Hello friends!
I was looking through cards recently and wondered a) How many players used nicknames on their cards
and B) How often they showed up..
This has been a recurring thought for me because for example, Cito Gaston was always identified as Clarence on the cards from his playing days. He was referred to Cito on any card where he was a coach or manager.
And of course, when players use a nickname on their card, it's always interesting to see where the name came from..
Tug McGraw, or Frank, as his birth name states, was given the nickname Tugger by his mother based on the aggressive way he breast fed as an infant. It was shortened to Tug and it stuck, even wanting to be called that by his teachers.
Clarence Coleman was given the nickname Choo Choo as a child by his friends because he was fast.
Covelli Crisp hot the nickname Coco originally from his sister who thought he looked like a character off the Cocoa Krispies box. The name didn't stick until he was in Double A. On a questionnaire he put his nickname as Coco.. His teammates loved it and they started using it. It stuck and in fact, Crisp legally changed his name in 2013.
Ed Ford. He was nicknamed Whitey for his light blond hair. It's funny though, some of the early cards are like the one shown, while others use Whitey..
Harry Lavagetto got his nickname in kind of a boring way..
He was nicknamed Cookie as a member of the Oakland Oaks after Oakland GM Cookie Devencenzi.
Herschel Powell received his nickname from his father after the more famous Boog Powell. It stopped confusion, since Boog was the fourth Herschel Powell in the family (father, grandfather, and great grandfather)
Jim Hunter. There are a couple stories on his nickname. The most commonly cited one is that the name was given to him by Charlie Finley figuring his 19 year old pitcher needed a flashy nickname. The other story, that later was found to be untrue, was that he went missing as a child and was found later with a string of catfish.
I like the second explanation more than the first one, honestly.
In looking through his cards, it wasn't until later on that Catfish showed up regularly. It would show in oddball issues, but none of the major ones until the 80s onward.
John Odom. He got the nickname Blue Moon as a child because his round face reminded another child of the moon.
Again, with Odom, his nickname appears on unlicensed and oddball issues. His Topps run all show John Odom.
John Powell. John got the nickname Boog from his father. It came from the south, where kids who got into mischief were called Boogers, or Buggers. Powell's father shortened it to Boog.
Leon Roberts got the nickname Bip from his mom because of difficulty saying "bit" as a youngster. He'd ask for a bip more food. He kept the nickname to honour his mother.
Bip is one of those who rarely had his real name on his cards.
Lynwood Rowe had a couple origin stories for his nickname. One was that he picked it up as a boxer. Originally is was Newsboy, but changed to Schoolboy.
The other comes from playing in a semi-pro league for the newspaper as a 15 year old against men. He overwhelmed them prompting one to say they were beaten by a Schoolboy.
Octavio Rojas got his nickname from aglicizing his Spanish childhood pet name Cuqui..
Raphael Freeman was nicknamed Choo but I can't find any reasoning behind it.
Rich Gossage Got the nickname Goose after a friend didn't like the nickname he had, Goss. He claimed Gossage looked like a goose stretching to see the catcher's signs.
With Gossage, his cards showed Rich until 1983, when Fleer, then Donruss, started using Goose. Topps always used Rich. Donruss would flip back and forth.
Tim Raines is an interesting one. His nickname Rock, only showed up on cards for a couple years. And only on Topps..
Raines earned the nickname in High School Football because of his solid build and rough play style.
His son Tim Jr, was nicknamed Little Rock.
William Wilson
Apparently, he was given the nickname Mookie as a child because of how he asked for milk as a toddler. Really, it helped differentiate himself from the other speedy outfielder on the Royals, Willie Wilson.
Mookie had three brothers who played Minor League Baseball, one being the biological father of Preston Wilson. Mookie later married Preston's mother, making him both stepfather and uncle..
These were just a few of many. I don't know why but I find it interesting when a player ends up being a nickname on his cards rather than his given name. I don't consider middle names in this set, considering then I'd have Lynn Nolan Ryan.
Yes, I know I missed guys like Oil Can Boyd (came from his beer drinking days.. They called beer Oil)
and others, but I can't cover them all, right? Lol
Blog Bat Around
There's a blog bat around going on right now about your three biggest accomplishments in card collecting/blogging.
I'm not really one to do one like this, because honestly, me even sitting to write is an accomplishment every time since I started. Anyway
1: Starting and maintaining this blog as long as I have. I don't know how old this blog is but it's been around a while.
2: Collecting the 1978 Topps set and working on the 78 OPC set. My birth year
3: Being able to find interesting tidbits of information people didn't know.. I don't know why but I like being able to hear "I Learned something today" who knows, there might be something here you didn't know..
