Happy Birthday Johnny Dickshot

On Thursday, I'm going to officially change my name to Johnny Dickshot. Then I'll insist on being called by my full name at all times. Yup, things are finally turning around for me, old Johnny Dickshot, this year.

Dickshot was born John Oscar Dicksus on January 24, 1910 in Waukegan, Illinois. While Johnny wasn't much of a professional leftfielder, he seemed like a pretty interesting fellow. I couldn't find the back story to him changing his name to Dickshot but I only checked Wikipedia. But right off the bat with the name change, Johnny had won me over. Dickshot's nickname was "Ugly" which stuck after he proclaimed himself as the ugliest man in baseball. Classic self deprecation. Love this guy.

He played three seasons with the Pirates (1936-1938), 10 games for the Giants in 1939 and two seasons with the White Sox (1944-1945). He also played in the Pacific Coast League for Hollywood before and after his tenure with the White Sox.

Dickshot's monster season came in 1945 when he hit a .302/.366/.407 line and the only above average OPS+ (127) of his career. His 1945 season was also his last in the bigs and he finished with a professional .276/.345/.371 line. He played his final season of baseball in 1947 for Milwaukee of the American Association. His post-baseball life makes me think we would have gotten along just fine. Assuming Wikipedia didn't make this up...

Soon after his retirement, Dickshot opened a tavern called the Dugout in Waukegan. In his obituary, his granddaughter said he would often call his wife at home from the bar demanding that she look in his encyclopedia to settle a dispute over baseball trivia. He threw out a first pitch in the new Comiskey Park in June 1994.

That's awesome and what's an encyclopedia? I'm not even sure I'm saying that right.

Dickshot passed away at age 87 on November 4, 1997 in his hometown Waukegan, Illinois. You can check out his tribute page to see the slew of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren he was survived by.

I don't know what Johnny's drink of choice was (so I'll assume bourbon) but I'm making everybody at the bar tonight take a birthday shot in his honor. Happy Birthday, Mr. Dickshot.