Since the beginning of baseball, nicknaming players had been a great art form and popular exercise by fans and writers alike. The nicknames had made our heroes just a little bit more awesome than even their statistics could do. Who doesn't love a good nickname, and use it every chance you get?
Take the above clip. One of the best things captured by the people who brought us "The Sandlot", was their ability to accurately capture how children viewed nicknames as making the player larger than life. In this scene, the kids all chastise Scotty for not knowing Babe Ruth by shouting out all of his nicknames. Scotty himself had been given the nickname "Smalls" by the group. Even many of them had nicknames such as "Yeah Yeah", "Ham" and "Repeat".
Many players in baseball history have had nicknames, some of which even superseded their actual names. Even up to the 1990's, nicknames were being used for many players. Some of my favorite nicknames growing up were Andres "The Big Cat" Galarraga, Frank "The Big Hurt" Thomas, Randy "Big Unit" Johnson, Ozzie "The Wizard Of Oz" Smith, "Oil Can" Boyd, "Blackjack" McDowell and Mike "Moose" Mussina. "Moose" had been a nickname used in the past to describe another player Bill Skowron. I think my personal favorite nickname is "Shoeless" Joe Jackson.
Many Hall Of Fame players have had great nicknames. Some of these include Hammerin' Hank Aaron, "Yogi" Lawrence Berra, Frank "Home Run" Baker, "Old Aches & Pains" Luke Appling, Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown, "Cool Papa" Bell, "Dizzy" Dean, "Joltin Joe" DiMaggio & "The Yankee Clipper", "Red" Faber, Walter "Big Train" Johnson, "Rabbit" Maranville, Reggie "Mr October" Jackson, "Wee" Willie Keeler, Ernie Banks "Mr. Cub", "Pee-Wee" Reese, "Pie" Traynor, "Duke" Snider, "Smokey" Joe Williams, "The Georgia Peach" Ty Cobb, etc, etc. There are so many great names in baseball history.
One of the widely known nicknames in baseball history belongs to Jim "Catfish" Hunter. So the story goes, a scout knocked on Jim Hunter's door. He was not home, but his mother answered and told the scout that he was out catfishing. Another source says that his nickname came from Athletics owner Charles O. Henry, for no other reason than he thought his new young ace needed a flashy nickname. Whatever the reason, it stuck throughout his career, much to Jim's chagrin.
Even teams can get in on the nickname action. Back in the early 1900's, the Brooklyn Baseball Club did not have an official nickname. They had gone through several, most notably the Robins, before adopting "Trolly Dodgers" as their official name and shortening it to just "Dodgers". When the new American League formed, Chicago's club was known as the White Stockings. One day to save space, a Chicago Tribune Headline read "White Sox" and the name and spelling stuck to this day.
Other times, a certain year or era of a team might be given a nickname. 1979 saw the "We Are Family" Pirates. The mid-70's Cincinnati Reds were known as the "Big Red Machine". The 1983 White Sox were "Winning Ugly" while the 1959 White Sox were the "Go Go Sox". The 2004 Red Sox were simply called "Idiots". The 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers were nicknamed "The Boys Of Summer". The late 20's and especially 1927 New York Yankees were known as "Murderer's Row".
Ballparks have had their own unique nicknames over the years. Yankee Stadium was known as "The House That Ruth Built". Wrigley Field is known as "The Friendly Confines". Baltimore's Memorial Stadium was known as the "Old Lady at 33rd". Sometimes a nickname is used to express disguist for a lousy ballpark. Such is the case with Cleveland's Municipal Stadium being known as the "Mistake By The Lake". Other ballpark nicknames are just a play on the actual name of the stadium. Chicago's US Cellular Field is known to many as "The Cell". Arizona's Chase Field opened originally as Bank One Ballpark and garnered the nickname "The B.O.B.". Cleveland's newer stadium, Jacobs Field, was known as "The Jake", and is still called this by many Indians fans despite now being known as Progressive Field.
Certain memorable big plays have also been given nicknames in the past. Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 3rd, 1951, has been called "The Shot Heard 'Round The World". It propelled the NY Giants to the World Series. Willie Mays' amazing catch in the 1954 World Series in centerfield has been called "The Catch". In the 1946 World Series, Enos Slaughter scored from 1st base on a ball to centerfield propelling the Cardinals to a game seven. This has been known as the "Mad Dash". Some big play nicknames are unwanted, such as the "Steve Bartman Incident", which helped lead to the Cubs collapse in 2003 in a very good attempt to make the World Series.
There are still players with nicknames today, but they are almost never used. Who can honestly say the last time they discussed Evan Longoria, they called him "Dirtbag"? You didn't. The last time you discussed Jason Heyward, did you call him "The Jay Hey Kid" ???? Nope. Some players' nicknames are used such as "King Felix" Hernandez, Tim "The Freak" Lincecum, or Orlando "O-Dog" Hudson, but it's becoming rarer.
So what happened to nicknames? Albert Pujols has a listed nickname of "Prince Albert" but I have never even seen that in print, and barely heard it used by fans. I have gotten odd reactions from White Sox fans when discussing Freddy Garcia as "Chief" even though this is his nickname. Some players had nicknames which were used a lot in the past that are now rarely if ever used, such as Adam "Big Donkey" Dunn. These nicknames may have been more a creation of the fans of the team they began their careers with or where they became a star player. Over time, as the player moved around the league to different teams, the nickname fell out of use.
Nicknames are truly becoming a dying art form. Some of the nicknames in baseball today are pretty interesting, but are rarely used. I think most of the nicknames are getting less and less creative, such as Alex Rodriguez being "A-Rod". Others are simply given to a player based on a pop culture reference, as is the case with Pablo Sandoval being known as "Kung Fu Panda" or just "Panda" in reference to the movie and his body type. ESPN/Sportscenter has a lot to do with the latter, and it's not for the better.
I want the era of nicknames to come back. I think it is good for the game. As I stated earlier, it makes the star players appear larger than life. It brings the fans a little closer to the players, as they feel their nicknames give them a personal attachment to the player's baseball career.
Truly good nicknames can stick with a player no matter where they go to play. Nicknames used to be given to just about every star and good baseball player in the league. I think this should be revived in all of it's former glory before it is too late. It will make the game a little bit brighter, and a little more fun for future fans of the game.
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