President's Day

The above photo -- from Nationals Park -- sets the pace for this day. Just curious, if you've ever thought of the best ballplayer sharing a name with a President.

  • Backup infielder John Kennedy, had an interesting career -- playing in Washington in the early '60s when his namesake was in the White House. And he later played in JFK's hometown for several seasons as a Red Sox.
  • There was also an earlier John Kennedy -- the reserve infielder whose promotion enabled the 1957 Phillies to belatedly become the last National League club to integrate.
  • 90 years after his near-namesake's administration, Johnnie Tyler had a brief run as a Boston Braves backup infielder (honestly, until I did my research, I'd never heard of this player. Had you?).
  • Zack Taylor spent parts of 16 seasons in the majors, catching for the Dodgers and Cubs -- and then spent 5-1/2 years managing the St. Louis Browns.

Among those three, I'll take Taylor -- who also had the experience of (briefly) being Babe Ruth's teammate -- appearing in four games for the 1934 Yankees.
Who's your favorite player who shares the just last name of a president? Ron Washington -- as both a talented infielder with the Twins and a two-time pennant winning manager with the Rangers, could be the most accomplished.

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