Baseball Nicknames

Recently, SABR member Rick Solensky used the Lahman baseball database to calculate the frequency of nicknames by position.  Here’s what he found:

Pitcher
130 Lefty
  19 Red
  16 Doc
  13 Buck, Dutch
  12 ‘Big Ed’

Catcher 
  10 Red
    5 Doc, Dutch
    3 Bull, Moose, Nig, Pudge

First Base 
    9 Dutch
&n

Recently, SABR member Rick Solensky used the Lahman baseball database to calculate the frequency of nicknames by position.  Here’s what he found:

Pitcher
130 Lefty
  19 Red
  16 Doc
  13 Buck, Dutch
  12 ‘Big Ed’

Catcher 
  10 Red
    5 Doc, Dutch
    3 Bull, Moose, Nig, Pudge

First Base 
    9 Dutch
    8 Lefty
    6 ‘Big Bill’
    5 Doc, Red, Moose

Second Base  
    6 Doc, Dutch, Red, Whitey
    5 Rabbit
    4 Deacon, Kid, Pepper, ‘Wild Bill’

Third Base 
  11 Red
    8 Dutch
    5 Kid
    4 Blackie, Deacon, Mike, Whitey

Short Stop 
    9 Red
    8 Dutch
    6 Whitey
    5 Doc, Rabbit

Outfield 
  16 Red
  15 Lefty
  11 Doc, Dutch
    7 Rabbit

A player is counted at each position played.  The nickname ‘Stretch’ shows up only eight times, five of them being connected to Jack Phillips (1B 1947-9 NY Yankees; 1B,3B,P 1949-52 Pittsburgh; 1B,2B,3B,OF 1955-6 Detroit).