Hyphen trivia

[Richmond Hill Phoenix]

Grabbed a 2008 preview magazine for this season, and I found an interesting piece of information in it. It's by Athlon Sports, and it states that in 2007, "Ryan Rowland-Smith of the Mariners became the first player in big league history with a hyphenated last name."

This can't be true.... can it?

[Utter Chaos]

Grabbed a 2008 preview magazine for this season, and I found an interesting piece of information in it. It's by Athlon Sports, and it states that in 2007, "Ryan Rowland-Smith of the Mariners became the first player in big league history with a hyphenated last name."

This can't be true.... can it?

I think it is true. I couldn't find any. The closest may have been Rafael Santo Domingo.

There has been a few players with hyphenated first names, mostly from South Korea and Taiwan. Byung-Hyun Kim, Shin-Soo Choo, Chien-Ming Wang, Sun-Woo Kim, Dae-Sung Koo, and Sang-Hoon Lee for example.

[Gee Walker]

I always thought that John-Ford Griffin, who's had a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays, had the hyphen between the Ford and the Griffin. Apparently not...

[Seattle1]

Yep it might be hard to believe but it's really true.

[5LilPlayers]

This can't be true.... can it?

I've searched as well, though it doesn't surprise me. It wasn't until the early 80's that people (especially couples that ended up divorcing) started hyphenating their kids' last names.