A Nickname Experiment: Pack Wars Style!

The last episode of Pack Wars got me thinking about nicknames in baseball so I decided to conduct a little experiment to test my hypothesis: There are less nicknames in baseball now than there were two decades ago.

This was meant to be a 14 round affair, but the folks at Fleer and Topps both had difficult times counting to fourteen.  How does that happen?

In one corner we have the infamous yellow bordered 1991 Fleer and in the opposing corner we have two packs of 2014 Topps Opening Day.

The Fleer wax pack boasts "14 cards & 1 sticker" while there are supposed to be seven cards in each Opening day pack.

These match-ups will be judged differently than in the past.  Photo selection, quality of design, player performance, nor mustaches will count!  I will be using http://www.baseball-reference.com/friv/baseball-player-nicknames.shtml to look and see if each player has a known nickname on file. 

 Here we go!

Round 1

Well, we're getting off to a slow start.  Neither Bill Long nor C.J. Wilson have nicknames listed.
Score:
'91 Fleer = 0
2014 OD = 0


Round 2

Hmmmm . . . this is embarrassing.  No nicknames here either.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 0
2014 OD = 0


Round 3

Hah!  We have one!  Danny Jackson answered to DJ!  Anyone know if Brett Gardner has a nickname?  I'm starting to think this database is somewhat incomplete.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 0


Round 4

I've never heard of Darrel Akerfelds, so it's not surprise that he doesn't have a nickname.  Meanwhile we have The Perfect Storm and El Nino celebrating for he Dodgers (Carl Crawford and Hanley Ramirez, respectively).
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 2


Round 5

Oooooooh!  Shiny!  But, no.  We're after nicknames and we have none.  If I were named Xavier I would go by X.  Just sayin'.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 2


Round 6

Nate Schierholtz hot pack!  But alas, Nate does not have a nickname.  Who is Dale Mohorcic?
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 2


Round 7

Mad Bum!
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 3


Round 8

 I like to say "Wacha Wacha Wacha" as though I'm Fozzy Bear when referring to Michael Wacha.  But, I don't think that counts. Nothing for Al Newman either.  Sheesh.  This is a low scoring affair.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 3


Round 9

Cole Hamels goes by Hollywood.  Fantastic.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 1
2014 OD = 4


Round 10

Steady Eddie vs. Wild Horse  Finally, we have our first round with both participants coming through!
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 5

Off the record, I'm starting to think ALL Dodgers have nicknames. 4 for 4 so far!

Round 11

Nothing of note for Greg Myers or Matt Carpenter.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 5


Round 12

Matt Nokes just goes by Matt Nokes apparently.  I though Adam Wainwright went by Waino, but I guess I was mistaken because it's not listed.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 5


Round 13

Chris Hammon versus Captain Underpants!  Absolutely one of the best nicknames in the game today!
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 5


Round 14

This is where things get funny.  We're short one card from the Fleer pack . . . and now that I think about it, it was really easy to open. I think it might have been searched and resealed. Regardless, Fleer found itself too many down this late in the ball game.  Oh, and Yovani Gallardo doesn't have a nickname to my knowledge.
Updated Scoring Summary:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 5

Round 15

 And in a doubly weird turn of events we have an extra Topps Opening Day card from the two packs. The back-to-back Schierholtz cards probably had something to do with that. 
Topps Opening Days puts the nail in the coffin with Tex.
Final Score:
'91 Fleer = 2
2014 OD = 6
Huh, that was an absolutely horrible exercise.  My apologies for putting you through that.  From this small sample size it appears nicknames are alive and well.  Add this one to the list of "Things I was wrong about."  Go figure.