Gym Cracks By Jim April 16, 2003 WHAT'S IN A NICKNAME? Nebraska's baseball stars of yesterday had memorable nicknames By Jim (Babe) Berryman MissingNebraska.com Western Nebraska I grew to adulthood in an era when youngsters were given nicknames. More people in my hometown know me by my nickname, than by my given name. The World-Herald recently published an article on Nebraskans who played major league baseball and the nicknames they picked up somewhere. The most famous would be "Wahoo Sam" Crawford. And where did "Wahoo Sam" call home? Wahoo, of course. He is one of several Nebraskans in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Other names included "Available" Jones, "Mysterious" Walker and "Hippity" Hopp. "Hippity" was given the name John when he was born in Hastings. John "Hippity" Hopp now resides in Scottsbluff. Otto "Moonie" Miller hailed from Minden and spent more than a decade with the Brooklyn Dodgers starting in 1910. Moonie had the distinction of being on first base during the 1920 World Series when teammate Clarence Mitchell, another Nebraskan, hit into the only unassisted trip-play in Series history. George "Chief" Johnson hailed from the Winnebago Indian Reservation and joined the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1914. He must have been the oldest rookie in baseball history, because he was 48 years old when he stepped onto a major league field for his first game. Fremont's Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston pitched for several major league teams. His nickname had nothing to with his pitching, but he did give up three of Babe Ruth's 60-homers in 1927. Omaha's "Gloomy Gus" Williams had some good year in the majors before World War I, but 1914 was not one of them. In that year, he came to the plate and struck out a league-leading 120 times. I remember a group that played baseball many summer afternoons that didn't make the majors--Babe, Coke, Killer, Scooter, Chuck, Cheeta, Zeke, Doc, Jake, Glue, Heifer, Beak, etc. But that's another gym cracks, sometime in the future. Feedback Previous Gym Cracks: 03-28-03: More March Madness Gym Cracks By Jim 03-14-03: March To Remember Gym Cracks By Jim 03-07-03: Tall & Tough Gym Cracks By Jim 02-26-03: Zingerland Gym Cracks By Jim 02-19-03: Cuss The Bus Gym Cracks By Jim 02-09-03: Ratings And Recruiting Gym Cracks By Jim 01-31-03: Hoops Elite Gym Cracks By Jim 01-24-03: Nebraska's Super Connection Gym Cracks By Jim 01-15-03: Hometown Hits Big Time Gym Cracks By Jim 12-30-02: Count The Numbers Gym Cracks By Jim 12-18-02: Cream Of Coaching Crop Gym Cracks By Jim 11-28-02: The Big Picture Gym Cracks By Jim 11-18-02: 2 For 2 Gym Cracks By Jim 10-25-02: Sweet On Switzer Gym Cracks By Jim 10-17-02: Best Time Year Gym Cracks By Jim 10-11-02: Odds And Ends Gym Cracks By Jim 10-04-02: The Rating Game Gym Cracks By Jim 09-22-02: Fans Panned Gym Cracks By Jim 09-12-02: World Herald Calling Gym Cracks 09-05-02: Bit By Baseball Bug Gym Cracks 08-29-02: Caring Coaches Gym Cracks 08-22-02: Nebraska "Storm" Hits Colorado Gym Cracks 08-15-02: Cubs Win, Wallet Drained Gym Cracks 08-08-02: To Coors For Cubs Gym Cracks 07-25-02: Major League Madness Gym Cracks 07-18-02: Nebraskans In The Majors Gym Cracks 07-11-02: Kile Death Sheds Light Gym Cracks 07-04-02: Couch Potato Parking Gym Cracks 06-23-02: Top 10 Nebraska High School Nicknames Gym Cracks 06-06-02: Better In The 50s Gym Cracks 05-30-02: Dangerfield of Nebraska Gym Cracks 05-16-02: Baseball Sneak Aways Gym Cracks