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Originally Posted by Amazin69
"Clink" was Clendenon; I guess the nickname didn't come until he arrived in NY, which is why Buccos didn't know of it.
They don't give the etymology of the nickname but I'd guess it was either about Donn being the "missing link" the Mets needed (before the trade, Gil Hodges had tried a convoluted platoon where Kranepool would play 1B against righties with Cleon Jones in LF, but against lefties, Cleon would come in and play 1B with Ron Swoboda in LF; after Art Shamsky got healthy and Rod Gaspar played himself out of the RF job, Gil sent Art and Rocky to RF and Cleon to LF, full-time, but now he needed a RH 1B) and "link" and "Big C" or whatever they called Donn based on his surname evolved into "Clink"…or it was about Clendenon saying that playing in Montreal (where he'd been held captive to avoid having to reunite with Harry Walker in Houston) was like being in jail, "the clink".
Or maybe it was something else. But I don't think it was an onomatopoetic knock on Donn's fielding, the way "Clank" was for Blefary (whose preferred nickname was "Buff", as in "Big Buffalo"). The Astros used to slap his hand and go "give me some steel, baby". Clendenon was good with the glove.
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Gotta be honest. I've been a Mets fan all my life and never once heard him called "Clink". Mostly, it was "Big Donn". Occasionally, "Big Train". Never heard "Clink".
That said, its legit. And it preceded his time with the Mets as here is a headline from April 16, 1969 when Donn was still with the Expos.
Clink Reports Tomorrow
Supposedly, the nickname was given him by Pirates announcer Bob Prince, who was sort of the Chris Berman of his day--everybody had to have a nickname (
"and here comes Bob Beetles Bailey to the plate..."). How he came up with it, I couldn't tell you.