How DO players get their nicknames?

What's in a nickname? When it comes to baseball, maybe more than you think. Or maybe much less.

Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor’s nickname came from his most recognizable feature: his beaming smile.

In 2017, MLB had its first Players Weekend, in which players wore custom jerseys with their nicknames on the back. After some debate with teammates, Lindor went with “Mr. Smile.”

“I believe you’re one smile away from having a better day,” Lindor said. “You look at yourself in the mirror and smile and you're like, ‘I’m not that mad at the world.’”

For Dave Stewart, who pitched 16 seasons in the Majors, his famous nickname -- “Smoke”-- stemmed from his Little League days. His teammate at the time, Tack Wilson, coined the nickname. But it didn’t catch on until they found themselves in the same Minor League Spring Training camp in 1976, when Wilson walked into the locker room and yelled “Smoke!”

“It stuck with me from that point on,” Stewart said.

MLB.com reporters Sarah Langs and Mandy Bell discussed the topic of nicknames in the latest edition of the Fielding Questions podcast.

On Fielding Questions, MLB.com reporters Mandy Bell and Sarah Langs answer baseball questions each episode by talking to fans, talking to each other and talking to some of the biggest names in MLB. This week’s episode, titled “How did you get your nickname?” features interviews with Edwin “Sugar” Diaz, Nelson “The Boomstick” Cruz and Eric “The Red” Davis in addition to Lindor, Stewart and others.

Listen and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audacy or wherever you get podcasts.