Baseball History and Nicknames
Baseball is a serious game for the American public, and baseball nicknames have become a familiar part of the game. As the country's national pastime, baseball has extremely dedicated fans who follow the season, certain teams, and the careers of great players. Many of the most devoted baseball fans have one or two primary teams that they support. Sometimes, the teams are chosen because of location or personal history, while sometimes they are chosen because of the players themselves. If the second is true, when certain players change teams, fans may change their team loyalties, as well. Regardless of the situation, however, baseball players are not faceless names to the majority of fans. They have defining characteristics, interesting lives and history, and personal successes and disappointments.
Famous Baseball Nicknames
Just as the successes of some baseball players live on through history, many of the most memorable baseball nicknames enjoy lasting fame as well. Baseball nicknames give the players a more personal, familiar quality, as if a fan knows that particular player personally instead of just watching his professional baseball career. Baseball nicknames are also interesting because they often reveal information that is not widely known to everyone. In some cases, baseball nicknames can be more widely known than certain players' actual names because the nickname endears them to the public and forges a strong connection with the fan base.
There have been many important and famous nicknames throughout baseball history. Here are some of the most popular, most loved, most interesting nicknames. "The Splendid Splinter," Ted Williams; "The Sultan of Swat," George Herman "Babe" Ruth; Walter "Big Train" Johnson; "Hammerin' Hank Aaron"; "The Yankee Clipper," "Joltin Joe" DiMaggio; Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown; "The Big Unit," Randy Johnson; "The Georgia Peach," Ty Cobb; Fred "Bonehead" Merkle, Willie "Hit 'Em Where They A'int" Keeler, and "Shoeless Joe," Jackson.
Part of the allure of and fascination with baseball nicknames is that they are usually chosen or coined by fans who choose to emphasize a certain trait or quality about a beloved player. This choosing of nicknames gives the fans a way of feeling more connected to the game, of feeling that they have contributed something to the whole of baseball history. Baseball nicknames help to commemorate the amazing achievements of some of the great players and serve as symbols of devotion. How could a player not feel loved by his fans after receiving a nickname that highlights a particular part of his career or life?
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