A general perception exists that baseball has lost its ability to nickname its players. Once a colorful part of the sport's past, nicknames have either degenerated into Han-Ram, A-Rod, I-Pod style abbreviationisms, or come about because some people actually think Chris Berman is clever.
Although I tend to think the nicknames were better back in the day, I'm not totally convinced that people are nickname illiterate today. I mean "Pokey" is a perfectly ideal baseball nickname, and Reese was around as recently as 2004.
So this is what I'm going to do. Occasionally, I am going to post an all-decade baseball nickname team. I'll do one for the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s (I'll think about going back farther to the '20s, '30s and '40s). Then, once I'm done -- which will probably take about 7 years -- everyone can vote on which team is the best.
Meanwhile, I am taking suggestions for your favorite baseball nicknames. Leave them in the comments or in the comments on future all-decade nickname posts. Or just send me an email. There are lots of nicknames out there -- and they're not all as lame as "Tex" and "Longo."
So give me some examples. Go back 70 years if you like, or restore my faith in current players' ability to continue the fine art of nicknaming.
Comments
And you are right most of the old timers do have great nicknames from The Say Hey Kid to The Splendid Splinter to The Sultan of Swat. I will say there is one current one that I love and that is "The Hebrew Hammer" Ryan Braun.
1. "Luscious Luke" Appling -- which should be a combined wrestler-baseball name. (He was also "Old Aches and Pains.")
2. "Hot Potato" Hamlin
3. "High Pockets" Kelly
4. "The Great Stone Face" (Fred Hutchinson)
5. "The Human Rain Delay" (Mike Hargrove)
Also Butts Wagner, Corn Dogg Franks, Motor Boat Jones, Bud Weiser, Coot Veal, Pants Rowland, Scott Super Duper Cooper Scooper, Catfish Hunter, Cookie Rojas, Pumpsie Green, Cool Papa Bell, Chipper Jones, Peaches Nadolney, Pickles Dillhoefer, Stubby Clapp, Shooty Babbitt, Toe Nash, Woody Held, and Icicle Reeder.
You know...just to name a few.
I don't imagine Dave Winfield wanted to resurrect that one...
Charles "Chief" Bender
Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
Walter "Big Train" Johnson
Honus "The Flying Dutchman" Wagner
Christy "Big Six" Mathewson
Ty "The Georgia Peach" Cobb
Denton "Cy" Young
Tris "The Grey Eagle" Speaker
Gorgeous George Sisler
Wee Willie Keeler
Eddie "Cocky" Collins
Rogers "Rajah" Hornsby
Rube Waddell
Pie Traynor
I could go on and on for the old timers...
Oh yeah, and BOOG!
The Bison.
And hasn't Broxton been called Ox a few times? And the SOSG guys call Kershaw The Minotaur, I think.