Greatest athletes without a nickname

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by BLongley

What about Koufax or Clemente, neither of them really had a nickname that I can think of.... certainly not in the context of how I'm thinking of it.... like Georgia Peach, Mr October... etc.... maybe there were terms loosely used like "lefty" for Koufax, etc... but not a truly recognized nickname.

I've seen Koufax referred to as the Left Arm of God.

[barrysloate]

Why are there so many pitchers nicknamed "lefty" but not a single one called "righty"?

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Why are there so many pitchers nicknamed "lefty" but not a single one called "righty"?

Because the overwhelming number of people are right-handed. Designating someone as "lefty" highlights the uniqueness of being left-handed.

[Peter_Spaeth]

George Brett? Don't recall a nickname.

[CW]

Good call on Clemente and Koufax, Brian.

Although it didn't really exist during his playing years, Clemente did have the childhood nickname of "Momen".

Just when you thought every sports related question had been asked here, Peter comes up with a good one.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Carew? Bench? Winfield?

[RCMcKenzie]

Peter, baseball-almanac.com has a hofer list w/ nicknames. Clemens is "Rocket" or "The Rocket". Spahn was "Hooks", according to wikipedia, but I have never heard that nickname for him. Everyone that plays baseball has a nickname, but "Bill" is not as good as "The Duke of Tralee". Some nicknames are better than others.