I was nicknamed Skeeter in Little League because I was small and fast, like a mosquito flying across the outfield.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In 1962 I was named Minor League Player of the Year. It was my second season in the bigs.
I played Little League in junior high and high school.
I was a very good baseball player and football player as a kid.
I got that nickname my first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974. Tim Foli, Ken Singleton and Mike Jorgensen started calling me 'Kid' because I was trying to win every sprint. I was trying to hit every pitch out of the park.
I lost the good stuff on my fastball. I had to come up with something to keep me in the league. The knuckler rescued me then.
I knew what type of player I was: a free agent, a small kid who came from a small school.
You know, I was once named Minor League Player of the Year... unfortunately, I had been in the majors for two years at the time.
I'm a sportsman, you know, and I shoot skeet, and I grew up in the Midwest, so that's a part of my culture.
I actually had a nickname as a player myself. When I played high school football in Texas, strong safety, they called me Choo Choo because they said I hit like a train.
I went through baseball as 'a player to be named later.'