A Nickname for Life

When I was five years old baseball developed from a passing interest into a lifelong love by the end of my first season of t-ball.

When I was nine years old I determined who my favorite baseball player of all-time would be. He now manages the New York Mets.

At the age of twenty-two George Steinbrenner's madness caused me to drop the New York Yankees as my favorite team.

Age thirty-one saw me settle upon Miguel Tejada as my favorite active player.

And in my 32nd year of life I've finally settled on my all-time favorite nickname in baseball...

The Toy Cannon.

That nickname belongs to none other than Jimmy Wynn. Wynn donned the uniforms of the Houston Colt .45, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers over a fifteen year career that began in 1963.



Wynn excelled at hitting for power and drawing walks in ballparks (namely the Astrodome and Dodger Stadium) where pitchers drastically held the balance of power over hitters. But it is his nickname that still shines after all these years. The genises of the nickname occurred very early in his career when it was observed that his small 5'9'' frame (the toy) brought with it such an explosive bat (the cannon). Sportswriter John Wilson gave him the nickname and it has stuck ever since.

The enjoyment that I draw from hearing the nickname may be as simple as "it just sounds good". But I think that there's also a feeling that the nickname was so accurately describing a player who's game was powerful, efficient, explosive and a bit surprising. The fact that Wynn's excellent career is fairly obscure to the regular fan (as well as some very tuned in baseball fans) also makes his nickname alluring. I must admit to something, though. Until reading up fully on the Toy Cannon I'd always thought that the nickname referred to his excellent throwing arm. Alas, he did have that great arm but it was the bat that caught Wilson's eye.

Extras
A cool fact I learned about Wynn was that he was one of the first players to regularly lift weights.

In this article Peter Keating gives a nice rundown of Wynn's career. Cool fact number two in my Toy Cannon education is that Wynn is the player who called Sandy Koufax's curveball a "mystic waterfall". And the most enjoyable part of the article are the comments made by readers at the bottom -- people really feel passionate about this guy! It's safe to say that he's one of the most overlooked great players in the history of the game.

Here are some additional photos of Wynn from the Official Jimmy Wynn website.