Not as prevalent in major leagues as they once were in the past

Baseball Digest, July, 2008 by George Vass

OZZIE GUILLEN IS SOMETHING OF A wordsmith although it's doubtful whether many of the nouns, adjectives, verbs, expletives and other parts of speech he strings together in his inimitable "motor-mouth" fashion are fit to print in a family publication.

Nevertheless, the feisty and entertaining Chicago White Sox manager not only kept within the limits of propriety but renewed an old if faded baseball custom by pinning a nickname on a promising rookie when this season began.

Guillen chose newcomer Alexei Ramirez, a young defector from Cuba, as his Opening Day center fielder. Ramirez, a former member of the Cuban national team, impressed Guillen in spring training after signing a four-year deal with the Sox in December 2007.

Despite lacking minor league seasoning, Ramirez, 26, not only made the major league roster but got to start in the first Sox game of 2008 after batting .364 and driving in 18 runs during Cactus League play.

What's more, Guillen pinned a label on him: "The Cuban Missile."

"He earned it," said Guillen. "It was a real tough decision (the opener start) between Brian (Anderson) and (Carlos) Quentin, but 'The Cuban Missile' got it. I think this kid has a great chance to be special."

Admittedly, it remained to be seen whether "Missile" Ramirez soared or fizzled when put to a prolonged test as a big leaguer.

"I hope he stays 'The Missile,'" said Guillen. "I hope in May I'm not calling him `The B-B Gun.'"

Nicknames for players aren't altogether a thing of the past, but they no longer are as prevalent or picturesque as they once were. Sure, pitcher Roger Clemens is occasionally referred to as "The Rocket" when not called something less flattering, and slugger Alex Rodriguez has been saddled with the lame sobriquet of "A-Rod." Then there's 'The Big Unit," a tepid if fitting moniker for 6-foot, 10-inch Randy Johnson, the Arizona Diamondbacks' left-handed ace.

Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella has long borne the label of "Sweet Lou" despite his occasionally acerbic personality. Few other than his near relatives are aware that Cincinnati Reds skipper "Dusty" Baker's real front handles are Johnnie B. Jr. Detroit Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez is the latest "Pudge," a tag shared among others with Hall of Fame backstop Carlton Fisk, onetime Milwaukee Braves manager Fred Haney, and in the minor variation of "Pudgie" by Frank Delahanty, an early 20th century outfielder.

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Relief pitcher Antonio Alfonseca, who has bounced around from team to team since 1997, can thank or blame a rare physical anomaly from birth for his nickname, one that was customarily given those with inordinate reach in the field or in the boarding house dining room. He's called "Octopus" because he has six toes on each foot and six fingers on each hand.

One could go on to cite a scattering of other facetious or illustrative bynames for current and recent players, but the effort is hardly worthwhile because they are generally neither particularly amusing, imaginative, or memorable.

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To call a player whose first name is Nicholas "Nick" or someone registered as Thomas "Tom" hardly fits the Bill--or William. The same can be said of such oft-used tags as "Red"--as in Red Schoendienst and Red Corriden--or "Big Jim," "Big Ed," "Big Bob," "Long George," and the like, including "Junior" applied to namesake sons of big leaguers such as the current Ken Griffey and a few predecessors.

As for "Slim," "Shorty," "Fatty," "Wee Willie"--as in 5-foot, 4-inch Keeler who "hit 'em where they ain't"--"Tubby," "Jumbo," and "Whale," they may be descriptive as to physical proportions but they're not particularly ingenious.

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No, when it comes to baseball's "name games," which anyone can play, it's most rewarding to concentrate on the glories of the past. In specifying "name games," we mean the admiring, playful, even fond--or sometimes derogatory--tags applied in place of proper first names.

Sadly or otherwise--political correctness now being in high fashion--today's fictitious appellations are a far cry from the more colorful and sometimes disparaging labels of bygone days.

One tends to wonder about the why and wherefore of some, such as "Spittin' Bill," "Squeaky," "Death to Flying Things," "The Tabasco Kid," "The Iron Batter," "Grasshopper," "Soup," "Tomatoes," "Whispering Bill," and "Earache." Similarly, "OId Emergency No. 2" and "The Mighty Midget" arouse curiosity.

Among the rarer reasons for a player's nickname is his place of birth or residence. Two mid-20th Century pitchers serve as examples. Wilmer Mizell, later a U.S. Congressman, was best known as Vinegar Bend from having resided in an Alabama village of that name. Bill Voiselle was nicknamed "Ninety-Six," after his South Carolina hometown, and even wore "96" on his New York Giants uniform when he won 21 games in 1944.

Sometimes what seems an obvious reason for a player's nickname can be deceptive. Pitcher Donnie Moore, a major leaguer in the 1970s and 1980s, was known as "Lefty" although he threw right-handed. Teammates thought him eccentric, a characteristic usually attributed to southpaws by baseball tradition.