Great Baseball Nicknames- ‘No-Neck’- Walt Williams. I can never remember outfielder Walt ‘No-Neck’ Williams being called simply by his name Walt Williams- it was always Walt ‘No-Neck’ Williams as if ‘No Neck’ was part of his name. Walt Williams did look like he had no neck- here is the story from wikipedia-
Williams was nicknamed No-Neck due to his relatively short stature (5 feet 6 inches) combined with a muscular, compact torso and a short neck. His odd physical appearance was the result of a typhus injection he received as a baby. After his hometown was hit by a flood, the government gave typhus injections to prevent the spread of the disease. Williams was so muscular even as a baby that they couldn’t reach a vein except in the back of his neck. He developed a crick in his neck, which then stiffened and shrank.
Walt ‘No-Neck’ Williams was a major league outfielder for four teams -most notably the Chicago White Sox from 1964-75. He was a career .270 hitter.
slicethelife 
I remember when he came up with the White Sox. He was an immediate fan favorite. I loved watching him at bat: straighten the helmet, straighten the arm protector, hold the bat with his hands about 2″ apart, take a couple of practice swings… The White Sox sucked in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s, but we had Walt. He was by no means a superstar, but he’d give you a good game. The White Sox would have a father-son game between games of a doubleheader on Father’s Day, and his kid was just like him. His kid got on first, then stole home from there…
I didn’t get to see Walt play much- back then the White Sox weren’t features on the game of the week but I do remember seeing him play a few times on television- I always thought he was a better player than the stats indicated. He was entertaining to watch.
We used to call the “Game of the Week” the”New York Yankees Game of the Week.”
By every Sabermetric measure, Walt was at best an average player, but I don’t know of anyone who played harder or was more fun to watch.
To my 10 year old self when I thought of the White Sox in 1970 my first thought was No Neck!
That’s a weird and kinda sad story about the shot and his neck! Wow. I didn’t really remember his name, but I think I actually had that baseball card you illustrate- the pic looks familiar to me. In Toronto we had that manager that was always , it seemed, always referred to as “Jimy One M Williams”.
i remember jimy… that is kind of…odd.
Jimy spent a few seasons with the Braves when Bobby Cox was managing. I guess the two of them worked together in Toronto, too.
I want him on my team.