35 EARLY BASKETBALL NICKNAMES LIKELY NEVER TO RETURN
While we may conceivably see another "Sparky" or "Lefty" or "Moose" we're probably a lot less likely to see some other like the ones given to Irving Rose and Francis Crossin (just trust me on this one).
While working on my basketball necrology recently, I ran across a few which I don't expect to see again (although I suppose basketball could make a big comeback in the Netherlands or Sweden). It's just a testament to the originality that was used in coming up with a nickname back in the day, when a players initials or a shortened version of his name wasn't the standard.
Charles J. “Bulbs” Alberding
Roland L. “Jiggs” O’Dell Jr.
Henry G. “Dutch” Dehnert Jr.
Raymond B. “Snooks” Dowd
John E. “Shirt” Horan
William W. “Toots” Kronick
Robert “Longie” Powell
Max T. “Trixie” Messinger
Louis “Inky” Lautman
Stanley “Curley” Christian
Frederick K. “Fritz” Nagy
John L. "Squint" Phares
Harry M. "Swede" Roos
Walter C. “Tillie” Voss
James S. “Buttsey” Collins
Harry G. “Yummy” Armpriester
Michael J. “Shamus” O’Brien
Harry “Jammy” Moskowitz
John “Quack” Harvey
Albert “Runt” Pullins
Joel “Shikey” Gotthoffer
Wallace B. “Slats” Borrevik
Lucian C. “Skippy” Whitaker
Everett “Ziggy” Marcell
Frank “Peanuts” Gorczynski
Joseph C. "Scoop" Posewitz
Robert L. “Bubbles” Hawkins
Lauren H. “Laddie” Gale
Carl H. “Buttercup” Anderson
Wendell C. “Wink” Bowman
Irving G. “Porky” Rosenthal
Luther D. “Ticky” Burden
William C. “Blackie” Towery (uh, no.)
Stanley L. “Whitey” Von Nieda (also not likely.)
James L. “Pappy” Ricks
I still haven't decided whether "Yummy" or "Quack" is my favorite.
A look at the history of professional basketball. By APBR President Emeritus Robert Bradley
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'm Irving "Porky" Rosenthal's daughter. Although he was always known by that nickname, even he didn't remember its origin.
In his retirement years, Dad was an active member of the South Florida Basketball Fraternity. He was one of the organizers of their annual dinner/luncheon every December. I loved having breakfast with those guys every Tuesday morning when I visited FL.
Even late in life, Dad could still shoot baskets with uncanny accuracy. He and other members of his group were featured in the basketball documentary, "1 Love."
As someone who spent over 25 years in the library/research field, I appreciate the work you've put into keeping basketball's history alive and accessible.
Sincerely,
Lucy Rosenthal Jaffe