BATTER UP!

[ChiTownScion]

Before it was Wrigley Field, before it was Cubs Park, it was Weeghman Park -- named after this man, Charles Weeghman.

...... With nowhere else to turn he sold out his interest in the Cubs to chewing-gum king William Wrigley, and withdrew forever from baseball. ...

Well, just as well, one might argue. "The Friendly Confines of Weegham Park" is a string of words that kinda gets caught in one's throat like an errant fish bone.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

It's stuff like that, that breeds cynicism. If you put it out for comment, then you need to accept the feedback; otherwise, people know they were just being used and, when they didn't give the answer that was wanted, they were ignored.

They're mantra/jingle used to be "Baseball's never been hotter than the Jacksonville Suns".

Now, the unofficial jingle is, "Baseball's never been smellier than the Jacksonville Shrimp", lol.

Rob

 

[2jakes]

Top Headlines In Fla

Southern League recognizes Jumbo Shrimp GM Harold Craw.

"A special message from Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Owner Ken Babby

Blue Wahoos outlast Jumbo Shrimp, 5-4 in 12, sweep series

Blue Wahoos take 2-0 lead with 6-3 win over Jumbo Shrimp.”

Poor Scampi!

Even if I made this up, I couldn’t have done better.

Thanks Rob.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Two, he named his baseball team the Whales - really? Maybe, just maybe, you could call a football team the Whales in a somewhat off-kilter attempt to impress with size, but I can't think of one feature of whales that really (without stretching too far) aligns with prowess in baseball.

Well, they did have a nifty logo.

The rest of the Federal League had some interesting nicknames. The Kansas City Cowboys and the St. Louis Terriers made sense, and the Brooklyn Tip-Tops were an obvious ad for Ward Tip-Top Bread. But the cake has to be taken by the Baltimore Terrapins. Yes, "terrapin Maryland" is a popular gourmet treat. But soft-shelled turtles do not make an impressive sports mascot.

 

[Fading Fast]

Well, they did have a nifty logo.

The rest of the Federal League had some interesting nicknames. The Kansas City Cowboys and the St. Louis Terriers made sense, and the Brooklyn Tip-Tops were an obvious ad for Ward Tip-Top Bread. But the cake has to be taken by the Baltimore Terrapins. Yes, "terrapin Maryland" is a popular gourmet treat. But soft-shelled turtles do not make an impressive sports mascot.

Darn it, I have to admit, the whale is cute, but as a baseball team's name - what a crazy idea. And, yes, Terrapins is even stupider.

While I "get" it, I've never really liked the "Jazz" as a name, but the Miami Heat actually makes sense to me - ties to Miami and sports teams get "hot;" although, it would have worked better for baseball as pitchers bring "the heat."

 

[LizzieMaine]

The best Federal League team name, though, has to be the Pittsburgh Stogies. A team named after a cheap, foul-smelling cigar just couldn't help but be a winner.

 

[LizzieMaine]

When it comes to baseball nicknames, you can spend days poring over the Baseball Encyclopedia unearthing such gems as Bob "Death To Flying Things" Ferguson and Lou "The Nervous Greek" Skizas, but nothing will ever equal the magnificence of the one and only "Pebbly Jack" Glasscock.

Pebbly Jack may have been the best shortstop in organized baseball in the nineteenth century, with the magnificence of his name and the magnificence of his moustache matched only by his talent on the field. He got his name from his habit of carefully grooming the skin part of the infield for rocks and pebbles, some of which he'd stuff in his pockets for reasons known only to himself. He played for several clubs in the National League and the then-major Union Association between 1879 and 1895, establishing himself as both an outstanding hitter and a superb fielder. Pebbly Jack Glasscock would, without doubt, be a member of the Hall of Fame but for one one reason -- the Powers that Be are no doubt worried about all the juvenile snickering that would undoubtedly erupt at the sight of his name on a plaque.

Stop snickering. Seriously. Just stop.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And then there's Clint Courtney, a belligerent and hard-boiled catcher with the Browns, Orioles, Senators, and Athletics in the 1950s who had not one, but three superb nicknames.

Clint was a throwback to another age in baseball -- far from the smiley-faced media-friendly role-model-to-the-kiddies types of the television era, he would have fit right in with the two-fisted small-town roustabouts of the 1880s. His most popular nickname fit this image to a T -- because he was so rough and tough he was well-known around the league as "Scrap Iron." Because he was so small and fiesty and yappy on the bench, Browns broadcaster Dizzy Dean tagged him with another name that would follow him thru the rest of his career, "The Toy Bulldog." And because he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, the wise guys around the clubhouse called him "The Sealed-Beam Catcher."

No matter what you called him, he was one of the great characters of his generation, whose favorite pastimes involved drinking beer, playing gin rummy in the clubhouse with Satchel Paige, and punching Billy Martin in the face.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

And then there's Clint Courtney, a belligerent and hard-boiled catcher with the Browns, Orioles, Senators, and Athletics in the 1950s who had not one, but three superb nicknames.

Clint was a throwback to another age in baseball -- far from the smiley-faced media-friendly role-model-to-the-kiddies types of the television era, he would have fit right in with the two-fisted small-town roustabouts of the 1880s. His most popular nickname fit this image to a T -- because he was so rough and tough he was well-known around the league as "Scrap Iron." Because he was so small and fiesty and yappy on the bench, Browns broadcaster Dizzy Dean tagged him with another name that would follow him thru the rest of his career, "The Toy Bulldog." And because he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, the wise guys around the clubhouse called him "The Sealed-Beam Catcher."

No matter what you called him, he was one of the great characters of his generation, whose favorite pastimes involved drinking beer, playing gin rummy in the clubhouse with Satchel Paige, and punching Billy Martin in the face.

Sounds like I would have liked him.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Exposition Park, Aug. 23, 1904

Group of Cleveland baseball players

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

NY Giants

NY baseball club

Rob

 

[belfastboy]

[QUOTE="LizzieMaine,Mr martin goesost: 2301399, member: 1381I have clin]And then there's Clint Courtney, a belligerent and hard-boiled catcher with the Browns, Orioles, Senators, and Athletics in the 1950s who had not one, but three superb nicknames.

Clint was a throwback to another age in baseball -- far from the smiley-faced media-friendly role-model-to-the-kiddies types of the television era, he would have fit right in with the two-fisted small-town roustabouts of the 1880s. His most popular nickname fit this image to a T -- because he was so rough and tough he was well-known around the league as "Scrap Iron." Because he was so small and fiesty and yappy on the bench, Browns broadcaster Dizzy Dean tagged him with another name that would follow him thru the rest of his career, "The Toy Bulldog." And because he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, the wise guys around the clubhouse called him "The Sealed-Beam Catcher."

No matter what you called him, he was one of the great characters of his generation, whose favorite pastimes involved drinking beer, playing gin rummy in the clubhouse with Satchel Paige, and punching Billy Martin in the face.[/QUOTE]
Anybody who punches mr martin goes to the top of my list....i have this baseball card.

 

[LizzieMaine]

My favorite Billy Martin story is the day, when managing the Tigers, he got a bit too lippy with Reggie Smith of the Red Sox, and Reggie challenged him to have it out under the stands after the game. Reggie was there, ready to go, but Billy showed up with a beer in his hand and a bunch of his coaches with him and blew off the fight.

Reggie was one of my all-time favorites, never afraid to call a punk a punk.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And then there's the more unfortunate nicknames a player can never seem to shake. Bill Nicholson was a good, solid, steady outfielder for the decent Cub teams of the 1940s -- he had a powerful bat and a steady glove, and was just the guy you wanted batting fifth or sixth in your lineup.

But he had a terribly unflattering nickname, which seemed always to be tagged onto his name: Bill "Swish" Nicholson.

They didn't call him that because he walked like Jack Benny. They called him that because he struck out a lot. And when he swung and missed, he swung and missed big, corkscrewing around and looking extremely inefficacious. During one particularly unfortunate series against the Dodgers, the Ebbets Field faithful felt the breeze and, like sharks sensing blood in the water, began chanting in loud unison "SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH" whenever he swung and missed. And for the rest of his long and productive career he was Bill "Swish" Nicholson. He tried valiantly to shake the name, but it followed him for the rest of his life, and even in his Sporting News obituary, he would always be Bill "Swish" Nicholson.

 

[belfastboy]

And then there's the more unfortunate nicknames a player can never seem to shake. Bill Nicholson was a good, solid, steady outfielder for the decent Cub teams of the 1940s -- he had a powerful bat and a steady glove, and was just the guy you wanted batting fifth or sixth in your lineup.

But he had a terribly unflattering nickname, which seemed always to be tagged onto his name: Bill "Swish" Nicholson.

They didn't call him that because he walked like Jack Benny. They called him that because he struck out a lot. And when he swung and missed, he swung and missed big, corkscrewing around and looking extremely inefficacious. During one particularly unfortunate series against the Dodgers, the Ebbets Field faithful felt the breeze and, like sharks sensing blood in the water, began chanting in loud unison "SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIISH" whenever he swung and missed. And for the rest of his long and productive career he was Bill "Swish" Nicholson. He tried valiantly to shake the name, but it followed him for the rest of his life, and even in his Sporting News obituary, he would always be Bill "Swish" Nicholson.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Darn it, I have to admit, the whale is cute, but as a baseball team's name - what a crazy idea. And, yes, Terrapins is even stupider.

Well, the nickname of the University of Maryland sports collective is "Terrapins". The good folks of the Old Line State probably don't think it's all that stupid.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The best Federal League team name, though, has to be the Pittsburgh Stogies. A team named after a cheap, foul-smelling cigar just couldn't help but be a winner.

For many years, my hometown of Tampa, known as Cigar City, fielded the Tampa Smokers, who for a time, included a big stogie on their jersey logo. Said logo was the source of some controversy a few years ago during "throwback night", when the Rays wore old Smokers jerseys, but without the cigar:

At any rate, here's Smokers manager Tony Cuccinello lighting up after a victory in 1948:

 

[HudsonHawk]

While I "get" it, I've never really liked the "Jazz" as a name, but the Miami Heat actually makes sense to me - ties to Miami and sports teams get "hot;" although, it would have worked better for baseball as pitchers bring "the heat."

The "Jazz" nickname worked a whole lot better when they were in New Orleans.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The young and the old of it...

Everybody knows fifteen-year-old Joe Nuxhall was the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game when he pitched for the Reds in 1944. But considerably fewer remember the youngest position player ever to appear in the bigs, Dodger shortstop Tommy Brown.

Like Nuxhall, Brown was a product of the wartime player shortage, a sixteen-year-old boy straight from the Brooklyn sandlots when he broke in during that same summer of 1944. He was by no means ready for the majors, but with Pee Wee Reese on the other side of the world and manager Leo Durocher having exhausted himself trying to fill the hole at shortstop, all possible alternatives were being siezed. Brown couldn't hit his age, but he had a powerful arm -- one that, while impressive, was not always accurate -- leading his teammates to quickly christen him "Buckshot."

The following season, Tommy became the youngest player ever to hit a major league home run when he connected against Preacher Roe of the Pirates. It was the custom then at Ebbets Field to reward Dodger home runs with a carton of Old Gold cigarettes, courtesy of the team's radio sponsor, with the carton to be slid down the screen behind home plate from the broadcast booth, to a "Whooooooooooo!" sound from the crowd. When Tommy hit his home run, broadcaster Red Barber dutifully slid the carton down the screen -- but Durocher immediately confiscated it for himself, declaring Tommy was too young to smoke.

And on the other side of the chronological scale we find the venerable John Picus Quinn -- who was for a long time, until Old Folks Julio Franco finally beat him out, the oldest man ever to hit a major league home run.

For baseball fans in the 1930s it might have seemed that Jack Quinn was born old. He wasn't, but he *was* born in 1883, and still toiling away in the major leagues in his early fifties. He was a fine pitcher as a young man just after the turn of the century with the New York Highlanders, and an outstanding pitcher with the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League. And he just went on and on and on -- improving with age like a fine cheese. He went 18 and 7 for the A's when he was 45, was still strong enough to start a World Series game for Connie Mack in 1929 at the age of 46 and was spry enough to put in a full season as a short reliever for the Reds when he was 50. He was a mere kid of 46 when he homered off Chad Kimsey of the Browns, a pitcher who hadn't yet been born when Quinn began his professional career. Superannuated players are more common now than they used to be, but by the standards of the time he was Methuselah.

 

[Fading Fast]

Group of Cleveland baseball players

View attachment 86668
Rob

More baseball cardigans