Almost every ballplayer in the early days of the game had a nickname, “Cap”, Hoss”, “Wild Man”, etc. Throughout the history of the game each era has added memorable monikers that readily identify a ballplayer and or his team. In today’s game, there are fewer creative nicknames and most players are “too cool” for them!
A number of years ago, there was a study of nicknames in sports. In baseball, the Nickname “Lefty” was attributed to over 150 players, “Red” to over 120, “Doc” to 60+, and Whitey, Big, Duke, and Kid to over 25 each. Below are listed some of the famous and infamous nicknames in MLB history:
Coolest of ALL-Time: Bill “The Owl without a vowel” Mlkvy; Marc “Scrabble” Rzepczynski; Doug “The Human Eye Chart” Gwosdz; Rafael “El Enano” Furcal (The Dwarf in Spanish!
Multiple Nicknames: Some have more than one!
George Herman “Babe” Ruth aka “The Sultan of the Swat”, “Colossus of Clout” “The Bambino”
Ted Williams: “The Kid”, “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ball Game”
Mickey Mantle: “The Commerce Comet”, “THE Mick”
Lou Gehrig: “The Iron Horse”, “Larrupin’ Lou”
Brooks Robinson: “The Human Vacuum Cleaner”, “Hoover”
Joe DiMaggio: “The Yankee Clipper”, “Joltin’ Joe”, “Mr. Coffee”
Stan Musial: “Stosh”, “THE Man”
Ernie Banks: “Mr. Cub”, “Let’s Play Two”
A Few of the Best Baseball Nicknames:
Ozzie “The Wizard of Oz” Smith
Mordecai “Three Fingers” Brown
Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff
Luke “Aches and Pains” Appling
Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron
Paul “Big Poison” Waner and brother Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner
Walt “Smokey” Alston
Harold “PeeWee” Reese
Lenny “Nails” Dykstra
Robert “Death to Flying Things” Ferguson…later, also Mike Cameron
Roger “The Rocket” Clemens
Harry “Suitcase” Simpson
Freddy “The Flea” Patek
LeRoy “Satchel” Paige
Honus “The Flying Dutchman” Wagner
Robert “Rapid Robert” Feller
Reggie “Mr. October” Jackson
Walter “Big Train” Johnson
Nolan “The Ryan Express” Ryan
Pepper “The Wild Horse of the Osage” Martin
Derek “Captain Clutch” Jeter
Jay” Dizzy” Dean and brother Paul “Daffy” Dean
David “Big Papi” Ortiz
Joe “Ducky” Medwick
Frank “Big Hurt” Thomas
Vernon “Lefty” Gomez
Randy “Big Unit” Johnson
Tony “Push ‘Em Up” Lazzeri
Orestes “Minnie” Minoso
Pete “Charley Hustle” Rose
Eddie “Walking Man” Yost
Willy “The Say Hey Kid” Mays
Dave “Soup” Campbell
Lawrence “Yogi” Berra
Roberto “La Bazooka” Clemente
Willie “Stretch” McCovey
Vince “Vincent Van Go” Coleman
Joseph “Shoeless Joe” Jackson
Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto
Don “Gerbil” Zimmer
Rusty “Le Gran Orange” Staub
Bill “Spaceman” Lee
Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd
Mike “The Human Rain Delay” Hargrove
Mariano “Sandman” Rivera
GAGPTH! Coach Phil, French Frog, Phrog!