Ok, this has got to be the most ridiculous name I've seen in the database.

From 1882-1891, a guy named William "Jimmy" Wolf, who apparently was also known as Chicken Wolf, despite Jimmy already being a nickname for William, played for the Louisville Colonels. He actually had one pretty good season, too.

His Wikipedia entry makes no mention of where the nickname came from.

SABR has some info...but I'm always skeptical of the veracity of how old nicknames were derived.  Heck there's about 6 different stories as to how George Herman Ruth became known as Babe....

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/3f8eac9e

Johnny Dickshot is my favorite name in the database.  And the guy changed his name to Dickshot -- he was born John Oscar Dicksus.  If you're going to change a last name that sounds like "dick-suck" you figure you'd change it a lot, not a little.  

Yeah, when I found him by complete accident. I was searching worst teams in ML history. I believe it was 1889, Wolf's Colonels went 27-111. Next year, (his .363 avg year) his Colonels went 88-44. Record for most improved team in ML history?

I like Pianolegs Hickman.

Best modern era nickname: Jeff "Penitentiary Face" Leonard:

I think its cool that fans know so many players by their nicknames alone.... Stretch, Scooter, Peewee, The Man, The Kid, Ducky, Wahoo, Say Hey, Iron Man, Rajah, Big Train, Big Ed..... and lesser known player like Dirty Al, Boom Boom, Turkey Mike, Beauty, Paw Paw, Vinegar Bend... and so many others.

Wee Wiilie isn't a great nickname if your trying to pick up chicks...

I think we should start a contest where we nominate nicknames for hall of fame players who for some reason never had one and vote on a new nickname for those poor neglected greats. My guy Al Kaline for example..... any takers?

Some other favorites of mine, Big Six, Dr. Strangeglove, The Human Rain Delay, The Crab, The Duke of Tralee (sp), Sliding Billy.

Saturn Nuts- Bronson Arroyo
The Earl of Snohomish- Earl Averill
Shortwave- Dick Bartell
Motormouth- Paul Blair
MoonMan- Mike Shannon
Crash Test Dummy- Eric Byrnes
Penguin- Ron Cey
The Kentucky Colonel- Earle Combs
Wahoo Sam- Sam Crawford
Caveman- Johnny Damon
The Chairman of the Board- Whitey Ford
The Fordham Flash- Frankie Frisch
The Reading Rifle- Carl Furillo
Louisiana Lightning- Ron Guidry
Wild Horse of the Osage- Pepper Martin
Mortimer Snerd- Dick Selma
Gorgeous George- George Sister
Duke of Flatbush- Duke Snider
Toy Cannon- Jim Lynn
Spaceman- Bill Lee
Meal Ticket- Carl Hubbell
Commerce Comet- Mickey Mantle

Yeah Mike Hargrove, the Human Rain Delay. One of the best.