A record will be set today when Spencer Arrighetti of the Astros takes on Simeon Woods Richardson of the Twins. The 39 characters that make up their names will be the most in a starting matchup in the Day by Day Database, which goes back to 1920. This counts in the space in “Woods Richardson”, but not the spaces between the name components. Here is the list of matchups with at least 35 name characters:
| Game Date | Matchup | Total Characters |
| 1996-05-29 | William Van Landingham visiting Jason Isringhausen | 38 |
| 2024-06-08 | Simeon Woods Richardson visiting Carmen Mlodzinski | 38 |
| 1997-07-27 | Francisco Cordova visiting William Van Landingham | 37 |
| 2024-05-17 | Simeon Woods Richardson visiting Triston McKenzie | 37 |
| 1995-06-16 | William Van Landingham visiting Vicente Palacios | 36 |
| 1996-06-08 | Todd Stottlemyre visiting William Van Landingham | 36 |
| 1997-05-15 | William Van Landingham visiting Dustin Hermanson | 36 |
| 1997-05-25 | Todd Stottlemyre visiting William Van Landingham | 36 |
| 1938-09-14 | Johnny Vander Meer visiting Freddie Fitzsimmons | 35 |
| 1939-08-06 | Freddie Fitzsimmons visiting Johnny Vander Meer | 35 |
| 1995-08-14 | Donovan Osborne visiting William Van Landingham | 35 |
| 1996-05-13 | Jason Isringhausen visiting Fernando Valenzuela | 35 |
| 1996-05-24 | Fernando Valenzuela visiting Jason Isringhausen | 35 |
| 2008-07-21 | John Van Benschoten visiting Runelvys Hernandez | 35 |
| 2016-07-30 | Anthony DeSclafani visiting Christian Friedrich | 35 |
| 2017-08-23 | Michael Montgomery visiting Asher Wojciechowski | 35 |
| 2021-07-07 | Antonio Senzatela visiting Humberto Castellanos | 35 |
| 2022-05-09 | Elieser Hernandez visiting Humberto Castellanos | 35 |
The Vander Meer/Fitzsimmons record stood for 58 years. It took just 28 years for the Van Landingham/Isringhausen duo to lose supremacy. Long names are certainly a recent phenomenon.
The Sunday night game features the Red Sox at the Yankees with Kutter Crawford and Luis Gil on the mound. Both pitchers are in a bit of a slump. Crawford owns a 5.14 ERA over his last eight starts, but allowed just one run in six innings against the Marlins his last time out. Gil allowed 16 earned runs in his last 9 2/3 innings, walking nine and striking out six.
Enjoy!
Luis Gil may someday make the shortest-name matchup list. If only Jose Rijo was still pitching.