THIRTEEN BASEBALL NICKNAMES YOU WON'T BELIEVE

Baseball is back but its players still seem so corporate, so pumped up.  Time was, however, when ballplayers were rough and tumble men who gave each other wacky nicknames.  Not “The Man,” “The Mick” or “The Kid,” but:

1.  Sal “The Barber” Maglie — because his brushback pitches all but shaved a batter. 

2. Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd — to this day no one knows why.

3.  Ernest “Mule” Shirley — Many players in the 20s and 30s were nicknamed “Mule.”  Mule Haas.  Mule Armstrong.  Mule Suttles. . . If you got enough of them on your squad, you’d have a 20-mule team.

4.  Dick Stuart, aka “Dr. Strangeglove.”  — Could hit but couldn’t even catch most balls at first base.

5.  Hugh “Losing Pitcher” Mulcahy - baseball can be cruel.

6.  Bob “Suitcase” Seeds — traded from team to team to team. . .

7. Harry “Cookie” Lavagetto — named for another “Cookie,” a coach.

8.   Bill “Swish” Nicholson — struck out a lot.

9.  Wilmer “Vinegar Bend” Mizell — from Louisiana but started his career in Vinegar Bend, Alabama.

10. James “Cool Papa” Bell — earned “Cool” by striking out a slugger under pressure, added “Papa” because it sounded cool.

11.  Jim “Mudcat” Grant — some nicknames remain a mystery.

12. Brooks Robinson, aka “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” — Why? Watch.

13.  Jud “Boojum” Wilson — When he hit .467 as a rookie for the Baltimore Black Sox, “Boojum” was the sound his line drives made hitting the outfield wall.