Identify these members of baseball's hall of fame by their nicknames:
Whitey. Pudge. Yaz. Sparky. Yogi. Dizzy. Catfish.
Too easy, right? Edward "Whitey" Ford (aka "The Chairman of the Board"). Carlton "Pudge" Fisk. Carl "Yaz" Yastrzemski. George "Sparky" Anderson. Lawrence "Yogi" Berra. Jay "Dizzy" Dean. And Jim "Catfish" Hunter.
Maybe you'll find these fifteen more of a challenge.
1. Old Aches and Pains
2. The Meal Ticket
3. Rajah
4. The Silver Fox
5. Baby Bull
6. The Vacuum Cleaner
7. Big Poison
8. The Grey Eagle
9. The Big Train
10. Ole Stubblebeard
11. The Mechanical Man
12. The Fordham Flash
13. The Flying Dutchman
14. The Hoosier Hammer
15. The Big Cat
Pictured: Ted Williams (aka "Teddy Ballgame" and "The Splendid Splinter"), card #250 in the 1954 Topps series.
The Big Train I believe was Walter Johnson. Big Poison was the older of the Waner brothers (Paul?)--his brother was Little Poison. Flying Dutchman--Honus Wagner? The Big Cat--Mize?
Posted by: David | September 05, 2009 at 12:31 PM
David, correct on all four counts!
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | September 05, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Andres Galaragga -- the Big Cat
Orlando Cepeda -- Baby Bull
Frankie Frisch -- Fordham Flash
Posted by: Calvin Massey | September 05, 2009 at 02:23 PM
Calvin, both Johnny Mize and Andres Galaragga had the "Big Cat" moniker, but only the former is in the HOF. Correct on Cepeda and Frisch! I thought you might know #3. (Hint: the nickname and the actual first name sound very (VERY) similar!)
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | September 05, 2009 at 02:36 PM
Rajah = Rogers Hornsby, the St. L. Cardinals Second baseman who has the second highest lifetime batting average in major league history after Ty Cobb and is the only player to hit over .400 and over 40 homeruns in the same season.
I've add more details about him to make up for the fact that I know nothing about your other still unidentified nicknames (and others have already gotten Big Poison and The Flying Dutchman).
Posted by: Marc Blitz | September 05, 2009 at 03:23 PM
Marc, perhaps one of the most impressive accomplishments of Hornsby is that he is one of only two players to achieve the hitter's "triple crown" not once, but twice (the "Splendid Splinter" being the other).
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | September 05, 2009 at 04:24 PM
Thanks Tim. And am I right in the vague and distant memory -- from my days playing the board game Superstar! Baseball in the 1970s -- that "The Gray Eagle" was Red Sox-Indians CF Tris Speaker? Or did the nickname belong to Browns' 1B George Sisler (another highly coveted 1910s-20s era player available to Superstar! Baseball enthusiasts)?
Posted by: Marc Blitz | September 06, 2009 at 02:02 PM
The Meal Ticket: Carl Hubbell
Hoosier Hammer: Chuck Klein
Vacuum Cleaner: Brooks Robinson
Posted by: Howard Wasserman | September 06, 2009 at 08:04 PM
Marc -- yes, Tris Speaker was known as The Grey Eagle.
Howard -- yes, yes, and ... yes! Bravo!
Only four to go: #1, #4, #10, and #11.
You'll find all the answers, and nicknames of several other HOF'ers, at this link:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/hof/hofnick.shtml
See you next week!
P.S. Go Cardinals!
Posted by: Tim Zinnecker | September 06, 2009 at 10:17 PM