I’m not much of a writer, so let’s see how this goes I guess. Oh, and I’m writing this at 12:30 AM, so that might contribute to its overall mess.
During the first-ever “No Sleep Botball” game on June 2, broadcaster/organist (and then birthday boy) Sharkshavery brought up an interesting question, “How many baseball players have been a musician in another life?” What he means by this, is players that share a name with musicians, or are a musician AND baseball player. I thought this was an excellent question, so I immediately set to work, writing this article that you are reading right now. I’m dividing this into a few parts, so it's not too long. They will be up in the future. I’ll update this with links when I release them.
Part 1: Shared Names
These baseball/musician name sharers were the most interesting ones I could find when I was doing research. If you find any notable ones that I missed, comment them below.
Carlos Santana
The obvious one that everyone should think of is legendary musician Carlos Santana. Santana of course was a vital part of the Indians’ 2016 Pennant. He was originally a catcher and third baseman before moving to DH and first base to avoid injury. He played for the Indians from 2010-2017 before signing with the Phillies in 2018, where he had his worst career season. The Phillies traded him to the Mariners that offseason. The Mariners flipped him back to the Indians a week later and he had his best career season, gaining a trip to the All-Star Game and a Silver Slugger Award. Carlos and Carlos have no relation to each other, but it’s fun to think about and it always messes up my Google searches.
Will Smith
Another fun one is Philly legend, Will Smith. Not only does he share a name with the current Atlanta Brave relief man, but he also shares his name with the Dodgers rookie catcher. I also found 2 different Willie Smiths that played from 1963-1971 and 1994 respectively. If you wanna really deep dive, Red Smith, who played 2 years in the 1910s, his birth name is Willard. There’s also a Zane Smith, Charley Smith, Jason Smith, Chris Smith, Travis Smith, and Chick Smith with the middle name William. There was also a Rasty Wright whose birth name was William Smith, plus a ton of men named Bill Smith, who were all born William Smith. I think that’s our winner here for most common.
Brian Wilson
One of the greatest songwriters ever was the Beach Boys’, Brian Wilson. His baseball counterpart was a decent pitcher, but nowhere near as successful. The main similarity I could find was that they both have great beards. The player Wilson played from 2006-2014 for the Giants and Dodgers. He was an all-star 3 times, led the league in saves in 2010, the year he won his lone World Series ring. Toward the end of his career, he had Tommy John and was forced into retirement by the lack of interest in him. He did announce that he was attempting a comeback as a knuckleballer a few years ago, but that’s the last I could find of Brian Wilson the baseball player.
George Burns
In the 20th century, there was a comedian, actor, and singer, whose career spanned almost the whole century. During that time span, there were two George Burns in baseball who played at the same time. “Tioga” George was a first baseman who played for a total of 5 teams between 1914 and 1929. “Silent” George was an outfielder who played for 3 teams in his career, most notably with the New York Giants. He joined the league in 1911 and retired in 1925.
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. better known as Rick James and most known for the song Super Freak was a musician and multi-instrumentalist. There was also a Rick James baseball player, who barely qualifies for this list. Rick James the baseball player was drafted 6th overall in the first-ever major league draft in 1965, 5 picks after Rick Monday and 1 slot ahead of Ray Fosse. He made his MLB debut 2 years later, on September 20, 1967, at age 19, for the Chicago Cubs. He played his last game 11 days later, on October 1, 1967, for the Chicago Cubs. He pitched a total of 4 ⅔ innings over 3 games, starting only 1 of them. He had a career ERA of 13.50 and a win-loss record of 0-1. After the season, he was sent back down to the minors and was selected by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft. He retired from baseball at age 23, in 1970.
Jimmy Rogers
The longtime guitarist for Muddy Waters went by Jimmy Rogers. The pitcher Jimmy Rogers was drafted in the 16th round of the 1986 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He spent a long time in the minors and finally made his MLB debut in 1995, at age 28, for the same team that drafted him. He never pitched again after that season. He ended his 19 game career with a 5.70 ERA, a 2-4 record, and 23.2 IP.
If I was thinking straight while writing this, I’d probably move on (it’s now 1:25 AM, the same day I mentioned before). I found 2 Jimmie Rodgers, which is spelled differently in the first and last names for both. There was a country singer named Jimmie Rodgers, who essentially started the genre of country music. There is also a pop singer named Jimmie Rodgers. They are not related.
Chuck Berry
Anyone who has seen the Back to the Future franchise should know who Chuck Berry was. That’s right, Marvin’s cousin (although Marvin is a fictional character) and one of the pioneers of Rock n’ Roll. There have been 2 Charlie Berrys in baseball history. The first one played in 1884 in the Union Association. He played for 3 different teams in the same season, Altoona Mountain City, the Kansas City Cowboys, and Chicago/Pittsburgh. Yes, that’s the actual name of the team. He slashed .224/.228/.300/.528 and after the UA folded, he never played a game again. The other Charlie Berry was the first one’s son. Charlie II played for a considerably longer time than his father (1925, 1928-1936, 1938). He played for the Philadelphia A’s on 2 occasions as well as the Red Sox and the White Sox. Before he was a baseball player, he played 2 seasons of football with the Pottsville Maroons of the NFL, scoring a league-leading 74 points in 1925, continuing in 1926 before returning to baseball full time. He later became an MLB umpire and NFL referee.
I originally intended this article to include dual-career people, and songs that were written about players, as well as bands/artists that have a great appreciation for the game, but this one ran much longer than I originally expected, so the second and third parts of this article will be released at some point in the future.
This was my first ever article, so if you have any advice for me, leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.
Take Your Bass
Nice piece, bud!