The lost art of baseball nicknames

Is Roger Clemens the only ballplayer left with a decent nickname? Rocket may not be imaginative, but it’s better than listening to Joe Torre call Jorge Posada “Georgie.”

So what happened? Back in the day, nearly ever player had a cool nickname.

Tom Seaver, still the greatest player in Mets’ history, was “Tom Terrific” and “The Franchise.”

Ron Guidry? “Gator” or “Louisiana Lightning.” Whitey Ford (as if a guy named Whitey needed a nickname) was “The Chairman of the Board.”

Bake McBride — his real name was Arnold, his nickname “Shake ‘n’ Bake” was shortened to Bake and an average singles hitter with speed, became one of the cooler players around.

And John Milton Rivers — Micky or, much better, “Mick the Quick.” And, of course, Ozzie “The Wizard of Oz” Smith.

“Say Hey” Willie Mays, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, Joe “Ducky” Medwick, Enos “Country” Slaughter, Pee Wee Reese, Stan “The Man” Musial, Tommy “Old Reliable” Henrich, Catfish Hunter, Reggie “Mr. October” Jackson and so on.

There are a handful of good ones now: David Ortiz — “Big Papi” — and Slammin’ Sammy Sosa. There’s A-Rod and Pudge, (Ivan Rodriguez sharing a nickname with Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk).
And Randy Johnson is the Big Unit.

But the majority of players just go by their given names and the game itself is a little less colorful for it.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet