I don’t know when it happened, but at some point nicknames began to disappear in sports. It’s really a shame, because who doesn’t love a good nickname? As seriously as some of us tend to take sports from time to time, it’s really all about fun, and I think nicknames help remind us of that. Not only that, it can also create an aura around a great player. For example, Ervin “Magic” Johnson, Dominique “The Human Highlight Reel,” Wilkins, “Neon” Deion Sanders (aka Prime Time). The list goes on and on.
As a sports journalist, I’ve always had a desire to try and bring back nicknames, with the goal of at least trying to come up with at least one good one and make it stick. What makes it tricky is that it’s unclear why some nicknames stick, and others don’t. I remember my first week of college, there was a kid on my floor who got absolutely hammered, and he was stumbling down the hall clutching a bottle of Captain Morgan close to his chest. He sort of had this crazed look in his eyes, and both of his elbows were tightly pinched against his ribs. “Oh my God,” said my friend Sam. “Kyle looks like a T-Rex.” Much to Kyle’s chagrin, that name stuck. He was “T-Rex” from that day forward, and it was simply based on some random throwaway joke the first week of college. Kyle ended up leaving school after our sophomore year and I think I heard he joined the army. I hope it wasn’t because of the name.
So anyway, when I was working at Baseball America, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to bestow some nicknames. Since I was writing mostly about minor leaguers, I thought that if I got a good one, it might catch on before the kid hit the big leagues. And if so, I could help bring nicknames back the forefront. Also, when you’re constantly writing about guys in the low minors who have virtually no chance of making the big leagues, you sometimes have to get a little goofy to keep things fresh.
My first bid for a nickname came with an Indians righthander named Joe Ness, who I started referring to as “The Untouchable” in honor of Elliot Ness. It was a little bit of a stretch, but I was pretty proud of it. The only problem is that Ness hasn’t exactly lived up to the nickname. In fact, he’s been quite touchable, posting a 6.18 ERA last year at Double-A. So that one probably isn’t going to work.
The perfect storm of nickname potential came in 2006 when I was doing a regular notebook for the Midwest League. For those who don’t know, that’s low Class A, and is made up mostly of 19-to-21-year-olds. That season, Reds rightfielder Jay Bruce was going bananas while playing for the Dayton Dragons, and all the coaches and managers in the league were talking him up as a future all-star. Being the Bruce Springsteen fan that I am, I started referring to him as “The Boss” every chance I got. Frankly, I thought this was going to be my legacy as a sportswriter. This feeling was only enhanced when Bruce was called to the big leagues, and this blog posed the question of what his nickname should be. And as you can see in the comments section, the readers agreed that “The Boss” should be it. Yes, this isn’t exactly a quorum, but I’ll take what I can get. (Note: I did post a comment on this blog in support of “The Boss.” And yes, I'm a dork.)
Unfortunately, “The Boss” hasn't taken off quite the way I hoped, but check out this excerpt from a Q&A Bruce did last week with Yahoo! Sports.
DB: Is "Bruce Almighty" sticking as a nickname?
JB: Not with me. Not for me. I would never call myself "Bruce Almighty."
DB: But nicknames aren't necessarily up to us, the nicknamed.
JB: Meh, I don't know. The only thing I've really heard, in Cincinnati the people go, "Bruuuuuuuuuuce."
DB: What about, "The Boss"?
JB: I think that was very short-lived. I think Baseball America had something to do with that, but I don't think it ever stuck.
Oh, we'll see about that. And as it turns out, this isn’t the first time Bruce has been asked about the nickname in a Q&A. When Baseball America named him minor league player of the year in the fall of 2007, which is after I left for another job, former writer Chris Kline asked him about it.
BA: Is there a nickname you’ve been given? I ask because when Matt Meyers covered the Midwest League for us last year, he hung the nickname ‘The Boss,’ on you.
JB: Yeah, believe me, I saw that. And I heard about it and I still hear about it. When are you guys going to stop calling me that?
BA: It’s the ‘Bruce,’ dude. Springsteen. The Boss. Come on.
JB: See, I’m not that familiar with him.
BA: Now you’re showing your age a little--for the first time, really. ‘Born to Run’ for me is Springsteen’s masterpiece, but you probably know him better by ‘Born In The USA’ and I know for a fact you didn’t grow up playing in ballparks and never hearing ‘Glory Days.’
JB: Great song.
BA: See?
JB: I just didn’t understand where that came from. I listen to more rap music and some country than anything else.
Besides the fact we’ve learned that Bruce is a little naïve about music, it’s clear that the nickname at least had some traction in the minor league world. There is still hope for it! The dream is still alive! And I think we can all agree it is a perfect nickname for one of baseball’s best young players. I encourage all of you to do whatever you can to make it stick. Spread the word. Thank you, and good day.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Popping In
I apologize for the lag between posts here, but there is a good reason for it. The magazine’s baseball preview was put to bed last Friday, and my previous month has been extremely hectic. And because I was spending up to ten hours a day staring at words on a computer screen, I haven’t felt compelled to blog in my spare time. Now that the preview is finished, I hope to be back here sharing my thoughts far more frequently.
As an aside, you should all pick up ESPN The Magazine’s MLB preview. Not only does it have an interesting study of Manny Ramirez’s hitting approach (with a sidebar written by moi), but a great piece about the evolution of defensive analysis that features a sidebar by Nate Silver. Seriously, it's excellent stuff.
As you can tell, I’ve been thinking about baseball a lot lately, even more than usual. But in one of my spare moments, I checked out a YouTube video sent to me by my girlfriend, Margaret, that features a toddler dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” Besides being left with the thought that this video is a little creepy, it got me thinking about the song, and great pop songs in general.
I’ll admit it, that’s a good fucking song. And I say this despite the fact that it helps reinforce the aspect of American culture that seems to equate love with how much you spend on an engagement ring. That, however, is a rant for another time.
Anyway, “Single Ladies” has all the elements of a great pop song. The most important of these elements being a hook you can sing along to. Every time I hear that song, I’m singing that freaking hook to myself the next six hours. Without fail. I was reading a story in Rolling Stone about The-Dream (nope, not a type), who wrote "Single Ladies", as well as Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine," Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body," and Rihanna's "Umbrella." The story was about how he is trying to follow the Kanye West route by using his career as a producer as a jumping off point for his own singing/rapping career. With the ability to write songs like that, I don't see how he can fail. That's a pretty killer lineup of kick-ass pop songs over the past two years.
This all got me thinking about great pop songs. My musical tastes typically lean towards 1990s hip-hop and garage/Springteen-esque rock, but I love a good pop song. And the following is a random list of pop songs thatt I think might be underappreciated by the masses. These are all famous songs, mind you, but songs that I think are probably better than they are given credit for.
Mark Morrison (Return Of The Mack): This is on my short list of, “if I were a major league baseball player, this would be my walk-up music.” I can’t really understand a word he says other than “return of the mack,” but he’s got such a laid-back delivery, and the groove is so smooth, I just can’t get enough of it. Speaking of baseball pump-up music . . .
Bizarre Inc. (I'm Gonna Get You): This isn't really a pop song, but more of a "early 90s fake techno" song. However, it's freaking catchy. You're lying if you don't enjoy Angie Brown piping in with "why waste your time, you know you're gonna be mine." I had sort of forgotten about this song until Oliver Perez joined the Mets. Every time he warms up before a home game, this song is playing, and every time I've been in the Mets clubhouse while reporting a story, I've always wanted to ask him about this song, but I never have the nerve. My guess is that someone once played it before one of his starts and he pitched really well. And since baseball players are a superstitious bunch, he stuck with it. Either that, or he has a soft spot for corny 90s techno. If so, I like him a lot more.
Billy Ocean (Caribbean Queen): I just noticed something about this song. Listen to the opening few bars, and write before the first verse, you can hear Billy Ocean say, “she 's simply . . . awesome.” This means there had to have been be some sort of conversation in the studio that went something like this:
BILLY: You know what would be great?
PRODUCER: I’m listening . . .
BILLY: If right before the first verse starts, I whisper, “she's simply . . . awesome.” Wouldn’t that be cool?
PRODUCER: You’re right, that would be cool!
(Listen closely, it's about 12 seconds in)
Kelly Clarkson (Since U Been Gone): I know this song is huge, but I actually think it might be under-appreciated. It might be the best pop song of the past 20 years, with the possible exception of . . .
Mariah Carey (We Belong Together): This seems to get less play that a lot of other Mariah hits, but listen to the second verse and try and tell me that this isn’t a transcendent pop song. I’m waiting.
Erasue (A Little Respect): I was reintroduced to the greatness of this song when "Scrubs" built an episode around it. It might the association with one of my favorite TV shows that might me such a fan of this song, but I can now never get tired of this song.
I know what you're thinking. "Mariah? Kelly Clarkson? Erasure? This guy's music taste is half-gay, half-fourteen-year-old girl."
What of it?
As an aside, you should all pick up ESPN The Magazine’s MLB preview. Not only does it have an interesting study of Manny Ramirez’s hitting approach (with a sidebar written by moi), but a great piece about the evolution of defensive analysis that features a sidebar by Nate Silver. Seriously, it's excellent stuff.
As you can tell, I’ve been thinking about baseball a lot lately, even more than usual. But in one of my spare moments, I checked out a YouTube video sent to me by my girlfriend, Margaret, that features a toddler dancing to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It).” Besides being left with the thought that this video is a little creepy, it got me thinking about the song, and great pop songs in general.
I’ll admit it, that’s a good fucking song. And I say this despite the fact that it helps reinforce the aspect of American culture that seems to equate love with how much you spend on an engagement ring. That, however, is a rant for another time.
Anyway, “Single Ladies” has all the elements of a great pop song. The most important of these elements being a hook you can sing along to. Every time I hear that song, I’m singing that freaking hook to myself the next six hours. Without fail. I was reading a story in Rolling Stone about The-Dream (nope, not a type), who wrote "Single Ladies", as well as Mary J. Blige's "Just Fine," Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body," and Rihanna's "Umbrella." The story was about how he is trying to follow the Kanye West route by using his career as a producer as a jumping off point for his own singing/rapping career. With the ability to write songs like that, I don't see how he can fail. That's a pretty killer lineup of kick-ass pop songs over the past two years.
This all got me thinking about great pop songs. My musical tastes typically lean towards 1990s hip-hop and garage/Springteen-esque rock, but I love a good pop song. And the following is a random list of pop songs thatt I think might be underappreciated by the masses. These are all famous songs, mind you, but songs that I think are probably better than they are given credit for.
Mark Morrison (Return Of The Mack): This is on my short list of, “if I were a major league baseball player, this would be my walk-up music.” I can’t really understand a word he says other than “return of the mack,” but he’s got such a laid-back delivery, and the groove is so smooth, I just can’t get enough of it. Speaking of baseball pump-up music . . .
Bizarre Inc. (I'm Gonna Get You): This isn't really a pop song, but more of a "early 90s fake techno" song. However, it's freaking catchy. You're lying if you don't enjoy Angie Brown piping in with "why waste your time, you know you're gonna be mine." I had sort of forgotten about this song until Oliver Perez joined the Mets. Every time he warms up before a home game, this song is playing, and every time I've been in the Mets clubhouse while reporting a story, I've always wanted to ask him about this song, but I never have the nerve. My guess is that someone once played it before one of his starts and he pitched really well. And since baseball players are a superstitious bunch, he stuck with it. Either that, or he has a soft spot for corny 90s techno. If so, I like him a lot more.
Billy Ocean (Caribbean Queen): I just noticed something about this song. Listen to the opening few bars, and write before the first verse, you can hear Billy Ocean say, “she 's simply . . . awesome.” This means there had to have been be some sort of conversation in the studio that went something like this:
BILLY: You know what would be great?
PRODUCER: I’m listening . . .
BILLY: If right before the first verse starts, I whisper, “she's simply . . . awesome.” Wouldn’t that be cool?
PRODUCER: You’re right, that would be cool!
(Listen closely, it's about 12 seconds in)
Kelly Clarkson (Since U Been Gone): I know this song is huge, but I actually think it might be under-appreciated. It might be the best pop song of the past 20 years, with the possible exception of . . .
Mariah Carey (We Belong Together): This seems to get less play that a lot of other Mariah hits, but listen to the second verse and try and tell me that this isn’t a transcendent pop song. I’m waiting.
Erasue (A Little Respect): I was reintroduced to the greatness of this song when "Scrubs" built an episode around it. It might the association with one of my favorite TV shows that might me such a fan of this song, but I can now never get tired of this song.
I know what you're thinking. "Mariah? Kelly Clarkson? Erasure? This guy's music taste is half-gay, half-fourteen-year-old girl."
What of it?
Thursday, March 5, 2009
DQS: Don't Question Silver
There was an excellent column on ESPN.com Insider last week written by Nate Silver that discussed A-Rod's chances of breaking the home run record. Subscription is required to read the story—by the way, you should subscribe because it will help me keep my job—but here's the gist: After comparing A-Rod to the 20 most similar players to him in history, Silver concluded that there is a 30 percent chance he will break Barry Bonds' home run record.
This conclusion was met with much skepticism in the comments section. As dozens of Yankees fans wrote some variation of, "who is the nerd with the numbers?A-Rod is clearly going to DESTROY Bonds record. This guys knows nothing. A-Rod RUUUULEZ! YANKEES RULE!!!!! COUNT THE RINGS BITCHES!!!!!!"
OK, that might be a tiny exaggeration, but there was definitely healthy skepticism of the results. As an aside, I've always found it interesting how Yankees fans will hate A-Rod, but then defend him for shit like this. Anyway, many of the people commenting were accusing Silver of personal bias. Now I barely know Silver, but I am pretty sure that his numbers are without bias. That would undermine the point of everything he does. He was simply accounting for the fact that players tend to, you know, decline as they get into their mid-30s, and that they experience random ailments. And whaddya know, looks like A-Rod is going to miss ten weeks (maybe more) because of a hip injury that is apparently a cyst or a torn labrum. This is exactly the kind of thing Silver's study were accounting for.
This doesn't mean that A-Rod won't break the record, but this injury comes at a perfect time as far as illustrating why historical comparisons, like Silver's, are valuable. I distinctly remember a time about 10 years ago when the world was convinced that Ken Griffey would break what was then Hank Aaron's home run record. As we know now, Griffey experienced all sorts of hamstring problems, and while he is still one of the top five home run hitters ever, he is not going to break the record. Take a look at the list of the best home run hitters through their age 30 season, and you'll get a better sense that 30s aren't kind to slugger. (Age 30 season means they were 30 years old on June 30.)
1. Alex Rodriguez 464
2. Ken Griffey Jr. 438
3. Jimmy Foxx 429
4. Mickey Mantle 404
5. Eddie Matthews 399
6. Frank Robinson 373
7. Mel Ott 369
8. Andruw Jones 368
9. Hank Aaron 366
10. Juan Gonzalez 362
What might be most amazing about this list is that Bonds isn't on it. In fact, he is 25th on the list. He is, not surprisingly, first on the list for home runs from age 30 on, with 503. Now before you go blaming steroids, keep in mind that Babe Ruth is second on that list, with 430. Yes, it appears that Bonds was on something, but it's also true that it's possible to be prodigious home run hitter after the age of 30 without the aid of HGH.
But other than Bonds' absence, you'll notice a lot of guys who burned out for a variety of reasons. There's Griffey (bum hamstring), Jones (got fat) and Mantle (lots of booze). Of course there is Aaron, who is an outlier, as is Bonds. And yes, maybe A-Rod will prove to be an outlier as well who hits home runs well into his 40s. But the point is that we shouldn't ignore history, and that lots of people who comment on blogs are idiots. Except, of course, for the nice people who comment on this blog.
This conclusion was met with much skepticism in the comments section. As dozens of Yankees fans wrote some variation of, "who is the nerd with the numbers?A-Rod is clearly going to DESTROY Bonds record. This guys knows nothing. A-Rod RUUUULEZ! YANKEES RULE!!!!! COUNT THE RINGS BITCHES!!!!!!"
OK, that might be a tiny exaggeration, but there was definitely healthy skepticism of the results. As an aside, I've always found it interesting how Yankees fans will hate A-Rod, but then defend him for shit like this. Anyway, many of the people commenting were accusing Silver of personal bias. Now I barely know Silver, but I am pretty sure that his numbers are without bias. That would undermine the point of everything he does. He was simply accounting for the fact that players tend to, you know, decline as they get into their mid-30s, and that they experience random ailments. And whaddya know, looks like A-Rod is going to miss ten weeks (maybe more) because of a hip injury that is apparently a cyst or a torn labrum. This is exactly the kind of thing Silver's study were accounting for.
This doesn't mean that A-Rod won't break the record, but this injury comes at a perfect time as far as illustrating why historical comparisons, like Silver's, are valuable. I distinctly remember a time about 10 years ago when the world was convinced that Ken Griffey would break what was then Hank Aaron's home run record. As we know now, Griffey experienced all sorts of hamstring problems, and while he is still one of the top five home run hitters ever, he is not going to break the record. Take a look at the list of the best home run hitters through their age 30 season, and you'll get a better sense that 30s aren't kind to slugger. (Age 30 season means they were 30 years old on June 30.)
1. Alex Rodriguez 464
2. Ken Griffey Jr. 438
3. Jimmy Foxx 429
4. Mickey Mantle 404
5. Eddie Matthews 399
6. Frank Robinson 373
7. Mel Ott 369
8. Andruw Jones 368
9. Hank Aaron 366
10. Juan Gonzalez 362
What might be most amazing about this list is that Bonds isn't on it. In fact, he is 25th on the list. He is, not surprisingly, first on the list for home runs from age 30 on, with 503. Now before you go blaming steroids, keep in mind that Babe Ruth is second on that list, with 430. Yes, it appears that Bonds was on something, but it's also true that it's possible to be prodigious home run hitter after the age of 30 without the aid of HGH.
But other than Bonds' absence, you'll notice a lot of guys who burned out for a variety of reasons. There's Griffey (bum hamstring), Jones (got fat) and Mantle (lots of booze). Of course there is Aaron, who is an outlier, as is Bonds. And yes, maybe A-Rod will prove to be an outlier as well who hits home runs well into his 40s. But the point is that we shouldn't ignore history, and that lots of people who comment on blogs are idiots. Except, of course, for the nice people who comment on this blog.
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