The Flying Dutchman, the Splendid Splinter, the Wizard, Charlie Hustle. Baseball history is full of great nicknames. These nicknames have been attached to the legacy of the players they represent and, in many cases, could never be used again. In a couple words, they tell a story, represent a player’s legacy, or are just fun.
“They don’t make ‘em like they used to” is a phrase that gets passed around about the players of yesteryear and, in general, I find it hard to believe that great players of the past are better than the guys out there today. The heyday of nicknames, however, is in the past. Names like The Heater from Van Meter, the Sultan of Swat, Hammerin’ Hank, and the Left Arm of God are hard to beat.
Like those great nicknames of the past, the goal was to find names that said something about the player with bonus points for those using some creativity. Apologies to “Meansy” and “A-Breg” in advance, you didn’t make the cut. Same goes for anyone nicknamed Kid or El Nino. Using Baseball Reference’s collection of nicknames, I found that there are a lot of good and some great nicknames in modern-day Major League Baseball.
After compiling the nicknames of every player on each team’s 40-man roster and the top remaining free agents, I grouped baseball nicknames into five categories. There are Alliterative Nicknames, Nicknames that Come with a Story, Character Nicknames, and two types of Play on Word Nicknames.