Here is a bleg about Americana. I have a tape of an old (1946) radio show

with Abbott & Costello doing the “Who’s on First?” sketch. In the run-up to

the sketch itself, A & C have an exchange along the following lines. I’m

transcribing it as I hear it… and that’s the point, because I don’t

understand the joke. Can someone please explain it to me?

A: … they give these ball players nowadays very peculiar names…
C: You mean funny names?
A: Strange names, pet names, like Dizzy Dean…
C: And his brother Daffy?
A: …Daffy Dean…
C: And his French cousin.
A: French?
C: Goo Fay.
A: Goo Fay Dean… Oh, I see…
[Lots of audience laughter.]

What am I missing here? Who or what was “Goo Fay Dean”? (Please don’t

explain the stuff about “Who’s on first”—that, I get.)