Thursday, July 12, 2012

Some more fun with 2003 Topps: Nicknames

I've always loved nicknames.  Anyone who's ever had a nickname imparted on them by a friend or colleague is usually one that has earned respect.  Sometimes, even nicknames are given based on their name alone, just because it happens to belong to someone famous.

Meet "the Gambler"

Fried chicken anyone?

Some guys get their nickname because of how well they field their position.  Big but nimble of foot?  Sure...

Meet "the Big Cat"

1 HR shy of 400 for his career, not bad for never being drafted

How about this nickname for a guy whose love for playing hard earned a lot of respect from his teammates.

Meet "the Dirt Dog"

"Trot", it's as if his parents knew he was going to play baseball

How about what may be my favorite nickname of all time.  Known for his hitting prowess since the day he stepped into a major league uniform.

Meet "the Machine"

I can still remember when they had to "find" a spot for him so they could get his bat in the lineup

Now this next guy doesn't have a nickname, but I'd love to find one for him, maybe the blogosphere has one that I don't know about?

Did you know his middle name was Phifer...now that's unique for sure!

Since I don't know Cliff really well, I guess the list of nicknames I have just does not do him any justice:
  1. Hired Gun.  Since he was traded 3 times in a 12 month span, hired gun kind of came into my head, but I was not sure how well MLB would like a gun reference in one of their star player's nicknames.
  2. Zero.  Until Independence Day when he finally won a game, this would have been perfect.
  3. The $21.5 million man.  With the 70's show "The Six Million Dollar Man" still fresh in my mind, if Cliff had any robotic parts in his body this would have been perfect.  Alas, you can't have everything.

I'm sure you all have some nicknames that you really liked, past or present.  How about posting your favorite baseball nickname in the comments for me, if you are so inclined.

Or even better, come up with a great nickname for Cliff Lee....

Thanks for reading, Robert

1 comment:

  1. Will "The Thrill" Clark. My favorite. For Lee, I like the Hired Gun one, but with his lack of success this year, it doesn't really fit. I'm stumped. Maybe it's the late hour...

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