Tito was what you might call “outgoing”. So outgoing in fact, he earned the nickname “Parakeet” because he chatted so much with opposing players while he was on the base paths. His son also has a colorful name – “Clinch”. That’s no nickname, however. The boy was born the same day that the Giants clinched […]
Roy Sievers obtained his nickname of “Squirrel” as a boy playing basketball. “When you’re in high school at that age, you’re a little goofy anyway,” Sievers said. “I played basketball, baseball, and ran a little track. In basketball one day, a kid said, ‘You know what? You’re really squirrelly, you know that?!’ From that day […]
Jim Grant started his career pitching for the Cleveland Indians, where he was roommates with his boyhood idol Larry Doby. Doby thought Grant was “”ugly as a Mississippi mudcat”. One thing led to another and all of a sudden Jim Grant becomes “Mudcat” Grant. Nothing is cooler than being given your nickname by your boyhood […]
(I just found out today that Moose Skowron passed away last Friday. By coincidence I had been planning this post for about a week or two. What better way to pay tribute to a great old ball player than to share how he got his nickname.) One of my favorite things about the history of […]
One of my favorite things about the history of baseball, is how awesome some of the nicknames players have sported throughout the years are. Some nicknames are pretty self explanatory, like when a southpaw is named “Lefty” or a guy from Texas is called “Tex”. I’ve always been intrigued by nicknames that are a little […]
One of my favorite things about the history of baseball, is how awesome some of the nicknames players have sported throughout the years are. Some nicknames are pretty self explanatory, like when a southpaw is named “Lefty” or a guy from Texas is called “Tex”. I’ve always been intrigued by nicknames that are a little […]
One of my favorite things about the history of baseball, is how awesome some of the nicknames players have sported throughout the years are. Some nicknames are pretty self explanatory, like when a southpaw is named “Lefty” or a guy from Texas is called “Tex”. I’ve always been intrigued by nicknames that are a little […]
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I think a fascinating book would be one which chronicles professional athletes with cool nicknames and explains how or why they got that nickname. Maybe this won’t end up as a book, but I can sure as hell do a series of blog posts on the subject, right? […]
