Every day in 2012, the Just One Bad Century blog will feature a story about this day in Cubs history. We're calling it Cubs 365.
On this day in 1952, future Cub "Tarzan" was born. Joe Wallis earned the nickname "Tarzan" because he was fond of cliff diving. He played parts of four seasons (75-79) with the Cubs, playing all three outfield positions, but predominantly a very shallow centerfield.
Tarzan didn't hit much for average (lifetime .244), or power (16 career homers), and he didn't have a lot of speed (7 stolen bases in 5 big league seasons), but he did have one thing that many of his teammates desired for themselves...a great nickname.