PHILLIES NEWS

The Phils are off today so it is time to start a new top 25 list. This time we'll do the top 25 most memorable individual player nicknames. No other sport boasts as many guys with nicknames as Baseball. Some are funny, some invoke the greatest degree of respect for a player, and some are just plain stupid. There are also those monikers that fit a player so perfectly, or become so indelibly attached to a player that you never forget them. Here now are those phillies nicknames that best fit that mold, No's 25-21.

25. "The Phillie" aka 1B Willie Montanez.
Hey it's easy to give a guy a nickname when his name rhymes with the team's name. Mostly overshadowed in Phils history by the guy he replaced at 1B, Dick Allen, Montanez slugged 30 homers and 99 RBIs in his first full season as the Phils 1B in 1971 and was an instant fan favorite. Unfortunately the comparisons to Allen stopped there, as he never duplicated that 71 season. Like any good Phillie though, after leaving the team in 1975, he came back in 1982 and fittingly "the Phillie"retired as well a Phillie.

24. "Mitchy Poo" aka P Mitch Williams
Just one of many Harry Kalas creations over the years, forever immortalized on that late summer night, er early morning as Williams slapped the game winning single againt the Padres. Make no mistake though, Williams was no cuddly poo bear, with a 90+ mph fastball that Williams admittedly threw as hard as he could without knowing where it was going. It worked for one glorious year in 1993 as Williams saved 43 games, 2nd best in Phils history, and the pennant in game 6 of the NLCS.

23. "Shake and Bake" aka OF Bake Mcbride.
Okay so Bake isn't even his real name. In fact he was born Arnold Ray Mcbride, but Bake sounds better, because that's what opposing teams were when he got on base, Baked. In 246 career attempts he was thrown out stealing just 63 times, for a career stolen base percentage just a shade under 75 . All told for the Phils in the late 70s and early 80s he stole 25 or more bases three times and legged out 10 triples or more twice. Simply put, when he got on base he was going to score it was just a question of how. By the way no one ever called him Shake and Bake, that was just my father's idea of a clever nickname. It's too bad it never caught on though, because that would have been one heck of a TV ad.

22."The Krucker" aka 1B John Kruk.
Yet another Harry Kalas creation. Okay so really it is just his last name with an er at the end, but it's so simple it's perfect. There were no ifs, ands or buts about Kruk, he just played the game the way he thought it should be played. There was nothing flashy about it. Even his career stats are the picture of simplicity, exactly 100 career homers, and a career batting average at exactly .300. Pretty cut and dry just like the Krucker. Of course Philly fans also remember this nickname because it rhymes with a much more vulgar word, but that's another story.

21."Head" aka 3B/1B Dave Hollins
So named because well, it, his talent, heart, desire, was all in his head. He was a great player for the Phils only because the desire in his head urged him onto to be. Plus he also had the biggest head on the team. Seriously you have never seen a guy with a bigger forehead. Anyway the nickname really stemmed from the fact that he was always not quite right up there. In fact "Head" was just one of his alter egos, along with "Mikey" and well Dave of course. Also he had an extraordinary propensity for getting into the head of other players, even his own teammates. It's been said that if he thought you weren't playing the game right he would intimidate you into doing so. In fact you can thank him for game 6 of the 1993 NLCS, for throwing off Greg Maddox's rythm late in the game. Apparently Maddox had thrown at him during a game in 1992 and the two met up at some point before the series, with Hollins threatening to literally charge the mound and kill Maddox if he ever threw at him again. Maddox didn't and Hollins wound up slamming a solo homer off him in the game 6 victory.

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