The is pride in your name and I've always collected uniforms with "Taylor" on the back of them and gotten autographs from most major league players who share the name with me. While some would say this is self-indulgent and investors need not apply, this hobby pursuit is juts for fun - pure and simple.

My "All Ted" team even has a noteworthy owner, Ted Turner. Turner, you'll recall, actually managed the Braves for one game (in 1977, he lost) before organized baseball cracked down on him and told him to "cut that out".

The playing manager would be "Teddy Ballgame", Ted Williams. Ted managed the Senators and Rangers and, of course, put up some astounding numbers in his 19 year career with the Red Sox. His coaches could be Ted Lyons (who I would also expect to pitch) and Ted Sullivan, who managed four teams between 1883 and 1888, splitting 264 games.

At first base I'd have Ted Kluszewski, 15 years in the big leagues, and a hulking presence at the first sack with his biceps bulging out of the cut off sleeves of uniform shirt. Big Klu whalloped 279 homers playing mostly for the Reds.

At second base I decided on Ted Sizemore. Sizemore batted .262 over 12 years, 1411 games for the Dodgers, Cardinals and four others. Backing him up would be Ted Kubiak (10 years, .231) and Ted Lepcio (.245, 10 years).

Teddy Martinez gets the nod at shortstop over Teddy "Killer" Kazanski, a onetime Phillies bonus baby. Martinez spent nine years in the majors, batting .240 for four big league clubs. Kazanski's career spanned six years and he had a lifetime .217 mark.

Ted Cox will be my third baseman, despite only spending five years in the majors. Cox did bat .245 will playing for four teams. His backup, Ted Cieslak, only saw action in 85 games for the 1944 Phils, batting .245, as well.

My outfield is a good one because Ted Williams is in it. The other starters would be Ted Uhlaender, who played eight years, mostly with the Twins and batted .263 and Ted Savage, a nine-year man, with nine different teams and a .233 lifetime mark. Backups would be Ted Beard (7 years, .198), Ted Ford (4 years, .219), Ted Gullic (2 years, .247).

My catcher would be Ted Simmons, of course. Simmons played for 21 years, batted .285 over 2456 games, with the Cardinals, Brewers and Braves. Backing him up are Ted Petoskey (2 years, .167) and Ted Pawelek (1 year, four games, .250).

My pitching staff would be headed up by Ted Lyons (21 years, 260-230). I'd also have Ted Abernathy (14 years, 63-69 mostly as a reliever), Ted Blankenship (7 years, 77-79), Ted Bowsfield (7 years, 37-39), Ted Lewis (6 years, 94-64 at the turn of the century), Ted Power (12 years, 66-65) and Ted Wills (5 years, 8-11).

For the National Anthem we'd have Teddy Pendergast at the mike and Ted Husing would do play-by-play.

My Dad's name was Henry Taylor and he was a pretty fair soccer player as a kid (and my grandfather, John Henry Taylor could golf a little bit). Grandfather was known as "J.H." mostly. My Dad, who was born in England, hated the name Henry, hated it because kids called him "Heinie", so he went through life known as "Jack". And so when I was born and my Mom wanted to name me after my Dad he said that she shouldn't because he didn't like the name. He wanted to name me Theodore. They struck a middle ground. They formally named me Henry but nicknamed me Ted. Got that? (With all due respect to family heritage, we did not name any sons Henry, though our youngest son, Brett, does carry Henry as his middle name.)

So here comes the "All Henry" team and it would be a pretty good, there were so prestigious hitters named Henry over the years. First of all, we'd have Hank Greenberg as our GM and Hank Bauer, who won a world's championship in 1966 with the Orioles as our skipper. Coaches would include Heinie Groh, Henry Larkin, Henry "Denny" McKnight and Henry "Hank" O'Day.

At first base we'd have a guy who was known as Lou during his career, but his first name was really Henry, one Henry Louis Gehrig. Lou's stats (17 years, .340, 493 homers) eclipse those of Hank Greenberg (13 years, .313, 331 homers), but I suspect we'd find a way to get both men in the lineup. Backup is my favorite Hank "Bow Wow" Arft.

My second sacker would be Heine Groh who had a successful 16-year-career with the GIANTS, Reds and Pirates and owned a .292 lifetime batting average. Backup would be Henry Reitz who played between 1893-99 and also owned a .292 lifetime mark.

The shortstop would be Heine Schuble who played seven years and had a .251 lifetime batting mark. His backup would be Henry Easterday (4 years, .250 average).

At third base I'll go with my personal favorite player from my boyhood, Hank Majeski. Hank spent 13 years in the majors, fashioned a .279 lifetime mark, mostly with the Philadelphia A's. I have Hank Thompson as his backup. Hank batted .267 over a career that spanned 1947-56. Hank Allen could be our utility player. Hank saw seven years of big league service and batted .241.

Henry Aaron is my rock in the outfield. Hammerin' Hank's stats are mind-boggling, 755 homers, .305 average, mostly with the Braves. Other outfielders would be Hank Bauer (14 years, .277, 164 homers) and Hank Sauer (15 years, .266 288 homers). Hank Edwards (11 years, .280) heads a list of reserves that also includes Henry Larkin (10 years, .303) and Hank Leiber (10 years, .288 average).

Hank Severeid (15 years, .289 average) is my catcher, backed up by Hank Gowdy (17 years, .270) and Hank Foiles (11 years, .243).

Hank Borowy is probably the ace of my staff. Hank's career spanned 10 years and he had a 108-82 mark with the Yankees, Cubs, Phillies and others. Also Hank Aguirre (16 years, 75-72), Hank Behrman (4 years, 24-17), Handsome Henry Boyle (6 years, 89-111), Hank Fischer (6 years, 30-39) and Hank Wyse (8 years, 79-70) with the Cubs, A's and Senators. Three guys with the last name of Henry, Bill (16 years, 46-50), Dutch (8 years, 27-43) and Dwayne (9 years, 11-13) round out my Henry pitching corps.

Henry Fonda would do a dramatic reading of the National Anthem prior to the game.

The "All Taylor" team will be a piece of cake for the clubhouse man because he can get the name "Taylor" screened on the backs of every shirt - saving lots of stitching time for him. My manager, Zack Taylor, also makes the club as a catcher. Poor old Zack had the misfortune to manage the St. Louis Browns 1946-51. His coach will be George Taylor, who piloted Brooklyn in 1884 to a 40-64 record.

My first baseman comes out of the Negro leagues and I don't think that anyone will argue that Ben Taylor (17 years, .324 lifetime average) is the best man named Taylor to ever play that spot. His backups will be Bennie Taylor (.231, 52 games over four seasons) and Fred Taylor (.191, 22 games over two seasons).

Tony Taylor would be my second baseman. A 19-year big league performer, Taylor saw action in 2195 games - mostly for the Phillies - and had a lifetime .261 batting average. As a kid I loved seeing his name in the boxscore as "T.Taylor". Taylor Duncan, a late 70's infielder with the Cardinals and the A's would be the backup.

At shortstop we are a little light. Harry Taylor who played four years (1890-93) is the only one I can find. Harry did bat .286 in his tour with Louisville and Baltimore, though.

Candy Jim Taylor, a Negro Leagues standout (1910-28) will get the nod at third. Candy hit .275 over 16 years. Backups would be Eddie Taylor who played for the 1926 Braves, hitting .268, and Tommy Taylor, who spent one year with the Senators (1924) and batted .260.

My starting outfield would be Danny Taylor (9 years, .297 with Senators, Cubs and Dodgers), Taylor Douthit (11 years, .291 with the Cards, reds and Cubs) and Carl Taylor (.266, 1968-73) with the Pirates, Cards and Royals. Backups would be Bill Taylor (.237 with the Giants and Tigers) and Bob Taylor, who hit just .190 in 63 games with the 1970 San Francisco Giants.

As I mentioned before, Zack Taylor would be player-manager at catcher (16 years, with the Dodgers, Braves, Giants and Yankees, .261), ably supported by Hawk Taylor (11 years, .218) and Sammy Taylor (6 years, .245).

On the mound would be Luther "Dummy" Taylor, who fashioned a 115-106 mark between 1900 and 1908 pitching for the Giants and Cleveland, Three-time-20-game winner "Brewery" Jack Taylor, 120-117 over 9 years (1891-99) with the Giants, Phillies, Cards and Reds, who was not to be confused with "Brakeman" Jack Taylor who won 151 games (against 139 losses) pitching between 1898 and 1907. Rounding out the s6taff would be Taylor "T-Bone" Phillips (6 years, 16-22). Ron Taylor (11 years, 45-43). and Chuck Taylor (8 years, 28-20).

Ms. Taylor Dane would be on hand to sing the national anthem, while sportscaster Taylor Grant would be in the booth doing play-by-play.

Irma Pomales-Conner passed along these little trinkets of information. Did you know that Michael Jordan made over $300,000-a-game? That broke down to $10,000-a-minute. With endorsements of over $40 million he made $178,100-a-day, working or not.

He made $52,000-a-night sleeping (assuming seven hours) and when he went to a move it cost him $7, but he made $18,550 while he was there. If he made a five-minute egg he earned $618 while boiling it.

If you were given a penny for every the dollars he made, you'd live comfortably on $65,000-a-year. In his last season he made more than twice as much money as all the U. S. Presidents combined. Makes you wonder why he retired doesn't it?

But here's the kicker. If Michael saved 100% of his income for the next 250 he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today. Game over, computer geek wins!

Finally, All America Collectibles of Fair Lawn NJ has struck a deal with Joe DiMaggio's estate to purchase 237 very special limited edition LeRoy Nieman lithos. The lithos are mounted, framed and have a special Yankee Clipper Enterprises seal. Each on is signed by DiMaggio. Cost is $4750 each. For more information call 1-800-Woody-64.

Though the closest he ever came to playing for the Philadelphia A's was a stinit with the minor league Albany team (that wore an 'A' similar to Connie Mack's team) Edwin C. "Alabama" Pitts may have been one of the nation's greatest athletes of the 1930's - perhaps one of the greatest of all-time - had things been different. Instead his life was one of constant turmoil, a jail term, too many women, a legal battle involving the commissioner of baseball and, tragically, a knifing that ended his life at age 30.

Baseball's Lawrence "Crash" Davis, a legendary athlete in his own right, played with Pitts when Davis was a young man and recalled him as being "..an outstanding athlete, great competitor, and a terrific guy." Davis was 18, Pitts, 28, and out of organized ball at the time they met and both were playing in what was then an "outlaw" league, but today would be called an "independent" league. "You could tell by the way he carried himself, the way he acted and the way people reacted to him that he was something special, the women just threw themselves at him," Davis said.

In 1930 Pitts and four other men were convicted of the armed robbery of a New York City chain store at 113 Amsterdam Avenue. A crime that netted $76.25 ($15.25-a-man), a lousy payday even by depression era standards. So Pitts, who was just out of high school, ended up in Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, NY, where he served five years and two months (he had three years taken off his sentence for good behavior). And it was in prison that he blossomed in to an outstanding athlete, excelling in baseball, football and field events.

At Sing Sing Pitts became something of a national celebrity. Not only was he an outstanding athlete there, quarterbacking the football team and playing centerfield for the baseball team, he was also curator of the prison zoo and, for good measure, regularly squired the daughter of prison warden Lewis Lawes who later said, "..if I trust Pitts with my daughter Cherie I think he should be safe enough for baseball.." Warden Lawes, in today's lexicon, actually served as Pitts' agent and it was he who made the initial contact with pro baseball.

On June 6, 1935 the day he was released from prison Hall of Famer Johnny Evers, then general manager of the Albany (NY) Senators of the International League, was waiting with a contract and signed Pitts for his ball club. Alabama's deal called for him to earn the princely sum of $200-per-month. Albany was a farm club of the Washington Senators and many people felt that, in no time, Pitts would be playing in the nation's capitol.

But before Pitts ever played an inning for Albany Judge W. C. "Bill" Braham, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Clubs (the minor league governing body) ruled that Pitts could not play because he was a convicted felon.

"We all have a natural tendency to help the fellow who is down," Braham said, "but we think the public would resent the signing of this player in organized baseball."

And did he ever guess wrong on that.

The story took on a national perspective and the news media subsequently ripped Braham and labeled him nothing more than a rubber stamp for Branch Rickey and the St. Louis Cardinals. The St. Louis-based Sporting News (then revered as the Baseball Bible) was the only paper to support Braham's decision and as a consequence also got severely criticized for their stance by their fellow members of the fourth estate. It's ironic that Rickey, who would one-day break baseball's color line, took the hard line when it came to allowing an ex-convict to play professional baseball. It's likely that Rickey was annoyed that Evers had signed Pitts first and was just "getting even".

When Pitts arrived in Albany he was greeted by 300 fans and had a police motorcycle escort to Johnny Evers' office. Three days later Evers learned that minor league baseball's executive committee, headed by Warren C. Giles of the Rochester club (who would one day be president of the National League) had upheld Braham's decision.

Evers, a national baseball figure for over a quarter of a century was furious. "I will retire from baseball," he said, "I know this is a broad statement but I will make good on it. I absolutely will get out of the game."

Pitts was crushed. "This is the toughest blow of my life," he said.

But it wasn't over.

Evers was livid and appealed to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, baseball's crusty and stern commissioner. And in a surprising turn of events Landis, the same man who banned eight White Sox players from baseball because of the World Series scandal - despite their being acquitted by a court of law -ruled that Pitts had paid his debt to society and should be allowed to earn his livelihood through professional baseball.

The Scrantonian (a Pennsylvania daily newspaper) lauded Landis's decision and said, "..thank God for baseball's commissioner, the Sporting News is the poorest example of an apologetic weak sister. Obviously Mr. Landis doesn't read the paper, or at least pay any attention to its' editorial policy.."

Landis was quoted in the press as saying that he felt that the robbery, which Pitts committed "drew out of an escapade wherein Pitts was drunk and hungry". Compassion from a strange source, you must agree, since Landis was the very same baseball commissioner who banned Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven other Chicago White Sox players from baseball for life despite the fact that all were acquitted in a court of law. Obviously sticking up a grocery store wasn't as serious a crime as, perhaps, throwing the 1919 World's Series in Landis' estimation.

When Montella passed along the information about the Landis decision on Pitts current Commissioner Allen "Bud" Selig responded by saying "..we are reviewing the entire file in this matter, which stretches back 77 years..and I, too, am sensitive about this issue." What Selig didn't say, but is quite evident, is that the Pitts decision, rendered by Landis, set a precedent that Selig could call upon to re-instate Jackson.

Ms.Marcley referred to Landis as "The One Man Supreme Court of Baseball".

Though sympathetic to Pitts there were members of the press corps who felt that he had little chance to succeed in pro ball and some went so far as to criticize Albany for signing him saying that they did so simply to put fans in the ballpark who, otherwise, weren't all that interested in supporting an eighth place team. The feeling was that the level of the game he was embarking on was far superior to that of the competition he played behind prison walls.

On June 23, 1935 Alabama Pitts made his professional baseball debut with the Albany Senators before a delighted and noisy crowd of 7.752 fans. Wearing number "7", Pitts played both ends of a double-header and went two for five in the first game, driving in a run, scoring another and making four putouts in centerfield. He went hitless in the nightcap, but earned the support of both the fans and his teammates with his all out hustle.

The fact that Pitts was a good looking guy, an outstanding athlete and national news resulted in an avalanche of marriage proposals. The New York Daily Mirror (on July 1, 1935) reported that Pitts had received at least 35 proposals of marriage included two with Park Avenue return addresses. Ironically Pitts was already married but chose not to talk about it, telling the newspaper only that he hadn't seen his wife since 1930 and guessed that she was living "somewhere in New York". He would only tell the press that her name was "Crews". When asked if that was her first name or last name he said, "I don't care to talk about it".

Once his baseball career was underway Pitts also received offers from at least three professional football teams - The Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, and the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL. Pitts did play several games in 1935 for the Birds, but never really made an impact other than in the newspapers. The touring "House of David" baseball team wanted Alabama to join them on their barnstorming tour but he declined because he didn't want to grow a beard.

As was the case in those days, sports celebrities were big attractions on the vaudeville circuit and Pitts, who signed a vaudeville contract on September 2, 1935, had bookings in Schenectady, Dayton, Bridgeport, Philadelphia and other cities, being paid between $100 and $300 an appearance. Al Mamaux, Pitts' manager at Albany, also signed a contract to appear in vaudeville with Pitts, obviously to keep an eye on him.

It would be nice to say that Pitts had a great professional career, but in reality he didn't. He spent part of the season injured and played in 43 games for Albany in 1935, batting just .233. As early as August 3 reports appeared in the press saying that Senator owner Joe Cambria was considering farming Pitts out to Harrisburg. Cambria eventually denied the rumor and told Pitts that he'd go south with Albany in the coming spring, but, of course he never did. Pitts played for York (Pa.) in the New York Pennsylvania League in 1936 and saw action in just 41 games and hit just .224.

He saw limited action in 1937 with Winston-Salem in the Piedmont League, appearing in just 23 games, though he did hit .278. He then went in to the "outlaw" leagues - where he played for both Charlotte and Valdese - and didn't play pro ball again until 1940 when he made a comeback (at age 29) with Hickory of the Tar heel League and had his best year as a pro. That year in 64 games Pitts batted .302. And his career was over.

On June 7, 1941 Pitts, out of baseball, serving as the local high school baseball coach, and working as a knitter in a Valdese, NC, hosiery mill, went to a roadside tavern in Morgantown, NC, where he got in to a fight with a man named Newland Lafever because he had danced with Lafever's girlfriend. During the fight Pitts suffered a stab wound that slit through an artery in his right arm and within three hours he was dead. Married, for a second time, for just three years, Pitts left his widow and a daughter and a lot of people wondering about what might have been.