Separated At Birth: Roger Nelson And Alex Henteloff

1975 was a magical year. Topps introduced one of the most talked about sets of the seventies and Barney Miller started as a mid-season replacement on January 23rd.

Roger Nelson was purchased by the Chicago White Sox during the offseason, but was released before the 1975 season. He signed as a free agent with the Oakland Athletics shortly thereafter.

Conspiracy theorists could have a field day with a man being signed by a club based in California, not playing at all on the parent club during the season, and a doppelganger of that man shows up on a television show during that year, shot in California.

Although this is pretty far fetched, you have to admit that they do look very similar.

Alex Henteloff started acting on television in 1966 and racked up a list of brief but memorable roles on many different series. Most people will recall his part as Dr. Nichols in Star Trek 4.

Roger Nelson's 1975 card has always reminded me of Alex's role on Barney Miller as Arnold Ripner, the ambulance chasing lawyer. Unfortunately, the only picture of Alex as that character is a low quality screen capture. Even at this low resolution, it's easy to see that they could be mistaken for the same person.

Separated At Birth: Carlos Quentin And Eddie Matos

The first time I saw the State Farm commercials inside Angel Stadium, myself and countless others pondered the question, "How did State Farm get Carlos Quentin to do commercials and how did they get him to smile?"

Well it turns out the mysterious TCQ doppelganger is none other than soap opera actor Eddie Matos. I still have to do a double take when the commercials featuring Eddie Matos come on.

Separated At Birth: Scott Podsednik And John Krasinski

A strange thing happened when I was organizing my cards. I got to the 2005 section and I began to notice how Scott Podsednik looks like John Krasinski from The Office. Scott may be three and a half years older than John, but they look enough alike that they could be mistaken for siblings.

And yet again, two things I enjoy (White Sox baseball and The Office) merge into one.

Separated At Birth: John Danks And Dayf

I don't know why I didn't see it before, but during the White Sox vs. Indians game tonight, I glanced at pitcher John Danks and thought, "That looks exactly like dayf!"

Dayf runs the excellent blog Cardboard Junkie and runs and/or participates in many other fantastic blogs and he's usually commenting on various blogs around the community of card blogs.

Except for the lack of glasses and the addition of a Sox hat, I wonder if dayf was in Cleveland tonight. Does he take off his glasses, don a different hat and suit up for the White Sox? A different take on the comic book superhero perhaps?

Anyway, the addition of the full beard on Danks makes him look eerily close to one of our fellow bloggers. Talk about getting closer to the game!

Separated At Birth: Mark Teahen And Ray Liotta

It's been bugging me ever since I saw Mark Teahen report to Spring Training with the White Sox. He reminds me of someone, but who?

Yesterday, it finally dawned on me. Ray Liotta!

Ray has his own connections to the White Sox. His distant cousin, also named Ray Liotta, was drafted by the White Sox and has been in the Kansas City Royals organization since 2008. But who could forget Ray's performance as "Shoeless" Joe Jackson in "Field Of Dreams"?

Like Ray's cousin, Ray, Mark Teahen played for the Kansas City Royals organization. Funny how the Royals connections seem to be piling up lately.

Separated At Birth: Me And Penn Jillette

OK, I'll admit it. At various times in my life, I've been mistaken for a celebrity. Depending on tiny elements such as hair, wardrobe and weight, determined who I've been mistaken for.

Usually, the person that I'm mistaken for is a lot older. In my late teens and early twenties, I was mistaken for Eddie Vedder a few times. I was clean shaven and wore my hair long, at that time. When I wore my hair short, I was mistaken for John Cusack. Either people were seeing something that I wasn't or they really needed glasses. Maybe it was the Chicago area connection. Who knows.

Over the years, various names popped up and were quickly dismissed by me. I guess I have a face that has some quality that people subconsciously identify with but can't put a finger on.

The last few years, it's been Penn Jillette. I can kinda see that one. We even share a similar lack of facial recall, meaning it's hard to pick people we know out of a crowd. When I'm usually mistaken for Penn, I have my hair long and wear it in a ponytail. The worst example came from when I was dining out at an Indian restaurant about two years ago.

While I was eating my dinner, I noticed a woman in her fifties staring at me. This continued the entire meal. If I looked in her direction, she would immediately turn, as if I wouldn't notice the quick movements. It was painfully obvious because my seat was facing in her direction.

I saw the woman excitedly tell the rest of the people in her party something and then they all turned and looked while trying not to draw attention to themselves. The restaurant was serving a buffet that night and my table was in between theirs and the buffet. This served as an excuse for each of them to walk past my table.

I watched as they walked past one by one. As soon as each had a turn past me, and the entire party had returned, the table buzzed with activity. The group finished their meal and got up to leave. The lady who first "recognized" me stopped and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"I hate to bother you, but may I ask a question?", asked the woman. I said yes, thinking that she already asked one question without my permission. "Are you Penn Jillette?", she asked.

When I told her that I wasn't, she seemed a little disappointed. "Has anyone told you that you look exactly like him?", she exclaimed. I told her that I get that all the time. "Are you sure you're not him? You look just like him!", she said.

I assured her that I wasn't who she thought I was. She walked away and I heard her say to the rest of her party, "I bet he just wanted to eat in peace and didn't want to be recognized." Yeah, you got me lady. Sorry about that.

Penn Jillette turned 54 in March. I turned 33 today. Should I be flattered that I was mistaken for a celebrity or insulted that said celebrity is 21 years older than I am?

Separated At Birth: Ozzie Guillen And Jerri Blank

Ever since I saw Amy Sedaris' very funny portrayal of Jerri Blank on Strangers With Candy, I thought she looked similar to this awful shot of Ozzie Guillen from the 1994 Score set. Ozzie was caught in mid-moment of... I'm not sure what.

I remember that this card was one of the last cards I ever pulled out of a pack in 1994. This may have led to my long time away from the hobby. Until I saw Strangers With Candy, I had no idea that Ozzie had a long lost sister. What a small world.

Separated At Birth: Ricky Horton & Jay Johnson

We all seem to have a doppelganger somewhere in the world. Former White Sox pitch Ricky Horton has found one in Jay Johnson.

If you're not overly familiar with Jay's work, don't fret. His name usually isn't the first thing that pops in someone's mind. Lately, he has had high profile guest shots on CSI and That 70s Show. Maybe Jay got tired of his sidekick and tried Major League baseball on for size. When that didn't pan out, he took his old act out on the road again.

You'll probably know Jay by his best known creation, Bob the Dummy. Jay played a character named Chuck on the hit sitcom, Soap. Even if you don't know the names, you know the look.

Separated At Birth: Britt Burns and Melanie Watson

I saw this card in a stack of cards I received in the mail and immediately thought of Kathy from Diff'rent Strokes. So far, this is the only set photo I can find of Melanie, but I think it illustrates my point.

Britt and Melanie's character have many things in common. Both have the sheer grit and determination to succeed and they both look like kind, gentile souls. Also, both had their fame in the eighties.

Melanie Watson (now Bernhardt) was the executive director of an organization called Train Rite, which placed dogs with disabled people. Unfortunately, the organization folded in 2007.

Britt's career came to a premature end due to a chronic, degenerative hip condition. He is currently the minor league pitching coordinator for the Houston Astros.

Separated At Birth? Schwarz And Waits

Mid-nineties White Sox pitcher Jeff Schwarz and singer/songwriter Tom Waits. Separated at birth? Tough call.

I'd hate to think that the fastball had been drinking or that Jeff had on pasties and a g-string underneath his uniform. Maybe Jeff was one of the rain delay dogs? OK, I'm done.

Separated At Birth? Kittle And Dynamite

I had my doubts about this one, but it looks like Mike over at Bad Wax was right on the money. Side by side, mid-eighties Ron Kittle and Napoleon Dynamite look like they were separated at birth. Not bad.

Great catch, Mike!

Separated At Birth? Sosa And Dan-Jumbo

Separated at birth? David over at Indians Baseball Cards. Always. certainly thinks so. So what do Andrew Dan-Jumbo and Sammy Sosa have in common? Not much except goofy faces. Although, Andrew sounds like he'd be a lot more fun to hang around with.

Great catch David!