Truly Great Names - The Best of the Best

By being named on 55% or more of their given ballot, these names have become part of the names whose excellence is agreed on by all of the blogosphere. There aren't many of them (55% of the vote in a totally arbitrary voting process is a lot harder than you'd imagine), and so the fact that these names garnered so much support shows you that they are, in fact, the Greatest Names in our Great Sports Name Hall of Fame.

Rusty Kuntz - Nominated on Ballot One, elected on Ballot One (61%). Played 8 years of MLB (1979-1985), reaching a peak with a sacrifice fly in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series. One of the truly excellent names in the sports world, Rusty had garnered the highest percent of ballot nominations in a single ballot at the time of his entrance, as he was on 61% of the ballots from Ballot One. Great Names are sort of like children, as you really shouldn't pick favorites, but you always do. Ours is Rusty, and it's not even really close.  He's the Godfather of the GSNHOF, and I think that's a position he'll likely hold for all time.


God Shammgod - Nominated on Ballot One, elected on Ballot One (55.6%). God Shammgod was nominated for and elected on ballot one, with 55% of the vote.  20 games in the NBA were all God Shammgod ever saw, but it was enough to get him noticed by sportscasters and allow his name the true exposure it needed to be truly great.  Other fun facts about God Shammgod are that he had his own move, "The Shammgod," and that he changed his name to Shammgod Wells a few years ago (sort of a reverse Boof Bonser, but we knew your birth given name Shammgod, and we knew that it belonged here)

Dick Trickle - Nominated on Ballot One, elected on Ballot Two (50%, 55.3%) Easily the happiest man among our Elected, Dick Trickle was an auto racing lifer who won zero Nascar (Sprint Cup? Pfffft) races but smoked in his car during cautions, making him totally cool. His run to the Truly Great mirrored his time in Nascar, as he was nominated for Ballot One but did not make it in despite his truly excellent name. On Ballot Two, however, without the stiff competition of Rusty Kuntz and God Shammgod, Dick Trickle received a slight boost in voting and ended up with 55%, enough to make him the third member of our Truly Great portion of the GSNHOF.


Fair Hooker - Nominated on Ballot Four, elected on Ballot Four (58%). This selection may make me happier than anyone else's so far. Why? Because Fair did what almost no Brown has done since the 50's - he accomplished something. Fair was the only name elected from Ballot Four, and did it with flair, earning 58% of the total vote, second at the time only to the immortal Rusty Kuntz. Fair Hooker also was the first reader nominated name to make it in to the Truly Great Names portion of our Hall, and so we've got to give him (and the dude who nominated him, named Matt) kudos for that.


Wonderful Terrific Monds the Third - Nominated on Ballot One, elected on Ballot Seven (44%, 36%, 43%, 42%, 42%, 40%, 65%). Well it's about time! Without WTM3, there likely wouldn't be a GSNHOF, let alone a blog writing about that Hall. Yet Monds, after being the first nomination ever to the Hall, sat and watched as Ballot after Ballot passed by without him being elected. Finally on his 7th and final try, Monds garnered enough support to not only make it in, but to do so with flair, setting an enshrinee record with 65% of the Ballots. Monds was never on less than 36% of the Ballot, so it was always just a matter of getting enough support. And finally, he did.

Razor Shines - Nominated on Ballot Five, elected on Ballot Seven (25%, 37%, 55%). Shines only scored 25% of the vote on Ballot Five, his first time appearing as a nomination. Yet much like during his playing career, he quietly kept plugging away - first with a 37% on Ballot Six, and then with a 55% on Ballot Seven. And that's all she wrote, at 55% is the minimum needed for enshrinement. Was it the flashiest entry into the Hall? No. But Razor is all smiles, and I don't blame him!

Pete LaCock - Nominated on Ballot Six, elected on Ballot Eight (25.7%, 40%, 55.6%).  Like Razor Shines before him, Pete LaCock started slow on his first Ballot with barely a quarter of the vote.  But two Ballots later, LaCock showed he belonged with a solid 55.6% on a 65 vote ballot.  His 36 votes is an all-time ballot for a HOF entrant, and may stand as a record for the rest of the GSNHOF's days.  As such, I'd say Pete LaCock truly belongs among the great named elite.



Feel free to look up some names that missed making the Hall on our Good Names page, or check out Ballot Eight to see who is up for voting next time around!