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Originally Posted by FatJack
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".
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.
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Heh, I never heard "Big Train". Maybe "Clink" worked for the younger set (I think I'm younger than you) because "Clendenon" was a lot of name. Clink and Kooz and Rocky and Bud.
And
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says don't blame the Gunner, blame the Pirates players:
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The Bucs were ahead by 2-1 when "Clink"—as his teammates call him—banged a two-bagger which drove home a run and set up a six run third inning.
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Of course, the P-G could have it wrong, but still. But however the nickname developed in Pittsburgh, it was used by Donn's Mets teammates, as Jim McAndrew (here being interviewed by Stanley Cohen in
A Magic Summer: the Amazin' Story of the 1969 Mets) says:
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We had our leaders—Seaver and Clendenon, I guess, were the most vocal. Donn kept you loose. He was a veteran who had his head screwed on straight and he kept things in perspective. 'Clink' could sling it and he could take it, too.
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If it's good enough for McAndrew, it's good enough for me.
