Big Mac Explored

What's in Macmillian's Baseball Encyclopedia makes one glad diamond fact expertise is graded on the curve. Not only doesn't Joe Averagefan know 5% of the hordes mentioned, Grand Poobahs spout few stats from memory besides those of fave players and 'Magic Number' lists. Combined, these truths leave behind enough trivia to wallpaper a fair sized house or compose a very good column; with strong mind and weak back, guess which option I chose.

Nicknames that aren't... Morris Anderholt's playing handle was 'Smut'. Furman Bisher (Strange But True Baseball Stories) lists him as such, and Morrie is so treated in the '52 Baseball Guide. Any late '70's fan near the right dugout knows Bill Nahorodny's alias is 'Naha', and Alan Guettel's typed on 50's issue PCL cards as 'Two Gun', yet Big Mac carries none of these nicks... Why????

Homonyms (almost)... Jake Beckley was 'Eagle Eye'. So was Charlie Hemphill. But don't confuse them with Bris Lord, 'The Human Eyeball'... Babe Ruth was 'Sultan of Swat', but 'The Rabbi of Swat', Moses Solomon, swung the meaner Torah...

A Rose by Any Other Name... At least 3 guys went by 'Prince Hal'; Chase, Schumacher, and Newhouser, with only Shoe's being readily explainable (number 2 guy behind 'King Carl' Hubbell). What's the deal with the other two? Chase started in the early 1900's, and Newhouser wound up about 50 years later. Strange, that... Downright weird was the 'Happy Jack' phenomenon of the 1890's-1910's. Three with that moniker were Stivetts, Chesbro, and Townsend (all pitchers!). A product brand name????

'Deliverance' Revisited... The only 3 Abernathy's listed - all from NC, none closer than cousins - perfectly mirror Pennsy's Yerkes trio. Ahhh, but can they play 'Dueling Banjos'?

BTW... Zach Wheat owed his Hall plaque to profficient lively-ball pounding. From '20-'27, Wheat whaled Br'er Rabbit at a .347 clip, including back-to-backs of .375, .375, and .359! His major league brother was Mack, but there's no mention of wrestling kinsman 'Haystack' Wheat, football sibling 'Crackback' Wheat, tabloid writing relative 'Hack Flack' Wheat, moving biz brother 'Oh-My-Achin-Back' Wheat, or 1920's jazz virtuoso 'What Did I Lack to Get So Blue and Black' Wheat...

But Seriously, Folks... Spud Chandler won the 1947 AL ERA title on just 122.1 innings, while Ferdie Schupp worked 140 in 1916 to a profit of 0.NINETY and gets NADA. Oh, come ON, sabrmetricians! Bite the asterisk with its long explanation, and hand Ferdie the all-time season low ERA crown!! And don't give me any bull about 1916 rules, either!!!!

Finally... Funniest Nickname, Open Division... Eugene (Rubber) Krapp....

Say goodnight, Gracie.

Dan'l