by Zack Hample
Gillian MacKenzie, my literary agent, is flat-out amazing. She believed in this project from the start, helped me tackle various challenges that popped up along the way, and continues to share my hatred for a certain major league team. Her assistant, Allyson Paty, and contract manager, Kirsten Wolff, deserve fist-bumps for all their hard work.
I’d also like to thank Ben Acree, the assistant equipment manager of the Atlanta Braves, for giving me some insights about his job; Dina Wathan, the Media Services Coordinator for the Kansas City Royals, for serving as my liaison with George Brett; Jay Alves, the Vice President of Communications and Public Relations for the Colorado Rockies, for letting me poke my head inside the humidor; George Hocker, the president of Maryland Cork, for explaining the role that his company plays in the baseball manufacturing process; Cowles “Pete” Horton III, the owner of Muscle Shoals Rubber, for describing in great detail how his company used to make the pills; Dan Halperin, a Harvard tax law professor, for explaining the financial implications of snagging milestone home run balls; Mell Lazarus, a famous cartoonist and friend of my father, for putting me in touch with Patti Hart-Pomeroy; Patti Hart-Pomeroy, the business coordinator of John Hart Studios, for allowing me to use her father’s cartoon strip; George Amores and Dorkys Ramos, two Spanish-speaking friends, for translating for me when I (unsuccessfully) attempted to interview someone in Costa Rica; Bob Weil, a superstar editor and longtime family friend, for generously taking time away from his own work to have a look at mine; Mike Manese, a longtime member of my writing group, for ordering It’s Garry Shandling’s Show for me from Netflix; Leon Feingold, a great friend and former minor leaguer, for being the voice of reason on all things baseball; Zach Mazefsky, webmaster of bigleaguebaseballs.com, for photographing so many baseballs from his own collection; Rick Gold, a veteran ballhawk from Oakland, for putting me in touch with Jay Didion; Leigh Barratt, a long-tenured ballhawk from San Diego, for being the first person to let me in on a little secret about PETCO Park; Kevin Kruse, the unofficial mayor of AT&T Park, for leading me to Brad Paterson; Greg Barasch, my toughest competition at Citi Field, for spending time with me away from the stadium and giving unbelievably good advice; and Jules Owen, one of my all-time best friends, for being a guiding force even while spending nine months a year in Australia.
The following people helped in less obvious ways: Ronen Barzel, Jerome Buie, Wayne Cimons, Michael Fierman, Andrew Gonsalves, Henry Hample, Joe Hample, Martha Hample, Ben Hill, Erik Jabs, Gary Kowal, Maria Maggenti, Steve Mandl, Mike Miles, Linda Paczkowski, Brian Powell, Ryan Restivo, Mike Roberts, Bob Schaefer, Alan Schuster, Ryan Sloan, Brandon Sloter, Mike Smith, Carla Tayao, and Naturi Thomas.
Finally, let me give a quick shout-out to the 1,169 major league players and coaches who have given me baseballs over the years. They are: David Aardsma, Jim Abbott, Kurt Abbott, Paul Abbott, Reggie Abercrombie, Jeremy Accardo, Jose Acevedo, Juan Acevedo, Alfredo Aceves, Manny Acosta, Manny Acta, Mike Adams, Jeremy Affeldt, Benny Agbayani, Chris Aguila, Matt Albers, Manny Alexander, Antonio Alfonseca, Edgardo Alfonzo, Eliezer Alfonzo, Luis Alicea, Armando Almanza, Edwin Almonte, Sandy Alomar Jr., Sandy Alomar Sr., Moises Alou, Clemente Alvarez, Wilson Alvarez, Alfredo Ame-zaga, Brian Anderson, Marlon Anderson, Alex Andreopoulos, Brad Andress, Matt Antonelli, Bob Apodaca, Rick Aponte, Kevin Appier, Alex Arias, Tony Armas Jr., Brad Arnsberg, Rene Arocha, Bronson Arroyo, Rafael Arroyo, Pierre Arsenault, Paul Assenmacher, Scott Atchison, Garrett Atkins, Brad Ausmus, Bobby Ayala, Luis Ayala, Manny Aybar, Willy Aybar, Mike Bacsik, Burke Badenhop, Kevin Baez, Andrew Bailey, Cory Bailey, Dusty Baker, Paul Bako, Collin Balester, Grant Balfour, Brian Banks, Brian Bannister, Rod Barajas, Jesse Barfield, Clint Barmes, Michael Barrett, Jeff Barry, Jason Bartlett, Daric Barton, Brian Bass, Kevin Bass, Miguel Batista, Tony Batista, Jose Bautista, Jason Bay, Jonah Bayliss, Don Baylor, Billy Bean, Josh Beckett, Steve Bedrosian, Joe Beimel, Stan Belinda, David Bell, Derek Bell, Heath Bell, Jay Bell, Rafael Belliard, Ronnie Belliard, Carlos Beltran, Rigo Beltran, Adrian Beltre, Marvin Benard, Bruce Benedict, Andy Benes, Shayne Benett, Armando Benitez, Joaquin Benoit, Kris Benson, Chad Bentz, Jason Berken, Mark Berry, Sean Berry, Steve Bieser, Craig Biggio, Mick Billmeyer, Kurt Birkins, Bud Black, Willie Blair, Casey Blake, Hank Blalock, Henry Blanco, Matt Blank, Joe Blanton, Jeff Blauser, Willie Bloomquist, Geoff Blum, Tim Bogar, Brian Bohanon, Jeremy Bonderman, Ricky Bones, Bobby Bonilla, Eddie Bonine, Boof Bonser, Pedro Borbon, Mike Bordick, Chris Bosio, Thad Bosley, Ricky Bottalico, Michael Bourn, Larry Bowa, Ryan Bowen, Blaine Boyer, Chad Bradford, Darren Bragg, Bill Bray, Craig Brazell, Joe Breeden, Reid Brignac, Rico Brogna, Jeff Bronkey, Scott Brosius, Kevin Brown, Jerry Browne, Jonathan Broxton, Jay Bruce, Brian Bruney, Eric Bruntlett, Damon Buford, Jim Bullinger, Kirk Bullinger, Dave Burba, Jamie Burke, Ellis Burks, A. J. Burnett, Pat Burrell, Sean Burroughs, Mike Busby, Homer Bush, Brian Butterfield, Alan Butts, Marlon Byrd, Paul Byrd, Eric Byrnes, Jolbert Cabrera, Melky Cabrera, Miguel Cabrera, Orlando Cabrera, Matt Cain, Miguel Cairo, Alberto Callaspo, Mike Cameron, Matt Capps, Chris Capuano, Jesse Carlson, Buddy Carlyle, Hector Carrasco, Brett Carroll, Jamey Carroll, Chris Carter,1 Dave Cash, Vinny Castilla, Alberto Castillo, Alberto Castillo, Carlos Castillo, Luis Castillo, Bill Castro, Juan Castro, Ramon Castro, Roger Cedeno, Matt Cepicky, Joba Chamberlain, Norm Charlton, Endy Chavez, Jesse Chavez, Bruce Chen, Randy Choate, Shin-Soo Choo, Ryan Christenson, Jason Christiansen, Vinnie Chulk, Ryan Church, Alex Cintron, Galen Cisco, Chris Clapinski, Dave Clark, Mark Clark, Phil Clark, Tony Clark, Royce Clayton, Bob Cluck, Alan Cockrell, Todd Coffey, David Coggin, Chris Coghlan, Phil Coke, Michael Coleman, Vince Coleman, Dave Collins, Jesus Colome, Roman Colon, Jeff Conine, Guy Conti, Jose Contreras, Aaron Cook, Steve Cooke, Brian Cooper, Alex Cora, Archie Corbin, Marty Cordova, Bryan Corey, Rheal Cormier, Jim Corsi, Tim Cossins, Danny Cox, Jeff Cox, Steve Cox, Jesse Crain, Joe Crawford, Doug Creek, Jack Cressend, Coco Crisp, Deivi Cruz, Jose Cruz Sr., Luis Cruz, Mike Cubbage, Michael Cuddyer, Omar Daal, Johnny Damon, Bill Dancy, John Danks, Vic Darensbourg, Ron Darling, Doug Dascenzo, Darren Daulton, Jim Davenport, Tom Davey, Ben Davis, Chris Davis, Ike Davis, Kane Davis, Rajai Davis, Zach Day, Mark De John, Jorge De La Rosa, Valerio De Los Santos, Mike DeJean, Manny Delcarmen, Jose DeLeon, Wilson Delgado, David Dellucci, Rick Dempsey, Bucky Dent, Mark DeRosa, Jim Deshaies, Delino DeShields, Elmer Dessens, Einar Diaz, Victor Diaz, R. A. Dickey, Chris Dickerson, Jason Dickson, Mike DiFelice, Lenny DiNardo, Jerry DiPoto, John Doherty, Scott Dohmann, Luis Dorante, Octavio Dotel, Rick Down, Scott Downs, Doug Drabek, Darren Dreifort, Rob Ducey, Brandon Duckworth, Zach Duke, Shelley Duncan, Adam Dunn, Alan Dunn, Scott Dunn, Trent Durrington, Lenny Dykstra, Adam Eaton, David Eckstein, Dave Eiland, Joey Eischen, Scott Elarton, Mark Ellis, Juan Encarnacion, Yunel Escobar, Bobby Estalella, Shawn Estes, Johnny Estrada, Marco Estrada, Seth Etherton, Tony Eusebio, Nick Evans, Dana Eveland, Adam Everett, Carl Everett, Scott Eyre, Kyle Farnsworth, Steve Farr, Jeff Fassero, Ryan Feierabend, Jesus Feliciano, Pedro Feliciano, Pedro Feliz, Alex Fernandez, Mike Fetters, Robert Fick, Nelson Figueroa, Jeremy Fikac, Steve Finley, Brad Fischer, John Flaherty, Bryce Florie, Cliff Floyd, Gavin Floyd, Tom Foley, Matt Ford, Brook Fordyce, Bartolome Fortunato, Keith Foulke, Andy Fox, Jeff Francis, Ben Francisco, John Franco, Julio Franco, Ryan Franklin, Jason Frasor, Ryan Freel, Marvin Freeman, Brian Fuentes, Frank Funk, Rafael Furcal, Mike Fyhrie, Matt Galante, Armando Galarraga, Dave Gallagher, Mike Gallego, Ron Gant, Danny Garcia, Karim Garcia, Ron Gardenhire, Ryan Garko, Dillon Gee, Josh Geer, Samuel Gervacio, Chris Getz, Dan Giese, Brian Giles, Bernard Gilkey, Keith Ginter, Matt Ginter, Doug Glanville, Troy Glaus, Tom Glavine, Mike Goff, Jonny Gomes, Alexis Gomez, Carlos Gomez, Chris Gomez, Adrian Gonzalez, Alex Gonzalez, Edgar Gonzalez, Fredi Gonzalez, Luis Gonzalez, Mike Gonzalez, Raul Gonzalez, Andrew Good, Dwight Gooden, Tom Goodwin, Tom Gordon, Tom Gorzelanny, Ruben Gotay, Mauro Gozzo, John Grabow, Curtis Granderson, Danny Graves, Dallas Green, Nick Green, Scarborough Green, Sean Green, Todd Greene, Rusty Greer, Kevin Gregg, Alfredo Griffin, Jason Grilli, Marquis Grissom, Buddy Groom,
Gabe Gross, Eddie Guardado, Sandy Guerrero, Matt Guerrier, Carlos Guillen, Jose Guillen, Eric Gunderson, Jeremy Guthrie, Christian Guzman, Tony Gwynn, Jerry Hairston, John Halama, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Darryl Hamilton, Joey Hamilton, Josh Hamilton, Mike Hampton, Tim Hamulack, Lee Hancock, Marcus Hanel, Ryan Hanigan, Joel Hanrahan, Craig Hansen, Aaron Harang, Mike Harkey, Toby Harrah, Lenny Harris, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Ron Hassey, Billy Hatcher, LaTroy Hawkins, Von Hayes, Nathan Haynes, Chase Headley, Chris Heintz, Todd Helton, Scott Hemond, Ramon Henderson, Rickey Henderson, George Hendrick, Mark Hendrickson, Tom Henke, Brad Hennessey, Butch Henry, Doug Henry, Clay Hensley, Jeremy Hermida, Anderson Hernandez, Chuck Hernandez, Felix Hernandez, Livan Hernandez, Orlando Hernandez, Roberto Hernandez, Alex Herrera, Orel Hershiser, Bobby Higginson, Aaron Hill, Glenallen Hill, Perry Hill, Eric Hillman, Bruce Hines, Luke Hochevar, Glenn Hoffman, Trevor Hoffman, Matt Holliday, Mike Holtz, Paul Hoover, Vince Horseman, Ryan Howard, Steve Howe, Glenn Hubbard, Mike Hubbard, John Hudek, Rex Hudler, Tim Hudson, David Huff, Phil Hughes, Mike Humphreys, Nick Hundley, Todd Hundley, Brian L. Hunter, Butch Huskey, Ryota Igarashi, Tadahito Iguchi, Omar Infante, Brandon Inge, Jeff Innis, Garth Iorg, Hideki Irabu, Kazuhisa Ishii, Jason Isringhausen, Cesar Izturis, Al Jackson, Damian Jackson, Edwin Jackson, Grant Jackson, Mike Jacobs, Chuck James, Dion James, Dave Jauss, Gregg Jefferies, Jeremy Jeffress, Ryan Jensen, Derek Jeter, Jose Jimenez, Kelvin Jimenez, Ubaldo Jimenez, Ben Johnson, Brian Johnson, Chris Johnson, Howard Johnson, Jason Johnson, Jonathan Johnson, Kelly Johnson, Mark P. Johnson, Nick Johnson, Reed Johnson, Russ Johnson, John Johnstone, Adam Jones, Andruw Jones, Bobby J. Jones, Bobby M. Jones, Brandon Jones, Chipper Jones, Chris Jones, Todd Jones, Brian Jordan, Kevin Jordan, Wally Joyner, Jorge Julio, David Justice, Matt Karchner, Takashi Kashiwada, Scott Kazmir, Greg Keagle, Austin Kearns, Roberto Kelly, Jason Kendall, Kyle Kendrick, Adam Kennedy, Logan Kensing, Jeff Kent, Jeff Keppinger, Jimmy Key, Darryl Kile, Paul Kilgus, Sun Woo Kim, Craig Kimbrel, Jeff King, Ray King, Mike Kinkade, Matt Kinney, Steve Kline, Brandon Knight, Gary Knotts, Masahide Kobayashi, Satoru Komiyama, Dae-Sung Koo, Joe Koshansky, Casey Kotchman, Mark Kotsay, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Rusty Kuntz, Hong-Chih Kuo, Hiroki Kuroda, Art Kusnyer, Masumi Kuwata, Tony La Russa, Rene Lachemann, Mike Lamb, Tom Lampkin, Rick Langford, Mark Langston, John Lannan, Barry Larkin, Adam LaRoche, Matt Lawton, Brandon League, Cliff Lee, Derrek Lee, Travis Lee, Joe Lefebvre, Al Leiter, Mark Lemke, Patrick Lennon, Curtis Leskanic, Jesse Levis, Allen Levrault, Darren Lewis, Richie Lewis, Jim Leyritz, Brad Lidge, Cory Lidle, Jon Lieber, Brent Lillibridge, Derek Lilliquist, Ted Lilly, Jose Lima, Tim Lincecum, Adam Lind, Jose Lind, Doug Linton, Felipe Lira, Jesse Litsch, Brian Little, Graeme Lloyd, Paul Lo Duca, Esteban Loaiza, Kameron Loe, Nook Logan, Rich Loiselle, Kevin Long, Evan Longoria, Braden Looper, Davey Lopes, Aquilino Lopez, Felipe Lopez, Javier Lopez, Juan Lopez, Rodrigo Lopez, Mark Loretta, Mike Lowell, Noah Lowry, Julio Lugo, Fernando Lunar, Wayne Lydon, John Mabry, Bob MacDonald, Mike MacDougal, Ken Macha, Drew Macias, Greg Maddux, Mike Maddux, Warner Madrigal, Ryan Madson, Calvin Maduro, Ron Mahay, Pat Mahomes, John Maine, Gary Majewski, Omar Malave, Jack Maloof, Julio Manon, Matt Mantei, Charlie Manuel, Jerry Manuel, Josias Manzanillo, Shaun Marcum, Nick Markakis, Carlos Marmol, Jason Marquis, Jay Marshall, Andy Marte, Damaso Marte, Tom Martin, Dave Martinez, Felix Martinez, Jose Martinez, Pedro Martinez, Tino Martinez, Roger Mason, Nick Masset, Mike Matheny, Rick Mathews, Luis Matos, Kaz Matsui, Gary Matthews Jr., Don Mattingly, Todd Maulding, Tim Mauser, Justin Maxwell, Derrick May, Brent Mayne, Leo Mazzone, Brian McCann, Lloyd McClendon, Mike McClendon, Quinton McCracken, Ben McDonald, Darnell McDonald, John McDonald, Roger McDowell, Chuck McElroy, Joe McEwing, Terry McGriff, Ryan McGuire, Mark McGwire, Jack McKeon, Jeff McKnight, Greg McMichael, Rusty Meacham, Brian Meadows, Brandon Medders, Jenrry Mejia, Orlando Mercado, Cla Meredith, Jose Mesa, Randy Messenger, Hensley Meulens, Dan Miceli, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Millar, Lastings Milledge, Andrew Miller, Ray Miller, Trever Miller, Alan Mills, Blas Minor, Kevin Mitchell, Sergio Mitre, Garrett Mock, Chad Moeller, Bengie Molina, Raul Mondesi, Craig Monroe, Rich Monteleone, Jeff Montgomery, Melvin Mora, Jerry Morales, Mike Mordecai, Nyjer Morgan, Hal Morris, Brandon Morrow, Brandon Moss, Guillermo Mota, Jeff Motuzas, Edward Mujica, Terry Mulholland, Bobby Munoz, Scott Munter, Jeff Murphy, Matt Murton, Mike Mussina, Mike Myers, Charles Nagy, Mike Napoli, Johnny Narron, Bob Natal, Dioner Navarro, Jaime Navarro, Denny Neagle, Blaine Neal, Jeff Nelson, Robb Nen, Pat Neshek, Josh Newman, Kevin Nicholson, Randy Niemann, Jon Niese, Tom Nieto, Juan Nieves, Melvin Nieves, Wilbert Nieves, Dustin Nippert, C. J. Nitkowski, Jayson Nix, Matt Nokes, Ricky Nolasco, Vladimir Nunez, Jon Nunnally, Alex Ochoa, Ron Oester, Jose Offerman, Will Ohman, Darren Oliver, Garrett Olson, Greg Olson, Paul O’Neill, Magglio Ordonez, Rey Ordonez, Ramon Ortiz, Daniel Ortmeier, Donovan Osborne, Keith Osik, Antonio Osuna, Ricky Otero, Akinori Otsuka, Lyle Overbay, Jerry Owens, Micah Owings, Juan Padilla, Angel Pagan, Matt Pagnozzi, Tom Pagnozzi, Dean Palmer, Mark Parent, Bobby Parnell, Chad Paronto, Gerardo Parra, Lance Parrish, Corey Patterson, Gil Patterson, John Patterson, Carl Pavano, Greg Pavlick, Jay Payton, Jake Peavy, Bill Pecota, Mike Pelfrey, Alejandro Pena, Carlos Pena, Jesus Pena, Terry Pendleton, Brad Penny, Jhonny Peralta, Troy Percival, Carlos Perez, Chris Perez, Eddie Perez, Melido Perez, Oliver Perez, Rafael Perez, Timo Perez, Yorkis Perez, Matt Perisho, Gerald Perry, Herbert Perry, Robert Person, Johnny Pesky, Rick Peterson, Gary Pettis, Marty Pevey, Tommy Phelps, Brandon Phillips, Jason Phillips, Mike Piazza, Renyel Pinto, Jim Pittsley, Dan Plesac, Scott Podsednik, Kevin Polcovich, Dick Pole, Luis Polonia, Bo Porter, Lou Pote, Jeremy Powell, Martin Prado, Todd Pratt, Bryan Price, Curtis Pride, Tom Prince, Bret Prinz, Tim Pugh, Albert Pujols, Luis Pujols, Bill Pulsipher, J. J. Putz, Chad Qualls, Paul Quantrill, Ruben Quevedo, Robb Quinlan, Omar Quintanilla, Ryan Raburn, Dave Racaniello, Brad Radke, Tim Raines, Edwar Ramirez, Hanley Ramirez, Bobby Ramos, Pat Rapp, Darrell Rasner, Jon Rauch, Claude Raymond, Britt Reames, Jeff Reardon, Mike Redmond, Jeff Reed, Chad Reineke, Desi Relaford, Mike Remlinger, Al Reyes, Dennys Reyes, Jo-Jo Reyes, Jose Reyes, Rene Reyes, Armando Reynoso, Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Ridgway, Dave Righetti, Jose Rijo, Juan Rincon, Ricardo Rincon, Royce Ring, Billy Ripken, David Riske, Bill Risley, Luis Rivas, Ben Rivera, Luis Rivera, Mariano Rivera, Saul Rivera, Joe Roa, Bip Roberts, Brian Roberts, Grant Roberts, Ryan Roberts, Willis Roberts, David Robertson, Bill Robinson, Tom Robson, John Rocker, Fernando Rodney, Eddie Rodriguez, Felix Rodriguez, Francisco Rodriguez, Luis Rodriguez, Rich Rodriguez, Wandy Rodriguez, Cookie Rojas, Mel Rojas, Scott Rolen, Jimmy Rollins, Ron Romanick, J. C. Romero, Adam Rosales, Brian Rose, Cody Ross, Vern Ruhle, Glendon Rusch, B. J. Ryan, CC Sabathia, Bret Saberhagen, Chris Sabo, Juan Salas, Roger Salkeld, Jeff Samardzija, Anibal Sanchez, Duaner Sanchez, Freddy Sanchez, Gaby Sanchez, Reggie Sanders, Tommy Sandt, Johan Santana, Julio Santana, Jose Santiago, Ramon Santiago, Omir Santos, Victor Santos, Dennis Sarfate, Mackey Sasser, Joe Saunders, Michael Saunders, Bob Scanlan, Gene Schall, Nate Schierholtz, Brian Schneider, Scott Schoeneweis, Pete Schourek, Steve Schrenk, Tim Scott, Tony Scott, Marco Scutaro, Bobby Seay, Kevin Sefcik, Zack Segovia, Aaron Sele, Jae Weong Seo, Jeff Shaw, Danny Sheaffer, Ryan Shealy, Ben Sheets, Gary Sheffield, John Shelby, Glenn Sherlock, Darrell Sherman, George Sherrill, Razor Shines, Tsuyoshi Shinjo, Rick Short, Ruben Sierra, Carlos Silva, Jose Silva, Nelson Silverio, Bill Simas, Randall Simon, Grady Sizemore, Scott Sizemore, Joel Skinner, Doug Slaten, Terrmel Sledge, Heathcliff Slocumb, Aaron Small, John Smiley, Dwight Smith, Jason Smith, Joe Smith, Ozzie Smith, John Smoltz, Ian Snell, Sam Snider, J. T. Snow, Alay Soler, Steve Soliz, Joakim Soria, Rafael Soriano, Jorge Sosa, Jeff Sparks, Chris Speier, Ryan Speier, Paul Spoljaric, Tim Spooneybarger, Dennis Springer, Russ Springer, Chris Spurling, Mike Stanton, John Stearns, John Stephenson, Kelly Stinnett, Kevin Stocker, Brian Stokes, Todd Stottlemyre, Darryl Strawberry, Scott Strickland, Mark Strittmatter, Brent Strom, Tanyon Sturtze, Cory Sullivan, Ichiro Suzuki, Nick Swisher, Kazuhito Tadano, So Taguchi, Hisanori Takahashi, Ken Takahashi, Taylor Tankersley, Jack Taschner, Fernando Tatis, Eddie Taubensee,
Julian Tavarez, Willy Taveras, Reggie Taylor, Miguel Tejada, Anthony Telford, Dave Telgheder, Bob Tewksbury, Josh Thole, Brad Thomas, Jim Thome, Justin Thompson, Milt Thompson, Ryan Thompson, John Thomson, Matt Thornton, Mike Timlin, Matt Tolbert, Brett Tomko, Jeff Torborg, Yorvit Torrealba, Carlos Tosca, Josh Towers, Steve Trachsel, Chad Tracy, Matt Treanor, Tom Trebelhorn, Ramon Troncoso, Troy Tulowitzki, Jason Tyner, Dan Uggla, Willie Upshaw, Tom Urbani, Juan Uribe, Merkin Valdez, Eric Valent, John Valentin, Jose Valentin, Bobby Valentine, Claudio Vargas, Jason Vargas, Gary Varsho, Esmerling Vasquez, Joe Vavra, Randy Velarde, Guillermo Velasquez, Will Venable, Michael Venafro, Robin Ventura, Jose Veras, Justin Verlander, Ron Villone, Fernando Vina, Joe Vitiello, Jose Vizcaino, Luis Vizcaino, Omar Vizquel, Ed Vosberg, Pete Vuckovich, Billy Wagner, Rick Waits, Matt Walbeck, Chico Walker, Jamie Walker, Kevin Walker, Pete Walker, Dave Wallace, Tim Wallach, Chien-Ming Wang, Duane Ward, Turner Ward, Jarrod Washburn, Ron Washington, Chris Waters, Alan Watson, David Weathers, Jered Weaver, John Wehner, Robbie Weinhardt, Kip Wells, Vernon Wells, Turk Wendell, Jayson Werth, John Wetteland, Dan Wheeler, Gabe White, Jerry White, Rick White, Rondell White, Sean White, Wally Whitehurst, Ernie Whitt, Ty Wigginton, Marc Wilkins, Rick Wilkins, Bernie Williams, Brian Williams, Eddie Williams, Gerald Williams, Mike Williams, Mark Williamson, Scott Williamson, Carl Willis, Reggie Willits, Bobby Wilson, C. J. Wilson, Jack Wilson, Josh Wilson, Mookie Wilson, Paul Wilson, Vance Wilson, DeWayne Wise, Jay Witasick, Bobby Witt, Randy Wolf, Tony Womack, Kerry Wood, Tim Wood, Chris Woodward, David Wright, Michael Wuertz, Esteban Yan, Masato Yoshii, Chris Young, Carlos Zambrano, Victor Zambrano, Clay Zavada, Todd Zeile, Ryan Zimmerman, and Barry Zito.
1 There are two Chris Carters in Major League Baseball; this is the one who debuted with the Red Sox in 2008. More disambiguation: the Alex Gonzalez on my list is the guy who debuted with the Marlins in 1998; Luis Gonzalez refers to the Rockies’ infielder from 2004–07; Jose Reyes is the All-Star shortstop; Francisco Rodriguez is the closer known as K-Rod; Mike Stanton is the reliever who appeared in 1,178 games; Chris Young is the outfielder who debuted with the Diamondbacks in 2006. Finally, Alberto Castillo appears twice because two different players with that name have given me baseballs. The first is the journeyman catcher. The second is the left-handed reliever. (Or maybe it’s the other way around.) I’d use middle initials to differentiate the players, but that’s not always possible.
