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| Prince Oana (1908-1976) |
| Henry Kauhane Oana was a native Hawaiian who in 1934 spent a week or so playing the outfield for the Philadelphia Phillies. Cut to 1943, the middle of World War II. Teams need players and sign them wherever they can find them. Re-enter Prince Oana, this time as a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. He returned for another brief visit to the Tiger in 1945.
Otherwise he kept busy in the minor leagues until 1951 when he finished his playing career with Texarkana of the Big State League. And what a career it was. He played 23 seasons of minor league ball, hitting .304 on 2,292 hits, 261 of them home runs. (In 1933, with Portland of the Pacific Coast League, his had 29 home runs and an incredible 63 doubles.)
In high school Oana had starred in five sports – track, swimming, football, basketball and baseball. While "Prince" had a nice ring to it, he often was called by his give first name or its usual nickname, "Hank." |
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| Blue Moon Odom (1945- ) |
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| A pitcher for Kansas City and Oakland Athletics (1964-74), Johnny Lee Odom spent his two more seasons hopping from Cleveland to Atlanta to the Chicago White Sox. "Blue Moon" reportedly was the creation of A's owner Charlie Finlay, who believed players should have colorful nicknames.
In 1976, his last season, Odom worked the first five innings of a no-hitter against his old team, the A's. Francisco Barrios pitched the last four innings for Chicago. |
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| Brusie Ogrodowski (1912-1956) |
| I like the sound of Brusie, though, frankly, my research on Ambrose Francis Ogrodowski, such as it was, found his nickname more frequently was spelled Bruse, which left me confused about how it was pronounced. Ogrowdowski was a catcher who played 184 games for the St. Louis Cardinals over two seasons (1936-37), batting .231.
I found an item that said that when Ogrodowski was a backup catcher for the minor league San Francisco Seals he kept a rabbit hutch in the bullpen. So why wasn't he called Bunny Ogrodowski? |
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| Jimmy Outlaw (1913-2006) |
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| Oldtimers may remember the song, "Johnny Angel." Well, meet the flipside.
If only James Paulus Outlaw were playing today. While presenting their web gems, ESPN's 'SportsCenter' and 'Baseball Tonight' guys would keep a running tally of how many times the diminutive (5-foot-8) outfielder robbed someone of a hit.
Outlaw also played third base during his 10-year major league career, most of it with the Detroit Tigers. He had a .268 lifetime average and hit only six home runs. |
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| Stubby Overmire (1919-1977) |
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| Frank Overmire was a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees (1943-52). He had a losing record lifetime (58-67), but in 1947 was 11-5 with Detroit, including three shutouts.
His nickname reflects his size – Overmire stood five-foot-seven, though some say he was shorter. (A player who had Overmire for a manager in the minor leagues claims the former pitcher was barely five-foot-two.) |
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