Nicknames

Nicknames are fascinating

For today's entry a little shout out to my friend, best sports writer I have known and walking library, "Timber" Dan Richards.  He is now retired but had these nicknames in his book, "Forty Years Behind the Sports Desk". The name is misleading I believe it was closer to 50 by the time he was finished.

Here are five origins of nicknames from his chapter on nicknames that really got my attention:

1. Denton True Young was nicknamed Cy because his pitches reminded some early fans of the high winds in a storm

2. George Herman "Babe" Ruth was naturally called Babe because the owner of the Baltimore Orioles had to adopt him from what was an industrial home before he could play.

3. Mickey Mantle isn't a nickname but rather his real name but there is a story. He was named for Mickey Cochrane. That Mickey came from the not so flattering nickname for Irish immigrants. In the same light, people with native American origins at the time were often nicknamed chief.

4. Charles Dillon Stengel was nicknamed Casey because of the Kansas town he was born in.

5. Bob Knight was called The General, not because of the way he led teams as I thought. That was his position in the Army Reserves so it kind of came natural.

Again thanks to Timber Dan for his history lesson. Glad to have him as a weekend visitor in The Corner