In college I knew three guys named Paul. Since they were all friends, the likelihood of calling a Paul and getting the right one was small, so nicknames were devised. I'd love to tell you we planned it all out, discussed, wrote down ideas, conferenced, maybe focus-grouped a few possibilities before settling on nicknames, but we didn't. We went with what came naturally. That is how we ended up with Small Paul, Tall Paul, and Across-the-Hall Paul.
The moral of the story is: Don't name your kid Paul, because there are no more good nicknames. The other moral of the story is: Sometimes the best nicknames arrive organically.
This is true of baseball players, too, even the game's greats. Recently I penned a piece for this very website that required me to look at each Hall of Famer's Baseball Reference page. In the top corner, by their name, the site lists any and all nicknames they had during their career. For example, Hank Aaron's page lists him as The Hammer, Hammer'n Hank and Bad Henry. The Hammer is a good one. One imagines a giant hammer coming to bat, wagging its face back and forth through the strike zone pre-pitch. How does it stand? Nobody knows! It's a funny image, but it's not the best Hall of Famer nickname. In fact, it's not even close.
I've listed the best below, and to help you visualize them, I've enlisted the help of artist Craig Robinson of Flip Flop Fly Ball. The drawings are his, the words are mine, and the best Hall of Famer nicknames are below.
