The 5 most Christmas names in Rockies history

Only about 1,200 men have played a game for the Colorado Rockies. And of those, just a handful have Christmas-y names. Sometimes it seems like there’s an endless supply of players with fun names, but really, it’s a small group to choose from. Before we get to the top five,

The only if you add another word category

There are just three names in here: Alex White, Gabe White, and Derrick White. This is kind of a stretch because not only do we need to add another word to make it a Christmas name, but that word is “Christmas.” One can also argue for the inclusion Walt Weiss, but nobody träumt von einem weißen Weihnachten auf deutsch. The same goes for Henry Blanco, but for a different reason. It would not only impose an English expression on to Spanish, but also the Anglo-centric idea that it’s supposed to be snowy during Christmas.

The food category

These ones are also a stretch, and somehow they all ended up being named “Jeff.” We have Jeff Baker because who doesn’t like freshly baked something on Christmas. Then there’s Jeff Barry because you need berries to adorn your holiday wreaths. Finally, we have Jeff McCurry because you can eat whatever you like on Christmas. I’m making ribs.

The name sounds like an actor from a black and white Christmas movie, ca. 1951, category

Garry Bennet leads the pack here. He’s followed by Jerald Clark, Gary Wayne, and Harvey Pulliam. Try and tell me they didn’t play minor roles alongside Jimmy Stewart in It’s a Wonderful Life.

The name sounds like a character from a serialized nineteenth century novel category

Todd Hollandsworth is the leader here because those genres have names that are either have pithy and memorable or multi-syllabic and memorable. The best ones have both. Todd’s a shoe-in here because with “worth” in the last name you know he’s the rich villain. Cliff Brumbaugh gets an honorable mention, as does Preston Wilson for the 21st century adaptation.

The just names category

If the religious Christmas story is for you, two names stick out: Jesús Sánchez and Angel Echevarria. The Rockies have had seven players named “Joe” (Beimel, Davenport, Girardi, Grahe, Kennedy, Koshanksy, and Roa), but none of them have gone by “Joseph.” For those who lean toward the Santa Claus story, the Rockies have had two Nicks (Massett and Hundley), but neither went by “Nicholas.”

The five most Christmas names category:

• Jamey Carroll
• Jon Garland
• Matt Holliday
• Keith Shepherd
• Trevor Story

How would you order them, and who’d I miss?