What’s in a name? Confusion in world of social media

• Reprints

Updated: November 16, 2011 1:29AM

In the Social Media era, all it takes is a few strokes of the keyboard and clicks of the mouse to find out you’re not the only one with your name.

You think the president is the only American named Barack Obama? Think again. The Internet tells us there’s a Barack Obama in West Hempstead, New York; a Barack Obama in Provo, Utah; a Barack Obama in Rochester, Minn.; and a Barack Obama in Washington, Utah.

Richard Roeper isn’t a common name, but there are at least a couple of dozen RRs in the USA alone, from Los Angeles to Cincinnati to Crown Point, Ind.

Remember the original “Terminator,” and the killing machine going after all three Sarah Connors in the telephone directory?

No doubt each and every Christina Santiago in the world is unique and special. The stories of the Christina Santiago who was killed at the Indiana State Fair last Saturday tell us she was a lovely and admirable person, a leader in Chicago’s gay and lesbian community, a beloved friend to many.

God rest her soul. Prayers to her family and to the families of all who were affected by the tragedy.

That Christina Santiago didn’t have a particularly unusual name led to some minor confusion on the Internet when the news broke.

“Was Playboy Playmate Christina Santiago killed at Indiana State Fair?” was the headline on one entertainment site. A few people on Twitter asked the same question.

A woman named Christina Santiago was the Playboy Playmate of the Year in 2003. She is from Chicago. She is also 29. She has the same name and the same city of residence with the Christina who was killed.

A spokesman for Playboy told me Christina Santiago was “not available for interviews,” but confirmed that Playboy had received some media inquiries in the wake of last Saturday’s tragedy.

No doubt there were other Christina Santiagos and other people who happened to share the names of Indiana State Fair victims who had that moment of chills upon seeing their own name — or perhaps they heard from someone on Facebook or via Twitter, wondering if they were all right.

Z designated hitter?

Baseball doesn’t work this way because there are trading deadlines and salary considerations and all sorts of rules and stipulations, but in a different sporting world, here’s what the Cubs could do with Carlos Zambrano.

Ship him to the White Sox.

Not to pitch. To be the DH.

Forget about Zambrano’s career record of 125-81, with a 3.60 ERA — numbers that would make him the ace or a very strong No. 2 pitcher on most teams, that is if the guy didn’t act like he was in a pro wrestling storyline and not a professional baseball player.

Z’s never going to change. Virtually every year he tells the baseball media he’s going to change — and then he blows up.

Zambrano’s the kind of player who’s not above slugging his catcher, ripping his teammates, throwing the ball at batters when he’s having a tantrum — and ducking out on the team and muttering “retirement” after a particularly ugly outing on the mound. Regardless of talent, who needs a guy like that pitching for you?

But take a look at Zambrano the hitter.

In 2005, Zambrano hit .300. In 2006, he hit six home runs in 73 at-bats. In 2008, he hit .337. This year, in just 44 at-bats, Zambrano is hitting .318 with two home runs and five RBIs.

We’re comparing apples and oranges and American and National leagues, but hitting every day is more natural than batting every fifth or sixth day, and instead of laboring on the mound in the summer heat, Zambrano would be spending most of the game on the bench or working on his swing in the air-conditioning. With 440 at-bats instead of 44, maybe he’d be leading the league in strikeouts and hitting .161 — or maybe he’d have 20-plus home runs.

Besides, the White Sox already have a DH who’s hitting .161 with a whopping 146 strikeouts. It’s hard to argue Zambrano couldn’t have done better than that.

As for Zambrano’s madness — we’re talking about the White Sox. There’s always a few crazies on the team, including the manager, who just happens to be close friends with Zambrano and perhaps could coax something resembling sanity out of the guy.

I know. It’ll never happen. But come on, wouldn’t it be entertaining as hell to see Zambrano as the White Sox DH in 2012?