Ferris Fain
Ferris Roy Fain (1921-2001)

Most books and websites I read referred to Fain as an excellent defensive first baseman. If that's so, then statistics really do lie because Fain almost always had more errors in a season – and a lower fielding percentage – than anyone else at his position. (Likewise, people who saw Zeke Bonura play first base in the 1930s go out of their way to say what a terrible defensive player he was, yet he usually led the American League not only in fielding, but in chances.)

Whatever ... Fain's claim to fame is that twice during his major league career (1947-55) he led the American League in hitting. Even when his batting average was below .300, Fain had a way of getting on base. He drew more than 100 bases on balls five times in nine seasons.

In 1988, while living in the Sierra foothills in Calfiornia, the 67-year-old Fain was arrested for cultivation of marijuana and possession and served an 18-month prison sentence.

Fain's real first name was more memorable than his nickname: Burrhead.

Bibb Falk
Bibb August (Jockey) Falk (1899-1989)

It was Bibb Falk who replaced the banished (Shoeless) Joe Jackson in left field for the Chicago White Sox in 1921. Terrific hitter, Falk had a .314 lifetime average in a 12-season major league career. His younger brother Chet (aka Spot Falk) pitched for awhile in the 1920s with the St. Louis Browns.

In 1930, playing with the Cleveland Indians, Falk had one of major league baseball's most unusual batting performances – five hits, five runs batted in and five runs scored – in the first five innings of a 25-7 win over the Philadelphia Athletics. It happened on the 11th of May, which, of course, is month number five.

Bibb Falk graduated from the University of Texas where he hit over .400 and was an undefeated pitcher; he also was an all-Southwest Conference tackle in football.

Later he became a coaching legend at Texas, leading the Longhorns to 20 conference titles in baseball, as well as two national championships.

Falk was nicknamed "Jockey" because of the way he "rode" opposing players. I haven't seen anything yet that explains his first name, which may have its roots in his mother's family.

Happy Felsch
Oscar Emil Felsch (1891-1964)

Felsch wasn't so happy when he was banished from baseball after the 1920 season; he was one of the eight Chicago White Sox players suspected of throwing the 1919 World Series. Felsch, a lifetime .293 hitter, batted .192 in the Series and made two outfield errors.

Felsch's version of his role in the World Series fix varied with the telling. While the players were acquitted in a court of law, there was no doubt some of them had deliberately played poorly in most of the Series games.

According to www.baseballlibrary.com, Felsch told author Eliot Asinof, "There was so much crookedness around, you sort of fell into it." Felsch said gamblers forced him to throw more games during the 1920 season.

Ironically, he got his cheerful nickname as a youngster because of his easy-going manner and engaging smile.

Boo Ferriss
David Meadow Ferris (1921- )

Ferriss won 21 games as a Boston Red Sox rookie pitcher in 1945, his 25 wins in '46 led the Sox into the World Series where he shut out St. Louis in Game Three. He batted left-handed and did it well enough to be used as a pinch hitter.

He injured his arm in 1947 and never recovered, though he kept trying until 1950 when he retired after pitching one inning.

Later he was the Red Sox pitching coach, then head baseball coach at Delta State University.

His nickname came from efforts to get his big brother's attention when he was small. The word "brother" came out "boo." He became "Little Boo", his brother, Will, became "Big Boo."

Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers (1946- )

It could have been the name of a snack food or a new treat from KFC – "Can I have some Rollie Fingers, mom?" – but the name belongs to the relief pitcher supreme (1968-1985) who played for Oakland, San Diego and Milwaukee.

However, it was his Snidely Whiplash-like handlebar mustache that turned Fingers into a media darling during the 1972 World Series. Fingers and the Oakland A's won three World Series in a row, beating the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. Fingers pitched in 16 of the 19 Series games played from 1972-74.

Fingers appeared in 944 major league games, plus 27 in post-season play. He's a member of the Hall of Fame.

Pembroke Finlayson
Pembroke Finlayson (1888-1912)

The man with the prep school name was a pitcher who made just two appearances with Brooklyn, one each in 1908 and 1909. He died at age 24 from what was ruled "peritonitis of the heart brought on by an injury he suffered while pitching."

Elmer Flick
Elmer Harrison Flick (1876-1971)

Flick's a Hall of Fame outfielder (1898-1910) who provides an unusual bit of trivia. His lifetime batting average (.313) was higher than the .306 that won him his only batting title. But 1905 was a tough year for American League batters. There were only two .300 hitters that year, Flick of the Cleveland Naps (nicknamed for star Napoleon Lajoie) and Willie Keeler (.302) of the New York Highlanders.

Earlier, with Philadelphia of the National League, Flick had seasons when he hit .342, .367 and .336, each time finishing behind at least two other players. His .306 was the lowest average ever to win a batting title until 1968 when Carl Yastrzemski, at .301, was the only American League player to hit over .300.

Hilly Flitcraft
Hildreth Milton Flitcraft (1923-2003)

It was 1942, World War II was underway, and 19-year-old Hildreth "Hilly" Flitcraft, a 6-foot-2-inch pitcher, was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies and pressed into action. He appeared in just three games, pitched only three innings, and his major league career was over.

Fondy was a minor leaguer in 1950 when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in what on the face of it seems a strange deal. Fondy and another first baseman, Chuck Connors (of The Rifleman fame), were sent from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the Cubs for outfielder Hank Edwards and cash.

Connors played for the Cubs in 1950, Fondy stayed in the minors. But a year later Connors was out of the majors for good, headed for Hollywood, and Fondy was on his way to becoming a Cub regular who twice hit over .300 with Chicago. He did it again in 1957, the season in which he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was with Cincinnati in 1958, his last season as a player. Later he became a baseball scout.

Fondy was a World War II veteran who received a Purple Heart for wounds suffered on Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion.

Fat Fothergill
Robert Roy Fothergill (1897-1938)

At 5-foot-10, 230 lbs., Fothergill was a likely target for such a nickname. Teammate Chrlie Gehringer said of Fothergill, "He was about as round as he was tall."

He preferred to be called Bob and usually was. He began in the majors in 1922 with Detroit. Midway through the 1930 season the Tigers put him on waivers and he was claimed by the Chicago White Sox. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1932.

In his last five seasons, Fothergill was used mostly as a pinch hitter because hitting was what he did best. His lifetime average was .325. In one five-year stretch (1925-29) Fothergill hit over .350 four times.

In 1927 Fothergill went on a diet, which set him up for taunts from opponents who kept reminding him of his favorite foods.

This Fothergrill anecdote appears on ESPN.com in a column by Jeff Meron, who said he got it from a Washington Post column written by Thomas Boswell:

"In 1928, Fat Fothergill, in the agonizing grip of a crash diet – complete with rubber suits and Turkish baths – became infuritated by a third-strike call by Bill Dinneen. The 230-pound Fothergill bit the ump in the arm.

"Upon being ejected, Fothergill quipped, 'Okay by me. That's the first bite of meat I've had in a month.' "

When he retired he settled in Detroit and worked awhile for the Ford Motor Company. In January 1938 he was hired to coach baseball at Lawrence Institute of Technology in Highland Park, Michigan, but two months later suffered two strokes and died. He was 39.

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