In an effort to make up for an egregious oversight, CWAMB is proud to offer a birthday salute to the greatest name in the history of Major League Baseball… a day late.
No, not Barry Bonds, or Ted Williams, or Stan Musial, or Joe DiMaggio, or Babe Ruth… the Greatest Name in Major League Baseball History belongs to Pete LaCock, born January 17, 1952.

“With a name like Pete LaCock, I can assure you that my life was a living hell until I was 17!” (image courtesy of baseballcardproject.com)

Ralph Pierre “Pete” LaCock was the first-round pick (the 20th pick overall) of the Chicago Cubs in the 1970 amateur draft. Despite having little ability to hit with any sort of power and no speed to speak of, Pete sprung to the majors as a first baseman and corner outfielder with the Cubs in 1972. Despite the fact that he whacked a career-high eight home runs for the Cubs in 1976, he was packaged to the Kansas City Royals after the season. LaCock’s best all-around season was 1978, as he poked out a .295 batting average, hammered five homers, and drove home 48 runners.

LaCock’s sweet stroke rarely missed its mark; he struck out only 171 times in 1,943 plate appearances. (image courtesy of fansedge.com)

LaCock would play with the Royals until 1980. He retired with a respectable career batting average of .257, with 27 home runs and 224 runs batted in.

Happy Belated Birthday, sir. Without you, my world would be a little less full of unfunny, juvenile humor.