My son is getting in some hitting work. One of the guys he’s working out with has a great nickname: Bobby Barrels. Made me wonder, what’s the best nickname you’ve had or you’ve heard. Backstory makes it even better!
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Knew a pitcher they called "The Usher". He told me it was because, When hitters came up, he'd "sit em down!". His uncle told me it was actually cause he got so excited one time when friends and family could finally come see a game, he hopped up into the stands to greet them and help them find their seats. One of the team employees yelled to him "what are you doing.....they got Ushers for that, Jeff."
Paula:
"RAMBO" Mike Diaz, Pirates OF. The promotion dept with the Pirates used photos of Mike climbing over the LF wall in a "Rambo" costume.
When signed with Lotte, he was required to use the name "Rambo". I watched Mike play in the Tokyo Dome. "that is another story"
Mike and I operated baseball clinics in Santa Rosa. He is a very good hitting instructor. Now in Hawaii.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Diaz
Bob
I call him "the Big Dog".
I started when he was 5'6" and 115 lbs and now that he has grown into it I just call him the baby brother.
He doesn't think I am as funny as I do.
https://www.natsenquirer.com/2...whitewall-ninja.html
This is Seth's pitching instructor in the Winter.
Whitewall Ninja is pretty cool.
Bob “ Death to Flying Things” Ferguson…..by far my favorite. Played in the late 1800’s. ( no, I didn’t see him play). Second is Pronk… half project, half donkey Travis Hafner.
A kid that played 14U with my son was a very good overall athlete. He could run, throw, and hit as good as the best players in North Texas……in practice. He (and his mom) were very impressed with himself so his teammates (sarcastically) dubbed him “The Messiah.” Problem was the kid never learned how to use his athletic ability to be a good baseball player. He ran into outs on the base paths, he never hit a cut off man with any throw, he threw to the wrong base, missed signs from 3B coach regularly, would pop up w/ a 3-0 count, etc. He was a showcase superstar that had no clue how to play the game - and wouldn’t listen to those that tried to help him. It was frustrating to watch him and he eventually played his way into sitting the bench. But not soon enough for my liking.
LOL these are great and the backstories are better than the actual nickname. I knew Bob would have good ones and we can all relate to the sarcastic Messiah!
Sweet Cakes
I was an assistant coach of an 18u Gold softball team. We had a two hour wait before our next tournament game. The girls were sitting in the shade having snacks.
One of the girls said she had to go to the bathroom. We were on the far side of a four diamond complex on each side of the street. The facilities were as far away in the complex as possible. This girl opted for the nearby porta potty. By Sunday afternoon in the summer these things are usually gross.
When the girl returned a teammate sarcastically asked her how was her trip. The girl said if wasn’t so bad. She said it was reasonably clean and there was a sink with soap.
All of a sudden a bunch of girls shrieked. One screamed, “Oh my God! You washed you hands with a urinal cake.”
The girl got up and ran screaming through the middle of four fields to the bathroom facilities on the other side of the street. When she returned her hands were red she scrubbed them so hard.
My daughter is 33 now. She’s still friends with this girl. She still refers to her as Sweet Cakes and calls her Sweets when they’re together.
In the ARMY they teach us "do not eat the big white mint"!
I am not at all sure about Marines though.
My son was called Sparky by his high school teammates. Soph year rounding first base on a gapper he wiped out, rolled and got to his feet without losing too much momentum. So he got tagged for “stop, drop and roll.”
He said his consolation was he didn’t have to live down his nickname like one of his teammates … Sharts. You don’t want the story. You can guess.
- @adbono posted:
A kid that played 14U with my son was a very good overall athlete. He could run, throw, and hit as good as the best players in North Texas……in practice. He (and his mom) were very impressed with himself so his teammates (sarcastically) dubbed him “The Messiah.” Problem was the kid never learned how to use his athletic ability to be a good baseball player. He ran into outs on the base paths, he never hit a cut off man with any throw, he threw to the wrong base, missed signs from 3B coach regularly, would pop up w/ a 3-0 count, etc. He was a showcase superstar that had no clue how to play the game - and wouldn’t listen to those that tried to help him. It was frustrating to watch him and he eventually played his way into sitting the bench. But not soon enough for my liking.
We had a LL and CYO superstar in our area his dad called Meal Ticket. The kid never lost a game on the small field. He was 5’8”. He threw mid 70’s. The dad thought the kid was going to the majors. My son’s all star team wanted to face him and beat him so badly. Meal Ticket’s team didn’t win when he wasn’t pitching.
When I started a 13u travel team I wasn’t interested in Meal Ticket. I wanted kids I felt had potential to be quality high school prospects and teach them how to play the game. The problem with Meal Ticket was dad was 5’5”. Mom was 5’. Dad also had a reputation of calling the game for his son from the stands. And being an overall pain in the arse.
Since I didn’t pursue Meal Ticket the dad pursued me. He thought there would be MLB scouts at our 13u travel games. Due to dad’s reputation not one travel team pursued Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket washed out of the game after soph year of high school. He was still 5’8” throwing upper 70’s.
Meal Ticket’s dad was a schmuck. My son became good friends with Meal Ticket through a travel teammate who had come up through that same LL and high school. They all golf together.
We had a Hollywood on my son’s youth team because he was always smiling and an aspirational “Iceman” who didn’t really grow into the name until HS—as a kid he broke down crying on the mound a lot. Husband was “Sweet” in HS because his shot was so smooth. Also Woody in college which my son has gotten a lot from HS up. Nothing as cool as Rambo yet… lol
Golf is not a verb... 
* and before all the Google Masters point out that several dictionaries actually say golf IS a verb, I'm just pointing out that using it this way is dangerous and somehow causes a wrinkle in the fabric of the universe. And I ain't even a grammar snob. I don't hardly never even play golf.
My son had a HS teammate they called "Girth".
There was a kid on my team they called "Wood" because he used to drop everything that was hit to him when he was younger (like, the ball would hit his glove and fall out). The name stuck ("He's got hands of wood"). His glove improved as he got older and I guess it was lucky for him he hit tanks, lol.
Nothing gets by teammates in a dugout especially among 11year olds. There was a kid on my son's travel team that threw extremely hard for an 11 year old before they got on the larger field. He was constantly blowing it by kids. One of the other travel team parents coined the phrase "VNG" or "Virginia Natural Gas" because of his consistent velocity on the mound. The name stuck but his teammates called him "VNG" for a vastly different reason. Again, nothing gets by teammates in a dugout.
@fenwaysouth posted:Nothing gets by teammates in a dugout especially among 11year olds. There was a kid on my son's travel team that threw extremely hard for an 11 year old before they got on the larger field. He was constantly blowing it by kids. One of the other travel team parents coined the phrase "VNG" or "Virginia Natural Gas" because of his consistent velocity on the mound. The name stuck but his teammates called him "VNG" for a vastly different reason. Again, nothing gets by teammates in a dugout.
To your point, which is absolute truth, one of my college teammates was nicknamed “Johnny P” - which seems logical because his first name was John and his last name began with the letter P. But that wasn’t the reason at all. Johnny P could have had quite the career in the porn industry had he been so inclined. Thankfully he wasn’t. But nothing gets by teammates in a locker room either.
One of the players on son's LL team was named Monaghan. They gave him the nickname money hand as this kid was the only one on the team who could strikes at will
@adbono posted:To your point, which is absolute truth, one of my college teammates was nicknamed “Johnny P” - which seems logical because his first name was John and his last name began with the letter P. But that wasn’t the reason at all. Johnny P could have had quite the career in the porn industry had he been so inclined. Thankfully he wasn’t. But nothing gets by teammates in a locker room either.
Similar with my son's teammate mentioned above, "Girth".
When I played in the Toledo, Ohio - Sunday Mexican League at age 16, the opposing team would chant "Mucha Lena"!!!
My limited Spanish believed they were calling me "wooden" head.
Later in Canada, the Cuban players on the Moose Jaw team said the same words.
Bob
Atticus. HS varsity coach named one of his players Atticus. No idea the backstory. But it caught on😂
Glenn Braggs, who was said to entertain ladies “until the cows came home," was dubbed “Moo-Moo."
I really like "Bobby Barrells" and "The Usher" but "VNG" may be my fav
I saw "Rambo" hit a long, long HR in Pittsburgh and he was my favorite player for a few days
I was "Boomer" I think because of George Scott, and I was a big first baseman
I played with "Blade" and "Thick" who obviously had different body types. "Caveman" was once my best friend.
I played against a guy in college they called "Upper Deck". I asked him why they called him that and he told me "When I get to the show that's where I'm going to hit them"
I played with the following:
Sasquatch (or Squatch): guy had the biggest feet anyone on the team had ever seen. 17 5E I believe.
Dismorph (short for Dismorphic): guy had a lift on one of his shoes because of leg length difference. Couldn't wear spikes but figured it out well enough to be an adequate D3 pitcher. Had only two toes on his left foot but made up some of that deficiency with the six toes he had on his right. Absolutely dead ringer for Tom Selleck in other, more important aspects of his appearance. Most popular teammate with the ladies. Several. None of whom seemed to mind.
Hoghead: Very, Very, Big and appropriately shaped head and facial features. Threw a mean slider but was only 5'6" so didn't get many offers.
Sweet: All style. Beautiful swing, no contact. Probably the most hated guy I played with. Zero self-awareness. Had wicked shades though, and had the jock walk down.
Lover Boy: Guy's last name was Hader.
The Boot: Pitcher with an ankle issue so he always wore a Red Wing lace up boot like this on his left foot. Was very effective because with that boot flying at them batters had trouble picking up the ball.
As always, smoke wins. Are these all true @smokeminside??!! Also, my nephew and brother-in-law are both Sasquatches with my husband wearing a mere 16. 😂
Yes! Happily, they are all for real.
Two more from me….
Last year my son’s upperclass teammates, nicknamed one of the fresh pitchers “Lent” because the coach, whom is a devout Catholic, gave up on him after a couple early season outings…..kinda harsh, but I still chuckle. This nickname just might be a baseball thing.
My sons nickname is Bobes. When 8 or 9, I stumbled across his search history on his ITouch. He looked up “ naked lady bobes”. I proceeded to have a come to Jesus moment with him. Well the story made its way to a family friend who happened to be his bus driver. She started greeting him every morning with “Good morning Bobes”, his fellow students picked up on it and it spread. The name stuck. The best part is very few know the origin of the name.
Lent may be simultaneously the funniest and most brutal nickname I’ve heard.
When my husband was in college, they nicknamed one of the freshman lunchmeat. I thought it was because he was so thin (6’10 and under 200lbs). Turns out it was because one of the sophomores regularly “ate him for lunch” in practice. He transferred.
Lent is GREAT!
Moving now, from the sublime to the ridiculous, maybe fans of the teams these guys played for can confirm these nicknames which I heard from my good friend, the fundamentally creative, but uncannily accurate, baseball historian Gwyn Pêl:
Dustin Pedroia: Microbe
Alex Rodriguez: Crescent (as in wrench, as in tool)
Jose Altuvé: Genome
CC Sabathia: Yeti
Pedroia has had a bunch of nicknames. Never heard Microbe.
He probably made it up. He did mention Laser Show and the Muddy Chicken also.
Genome or gnome? Not trying to be funny. Jocks can make some funny and cruel nicknames
This isn't a complete hijack, but this list are ACTUAL names in the Milb several years ago:
2022NYC, I asked Gwyn that very question because both Genome and Gnome could work for Altuvé and I think Gnome is better anyway. After all, how many people even know what a Genome is? They might think it's short for Geenormous, which would be a crappy nickname for Altuvé, for obvious reasons.
Anyway, Gwyn said Genome was chosen instead of Gnome because whoever came up with it--apparently its creator wishes to remain anonymous, kind of like IAmThatGuy--didn't want Gnome to be confused with Nome (Alaska). I think that's silly and told him so. If they were that worried about confusing people they could have just named Altuvé Quark. Everyone knows what a Quark is.
BTW, when Gwyn was explaining all this to me he went off on a tangent about R.A. Dickey, the former knuckleballer for the Mets (and the Rangers, Mariners, Twins, Blue Jays and Braves). Gwyn said Dickey had several nicknames but his two favorites were H.B. and Bedouin. H.B. stands for Higgs Boson, the subatomic particle that can have a 0 spin rate, like a knuckleball. Bedouin came from the nomadic Arabs, because he played for so many different teams.
BTW (again) there's a good joke about Higgs bosons.
- A Higgs boson walks into a bar. The barman doesn’t understand.