A great nickname. It just flows and sounds great. I remember watching him pitch during that 25 win season. He was lightining - a fluid motion and a hard fastball.

Before this nickname had been earned, he struggled in the Yankees farm system and was known as Gator. In 1976, struggling through a disappointing season commuting between Syracuse and New York, he and his wife started for Louisiana, ready to pack it in and give up on a career in baseball. She talked him into continuing, he worked out the slider and the rest is storybook stuff. He won the Cy Young in 1978 (going 25-3 with 1.78 ERA) with one of the greatest seasons for any starting pitcher in baseball history, striking out 18 California Angels one night in New York, a Yankee record, where there have been a few pretty good pitchers.

Circa 1978, this nickname fit this guy like the proverbial glove.