Night Owl Cards

This is Bob Nelson. He was one of the bonus babies of the 1950s, signed for a big bunch of money and then forced onto a major league roster before he was ready. His high school career was legendary. He so dominated pitchers that he was nicknamed "the Babe Ruth of Texas." He apparently was so good of a high school player, in fact, that he gets two nicknames. His baseball-reference page says Nelson's nickname is "Babe," but you can't find Nelson by searching for "Bob Nelson," because he's listed under "Tex Nelson." That's a man with 25 career major league hits and two nicknames. Nelson was hardly a man, though, when he played with the Orioles in 1955. Teammates noticed that the 18-year-old was overmatched. In a book detailing the mistakes made during the bonus baby era, former teammates like Chuck Diering and Wayne Causey said Nelson was a nice kid, who hit the crap out of the ball in batting practice, but just didn...