Where do player nicknames come from?

[Tigerfan1974]

Where do they come from? Which ones are the best?

Obviously Ruth's nicknames came from his power hitting.
Cobb was from Georgia, hence Georgia Peach.
Jackson was good in the post-season, Mr. October.

What about the Yankee Clipper?
Why is Rizzuto the Scooter?

What about the Barber?
The Newc? (Don Newcombe?)
The Thumper?
The Bachelor?

What are some others? Who were they and where did the name come from?
Inquiring mind wants to know??

[Captain Cold Nose]

Actually, Ruth's nickname supposedly came from a description someone gave him while playing for Jack Dunn's Baltimore minor league team. Someone said of him, "You better watch out for him. He's one of Jack Dunn's babes," or something to that efect, alluding to Ruth being one of the young players on the team.

Sal Maglie was the Barber because he threw inside.

Ted Williams was The Splendid Splinter because he was thin as a rail when he was starting off.

[Brian McKenna]

heard that denton true young practiced against a fence of something and tore it apart with his pitches - someone noted that it looked like a cyclone went through here

the dots miller story is a good one

rube and dummy are common and self explanatory but rube foster is said to have gotten his nickname after defeating rube waddell in an exhibition contest

dummy murphy is the only dummy i've found that wasn't deaf

many nicknames come from pop culture - back in the 1950s if you looked or moved or whatever like marciano your nickname might be rocky

[Tigerfan1974]

Actually, Ruth's nickname supposedly came from a description someone gave him while playing for Jack Dunn's Baltimore minor league team. Someone said of him, "You better watch out for him. He's one of Jack Dunn's babes," or something to that efect, alluding to Ruth being one of the young players on the team.

Sal Maglie was the Barber because he threw inside.

Ted Williams was The Splendid Splinter because he was thin as a rail when he was starting off.

Actually, I was referring to Sultan of Swat, and the like.
I know that Babe was from Ruth's age at the time of the tag.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Actually, I was referring to Sultan of Swat, and the like.
I know that Babe was from Ruth's age at the time of the tag.

Sorry. There are oh so many . . .

[Tigerfan1974]

Sorry. There are oh so many . . .

How many??
The Babe.
The Bambino.
The Sultan of Swat.

Others?

[Captain Cold Nose]

How many??
The Babe.
The Bambino.
The Sultan of Swat.

Others?

I'm trying to remember all the names they had for him in The Sandlot. The Colossus of Clout was one. And, no, The Sandlot was not the first time I had heard of him.

[Brian McKenna]

my thought on nicknames is that we should throw away 90% of them - many were just newspaper nicknames that were mere fluff

no friend or teammate ever used:
three fingers brown
daffy dean
sultan of swat or a million others for ruth

for example

[Sultan_1895-1948]

How many??
The Babe.
The Bambino.
The Sultan of Swat.

Others?

Babe - Veterans began calling him Dunnies Baby after two weeks in training camp. Fit the way he was seen by them; as just a child. George was far too formal for him. By the end of the third week of training, the Baltimore papers were referring to him as "Babe" Ruth and then the fans were, and soon everyone.

Bambino - Brought about by immigrant fans who would talk about him on street corners, stores, and streetcars. The italian world for Babe was Bambino. It caught on, and soon papers were including it in their headlines with "Bam hits one." It fit.

Jidge - Called this by his Yankee teammates; a variation of George. Apparently Dugan was the first to call him this.

Home Run King - Referred to in print quite often. First time came after his 9th HR in 1918.

Clouting Hercules
Boston Battering Ram
Big Bertha
Behemoth of Bing
Colossal of Clout
Sultan of Swat
Prince of Pound

[Sultan_1895-1948]

"Iron Horse" was apparently inpired by a train, as was "Big Train" from him pulling his team along with him.

[Myankee4life]

I think Yankee Clipper came from how smooth Dimaggio played so clipper is actually refering to a smooth sailing boat.