Father's Nickname is Dad: Joe Posnanski's 25 Best Nicknames

"Scrabble" always cracks me up

yeah Scrabble is the one in which i'll always use instead of proper name.

i'm sad to say i didn't even know satchel was a nickname! i just thought it was an odd name.

i might go with cool papa bell. reading about the negro leagues as a kid, i was always transfixed by him. part of it was the old story about him being able to climb into bell before the lights went off, and part of it was this photo of him that accompanied his bio in the book i had

http://i.imgur.com/fqZEWmu.jpg

he just looked so fresh and young and cheerful. but his nickname, i think, is what really made him an instant fave.

is "All Rise" Judge's nickname or just a phrase used w/him?

it's bad either way

Oil Can Boyd because it gives me flashbacks to my youth in 80s Boston. Big Papi a close second.

agree all rise is terrible

lol yeah wtf

The Big Hurt is probably the only good thing Hawk has ever said.

i appreciate nicknames that are complete non sequiturs. voted oil can

Oil Can would be my pick though I have a fondness for the big hurt. yeah All Rise is garbage.

call him tallboy imo

Posnanski says in the piece that All Rise isn't really a nickname, so I'm not sure why he included it. Babe and Yogi and Satchel seem like a separate category to me--when the nickname eclipses the birth name, they don't seem like nicknames anymore. (And yet, Goose Gossage does seem like a nickname to me, even though I never heard anyone ever refer to him as Rich past a certain point.) There are lots of great nicknames throughout Ball Four, some of them pretty cruel. "Dr. Strangelove" for Dick Stuart was a great one, even though I don't know why they called him that. Surprised "Le Grand Orange" didn't make the list.

every pick more current than the big hurt is a bad choice

"corey's brother" come on, that's not even a nickname it's a one-off joke

I like Kung Fu Panda. Never cared much for Joey Bats, believe it or not--and I thought it had to do with Goodfellas, not The Untouchables.

"Dr. Strangelove" for Dick Stuart was a great one, even though I don't know why they called him that.

You mean "Dr. Strangeglove" (because he was a bad fielder)?

There you go--I misread that every time I read Ball Four (even though I bet Bouton specifically mentions Stuart's defense).

"Thor" is the laziest one here

I don't think this is a minor point: Ozzie Smith's nickname is "The Wizard of Oz," not "The Wizard."

nah, it's the wizard

at least, that's what we all called him on the playground. and that's what jack buck called him in his famous call when he won game 6 of the 1985 NLCS against the dodgers:

Smith corks one into right, down the line! It may go!! ... Go crazy, folks! Go crazy! It's a home run, and the Cardinals have won the game, by the score of 3 to 2, on a home run by the Wizard!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVVAf_fY5a0

great pic of Cool Papa

have you heard of the guy known as Babe Ruth's Legs?

game 6 5 of the 1985 NLCS

Obviously I'll defer to you here (and the Jack Buck clip is all the proof you need), but I always remember him as being the Wizard of Oz (what it says on his Baseball Reference page too).

oh, he was both! i was a bit confusing there, sorry, but i've definitely heard him called both. but at least in my area just plain ol' The Wizard seemed to be more commonly used

Something that always bugged me. When Tom Henke settled in as the Jays closer in '85 or '86, I remember the radio guys casting around for a nickname. Someone suggested "The Canadian Goose"--I thought that was perfect. Instead, "The Terminator" caught on, which was literally appropriated from another player; Jeff Reardon (still a big-deal closer at the time) was already the Terminator. "We're just gonna use this nickname and pretend it's not already in use."

http://i.imgur.com/1X1lAxq.jpg
THE TERMINATOR

have you heard of the guy known as Babe Ruth's Legs?

nope, but i like it

paul waner = big poison
younger brother lloyd waner = little poison

both spent 1927-1940 with the pirates, both are hall of famers (although paul, who was an inch shorter, was significantly better)

Isn't Lloyd, when viewed in the context of the 1930s, generally considered one of the worst HOF picks ever?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Kong was a great nickname. The Mad Hungarian or the Bird is my all-time favourite, but for what's listed, I'll vote for the Toy Cannon.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The Dodgers' starter today, Michael Grove, made his MLB debut. No nickname yet, but how can they pass up Righty Grove?

I'd never heard of "The Password" till today.

https://www.mlb.com/news/jhostynxon-garcia-red-sox-callup

🙂

Post by Romy Gonzalez’s utility infusion (gyac) from Dom Delillo Presents: THE NAMES (of Minor Leaguers) on ILX - Dom Delillo Presents: THE NAMES (of Minor Leaguers)

Post by from…Peru? (gyac) from Dom Delillo Presents: THE NAMES (of Minor Leaguers) on ILX - Dom Delillo Presents: THE NAMES (of Minor Leaguers)

It’s pronounced “Yost-inson” btw

Probably could have gone with "Scrabble Jr.," too, but I love "The Password."

It’s pronounced “Yost-inson” btw

― from…Peru? (gyac), Thursday, August 21, 2025 3:44 PM (yesterday)

sorry, he will always be Ghost-Nixon to me~~~

("YOS-tin-son" according to MLB pronunciation guide fwiw)

Big Sugar!

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/big-sugar-bigger-fastball-zach-035751443.html

6'6", 293 lb; BRef has CC Sabathia at 6'6", 300 lb. And they've got Mickey Lolich at 170 lb, which is not how I remember him at all.