A lot has changed since the early 1970s. Back then, abortions were illegal, racism plagued the nation, the president was under investigation, Russia was our enemy, disco dance music filled the airwaves, and Up With People performed at halftime shows. Wait, strike that, it’s all pretty much the same except for the Up With People part — they are a wonderful relic from our past.
Another relic from our past is the name, Dick. Believe it or not, men actually called themselves Dick back in the wild shirtless days of the 1970s, and earlier – by choice. So, we thought we’d take a trip back in time and revisit some of the great Dicks from the world of sports.
In the world of baseball, there were many Dicks, including former MVP Dick Allen, who might be the most well-known Dick of the era. Dick won Rookie of the Year in 1964 while playing for the Phillies and MVP in 1972 while playing for the White Sox. He was so famous, that many kids, myself included, had gloves with Dick’s John Hancock on it. Interesting fact — when he came up with the Phillies, he called himself Richie, but then somewhere along the way he started to refer to himself as Dick, showing the growing popularity of the name.
Then there is Dick Cox, who played for Brooklyn in 1925 and 1926. Dick was born Elmer Joseph Cox, changing his name to Dick without any connection to it whatsoever. In doing so, he achieved another rare feat, the quadruple entendre name, matched years later by former Red Sox and Mariners pitcher Dick Pole. That’s a feat rarer than DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. We wouldn’t see the quadruple entendre name again until Woody Johnson bought the New York Jets.
And while he is not a Dick, I’d be remiss not to mention the great Pete LaCock. LaCock was a pretty good player for the Royals, but he is mostly known as the son of Peter Marshall, the host of the popular game show, Hollywood Squares. Fun fact, Marshall was born with the name Ralph LaCock, but he changed both of his names to Peter Marshall. Pete LaCock was born Ralph LaCock Jr., after his dad, but he only changed his first name – Ralph. This just proves that they both hated the name, Ralph.
Turning to the gridiron, one of the greatest Dicks of all time was Dick Butkus, the all-pro linebacker who played for the Chicago Bears. Butkus has the distinction of being the only person in the history of sports whose name includes slang terms for two different unmentionable body parts.
Over the years, there have been hundreds of Dicks in the world of sports – far too many to recognize here. Baseball alone had more than 200 Dicks, according to Baseball Reference. The last great baseball Dick might have been Dick Ruthven, who pitched for the Phillies among other teams up through the 1980s.
But unfortunately, this was the last hurrah for the name Dick as the name fell out of favor for obvious reasons – it became synonymous with Dick Cheney. Sure, there would be a smattering of Dicks here and there in the decades to follow, like race car driver Dick Trickle and golfer Dick Mast, but ultimately, Dicks petered out.
But thankfully, the Dick legacy lives on through a new generation of Rods and Woodys.