Fansided

MLB power rankings: Top 30 nicknames of all-time

By John Buhler

Aug 14, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) smiles after a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 14, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz (34) smiles after a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /
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American baseball player Mordecai Brown (1876 – 1948), pitcher for the Chicago Cubs from 1903 to 1912, stands on the pitcher’s mound, 1900s. Nicknamed ‘Miner’ by his teammates because of the years he spent working in a coal mine before joining the league at age 24, Brown, whose right hand was left mangled after a childhood farming accident, started his career as an infielder. Once he learned how to put spin on a ball by releasing it off of his stubbed little finger, he became a pitcher and earned the nickname ‘Three Finger’ from the press. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images)
American baseball player Mordecai Brown (1876 – 1948), pitcher for the Chicago Cubs from 1903 to 1912, stands on the pitcher’s mound, 1900s. Nicknamed ‘Miner’ by his teammates because of the years he spent working in a coal mine before joining the league at age 24, Brown, whose right hand was left mangled after a childhood farming accident, started his career as an infielder. Once he learned how to put spin on a ball by releasing it off of his stubbed little finger, he became a pitcher and earned the nickname ‘Three Finger’ from the press. (Photo by FPG/Getty Images) /

5. Mordecai Brown: Three-Finger

Not all accidents are bad. If you need proof of that notion, just look at what Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown did on the mound for the Chicago Cubs in the early 1900s. As a child, Brown was very clumsy. He fell into some farm equipment and mangled digits on his right hand.

Brown would lose his right index finger. Not longer after the farming accident, Brown would fall and fractured some fingers on that same hand. The fingers were never reset and his “twirling” hand came into being.

Brown could get serious bite on his curveball and had ridiculous movement on his pitches because of his oddly shaped right hand. He would win the 1907 and 1908 World Series as the ace pitcher for the Cubs. Brown would amass 239 career wins with a career 2.06 ERA.

Though he wasn’t a power pitcher by any means, Brown would in a way help paved the way for movement and finesse pitching to find its way into the game. Brown had no issue pitching to contact, knowing that the batter wasn’t going to be able to get much from his offering. He would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1949 by the Veterans Committee shortly after his death in 1948.

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