber 4 Phillies
Lou Gehrig 2
Lou Gehrig 1 🤷♀️
Michael Jordan 3
Mickey Mantle 2 Tokyo Swallows
Nick Castellanos 3 UNC baseball 🫠
Nolan Ryan 2 Rangers? (occasionally)
Ozzie Guillen 3 White Sox
Paul O'Neill 3 Yankees
Royce Lewis 4 Twins
Sammy Sosa 3 Nationals? Dodgers?
Shoeless Joe 2 No fave
Shohei Ohtani 3
Shohei Ohtani 2
The name of the form I used to collect this: A Meaningless Question
which prompted one of the respondents who I knew was also a listener to ask if this was for The Poscast 😅
Name a ball player (live in WI for context):
-Babe Ruth
-Prince Fielder
-CC Sabathia
-Hank Aaron "and I'm sure a lot of other Yankees"
-Ben Sheets
-"Mike Trout if he can last the season"
-Pete Rose
-LeBron James (and when I laughed and said he plays basketball, she laughed too and then said Babe Ruth)
Ten answers:
Ty Cobb
Bryce Harper
John Smoltz
Babe Ruth
Chipper Jones
Barry Bonds
Willie Mays
Aaron Judge
Hank Aaron
Barry Bonds