“Rube”

[frankbmd]

The list of Major Leaguers named Rube isn’t very long. There are half a dozen or more:

Rube Marquand
Rube Waddell
Rube Kroh
Rube Kisinger
Rube Foster
Rube Bressler
Rube Walker

None of the above had the given name of Ruben, more common in recent decades.

None had a given name that is even remotely related to the rube configuration of those four letters.

I’m not sure, but I don’t think any of the above was named after a sandwich either, the Reuben.

rube is synonymous with hick.

Both are considered insults, connoting both a lack of intelligence and sophistication, in other words “a country bumpkin”.

Rube Walker is the only one on the llst who is not prewar and he played his last game in 1958. So for 61 years there has not been a true “rube” in the major leagues. Are they extinct?

If you have a son who plays baseball reasonably well and you call him Rube, he has a 29% chance of ending up in the Hall of Fame.:eek:

Nicknames are not always complimentary (I was once known as “Charcoal” Birckett), but is there another defamatory nickname that has led to a higher rate of success?

I can’t think of one.

Long live “Rube”

[HexsHeroes]

...
And there was also “Rube” Kissinger, whom played a short stint with the Detroit Tigers too.

Cannot disagree that “rube” may have been one of the most common nicknames used. “Nig” also used occasionally but does not appear as common.

[vintagetoppsguy]

How common was Lefty?

[trdcrdkid]

There’s another Rube in the HOF: Rube Foster, the Negro League pioneer. I assume the Rube Foster on your list is the one who played for the Red Sox from 1913 to 1917, since you said Major Leaguers.

Baseball-reference.com shows 29 MLB players named Rube, 21 of whom played between 1900 and 1920. I guess that must have been a common nickname in that era for players from the sticks, of whom there were increasingly many in the early 20th century.

[clydepepper]

How common was Lefty?


Certainly a lot more common than 'Righty'.

A conspiracy for sure!


.

[jerrys]

Rube Dessau (Frank)
Rube Geyer (Jacob)
Rube Manning (Walter)
Rube Oldring (Reuben)
These Rubes are on bb cards.

George Edward "Rube" Waddell appeared on his early W600 cabinets when he was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1908 as a member of the St. Louis Browns his W600 pictured him in uniform and without the nickname "Rube" insert in his name. According to teammate Jesse Tannehill, he disliked that nickname and preferred to be called Eddie.

[frankbmd]

Rube Dessau (Frank)
Rube Geyer (Jacob)
Rube Manning (Walter)
Rube Oldring (Reuben)
These Rubes are on bb cards.

George Edward "Rube" Waddell appeared on his early W600 cabinets when he was a member of the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1908 as a member of the St. Louis Browns his W600 pictured him in uniform and without the nickname "Rube" insert in his name. According to teammate Jesse Tannehill, he disliked that nickname and preferred to be called Eddie.

Baseball-Reference searches have failed me again missing more Rubes than you can shake a stick at. They are not recommended henceforth as the basis for threads of this nature particularly if you post before thinking. I am well aware of all the Rubes listed here. :o:eek::eek:

I think the additional Rubes reinforce my point though. Has there been a Rube, not named Ruben or Reuben, since Dixie Walker though?

[gabrinus]

Eddie Waddell just doesn't have the same ring to it....

[irishdenny]

Hey there Mr. Frank! :)

MiGHT You have a "Go Fund me" page... ?

I feel the need ta Give...
Once again You caught me off guard!
After Laughing with the utmost snot blowin' joy,
I Thank You Evar So Kindly fir Yor Crystal Wit!

"Grand As Evar Charcoal!!!"

[jerrys]

Apparently "Eddie" didn't like the name George either. But Waddell was unpredictable – early in his career, he would leave mid-game to go fishing. He had a longstanding fascination with fire trucks and had run off the field to chase after them during games. He performed as an alligator wrestler in the offseason. An alcoholic for much of his adult life his eccentric behavior led to constant battles with his managers and scuffles with teammates. He was reported sleeping in a firehouse at Camden, New Jersey, and ended it tending bar in a saloon in Wheeling, West Virginia. He toured the nation in a melodrama called The Stain of Guilt, courted, married and became separated from May Wynne Skinner of Lynn, Massachusetts, his first of three marriages.

Waddell would play for Connie Mack's Athletics football team. On the first practice Waddell tackled and broke the quarterback's leg. Back to baseball. Connie Mack described his star left-hander as, "the atom bomb of baseball" long before the atom bomb was discovered. He struck out three batters on nine pitches - still holds the AL single-season strikeout record by a left-handed pitcher. In exhibition games Waddell enjoyed waving his teammates off the field and then striking out the side. But in a league game in Detroit, Waddell actually had his outfielders come in close and sit down on the grass to watch him strike out the side.

Waddell was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was placed in a sanitarium until his death on April 1, 1914 at the age of 37.

[h2oya311]

Thank God for modern medicine. I got tuberculosis at the ripe old age of 16...glad I didn't end up in a sanitarium.

Here's another HOF Rube...I hate this card (although I "have to" own it for my earliest HOF card collection)...this 1908 Indianapolis Indians postcard shows him as "Charles", even though his given name was Richard William Marquard. Go figure:

https://photos.imageevent.com/derekgranger/hofrookies1/websize/91908%20Marquard.jpg

[triwak]

My Rubes

[CobbSpikedMe]

Ken, love the Foster PC.

[Bocabirdman]

Sorry Frank... I couldn't resist:eek:

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[jerrys]

My only Rube Waddell

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[triwak]

Ken, love the Foster PC.

Thanks, Andy!!

[Jay Wolt]

No mention of Rube Walberg?

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CS8AAOSw3fZcVxyJ/s-l1600.jpg

[frankbmd]

No mention of Rube Walberg?

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CS8AAOSw3fZcVxyJ/s-l1600.jpg

"Rube" was actually an untreatable strain of bacteria that flourished before the discovery of penicillin. That is why it was prevalent in the prewar period only particularly near ballparks.

[Leon]

I like that card!!
Thank God for modern medicine. I got tuberculosis at the ripe old age of 16...glad I didn't end up in a sanitarium.

Here's another HOF Rube...I hate this card (although I "have to" own it for my earliest HOF card collection)...this 1908 Indianapolis Indians postcard shows him as "Charles", even though his given name was Richard William Marquard. Go figure:

https://photos.imageevent.com/derekgranger/hofrookies1/websize/91908%20Marquard.jpg

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

There was Rube Vickers. And a guy born Reuben Cohen who played under the name Buck Ewing.

[Leon]

Rube or Rube Ruth...whatever, he is looking for "a" rube, if you ask me.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1917-Youths-Companion-STAMP-BABE-RUTH-of-MLB-Baseball-PSA-EX-MT-6-HOF-ERROR/192852304403?hash=item2ce6e4a213:g:iSUAAOSwXx9b70i t:sc:USPSPriorityMailSmallFlatRateBox!75002!US!-1

[Den*nis O*Brien]

....Russian born Rube Schauer A.K.A. Dimitri Ivanovich Dimitrihoff of Odessa.

[rickalaska]

Here is an earlier Rube Marquard - 1905 Edgerton Maroons

[Bicem]

Awesome postcard, have not seen that before.

[RCMcKenzie]

Let's keep the Rube's going...

[jerseygary]

How about James "Rube" Parnham - guy was a monster in the International League - 22 wins in 1918, 28 wins in 1919, and 33 wins in 1923. Was a total nutcase, disappearing between starts, auto accidents and constantly being suspended. Was called "dumbest man off the field – and the smartest on." I'd say he earned his "Rube"!

Circa 1919 press photo:

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