Nicknames on uniforms

[BooBee]

I'm trying to recall some players in the four major sports who had names other than their last name on their unis. What I've come up with so far:

Pete Maravich NBA-Atl/NO (mid 70s) "Pistol"

Elvin Hayes NBA-Balt (early 70s?) E

Nick Weathespoon NBA-Wash (74-75) 'Spoon

Ken Harrelson MLB-Indians (69) Hawk

Vida Blue MLB-A's/Giants/KC Vida

Billy Conigliaro MLB-A's (73) Billy C

Tony Conigliaro MLB-Angels (71) Tony C

Jim Hunter MLB-A's Catfish

Wayne Causey MLB-A's (mid 60s) Kooz

Jim Grant MLB-A's (71) Mudcat

Andy Messersmith MLB-Braves (76) Channel*

Andy Messersmith MLB-Braves (76) Bluto

Darrell Evans MLB-Braves (76) Howdy

Earl Williams MLB-Braves (76) Heavy

Jimmy Wynn MLB-Braves (76) Cannon

Ralph Garr MLB-Braves (76) Roadrunner

Dick Allen MLB-A's (77) Wampum**

Ichiro Suzuki MLB-Mariners (2001-) Ichiro

Wahoo McDaniel AFL-Jets (60s) Wahoo

And my favorite of all time Mr. "He Hate Me" Rod Smart of the XFL. Of course, every other player in the XFL wore a nickname.

*cheap promotion of Ted Turner to promote his superstation Channel 17, the number Messersmith wore.

**Allen wore his hometown on his jersey and HS graduation year, "Wampum 60"

[IronChefShark]

in 1981 SF Giants shortstop John Lemastter wore "BOO" on his back in response to how he was recieved by us Giants fans for his play at shortstop.

[CC97]

Okay, who can post pic's of these?  

[BooBee]

Okay, who can post pic's of these?

There was a great pic of Darrell Evans wearing "Howdy" on his back on fastball.com, but it appears that site is now down.

By the way, a couple of revisions to the list. Ralph "Roadrunner" Garr was traded by the Braves before the 1976 season (when Ted Turner bought them), so there's no way he wore a nickname uniform....only an unfounded rumor.

Also, this may be a stretch, but Tom Veryzer wore "Beryzer" on his Mets uniform at the beginning of the 1982 season before it was corrected.

[Discrim]

add to the list pretty much every Brazillian soccer player and some portuguese and spanish.

attempting to add himself to the list to market himself better in brazil(old news but worth mention) nene hilario

oh yeah: Rudy Tomjanovich had 'Rudy T' on his back for a while.

[sc49erfan15]

I don't know if this counts, but Karim Abdul-Jabbar (the football player) wore a shortened version of his last name, "Abdul", towards the end of his Dolphin days.

Also, Yao Ming wears plain Yao on his jersey, and Wang ZhiZhi wore Wang on his. Is this just the way the Chinese/Japanese names are "translated" or do they just want their first name on their jersey?

[AndrewG70]

I don't know if this counts, but Karim Abdul-Jabbar (the football player) wore a shortened version of his last name, "Abdul", towards the end of his Dolphin days.

Also, Yao Ming wears plain Yao on his jersey, and Wang ZhiZhi wore Wang on his. Is this just the way the Chinese/Japanese names are "translated" or do they just want their first name on their jersey?

In Chinese culture, the family name comes before the given name -- completely reverse of American custom.  Therefore, Yao Ming's surname is Yao and his given name is Ming.  His father's name, according to nba.com, is Yao Zhi Yuan.

[Snowcap30]

Pistol

[Discrim]

And my favorite of all time Mr. "He Hate Me" Rod Smart of the XFL. Of course, every other player in the XFL wore a nickname.

yeah, a personal fav of me too...used to be my screen name on the old fanhome board, btw

[shiznit1083]

I remember the football Kareem wearing just abdul because there was an issue with the basketball Kareem not liking it for marketing reasons.  The football Kareem also wore 33 so to not cause a conflict, he wore abdul.

[sj32]

Another Atlanta Hawk to have his nickname on the back was Walt "Bells" Bellamy

[sj32]

I'm trying to recall some players in the four major sports who had names other than their last name on their unis. What I've come up with so far:

Pete Maravich NBA-Atl/NO (mid 70s) "Pistol"

Elvin Hayes NBA-Balt (early 70s?) E

Nick Weathespoon NBA-Wash (74-75) 'Spoon

Ken Harrelson MLB-Indians (69) Hawk

Vida Blue MLB-A's/Giants/KC Vida

Billy Conigliaro MLB-A's (73) Billy C

Tony Conigliaro MLB-Angels (71) Tony C

Jim Hunter MLB-A's Catfish

Wayne Causey MLB-A's (mid 60s) Kooz

Jim Grant MLB-A's (71) Mudcat

Andy Messersmith MLB-Braves (76) Channel*

Andy Messersmith MLB-Braves (76) Bluto

Darrell Evans MLB-Braves (76) Howdy

Earl Williams MLB-Braves (76) Heavy

Jimmy Wynn MLB-Braves (76) Cannon

Ralph Garr MLB-Braves (76) Roadrunner

Dick Allen MLB-A's (77) Wampum**

Ichiro Suzuki MLB-Mariners (2001-) Ichiro

Wahoo McDaniel AFL-Jets (60s) Wahoo

And my favorite of all time Mr. "He Hate Me" Rod Smart of the XFL. Of course, every other player in the XFL wore a nickname.

*cheap promotion of Ted Turner to promote his superstation Channel 17, the number Messersmith wore.

**Allen wore his hometown on his jersey and HS graduation year, "Wampum 60"

There are some items on this list that are wrong and some I'm not sure about.  I think Vida Blue always had "Blue" on his back while he was with the A's and didn't go to "Vida" until he joined the Giants.  In fact, I don't remember the A's ever putting nicknames on the backs of uniforms during their glory years ('71-'75).  I don't think the Angels had names on the backs of their uniforms until about 1974 or 75, so I doubt the "Tony C" jersey listed.  The A's didn't put names on the backs of their jerseys until '70 or '71, so I doubt the Wayne Causey listing here.  Outside of Messersmith's plug for the SuperStation (which I don't think ever saw the light of an actual game), I don't remember the Braves putting nicknames on jerseys.  It could have been like the Messersmith deal in that the Commissioner's Office might have slapped them down quickly.  I know the Braves didn't have names on their road jerseys in '76 and I don't remember them being on the homes that year.  The rest (Pistol Pete, Big E, Spoon, Hawk, Ichiro and Wahoo) I have seen visual evidence of.

[Mac the Knife]

I gotta agree with SJ here.  The only instance of this in American pro sports prior to 1990 that I can recall was Vida Blue when he went to the Giants.  And I also know that it took a CONSIDERABLE amount of jostling with Bowie Kuhn for him to even permit "Vida" to replace "Blue" on the jersey, along with a substantial donation to a charity or two.

About 90% of this list is incorrect I'd suspect.  Except for "Vida," which I've seen with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe any of them unless and until there was some photographic record of it being used in actual game play.

[Discrim]

i had a book that had a pic of andy messersmith with 'channel 17' on his back...unfortunately i misplaced it and still haven't found it.

[Cianfrocco]

Chili Davis wore "Chili" on the back for a few years in the 80's, I beleive with the Giants.

[sj32]

I have seen the photo of Messersmith's "CHANNEL" 17 jersey, but I don't think it saw the light of day in an official game.  I have seen a picture of Ken Harrelson's "HAWK" jersey with Cleveland.  The "Lost Treasures of NFL Films" show on the AFL did a segment on Wahoo McDaniel wearing "WAHOO" on the back of his jersey.  I also think Cianfrocco is right about Chili Davis, although I think he wore "DAVIS" on the back at the start of his career.

[-kj]

Might I just interject that those Atlanta jerseys were pretty much the worst jerseys (and, for that matter, colour scheme) ever, in any sport?  Those might even displace the "V" jerseys.

[BooBee]

I gotta agree with SJ here. The only instance of this in American pro sports prior to 1990 that I can recall was Vida Blue when he went to the Giants. And I also know that it took a CONSIDERABLE amount of jostling with Bowie Kuhn for him to even permit "Vida" to replace "Blue" on the jersey, along with a substantial donation to a charity or two.

About 90% of this list is incorrect I'd suspect. Except for "Vida," which I've seen with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe any of them unless and until there was some photographic record of it being used in actual game play.

OK all you naysayers, I have seen visual evidence of Messersmith's Channel 17 and Darrell Evans' Howdy (B&W photos on web), Pistol Pete, "E" Hayes, 'Spoon (ESPN Classic), Billy C with the A's (Topps 1974 baseball card), Wampum (seen in a Toronto Blue Jays video history from their first season in 1977), Hawk Harrelson (Sports Illustrated flashback article a few years ago), Wahoo McDaniel (NFL Films), Vida, Ichiro and Chili Davis. That's about 60% visually confirmed. I also read a few articles that LeMaster did wear "Boo" on his jersey for one game in 1979 before the Giants owner made him remove it (NOT the commissioner).

[Discrim]

Might I just interject that those Atlanta jerseys were pretty much the worst jerseys (and, for that matter, colour scheme) ever, in any sport?  Those might even displace the "V" jerseys.

you talkin about the 76 jerseys?  cus i remember from that one book, the roads were gray versions of the hank aaron-era jerseys with Atlanta on the front but the homes had red pinstripes.  not bad at all.

[-kj]

you talkin about the 76 jerseys? cus i remember from that one book, the roads were gray versions of the hank aaron-era jerseys with Atlanta on the front but the homes had red pinstripes. not bad at all.

I don't know what era, but I'm talking about the blue/off-green/white jerseys pictured in this thread.