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MLB Players Weekend: New York’s Best Baseball Nicknames of All-Time

By Mike Vivalo

Sep 1, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; A bobble head doll of Babe Ruth on the field prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 1, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; A bobble head doll of Babe Ruth on the field prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Sports
Jan 7, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of the jerseys of retired Los Angeles Dodgers players Jackie Robinson (42), Roy Campanella (39), Sandy Koufax (32), Walter Alston (24), Jim Gilliam (19), Duke Snider (4), Don Drysdale (53), Pee Wee Reese (1), Tommy Lasorda (2) and Don Sutton (20) at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

“Pee Wee” and “Duke”

You know a nickname is iconic when you think it’s their real name.  If you asked me who Harold Peter Reese and Edwin Donald Snider were, I would have no idea, but say Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider and I can tell you they were the backbone of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1940’s and 50’s.

ORIGIN: Snider’s dad called him Duke at age 5.  Reese was supposedly a champion marbles player as a child and a “Pee Wee” is a type of marble.

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