Journeyman infielder trying to make name for himself

PEORIA, Ariz. — Making a name for himself as a major-leaguer has been both the simplest and toughest of challenges for Gookie Dawkins.

That's because, in so many respects, his name is what has made him.

The journeyman infielder, in Mariners camp as a non-roster invitee, has spent nearly a decade in professional baseball trying to match the hype of a name already on several all-time-favorites lists. So far, though, the star power of his moniker still surpasses a career that includes 951 minor-league games and a .163 batting average in 55 major-league contests.

"I'm used to it now," said Dawkins, 27, whose Mariners were beaten 4-3 by the San Diego Padres on Thursday in their annual charity game at Peoria Stadium. "If I go through a summer where nobody asks me where I got that name from, then I may worry a bit. But I expect people to ask me about it now because it's a weird name. It's different."

Dawkins figures he'll get asked about the name 30 or 40 times each summer. And that doesn't include opposing fans who'll taunt him with cries of "Gookie Monster!" and "Dookie!" from the stands.

The name didn't seem all that unusual when Dawkins was growing up in Newberry, S.C. After all, he lived about 20 minutes away from current major-league shortstop Pokey Reese and had played against him numerous times.

He actually has the name Travis Sentell Dawkins on his birth certificate. But his father, Terry, started calling him "Gookie" when he was 2, for reasons Dawkins still can't quite figure out.

"I have two older brothers, and the one that's closest to me, he used to call him 'Nookie' from the time he was born," Dawkins said. "He's three years older than me. So, I just assume that when I was born, he decided to call me 'Gookie' because it rhymes with 'Nookie.' "

And that's not all.

"My dad was a big-time Mets fan, so he could have gotten it from Mookie as well," Dawkins said, referring to Mookie Wilson, the popular Mets outfielder from the 1980s.

A telephone call to the elder Dawkins in South Carolina, where he recently retired from his laborer's job at age 55 after suffering a stroke, cleared things up — a little.

"One day, it was raining out and we couldn't find him," Terry Dawkins said of his ball-playing son. "He was outside, throwing a ball up on the roof and waiting for it to come down so he could catch it. That's when I started calling him "Gookie" and "Gook." Because he was just standing out there in the rain, waiting for a ball to roll down off the roof."

He claims it was his ex-wife who dubbed his other son "Nookie" and that the nickname has since been changed to "Buzz."

"We had Nook and Gook, then Gook and Buzz," he said.

Whatever its origins, the nickname stuck to Gookie Dawkins. So much so that he used to resent it whenever somebody referred to him by his given name.

"Back when I was coming up with the [Cincinnati] Reds, those guys, they knew I went by 'Gookie,' " Dawkins said. "But they would always try to call me 'Travis' to get under my skin. I was to a point where, not that I wanted to throw any blows or want to fight, but where it would really make me mad and I would say some things to them.

"But now, I named my son Travis after me. So now, Gookie, Travis, it doesn't matter. It doesn't bother me any more."

Baseball's association with quirky names is as old as the game itself.

There are current favorites like Coco Crisp of the Boston Red Sox, Boof Bonser of the Minnesota Twins and Choo Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And who can forget Wonderful Terrific Monds, Dusty Rhodes and Razor Shines from years gone by?

Dawkins has a few names on his own list.

"I like Mookie Wilson," he said. "Nook Logan, Corky Miller. Corky and I came up with Cincinnati. I love his name, and he's really a great guy."

Dawkins would love to add more than a name to his baseball résumé. He's unlikely to do that with the Mariners, a team already set in the middle infield. But for now, at least, he can count on Cactus League cheers any time he steps to the plate and is introduced to the crowd.

"A lot of folks think it's weird, or funny," he said. "But for me, it's just my name. I'll always be Gookie."

Geoff Baker: 206-464-8286 or gbaker@seattletimes.com