Nicknames used to be a colorful part of sports. Some of the greatest to ever play had some of the most interesting nicknames, and some of the best nicknames dot the landscape of baseball history.
Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams was "The Splendid Splinter," "The Kid" and "Teddy Ballgame."
Lawrence Peter Berra was "Yogi."
Pete Rose was "Charlie Hustle."
Babe Ruth was "Bambino" and "The Sultan of Swat."
Willie Mays was "The Say Hey Kid."
Hank Aaron was "Hammerin' Hank."
Lou Gehrig was "The Iron Horse."
George Anderson was "Sparky."
Joe DiMaggio was "The Yankee Clipper."
Orlando Cepeda was "Cha Cha."
Some of our local stars also used to have nicknames. We all know Jerry West as "Zeke from Cabin Creek," Rod Hundley as "Hot Rod" and Jason Williams as "J Will."
Nicknames don't seem to be used as often today. Oh, there is the occasional "Cookie" Miller, but most of the best local nicknames are from years gone by.
Here are some nicknames of past local stars that I always liked.
* Henry "Hoppy" Shores: The former Stonewall Jackson football star has been a longtime Kanawha County commissioner. He was the third Kennedy Award winner as the state's best football player, earning the honor in 1949.
* Charlie "Humps" Cowan: A star at Buffalo High School near Man in Logan County, Cowan went on to play 15 seasons on the offensive line of the Los Angeles Rams from 1961-75.
* Harry "Sugar Bear" Lyles: Stonewall had more nicknames than most, and Sugar Bear was a star in the mid-1960s. It was always exciting to hear the Generals cheering section chant "Sock it to 'em Sugar Bear, oooh aaah" before a big game.
* Charles "Appleseed" Price: "Seed" was another Stonewall Jackson running back from the mid-'60s. I have no idea how he got his nickname, but it was a cool one.
* "Patches" Strigle: A talented multi-sport athlete from South Charleston from 1966-68, his nickname was so well known that no one seems to know his real first name.
* Larry "Deacon" Harris: One of the great basketball rebounders in state history, Harris starred at both Charleston High and WVU. He was killed tragically in a car wreck during his junior season at WVU
* David "Albie" Williams: The former South Charleston and George Washington basketball star helped lead the Patriots to the 1971 AAA state hoops title.
* "Wonderful" Warren Baker: He was one of the great basketball players in state high school history when he played at Greenbrier East. He is in the WVU sports Hall of Fame.
* Stuart "Chop Chop" Jackson: A former track star at the old Charleston High, this was one of the great local nicknames.
* "Danny DuPont:" This was the nickname for two-time Kennedy Award winner Danny Williams. I was in school with him at DuPont and I never heard anyone call him that, but I learned later that students from other schools called him that.
* "Alexander the Great:" For South Charleston running back legend Robert Alexander. His nickname was known nationally as well as locally.
* "The Old Pro:" A nickname given to longtime South Charleston teacher, coach and track official Marvin Richardson.
* "Gloomy" Jim Jarrett: The former head basketball coach at Garnet High School and longtime football and basketball coach at Charleston High, he was one of the Valley's most colorful characters.
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In case you haven't noticed, baseball fights seem to be changing. Baseball fights use to be a lot of talk and no serious action, a lot of pushing, shoving, chest bumping and jawing. Now, the fights are a little more dangerous and actual punches are being thrown.
Society has become more violent and so have baseball fights. The recent fights between the Blue Jays and Rangers, as well as Orioles and Royals, were brawls - and could have been worse.
As the fights become more violent, it may be time for the league's disciplinarian, Joe Torre, to man up and hand out harsher penalties. You can't hand out 1977-style penalties for today's more violent fights. I realize the players union is a powerful voice, but it may be time for longer suspensions and greater penalties for throwing punches. If it continues, the fighting may work its way down to the collegiate and high school levels.