A place for the discussion of all things not closely related to the sport and its competitive side. (Locked down several times a year during the major championships)
Since the last post was nearly a week ago I suppose I can bring myself back from my self-imposed exile and interject some hints to still unanswered questions. I know the answers to: Kitten - a "perfect" pitcher; Ducky - HOF from the 30s & 40s; The Walking Man - almost as many bases on balls as hits; Dr. Strangeglove - a power hitting first baseman; and of course, since I posted him, Paw Paw, a Yankee Killer in his own right, he was for a while a teammate of the "Yankee Killer" Frank Lary.
KDFINE wrote:Since the last post was nearly a week ago I suppose I can bring myself back from my self-imposed exile and interject some hints to still unanswered questions. I know the answers to: Kitten - a "perfect" pitcher; Ducky - HOF from the 30s & 40s; The Walking Man - almost as many bases on balls as hits; Dr. Strangeglove - a power hitting first baseman; and of course, since I posted him, Paw Paw, a Yankee Killer in his own right, he was for a while a teammate of the "Yankee Killer" Frank Lary.
KDFINE wrote:Since the last post was nearly a week ago I suppose I can bring myself back from my self-imposed exile and interject some hints to still unanswered questions. I know the answers to: Kitten - a "perfect" pitcher; Ducky - HOF from the 30s & 40s; The Walking Man - almost as many bases on balls as hits; Dr. Strangeglove - a power hitting first baseman; and of course, since I posted him, Paw Paw, a Yankee Killer in his own right, he was for a while a teammate of the "Yankee Killer" Frank Lary.
Is "Kitten" Harvey Haddix ?
Yes.
And the nicknames are restricted to players in the 1950s, so Ducky Medwick (originally Ducky Wucky, but media members tended to drop the Wucky) is not correct.
DJ. As soon as you rejected Medwick it clicked with me as to who the Ducky of the 50s was. He was a light hitting powerless utility infielder, who nonetheless managed to play 19 years in the big league (which surprised me when I just looked him up). If I hadn't have had his baseball card as a kid I probably would have forgotten him.
KDFINE wrote:DJ. As soon as you rejected Medwick it clicked with me as to who the Ducky of the 50s was. He was a light hitting powerless utility infielder, who nonetheless managed to play 19 years in the big league (which surprised me when I just looked him up). If I hadn't have had his baseball card as a kid I probably would have forgotten him.
JayIsMe wrote:and one from a little farther back- Three Fingers
Mordecai Three-Finger Brown. Got his hand caught in a feed chopper on the family farm as a youth. Pitched mostly for the Cubs, on their last World Series winning team in 1908.
Ducky's link to T&F? I haven't a clue. I guess I'll cheat and look him up on Wikipedia but I won't ruin it by giving his name on this board (for now). I know Peanuts but don't know his real first name. The baseball encyclopedia lists him as Peanuts and gives his given name in small print. Another from the 50s was Chico. The BB encyclopedia lists him that way, and gives his given name in small print. This one should be relatively easy.
KDFINE wrote:Ducky's link to T&F? I haven't a clue. I guess I'll cheat and look him up on Wikipedia but I won't ruin it by giving his name on this board (for now). I know Peanuts but don't know his real first name. The baseball encyclopedia lists him as Peanuts and gives his given name in small print. Another from the 50s was Chico. The BB encyclopedia lists him that way, and gives his given name in small print. This one should be relatively easy.
Chico's gotta be Carrasquel.. and I always have assumed that was his real name. ( Boy I dug deep into the head for this one ! )
KDFINE wrote:Ducky's link to T&F? I haven't a clue. I guess I'll cheat and look him up on Wikipedia but I won't ruin it by giving his name on this board (for now). I know Peanuts but don't know his real first name. The baseball encyclopedia lists him as Peanuts and gives his given name in small print. Another from the 50s was Chico. The BB encyclopedia lists him that way, and gives his given name in small print. This one should be relatively easy.
Chico's gotta be Carrasquel.. and I always have assumed that was his real name. ( Boy I dug deep into the head for this one ! )
A couple of '50s shortstop Chicos: Alfonso Carrasquel and Humberto Fernandez. Carrasquel was the first Latin ballplayer to play in the MLB all-star game (1951).
KDFINE wrote:Ducky's link to T&F? I haven't a clue. I guess I'll cheat and look him up on Wikipedia but I won't ruin it by giving his name on this board (for now). I know Peanuts but don't know his real first name. The baseball encyclopedia lists him as Peanuts and gives his given name in small print. Another from the 50s was Chico. The BB encyclopedia lists him that way, and gives his given name in small print. This one should be relatively easy.
Ducky Schofield is the father of U.Florida LJer Kim Schofield from the '70s and early '80s.
DJ is correct on Lowery and Jones. Chico Carrasquel's real first name is Alfonso. I looked up Ducky's link to T&F. After reading it I can honestly say that I hadn't any recollection of her.
Dick Schofield whose daughter Kim was a long jumper and whose granddaughter is former trackster Hillary Werth.
edit: Answered already...missed by that much! Toronto Blue Jays fans know the Schofield family trivia as Ducky's son Dick Schofield and grandson Jason Werth both played for them...one too late in his career and the other too early.
Last edited by cullman on Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My knowledge of baseball first names starts with my first year of collecting baseball cards, 1959. That year the Topps series included the player's common name at the top of the card with a signature over the photo.
I found it curious at the time that most Latins were given a nickname that Anglos could pronounce, foremost of course being Bob Clemente, who was the first to successfully fight back. But there were the Chicos--Carrasquel and Fernandez, and Minnie Minoso, Pancho Herrera, Willy Miranda, Mike Fornieles, Pete Ramos, most of whom were never known by anything but their Anglo name.
The only Latins I can think of who played using their proper name as rookies were Camilo Pasqual, Orlando Cepeda and Humberto Robinson.
I know there are lots I'm not thinking of on both sides of the ledger, but I think the preponderance falls among the Anglo nicknames.
cullman wrote:It is Jim Rivera. Ha! I thought you might be of that era. I couldn't resist a bit of 1959 Chicago White Sox trivia.
Loved the photos from the '59 Series, particularly Al Smith having beer spilled on his head as he watches a Charlie Neal homerun go over the left field wall at Comiskey. It was the first year baseball news photos made some sense.
