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Baseball Player Name of the Week

Today we’ve got a tie between a couple of Vons:

First, VonRay Opolous, for whom there is sadly no photo available. Opolous played in 1969 for the Mets minor-league affiliate in Marion, VA — alongside the equally-excellently named Victor Worry. (Worry managed a 2-0 record that year despite an 11.77 ERA, but his career lasted just 13 innings.)

and:

Fritz Von Kolnitz. His full name was Alfred Holmes Von Kolnitz, so no wonder someone came up with “Fritz.” He played for the Reds and White Sox from 1914 to 1916, and ended up with a career line of .212/.264/.261. He… must’ve been an excellent fielder. My favorite part, though, is that he played on that 1914 team with Fritz Mollwitz.

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3 comments

1 Bluenatic   ~  Feb 11, 2011 5:02 pm

Every time I see a post in this series I think of Dave Frishberg's "Van Lingle Mungo": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKzobTlF8fM

2 a.O   ~  Feb 11, 2011 9:04 pm

VonRay Opolous is my uncle. I was born the summer he played in Marion.

3 Emma Span   ~  Feb 12, 2011 2:25 pm

[2] Wow - that's awesome!

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