rube melton, p
there used to be lots of guys called”rube” in baseball. Not surprising, since so many ballplayers were eligible for that nickname.
in fact, i often wondered how certain guys got to be “rube” when easily half their teammates qualified.
i think it was the great jazz age satirist, Ring Lardner , who immortalized the “rube” ball player as a comic character in his newspaper pieces and short stories, the best known being “you know me, al”, a “busher’s letters home”, whose narrator was said to be based on pitcher Rube Waddell.
there aren’t any rubes left in baseball. I mean there are, but nobody calls them that anymore.
there aren’t any Whiteys either. But there’s a good reason for that.