Welcome to the website woven for wordaholics, logolepts, and verbivores. Carnivores eat meat; herbivores eat plants and vegetables; verbivores devour words. If you are heels over head (as well as head over heels) in love with words, tarry here a while to graze or, perhaps, feast on the English language. Ours is the only language in which you drive in a parkway and park in a driveway and your nose can run and your feet can smell.

This coming Tuesday, the Miami Marlins will host the 2017 All-Star game. Many of us fondly recall bygone days in which baseball players were anointed with colorful nicknames. San Diego’s native son Ted Williams, for example, was variously dubbed the Splendid Splinter, the Kid, Teddy Ballgame and the Thumper. Similarly George Herman Ruth took on the monikers Babe, the Bambino and the Sultan of Swat and Joe DiMaggio The Yankee Clipper and Joltin’ Joe.

At the start of the 1976 baseball season, the Detroit Tigers unveiled Mark “The Bird” Fidrych, one of the most exciting rookie pitchers in the history of baseball. Fidrych acquired his nickname because he looked like the Sesame Street character Big Bird. In his first year, Fidrych won 19 games and lost nine, accumulating a league-leading ERA of 2.34 and was voted American League Rookie of the year.

Sadly, Fidrych, plagued by knee and shoulder problems, never lived up to his early promise, but for a few years he was the most famous Bird before a fellow named Larry changed what it meant to play the game of basketball.

Where have all the baseball nicknames gone? Long time passing. Where have all the baseball nicknames gone? Long time ago. The way-back machine brings us colorful; characters such as Walter “Big Train Johnson,” Lou “The Iron Horse” Gehrig, Pete “Charlie Hustle” Rose, Ernie “Mr. Cub” Banks, and Hammering’ Hank Aaron (along with Hammerin’ Hank Greenburg). More recently, we watched the play of Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas, Randy “The Big Unit” Johnson, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez and David “Big Papa” Ortiz.

Today? Can you name any baseballers with beguiling nicknames? Maybe, but just a few. The art of the classic cognomen seems to have gone the way of fountain pens, phonographs, typewriters and telephone booths.

Play ball, sports junkies, word buffs, old-timers and young-timers. Match each baseball all-star with his nickname

1. John Baker The Barber
2. Lawrence Berra Big Poison
3. Dennis Boyd Blue Moon
4. Mordecai Brown Bucky
5. Roger Clemens Casey
6. Clarence Coleman Catfish
7. Ty Cobb Choo-Choo
8. Jay Dean Country
9. Paul Dean Cy
10. Russell Dent Daffy
11. Leo Durocher Dizzy
12. Bob Feller Doctor K
13. Carlton Fisk Ducky
14. Frankie Frisch Duke
15. Dwight Gooden The Flying Dutchman 16. Rich Gossage The Fordham Flash
17. Robert Green Gabby
18. Robert Grove The Georgia Peach
19. Ken Harrelson Goose
20. Charles Hartnett The Hat
21. Rogers Hornsby Hawk
22. Jim Hunter Home Run
23. Joe Jackson Killer
24. Reggie Jackson Klu
25. William Keeler Kong
26. Harmon Killebrew Lefty
27. Dave Kingman The Lip
28. Ted Kluszewski The Man
29. Bill Lee Mr. October
30. Salvatore Maglie Oil Can
31. Walter Maranville Pee Wee
32. Willie Mays Pie
33. Joe Medwick Pudge
34. Stan Musial Pumpsie
35. John Odom Rabbit
36. Leroy Paige The Rajah
37. Harold Reese Rapid Robert
38. Phil Rizzuto Red
39. Albert Schoendienst The Rocket
40. Enos Slaughter Satchel
41. Ozzie Smith Say Hey
42. Edwin Snider Scooter
43. Charles Stengel Shoeless Joe
44. Harold Traynor Spaceman
45. Honus Wagner Three Finger
46. Harry Walker Wee Willie
47. Paul Waner Wild Thing
48. Mitch Williams The Wizard of Oz
49. Carl Yaztrzemski Yaz
50. Denton Young Yogi

 

Answers
1. Home Run 2. Yogi 3. Oil Can 4. Three Finger 5. The Rocket 6. Choo-Choo 7. The Georgia Peach 8. Dizzy 9. Daffy 10. Bucky 11. The Lip 12. Rapid Robert 13. Pudge (also Ivan Rodriguez) 14. The Fordham Flash 15. Doctor K 16. Goose 17. Pumpsie 18. Lefty 19. Hawk 20. Gabby 21. The Rajah 22. Catfish 23. Shoeless Joe 24. Mr. October 25. Wee Willie (also Hit ‘Em Where They Ain’t) 26. Killer 27. Kong 28. Klu 29. Spaceman 30. The Barber 31. Rabbit 32. Say Hey 33. Ducky 34. The Man 35. Blue Moon 36. Satchel 37. Pee Wee 38. Scooter 39. Red (also Charles Ruffing) 40. Country 41. The Wizard of Oz 42. Duke 43. Casey 44. Pie 45. The Flying Dutchman 46. The Hat 47. Big Poison 48. Wild Thing 49. Yaz 50. Cy