Red Sox release "players weekend" (nickname) jerseys

DamageTrain

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Where is Devers #11? "Carita"

Perhaps the biggest thing that sticks out about Devers — aside from his immense power — is how young he looks. He was the youngest active MLB player at the time of his big league debut, and he barely looks old enough to drive, let alone launch home runs over the Green Monster. “Yes, that’s why they gave me my nickname. They call me ‘Carita’ (Baby Face) for that very reason,” Devers told Rivera. “In my neighborhood, when I played vitilla (baseball with bottle caps), there was always this guy who would say, ‘Look at this one with that fresh face,’ and from then on I was ‘Carita.’ ”​

http://nesn.com/2017/08/red-soxs-rafael-devers-reveals-fitting-nickname-favorite-mlb-player/
 

paulb0t

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Oh good, the uniforms match the beer softball league idea behind the entire weekend.

I love a good baseball nickname – but this is stupid. Although I'm sure they'll sell a ton of nickname jerseys.

It does also make me kinda wish we still had a Wayback Wasdin though.
 

Al Zarilla

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Oh good, the uniforms match the beer softball league idea behind the entire weekend.

I love a good baseball nickname – but this is stupid. Although I'm sure they'll sell a ton of nickname jerseys.

It does also make me kinda wish we still had a Wayback Wasdin though.
Wayback wasn't flattering, to say the least. Would he go along with it?
 

JohntheBaptist

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Why is it stupid?

Baseball has tradition and that is great and part of what it is, but the more they show a willingness to be self-aware, have a sense of humor and fun about itself, the better. Beats bending over backward to change the rules to make the game three minutes shorter on average if you ask me.
 
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RedOctober3829

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Oh good, the uniforms match the beer softball league idea behind the entire weekend.

I love a good baseball nickname – but this is stupid. Although I'm sure they'll sell a ton of nickname jerseys.

It does also make me kinda wish we still had a Wayback Wasdin though.
Baseball needs to market the game to the younger generation and this is a good way of doing it. The baseball culture as a whole tends to be very closed-minded to change. The youth leagues have no problem doing wild uniform combinations so this will market well with kids.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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This graphic must have been done a while ago and they didn't update it.
Can't have been done too long ago since Fister is on it. But on the other hand, it includes Thornburg and Ross Jr while not including Vazquez.

My guess is that an intern at MLB HQ put it together without much consideration for details.
 

moondog80

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Didn't the XFL invent this?

Either way, fantastic idea.
 

paulb0t

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Baseball needs to market the game to the younger generation and this is a good way of doing it. The baseball culture as a whole tends to be very closed-minded to change. The youth leagues have no problem doing wild uniform combinations so this will market well with kids.
While I agree that the game (and most sports, in general) need to do a better job marketing to the next generation of fans, I'm not sure this accomplishes this. I don't think that Chris Sale wearing a Stickman jersey for one weekend does much to hook fans in. Now, if you made it a season long thing – or did it during something like All-Star weekend? I'd actually think that could be effective.

Or, god forbid, they did a Guardians of the Galaxy tie-in, and Sale showed up in a #41 "I AM GROOT" jersey. Talk about printing money.

Also, I was sad to see that Chris Young got "CY". Was hoping Joe Kelley would've picked it up.
 

JohntheBaptist

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While I agree that the game (and most sports, in general) need to do a better job marketing to the next generation of fans, I'm not sure this accomplishes this. I don't think that Chris Sale wearing a Stickman jersey for one weekend does much to hook fans in.
You're crazy.

It isn't about how long they do it, it is about changing the perception of the league as some fussy, never-change, old guy sport. They can have fun, they don't take everything seriously constantly, they can break with tradition in the name of something like this, etc.

Doing it for the whole season would be the insane thing; there's no real need to do it for that long to start getting that point across.
 

NickEsasky

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You're crazy.

It isn't about how long they do it, it is about changing the perception of the league as some fussy, never-change, old guy sport. They can have fun, they don't take everything seriously constantly, they can break with tradition in the name of something like this, etc.

Doing it for the whole season would be the insane thing; there's no real need to do it for that long to start getting that point across.
I agree with this but I think there is some middle ground like loosening restrictions on cleats and gloves (for non pitchers) year round.
 

E5 Yaz

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I guess my opinion on this type of thing is that if the effort is too obvious, then it's not worth the effort.

I like the All-Star Game idea, though.

Then again, Jim Hunter never caught catfish while playing hooky

*And, yes, "Channel" was never Andy Messersmith's nickame.
 

paulb0t

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You're crazy.

It isn't about how long they do it, it is about changing the perception of the league as some fussy, never-change, old guy sport. They can have fun, they don't take everything seriously constantly, they can break with tradition in the name of something like this, etc.

Doing it for the whole season would be the insane thing; there's no real need to do it for that long to start getting that point across.
Serious question: Does an 8 or 9 year old care about the perception of the league? From a marketing perspective, I think it's actually really interested as part of a campaign to introduce the game to young players. And, if this is the kickoff – they might have something. But, other than the "Players Weekend" press release, there really hasn't been much out there until now.

You're absolutely right though – MLB has the oldest, and oftentimes fussiest fan base.

I think the league has certainly started letting go of "tradition". The bat flips, fist pumps and walk off dance party celebrations are things that would never have been tolerated even 15 years ago. Things like pace of game will help – even though a lot of purists (like me) balk at the idea of a pitch clock.

So, yes – this is fun and does reinforce baseball moving away from "Why so serious," but unless it's part of a sustained campaign to engage young fans, I don't think they see more than a small bump for the weekend. I also think they'll sell a metric ton of jerseys to the established fan base.

Also, get off my lawn.
 

Buzzkill Pauley

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Some of these will definitely make the TJ Maxx/Marshalls circuit before providing warmth and comfort to the citizens of sub-Saharan Africa.

OTOH, they will sell a metric shit-ton of "Mookie" ones.

[edit] And I might have to buy a "Benny" for my son Ben, as that nickname was given during the big band era to my granddad, who he's named for.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Travis D'Arnaud is going with "Lil D". Presumably, Chase would be wearing "Big D" if he were presently on a big league roster.
 

JohntheBaptist

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Serious question: Does an 8 or 9 year old care about the perception of the league? From a marketing perspective, I think it's actually really interested as part of a campaign to introduce the game to young players. And, if this is the kickoff – they might have something. But, other than the "Players Weekend" press release, there really hasn't been much out there until now.

You're absolutely right though – MLB has the oldest, and oftentimes fussiest fan base.
I hear what you're saying--but I don't think its the 8 or 9 year old caring about "the perception of the league" as much as he or she getting old enough to like sports, seeing the fun stuff the NBA does, and having mom or dad explain to them that "tonight the players are wearing jerseys with their nicknames on them," making it an exciting thing. Share their favorites online, gives certain otherwise faceless players a sudden personality, so on.

That, I think, creates the perception that MLB is "fun." I mean, just one note on that level won't move the needle a ton, like you said, they have to follow it up. But I just like an approach like this over fussing with the game to make it a little bit shorter. That I doubt some 8 or 9 year old really notices.
 

Jim Ed Rice in HOF

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And Robbie Ross is Lawnmower
If you're questioning the backstory, it's his nickname from Jared Carrabis (Barstool). He's the origin of the three shown in the tweet below.


Edit - the three shown in the tweet are Mayor-DDC for Travis Shaw, 2-Bags for Moreland and Lawnmower for Ross.
 

InsideTheParker

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This is so bizarre to me, b/c I had a dream about this very thing last week. I can only guess that I fell asleep with the telly on, and it went straight to a dream. My dream was less imaginative: had Pedey for Pedroia. Anyway, my fave is undoubtedly 2-Bags.
 

luckiestman

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This is fine, who cares, but if baseball cares about kids watching maybe they could start the games earlier and play more day games.
 

ookami7m

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It seems like most teams have at least one guy who isn't having fun with this and just kept their name. None of them are surprises: Keuchel and Greinke were the first I noticed
 

brs3

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I love the idea. Why not? They're auctioning off game worn jerseys for charity and raising awareness for youth baseball.

This is fine, who cares, but if baseball cares about kids watching maybe they could start the games earlier and play more day games.
I wonder how easy it would be to adjust schedules for the summer months that kids are out, and factor in the different weeks/months schools are let out by region. I suspect it would be a lot more difficult and annoying for teams/players to have 1pm Wednesday games in Boston in late August, but then not have 1pm games in Atlanta in late August because schools are back in session there. Most day games are on weekends, when parents are off, or getaway days. I don't have numbers to back it up, but mid-week day games often look less attended on TV. I understand the sentiment, but realistically the month of July is probably the only month earlier games make sense for children league-wide.