It's All In A Nickname

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.