William Van Landingham


William Joseph Van Landingham is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire Major League career with the San Francisco Giants.

Career

Van Landingham's rookie season of 1994 was his best, when he posted an 8–2 record with a 3.54 ERA and finished seventh in the balloting for the Rookie of the Year Award. His 1995 season was similar, but as a full-time starting pitcher in 1996 he posted a 9–14 record with a 5.40 ERA. After similar results in the first half of 1997, the Giants released him. He was known as "William Van Launching Pad" due to his propensity to give up home runs.
Van Landingham played his final Major League Baseball game on July 27, 1997. After being affiliated with the Angels, Expos, and Brewers in the minor leagues, he moved to Athens, Georgia, to live with his family.

Name length

Van Landingham was widely considered to have set the record for longest surname in the history of Major League Baseball, at 13 or 14 characters, though his record has since been tied or broken by Jarrod Saltalamacchia. When Van Landingham pitched to Todd Hollandsworth in 1995, the two set a record for longest combined pitcher-batter name length at 26 letters. On May 29, 1996, Van Landingham started against Jason Isringhausen, then a starter for the New York Mets, tying a record for the longest combined names of two starting pitchers.
Van Landingham also set the record for longest complete name in Major League Baseball at 20 letters. The record has since been tied by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.