Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Deadball Era Nickname Quiz Part I

I covered the 1901 Tigers and some of the wacky nicknames on the team in previous post, but their were plenty of others across the major leagues at the time.  Each team had a Doc or a Kid or Deacon or Chief but I love the unique monikers that some players had.  See if you can match the half dozen players below with their well known nickname.

If the post is well received I will make this a recurring feature. All players were active in 1901.

Nickname                                           Given Name
1) Bones                                             A) Tully Hartsel
2) Cupid                                             B) William Ely
3) Boileryard                                      C) William Kennedy
4) Brickyard                                       D) Clarence Childs
5) Cozy                                               E) William Clarke
6) Topsy                                             F) Patrick Dolan

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1-B, Bones Ely:  At 6'1", 155 lbs the name is self explanatory.  A defensive shortstop with little punch at the plate, he played 14 years mainly for St. Louis and Pittsburgh in the National League between 1884 and 1902.

2-D, Cupid Childs: Baby faced and squatty at 5'8" and 185 lbs the cherubic secondbaseman nonetheless had a stellar career.  He was the best keystoner not named Nap of his era and his .416 OBP is third best all time for secondbasemen.  Despite his rotund build he was a good defender and he played 13 years in the majors amassing 41.7 WAR.

3-E, Boileryard Clarke: Yeah, say that name three time fast!  Evidently dubbed Boileryard because of his loud voice, he was a slightly better than average secondbaseman for 13 years. 

4-C, Brickyard Kennedy: Named for the same reason as Boileryard, Kennedy was a four time 20 game winner for Brooklyn.  According to the Baseball Library, Brickyard was a "lovable, eccentric illiterate" better known as Roaring Bill who won 187 games in a 12 year career.

5-F, Cozy Dolan:  I'm not sure where the nickname came from but this pitcher turned outfield died of Typhoid in spring training in 1907.  Another Cozy Dolan, apparently unrelated, debuted two years later.

6-A, Topsy Hartsel: With premature white hair and a pink complexion, Hartsel got his name from a sportswriter in Indianapolis in 1900 who remarked that he was "as light as Topsy of Uncle Tom's Cabin is black".  Hartsel played 14 years and used his 5'5" frame to shrink the strike zone, making him an effective lead off man.  The A's outfielder topped the AL five times in walks and retired after the 1911 season with 30.9 WAR.



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