Baseball player Drungo Hazewood — who spent most of his seven-season career in the minor leagues — was born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1959.
New York Times columnist Dan Barry told the story behind Drungo’s unusual first name in his 2011 book Bottom of the 33rd:
His mother, Catherine, was a housewife who gave her life to raising ten children and helping to rear who knows how many grandchildren. With her ninth about to be born, Catherine announced a dare: Whoever wins a foot race to the hospital gets to name the baby. Her son Aubrey won the challenge, and he had a good friend whose last name was Drungo. So Drungo Hazewood it was.
Makes me very curious to know how she named the tenth. :)
P.S. The book is about baseball’s longest game, which was played in Rhode Island in 1981. Drungo participated (as a member of the Rochester Red Wings) along with future Hall of Fame players Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken.
Sources:
- Barry, Dan. Bottom of the 33rd: Hope and Redemption in Baseball’s Longest Game. New York: HarperCollins, 2011.
- Drungo Hazewood – Wikipedia
Image: Drungo Hazewood trading card