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Lesser-Known Baseball Nicknames Quiz
Baseball's pace is slow enough that fans, sportswriters and announcers have time to think up some elaborate monikers. Can you match the player to his nickname?
Hargrove had a distinguished career: he won the 1974 Rookie of the Year as a player for the Texas Rangers, and as a manager led the mid-1990s Cleveland Indians to five straight Division titles. If baseball ever introduces a pitch clock he may have to adjust.
2. Fred McGriff
Answer: Crime Dog
His nickname is based on his surname's similarity to "MacGruff the Crime Dog", an anthropomorphic animated canine from a ubiquitous 1980s public service crime-prevention advertising campaign in the US. MacGruff's catchphrase was: "Take a bite outta crime!" Fred McGriff (he played from 1986 to 2004) took a bite out of too many of my beloved Red Sox' pitchers in his prime.
3. Dick Stuart
Answer: Dr. Strangeglove
The slugging, avert-your-eyes-when-fielding Stuart was a 1960s prototype for Dave Kingman in the 1970s. His nickname is a pun on Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove"
4. Hub Pernoll
Answer: Piano Legs
Hub, a journeyman pitcher for the Detroit Tigers in the 1910s, achieved quasi-immortality for his inspired nickname more than his mound records.
5. Frank Viola
Answer: Sweet Music
Viola was a very tough lefthander for the Minnesota Twins in the late 1980s, winning the Cy Young Award in 1988. His thick Long Island NY accent always amused when being interviewed by Twins broadcasters with equally thick Minnesota accents
6. Ron Cey
Answer: The Penguin
One of the best 3rd basemen in the National League in the late 1970s, and the 1981 World Series MVP, the vertically-average Cey got his nickname from a college coach who thought Cey's running style was better described as "waddling."
7. Doug Gwosdz
Answer: Eye Chart
Until a baseballer named "Snellen" catches on in the southern California media market, Gwosdz, a San Diego Padre who played in the early 1980s, will have dibs on this inspired alias.
8. Steve Balboni
Answer: Bye-Bye
Would Steve be today's ideal sabermetric player? He had two of the three true statistical outcomes down: he hit homers and struck out at the top of league rates in the 1980s (walks, not so much.) His Kansas City Royal home record of 36 in 1985 held up for 32 years until 2019, when Jorge Soler smashed the record with 48 dingers
9. Joakim Soria
Answer: The Mexicutioner
Two-time All-Star relief pitcher (2008 and 2010) who could undoubtedly sell the copyright to his nickname to a countryman with sights on the MMA.
10. Jimmy Wynn
Answer: Toy Cannon
One of the original Houston Colt .45s (1963-1973), short but powerful, thus the moniker.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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