When Dick (Night Train) Lane passed away last week, I couldn't help but think of Mike Veeck, the owner of several minor-league teams, who named his son after the NFL Hall of Famer. He explained the naming to me this way several years ago.

"We moved 17 times in the first 11 years of my life ... and in every neighborhood, you were the new kid, the untested commodity, and you were never picked for a team. But if you're named Night Train, I figure you have a lot better chance of being picked than if you were named Jim or Bob or Mike or Tony. 'Night Train? Cool name. How bad can the kid be?' "

And what did Veeck's then-wife think of naming her son Night Train?

	Not only is Kerry Wood the Cubs' ace, but he's also the namesake for a young girl in Seattle.

"She was very understanding," Veeck said. "She refused to put Night Train on the birth certificate and insists on calling him William."

Veeck, however, still calls him Night Train.

I love that story and I think it explains a basic, genetic difference between men and women. Men want to name their children after ballplayers while women want to name them after soap opera characters. Alas, women usually win out on this issue, so we have a lot more kids named Kayla than Big Unit.

One friend of mine, however, did name his first child Seaver, though he failed to get Koosman past his wife for the second child. Another friend, Dan Lepse, beat the odds and has managed to name all three of his children for his beloved Cubs.

You have to understand about Lepse. His address has been in Seattle his entire life, but his soul has always been in the Wrigley Field bleachers. In fact, most people know him by his nickname, Sarge, after former Cubs outfielder Gary Mathews.

Sarge has occasionally wondered about how he could have the misfortune of choosing one of the very few teams that hasn't gone to the World Series during his lifetime, but he never questions his loyalty to the Cubs. He isn't that sort. You have a favorite team, you stick by them. Through thick and thin.

So when it came time to ask Tricia, the woman he loved, to marry him several years ago, he picked the only site that made sense. In front of Wrigley Field on Opening Day, 1993. "That was the first game Greg Maddux pitched in Chicago after he signed with Atlanta," he points out.

And when the two had their first child, they named her Samantha, though everyone calls her Sammy, as in Sammy Sosa. Sarge is quick to point out Sammy was born in 1997, a full year before Sosa became a household name. "We weren't just jumping on the bandwagon there."

When Sarge and Tricia had their next child, another girl, they named her Kerry, after you know who.

Yes, Sarge readily admits, Tricia is a wonderful -- and wonderfully tolerant -- woman.

"I think the smartest thing is I slid Samantha in there on her to start," Sarge said. "She knew the Sosa implications, but she liked the name. And once I slipped that in we had the theme set. Kerry was the toughest sales job. She says she will make my life miserable if Kerry Wood turns out to be a flash in the pan. But even if his injuries hold him back, I tell her that he still pitched what is possibly the greatest game in baseball history."

So Kerry has that to fall back on come junior high, which is nice.

Sarge faced an obstacle recently when Trish was expecting their third child, though. If the child was a boy, they would name it Ryne, but having already exhausted Samantha and Kerry, Sarge was struggling for a girl's name that fit into the Cubs theme. "I couldn't talk her into Ernestine or Fergie," he said. "And obviously Mordecai was out."

Some friends suggested Grace, but Sarge never liked the name all that much, and after Mark Grace signed with the Diamondbacks, he refused to consider the name any further. "Grace chose to chase a World Series ring rather than be honored in this fashion," he said. "And he'll have to live with the decision."

Friends wagered on possible names. Shawon? Kiki? Gabby? But Tricia surprised us all with an inspired name. She is a kindergarten teacher and she remembered the name of a former pupil that she thought would be perfect. She liked the name, it was distinctive and it fit the Cubs theme splendidly.

Thus, last week she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl the proud parents promptly named ... Addison.

Everyone seems to like the name, even those who have no idea what the address of Wrigley Field is. And why not? Addison is a very pretty name.

Besides, Sheffield and Waveland were already taken.

Lies, damn lies and statistics
Speaking of sports names, here's the latest on the naming rights fiasco at Houston's Debits Field: Enron's next payment on its $100 million deal for naming rights to the Houston stadium isn't due until Aug. 31, but the Astros have gone to court to separate themselves from the Enron name, claiming they have been "materially and adversely affected by the negative public perception and media scrutiny." No kidding. Then again, Enron never complained when Jose Lima served up all those gopher balls, either. I hope the Astros win their case, but the problem was accepting money from Enron in the first place. When teams accept cash for naming rights to stadiums they don't own, they run the risk the company may get involved in something that might prove offensive. And Enron has been about as offensive as a company can get. For instance, even though it is bankrupt and even though it bilked employees out of their retirement savings, Enron recently used money from its bankrupt estate assets to pay $108,000 for a luxury suite and another $90,000 for box seats to the 2002 season. This whole affair is just another reason why fans and the media alike should refrain from recognizing the corporate names attached to stadiums. ... How much have salaries risen since baseball's last work stoppage? The payroll for the 1994 Yankees was $47.5 million. The Yankees 2002 payroll is at $128 million, with one roster spot still to fill, a near tripling in just eight years. ... With one week remaining before spring training opens, the Mets and Yankees signed 13 players and traded for 17. Thanks to Bud's brilliant contraction scheme, meanwhile, the Twins, Expos and Marlins signed three players -- the highly coveted Brian Meadows, Kurt Abbott and Mike Jackson -- and traded for one player -- the famous Nate Teut. ... Now that Bud has announced that the Twins and Expos will play in 2002, guess who Montreal plays Opening Day at Olympic Stadium? None other than the Marlins, the team Expos owner Jeffrey Loria is buying. Maybe it will be an intra-squad game.

From left field
Forget the financial books Bud Selig showed Congress; the best way to understand baseball's changing economics is to follow baseball's Boone family, Ray, Bob, Bret and Aaron. After Ray Boone led the league in RBI in 1955, he says he received a contract worth $32,500 and worked as a lather in the offseason. After leading the league in RBI last year, grandson Bret signed a three-year, $25 million contract this offseason.

"When it comes to finances I'm not going to rub anything into anybody," Bret said when asked whether he owned financial bragging rights in the family. "You look at every sport and times have changed. You look at life, what did John Wayne make compared to what Tom Cruise makes? It's every profession, not just baseball. I look back to the old Hollywood guys; did they make what Sylvestor Stallone makes for 'Rocky V'?"

Certainly the owners have done all right, too. Larry MacPhail sold his one-third stake in the Yankees just before Ray's rookie season for $2 million. George Steinbrenner bought the team just after Bob's rookie season for $10 million. And Forbes recently estimated the franchise worth at $635 million.

A comparison of baseball finances through three generations of Boones:

	Ray, 1948-60	Bob, 1972-90	Bret, 1992-
Highest Boone salary	$32,500	$1.9 million	$8.33 million
MLB minimum salary rookie year	$5,000	$13,500	$109,000
MLB minimum salary final year	$6,000	$100,000	$200,000
MLB average salary, rookie year	$10,000	$34,100	$1 million
MLB average salary, final year	$18,000	$598,000	$2.14 million
Era's highest paid player	Ted Williams, $125,000 contract	Dave Winfield $25 million contract	Alex Rodriguez $252 million contract
Days on strike/locked out	0	139	232
What union fought for	More showers	Free agency	Status quo
Franchises moving during career	5	1	0
Teams played for during career	6	3	4
National broadcast annual fees@	$1 million	$375 million	$550 million
Yankees franchise value	$6 million	$10 million	$635 million
Avg. attendance final season	16,964	26,032	30,037
HR record	60	61	73

@ Ray: World Series only, 1950-56; Bob: 1989 deal with CBS, ESPN; Bret: 2000 package with Fox, ESPN.

Q: Who is Mickey Mantle named after?

Win Blake Stein's money
This week's category: Funny, You Never Meet Any Kids Named After Steve Garvey, Not Even His Own.

A: Mickey Cochrane. Of course, Mickey Cochrane's real name was Gordon Stanley.

Infield chatter
"I honestly believe we can get this done by the end of November."

-- Bud Selig speaking on Nov. 7 about his scheme to eliminate two teams. Then again, he's also been somewhat off from time to time with his predictions regarding Brewers prospects.

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.