Towns with the names of players (past or present) on sports teams in the region

[KCRoadFan]

Fred Lynn was an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox in the '70s - Lynn, MA, is a suburb north of Boston.

Royce Clayton was a shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in the late '90s - Clayton, MO, is an inner-ring west suburb of St. Louis.

Throughout the country, can you think of any other athletes - past or present, in any sport - who happen play or have played on a the team nearest to a town or city with the same name as the player's last name (or even first name)? I'm sure there's at least a few of them.

[Big John]

Desmond Howard, various teams.  But with Packers as Super Bowl XXXI MVP.  Howard is a suburb of Green Bay.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Does Jim Thorpe, PA count?

[NWI_Irish96]

Gary Peters was a star pitcher for the White Sox in the 1960s.

[Alps]

Ewing NJ is north of Trenton so technically would be in my region.

[JayhawkCO]

Off the top of my head for Minnesota:

Jack Morris -> Morris
Dave Winfield -> Winfield Township

[davewiecking]

Stephen Strasburg (Virginia) is on the Nats active roster...

[KCRoadFan]

Ewing NJ is north of Trenton so technically would be in my region.

Was Patrick Ewing ever on the 76ers? I know he was on the Knicks - however, Trenton's a lot closer to Philly than to NYC.

[rlb2024]

Foster Moreau plays for the New Orleans Saints (and previously at LSU).  Moreauville, LA is in Avoyelles Parish, northwest of Baton Rouge.

[Henry]

I know this is not what you wanted, but Grant Park in Chicago shares its name with the starting power forward for the Bulls in their first three-peat.

[jlam]

I'm sure somebody with the surname "Houston" has played for the Houston Texans/Oilers/Astros/Rockets etc. It's a pretty common last name.

[Bruce]

At one point in 2020, Ross County F.C. in Scotland had three goalkeepers named Ross Doohan, Ross Laidlaw, and Ross Munro. There were also two more Rosses in the outfield.

The team plays in the town of Dingwall and had a player named Tony Dingwall from 2014 to 2017.

Source: BBC Sport

[Alps]

Ewing NJ is north of Trenton so technically would be in my region.

Was Patrick Ewing ever on the 76ers? I know he was on the Knicks - however, Trenton's a lot closer to Philly than to NYC.

Trenton is the cutoff between sports regions, generally.

[Flint1979]

Jack Morris: Mount Morris, Michigan
Craig Monroe: Monroe, Michigan

[Henry]

I'm sure somebody with the surname "Houston" has played for the Houston Texans/Oilers/Astros/Rockets etc. It's a pretty common last name.

AFAIK, no one with that last name has ever played for those teams.

There's also Rosemont, IL, which may count since Derrick Rose (and the unrelated Jalen Rose) played for the Bulls.

[dlsterner]

I'm sure somebody with the surname "Houston" has played for the Houston Texans/Oilers/Astros/Rockets etc. It's a pretty common last name.

AFAIK, no one with that last name has ever played for those teams.

Sticking with baseball, as I am more familiar with it than other sports.
I could not find anybody named Houston who played for the Astros/Colt 45s.  Nor with Washington, another common surname - couldn't find anybody named Washington who played with the Senators nor Nationals.

Remembering Reggie Cleveland and Daryl Boston - I checked those two surnames; no luck.

Closest I found was a pitcher named Bob York, who pitched in three games for the New York Yankees in 1976, but that may be a bit of a stretch.   If that were allowed, then maybe names like Louis, Diego, Francisco/Francis, Antonio/Anthony could be in play.

My guess for best chance at a match might be Washington in football or basketball.  But I don't have to motivation to check that right now.

[jlam]

My guess for best chance at a match might be Washington in football or basketball.  But I don't have to motivation to check that right now.

Checking the Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders, the most notable example I could find was Marcus Washington during the mid-2000s. There are probably a lot given the age of the franchise and all.

[DandyDan]

I'm sure somebody with the surname "Houston" has played for the Houston Texans/Oilers/Astros/Rockets etc. It's a pretty common last name.

Ken Houston played for the Oilers back when they were still in the AFL and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

My guess for best chance at a match might be Washington in football or basketball.  But I don't have to motivation to check that right now.

Checking the Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders, the most notable example I could find was Marcus Washington during the mid-2000s. There are probably a lot given the age of the franchise and all.

Joe Washington played for Washington in the 80's.