Posted by italyprof on 6/6/2024 5:12:00 AM (view original):
Great points all JMCraven74. I hear you about Ripken, and admit that it was super-subjective. Did I put him in both the pro- and con lists? Maybe I ovedid it, but I thought the streak became for the sake of breaking the record and didn't help his team. Of course Jeter who was sainted by MLB stayed at SS long after he could play it and when the Yankees had better players at that position, because of his ego and the club's seeing him just as ticket sales eventually.
Yeah, about characters in baseball - does ANYONE have a real nickname anymore?
I mean more than a century of "Death to flying things", the "Bambino", the "Big Train", the "Flying Dutchman", the Georgia Peach", "Vinegar Bend", "The Splendid Splinter", "The Human Rain Delay", "Sparky", "The Wizard of Oz", and now?
I don't think anyone on that great 1990s Yankees team, or the great 1990s Braves team had a nickname, unless we count "Chipper" Jones (is that his real name or a nickname?).
Kirby? Say it ain't so? What did he do wrong?
Re: Chipper Jones, that was his nickname. Real first name is Larry, I think.
Re: Puckett, it's not pleasant to read, but his wikipedia page details some of his troubling personal details.
Re: modern nicknames, we aren't that far removed from The Big Hurt (Thomas), Rocket (Clemens), Chicken Man (Boggs), Crime Dog (McGriff), Professor (Maddux), The Sandman (Rivera), but I agree that monikers like that seem to be less in vogue now. According to b-r.com, Ohtani is nicknamed Showtime, which I like, despite its callback to the 1980s Lakers. b-r.com also lists "The Millville Meteor" for Mike Trout which (a) is an AWESOME nickname but (b) I have never personally heard used by anyone.