Posted 10:54 AM by Floyd

I read in the Oakland A's newsgroup that pitcher Ted Lilly's full name is Theodore Roosevelt Lilly. No one would think twice about this if Lilly were black -- I remember with fondness a high school running back who played against our school who was named Marcus Anthony -- but Lilly is, well, lily-white. There were a few mocking followups, but no explanation of where Lilly got this name.

Here is the explanation, in an ESPN article: Lilly is Theodore Roosevelt Lilly III. It was his grandfather who was named after Roosevelt:

``My great-grandfather rode with Theodore Roosevelt, admired him and respected him, worked for him, pretty much,'' Lilly said. ``He was a Rough Rider, and named my grandfather Theodore Roosevelt. That's how I got that name, from the admiration of being around him.

I picked up this link from the Elephants in Oakland blog. Elephants is a fun read, bombastic and opinionated; the layout is a wonderful, hideous, garish green and gold.